Principal Dawn Chan's Op-Ed in the Toronto Star - May 30, 2011
On Saturday, May 28, Linden's principal responded to the Toronto District School Board's delays regarding opening all-girls and all-boys schools with an op-ed in the Toronto Star.
In the op-ed, Dawn Chan argued for making single-sex education available to as many students as possible to help keep students engaged in the classroom. She cited some of the research and evidence upon which Linden was founded, and shared her experiences as an educator and administrator here. However, as she points out, it is not enough to separate the girls for the boys - we also must take into account how each group learns, as we do every day.
On Thursday, May 19, Linden's grade 11 health and physical education class hosted our inaugural Health & Physical Education Night. Here is how Nora, a grade 11 student, describes the event:
This past Thursday was our first annual Health & Phys.Ed Night. During this wonderful night we had a great, informative conversation about both mental and physical health and the strategies we use in achieving a healthy lifestyle. After, we played fun and lively games of both ultimate frisbee and soccer. We ended the night with yummy, nutritious snacks!
This night was definitely a night to remember, filled with excitement and newly acquired knowledge about health.
Check out our Picasa album for photos of this event:
Even when not hosting, preparing for this event is a massive undertaking. It takes months of work to get ready for the many academic, athletic, and creative competitions taking place at the conference. Add in the responsibility of coordinating the entire conference for 428 students, and the Classics Club has been very busy.
However, their hard work paid off, with 1st place prizes in several categories, and placements in many others. Of particular note is the 1st place award for Archeological Dig. This competition is a combination of an initial report, creation of artefacts, excavation and measuring technique of another school's artefacts, a research report on the excavated artefacts (including a critical analysis of what the site could be), and an oral presentation to a panel of judges. The Classics Club has been steadily improving in this category over the last four years, and their efforts did not go unrecognized.
In addition to their awards, Linden's delegation received great feedback from other Conference attendees on their organization. Congratulations to the Classics Club and to their faculty supervisor, Jenn Haines, on their stellar work and dedication!
To see photos of preparations for the conference, and the conference as it unfolds, check out our Picasa album below. For a complete list of awards, click here. You can also view tweets for the conference on our Twitter feed.
See Performances from A Night of Many Voices - May 6, 2011
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Music filled the gym on Wednesday, May 4, when Linden students of all ages (and some faculty members) picked up their instruments, warmed up their voices, and performed at Linden's inaugural Music Evening.
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This new event was an opportunity for Linden's many music classes and groups to share the songs they've been working on this year. The night featured performances by our strings classes, our Junior and Senior Choirs, and our Guitar Club, to name a few. Many students also took the initiative to prepare other pieces using instruments such as cello, violin, piano and voice. The result was a diverse range of musical performances that made a great addition to Linden's calendar.
Watch the two videos below for a small sampling of what the evening had to offer:
Grade 6 students Lauren and Samantha perform "What's Going On", by 4 Non Blondes.
The grade 6/7 strings class performs "String Scene" by E. Del Borgo.
The Linden Gallery: Our Annual Art Show - May 5, 2011
On Monday, May 2, art took over every corner of the school for Linden's Art Show. This annual event is an opportunity for our student artists - from grade 1 to grade 12 - to showcase the projects they've been working on throughout the school year.
From sculpture to photography to installations, the resulting work demonstrated incredible ingenuity and creativity on the part of our students. Want to see for yourself? Check out our Picasa album with photos of the artwork, and of our community enjoying it!
Check out this video of our grade 8 technology students pitting robot against robot in our annual Robot Sumo competition. The girls built these robots using Lego Robotics kits, and were challenged to think critically about which design elements would produce a winning prototype.
Students Speak Up at SOMA - May 3, 2011
On Thursday, April 28, and Friday, April 29, several Linden students headed to the University of Toronto as delgates to the Southern Ontario Model United Nations Assembly (SOMA). SOMA is North America's largest model United Nations run for and by students.
The delegates spent many hours preparing for the assembly, and their hard work paid dividends. Grade 12 students Ayesha and Alex were part of the Economic and Social Rights Committee, and were extremely active in both formal debates and the informal caucuses, which determine which resolutions pass. This was paticularly true on debates about regulating the sale of human organs.
Annabel, another grade 12 student, was a delegate at UNICEF. She was similarly at the centre of formal and informal proceedings around issues surrounding HIV and child labour, and she was the only delegate who raised the gendered dimensions of the issues. At the General Assembly, Julia (grade 12) made some telling interventions on cyber warfare and nuclear disarmament. Grade 9 student, Shelley, learned a whole host of things by observing the proceedings, and she will be an important resource to next year's team, as many team members are graduating this year.
On Thursday, April 28, our senior French students shared their language skills with friends and family at our annual Senior French Drama Night.
French students in grades 9-12 prepared and presented a series of short plays and skits for the Drama Night. Here are the performances our audience enjoyed that evening:
The grade 9 students presented excerpts from Au revoir les enfants, an autobiographical story by renowned filmmaker Louis Malle. In his film, Louis Malle recounts his own experience in a Catholic boarding school where several Jewish children were hidden from the Gestapo.
Grade 10 students drew their inspiration from La Fontaine's fable La Grenouille qui se voulait faire aussi grosse que le Bœuf, a story about envy gone wrong. The girls worked in pairs to write short skits based on this tale.
Our grade 11 students adapted portions of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel about the revolution in Iran, and her childhood during those difficult times.
Grade 12 students have been immersed in Molière in the second term, and they presented excerpts from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Le Malade imaginaire.
To see photos of the girls' performances, check out our Picasa web album:
