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Linden kicks off holiday break with Festival
of Lights - December 18, 2009
The Linden School started the winter break
on a celebratory night with its annual Festival of Lights
on Wednesday, December 16.
Ever since the first Festival was held in
December of 1993, the event has provided Linden students with
an opportunity to share their artistic talents with the community.
The performances were as unique as the girls presenting them,
ranging from the rendition of "I Don't Want to Live on
the Moon" by the grade 1/2 class to the Advanced Steel
Pans Club's take on Billy Joel's "The Longest Time".
A few groups also gave holiday songs a Linden twist; working
together on the lyrics, the grade 11 class prepared an original
song called "Down the Linden School Halls", sung
to the tune of "Jingle Bell Rock".
Thank you to all of the community members
who supported the girls at this celebratory event, and Happy
Holidays!
Remembering the Montreal Massacre - December
18, 2009
On December 6, 2009, Canadians marked the
20th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. On this date in
1989, 14 women lost their lives when an enraged gunman burst
into Montreal's École Polytechnique, claiming he was
"fighting feminism".
Every year, people across Canada remember
this event in their own unique way; at Linden, we paid tribute
to the fallen women - and to all women affected by violence
- with a candlelit ceremony led by six grade 12 students.
The ceremony was held when the whole school
came together for our weekly Greetings gathering on Tuesday,
December 8. The girls leading the ceremony began by lighting
a candle for each of the fallen women, and asking the school
to join them in a minute of silence to remember the victims.
They then emphasized that, though several ongoing wars - such
as the war on crime, the war on terror and the war in Afghanistan
- get a great deal of media attention, there is another war
that is largely overlooked, but even more deadly: the war
on women.
According to statistics cited in Brian Vallée's
book The War on Women: Elly Armour, Jane Hursham, and Criminal
Domestic Violence in Canadian Homes, there were 101 Canadian
military and law-enforcement deaths for the seven-year period
between 2000 and 2006; however, even more startling is that
for that same period, more than 500 women were killed as a
result of domestic violence.
Vallée also points out that the federal
government estimates the annual cost of violence against women
at $1.1 billion in direct medical costs alone. That figure
rises to more than $4 billion a year when social services,
lost productivity, lost earnings, and police, court, and prison
costs are factored in.
Only in the last 25 years have women made
significant progress in ending this war. Remembering the events
of December 6 is a way to keep the memory of the 14 slain
women alive, but more than that it is a reminder to us all
that there is much more work to be done.
To learn more about Brian Vallée's
book, click
here.
Junior Basketball team wins SSAF championship
- December 4, 2009
On Thursday, December 3, Linden's Junior
Basketball team dribbled, passed and shot their way to an
undefeated season, winning the Small Schools Athletic Federation
banner!
After securing a perfect regular-season
record, the girls headed into the playoffs ready to win. On
Tuesday, December 1, they won their first playoff game against
Voice Intermediate School, earning a spot in Thursday's Final
Four tournament.
The team remained undefeated after their
first game in the tournament, moving on to the championship
match. With the banner in sight, the girls played their hearts
out through all four quarters; at the end of 32 minutes, Linden
had won by a score of 32-10!
The team's coach, Deidre, is so proud of
the effort the girls put forth throughout the season, and
spectators at yesterday's tournament couldn't say enough about
the girls' skill, teamwork and positive attitude. Congratulations
to the team, and thanks to all of the students and parents
who came out to support the girls on December 3 and over the
course of the regular season.
Wherefore art thou Romeo? - December
3, 2009
On Thursday, November 26, Linden's grade
8 class took the stage to perform one of Shakespeare's best-known
tragedies, Romeo and Juliet.
After studying the play extensively in class,
the girls worked on bringing the work to life through a dramatic
production. As a team, the grade 8 class constructed a set,
put together costumes and choreographed fight scenes; they
also put many hours into rehearsing and honing their performances.
The result of their hard work was a wonderful evening of drama
- and an even deeper understanding of the play for all of
the girls.
Congratulations to the class and to their
teacher, Lindsay, for a stellar effort, and thank you to all
of the families who came out to support the girls.
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