P1

www.thereckoner.ca

April 2013 VOL. 1 NO. 6

TDSB to Cut aVice Principal from MGCI

MGCI’s vice principals, from left: Ms. Liebster, Mr. Sharp, Ms. Noack, Ms. Mazzaferro. Photos: Susie Liu, Jackie Ho and Sabrina Bertsch

Before the start of the next school year Marc Garneau will be losing one of its vice principals. The school currently has four: Mr. Sharp, Ms. Mazzaferro, Ms. Noack, and Ms. Liebster. Garneau is technically designated for three vice principals as de-termined by the student population. A few years ago, however, it was declared by the

board in need of a fourth. The fourth VP has allowed for a system to be put in place whereby each vice principal is assigned a grade to follow throughout the students’ high school careers. This system has been extraordinarily successful. It allows the vice principals to form connections with the students in their assigned grade level

and fully understand the students’ situa-tions. However, the TDSB is being forced to cut their budget and any perceived surplus can’t be ignored. This means that the board can no longer afford Garneau’s extra VP.

See Vice Principals on P3.

by ALIE TEACHMAN

Staff and Students

Play Hockey with Local

Police

On Friday 5 April, staff and students of Marc Garneau picked up their hockey gear to enjoy a two-hour game with police officers of the 54 Division at Angela James Arena. Of the twelve players and two goalies, five teachers and three students in grades 11 and 12 hailed from MGCI. School officer Tom Sirbos attended as well. Teachers, students, and police of-ficers split up into two teams to play a friendly scrimmage with no formal positions assigned and no referees. An audience of high school students and MGCI staff, including Principal Gold-enberg, cheered from the comfort of a heated lobby. During the game, play-ers made jokes and poked fun at each other. Highlights of the afternoon in-cluded a fake fight Mr. Hillman and Mr. Santolin staged for the school ad-min. “[Scores were] completely ignored, except for Mr. Lang teasing me about the two goals he scored on me,” re-called eleventh grade goalie Rashad Brugmann with a laugh. “I think the big thing to emphasize was that every-one had fun. It wasn’t aggressive or fast-paced. It was a social event more than anything.” Organized by Officer Sirbos and Mr. Santolin, the game was part of the ProActive Cops & Kids program, serv-ing as an outreach event to improve relationships between MGCI staff, students, and the local 54 Division po-lice officers. The game also aimed to give MGCI students the opportunity to experience ice hockey at the local community level. “Like anything else we do at the school, from sports, to clubs, to Win-terfest, it’s all about giving kids a chance to experience something new and different,” explained Mr. Santo-lin. When asked whether he found organizing the event worthwhile, he answered positively: “It always is. It would have been nice to see more stu-dents participate and spectate, how-ever [Friday’s game] was a start.” ■

by AVRILYNN DING

Long Road Ahead for

Environmental Awareness at MGCI

Forecasted results for the Annual MGCI EcoTeam Waste Audit are less than satisfactory. According to EcoTeam, more than 10% of the items tossed away into garbage bins are re-cyclables. Large amounts of paper, mostly rough work and notes, have been found in the cafeteria’s garbage bins. As a result, recycling bins will soon be available for use in the cafete-ria. Also in the spirit of environmental stewardship, colourful trays will be installed in all photocopying rooms where staff can deposit scrap paper that can still be used on one side. According to the audit, Marc Gar-neau CI’s biggest problem is food waste and soiled, non-recyclable paper which constitutes almost two-thirds of the school’s garbage. This problem can be largely attributed to the absence of a school green bin or compost pro-gram. While there are long-term plans in place for implementing a green bin program in the cafeteria, EcoTeam’s current primary focus is to change the student body’s attitude towards the environment. “The only way [we can] do things is to make it easier for people to care [about the environment] or to make people want to care,” says EcoTeam President Jack Song. “The challenge right now is public attitude. We re-ally need a lot of people who care and [who] can convince other people to care. If only we could change public attitude, we wouldn’t need EcoTeam.” A clean-up of the school grounds by staff and students is planned to take place on period 5 of Friday 19 April. ■

by MAYLYNN DING

Ninth Grade Student Saves Tech Lab

During period five on 26 March, ninth grade MGCI student Abbas Raza walked over to turn off the sink in the tech lab. The faucet was so old and rusty that it broke off right in his hands. The main pipe carrying water into the school con-centrated on the small hole, and water be-gan spurting out of the wall with incredi-ble pressure, putting all the equipment in the tech lab at risk. The technology teachers were in the back room at the time and were shocked to walk out to the pandemonium. Luck-ily, the brave ninth grade student held his ground against the pressure to save the day. “The water arced nearly 40 feet in the air over three rows of computers,” said technology teacher Ms. Bishop. Abbas di-verted the water away from the computer area with his hands and chest, becoming

soaked in the process. Technology teacher Mr. Gang hurried to help Abbas and alert the caretakers. “Abbas was quite brave,” said Mr. Gang. “The water was ice cold, and the pressure was immense.” “As soon as I touched the tap it broke, and the water began spurting out.” said Abbas. “I didn’t move, because the water would have made all the computers wet.” Abbas also expressed his concern for the other students in the class who would have been soaked by the burst. Abbas and Mr. Gang held the water back with large garbage cans for about ten minutes before caretakers arrived. The school’s caretakers did not locate a shutoff valve for the technology room, so the only solution was to turn off the water to the entire school. At that point, the school community was informed that

all bathrooms and sinks had become non-operational. The administration called for a TDSB emergency plumber, who luckily hap-pened to be driving on Don Mills Road at the time. The plumber came in to fix the problem, and the school’s water was up and running by the end of the school day. Ms. Bishop estimated the cost of each computer set to be $800. With twenty computer sets and other expensive equip-ment in range of the burst, Abass’ actions prevented a potential $16 000 in dam-ages. Both the school administration and the technology department have expressed their gratitude. “We’re indebted to him,” said Ms. Bishop. “Many students could have backed away, but Abbas stepped right up to the plate.” ■

Abbas Raza stands in front of the broken sink that ruined nearly three rows of computers when an aging pipe broke, sending water gushing out. Photo: Mahan Nekoui

by MAHAN NEKOUI

NEW THIS

ISSUECrossword

ON PAGE 2

MGCI at Skills

Canadaby DAVID LI

This year, as in years past, Garneau’s tech students participated in both in-dividual and team events at the TDSB/Experiential Learning Technological Skills Competition.Skills Canada, part of the Experiential Learning Department of the TDSB, is responsible for hands-on education. Each year, Skills Canada hosts a cross-category contest for both teams and individuals, spanning topics such as graphic design, 3D character anima-tion, culinary arts, prepared speech, and other skill and practical experi-ence based categories. The qualifying round was hosted on 27 March, and a province-wide competition will be held between 6 and 8 May. This year’s final-ists are selected out of 1900 competi-tors entering in over 60 contest areas. This year, part of the TDSB Techno-logical Skills competition preliminary rounds were held at Garneau, one of the hosts in the North East quadrant. Garneau’s 3D Character Animation teams consisting of Faraz Oman and Harshan Mohanaraj, as well as James Samuel and Vitaliy Novikov finished in second and third for the North East quadrant respectively, advancing on to the final round. The team for Web Site Development took a complete sweep of all three top placements with Halim Hakimi, Anmol Singh, and He-nok Keflu taking first, second, and third respectively. Finally, Graphic Design competitors Owais Tauqir, Hiba Durvesh, and Maria Shafir took the top three stops for the North East Quadrant. ■

ANDHoroscopes

www.thereckoner.ca

April 2013P2 VOL. 1 NO. 6

LIFE

Across2. The head of the Space Resource Centre4. Number of schools Ms. Golden-berg has been an administrator at (excluding MGCI)5. Physics teacher with a PhD8. The social science teacher who has worked at Garneau the longest11. The VP in charge of the snack program12. Marc Garneau’s school budget is ___ figures.13. The OSSTF Branch President of our school15. Last name of our SAC Treasurer and Vice-President18. The VP with the second-most seniority19. School council co-chair20. The VP who is a part-time actor

Down1. The first name of our superinten-dent3. MGCI’s school population is ____ than 1900.6. The head of the English depart-ment7. The first name of our Trustee9. One of our school colours10. The VP in charge of the Semes-ter 1 exam schedule14. First name of the younger Fox16. The teacher who organized Winterfest17. Our previous principal

Answers will be posted on 19 April at thereckoner.ca.

If you walk far enough down my street it leads to the ocean. The houses be-come further apart and the road wid-ens, transitioning from asphalt to gravel and finally into sand. Sometimes, once everyone in my house is asleep and the streets are empty, I walk. I walk deeper and deeper into the darkness as the last porch lights and street lamps fall away behind me. I walk trusting that soon I will see the glimmer of stars reflecting off the black water. When I get there I sit. My feet are always sore by this point. My legs are weary and my arms covered in goose bumps from the chill of midnight. I al-ways walk alone. It is a rule that there is no talking al-lowed on the beach. I know this because there’s a sign planted in the sand. This is never a problem for me: I only walk for the quiet. One night, warmer than the rest, I lay by the water crying. I wasn’t sad though; it just felt right for there to be tears. And out of the darkness rose a strange noise — laughter. It was a boy. He tripped and stum-bled in the sand dragging a kite through

the air behind him. The kite flew high and proud although there was no wind to support it. In fact the air was still this night and heavy with warmth. The con-trast between the grace of the colourful canvas and his clumsy overexcited gait was comical. I almost smiled, but my lips were too weighted down by the heavy air. As startlingly as the boy had entered my field of vision he disappeared. The sounds of his happiness died in the thickness of the night. I walked home the way I had come. A different night, I was standing. My weight shifted from foot to foot. I was listening for the laughter and my eyes were scanning the sky for a kite. Again he stumbled into view. I had the sudden thought that he would smell like salt and windy afternoons. His cheeks were sunburnt and peeling, but his smile was the best I’d ever seen. He grabbed my hand as he passed, jerk-ing me into a staggering run alongside of him. I was hyperaware of the feeling of his cracked and dry palms against my own. We ran a few paces before I tugged him to a stop by planting my feet in the sand. His kite still flitted back and forth

in the air above us. It was my turn to tug now. “Come with me,” I begged with my eyes. “We’ll be so happy,” I promised with my smile. “Let’s be together,” I demanded with my fingers squeezing tightly against his. We turned and ran towards home. We ran until we couldn’t and then we walked, the kite still flying, along sand then gravel then asphalt. We walked until everything was bathed in artificial orange light and our silence was a choice and no longer compliance. We walked until his kite became caught in a tree, then still we walked. We walked until fi-nally we were home. I sat him in the dim light of the bath-room and cut his hair with dull scissors. I rinsed the salt from his skin with cool water and soap. I sewed the fraying hems of his shirt. He smiled sweetly up at me. “I love you,” said his stare. “I love you too,” said mine. And I never cried again. And he never laughed. ■

MGCICrossword

WALKINGTO THEOCEAN

by ALIE TEACHMAN

I've often asked myself how exactly it is that science seems to be working so well in our society. The scientific community holds itself to extremely high standards. Objectivity is emphasized; bias is fre-quently pointed out and avoided; data is gathered with appropriate precision; skepticism prevails. But considering the influence of science as the ultimate source of knowledge for many, I've won-dered why it is that scientists don't make up numbers to conveniently prove their own views of the universe. Why the sci-entific community doesn't come together to plot some intellectual domination of

the world through the spread of unscien-tific propaganda. Aren't humans innately selfish enough to do that? In a world where so many other institutions seem to be corrupted by incompetence, greed, and bias (e.g. governments, mainstream media, the TDSB), how has science been able to not only survive but flourish? My answer at this point is that it hasn't always been like this. It took years for science to reach what I like to believe is a peak today. In the beginning, people wrote down their ideas, shared them with each other, and reasoned with (or argued against) each other to come to some

sort of conclusion. Reason had become respectable. Afterward, the physical ob-servation of the universe also became respectable. You could no longer reason with yourself or with others exactly how everything behaved; you had to go out and actually observe it. Then, precision in the collection of data took on signif-icance, bias was minimized, and more and more so science became a reliable source of information about the world. Today, faulty analysis, incomplete and improperly gathered data, and prevalent or pervasive personal bias are quickly noted and severely discredit the individ-

ual (or group) involved. Professors and researchers hold themselves up to very tight standards, making it easy for us to trust and rely on them; but it hasn't al-ways been like this. It's been the result of a very long process, one fueled by the passion of broad-minded people not to prove their preconceptions of reality, but to attempt to objectively understand it (and accept failure). That's why it's so important for the public to be scientifically literate. To understand how exactly scientists come to their conclusions, how data is gath-ered, how uncertainty is accounted for,

how bias is minimized. We don't need to know everything scientists are figuring out and learning; we just need to have a solid understanding of how they're get-ting there. Common people need to be educated enough to be able to pick out major flaws in scientific findings where they arise, so that if science ever becomes corrupted by the selfishness of men and women as so many other institutions have been, people will know. If not, we run the risk of living in a world where sci-ence fiction underlies our understanding of the world, and the public is entirely oblivious to it. ■

Scientific Literacyby KASRA KOUSHAN

HoroscopesResponding to popular request, The Reckoner has used its advanced nuclear phys-ics laboratories to mathematically model the universe in its entirety and predict with certainty the behaviour of every particle that exists. The results are the predic-tions below.

Aries March 21 - April 19This month you will mistakenly consume dish detergent believing it to be Gatorade. Side effects will not be devastating, but you will never live down the shame.

Taurus April 20 - May 20Your relationship woes will soon be over. In a few days, the indi-vidual of your dreams will walk into your third period class in a kilt (and only a kilt), will play accordion to the tune of "Baby Come Back", and promptly ask you to prom in front of the whole class.

Gemini May 21 - June 20You are so full of confidence at the moment that you believe all things are possible – and they are. Don’t take on any new respon-sibilities though. Running the government of a third-world country would seem appealing, but you won’t have time for it between class and the bear wrestling match you need to practice for on Tuesday. Marc Garneau will be watching.

Cancer June 21 - July 22You will find a live scorpion in the bathtub while showering this weekend. Do not be afraid. The scorpion will have already eaten brunch and will thus feel no inclination to harm you.

Leo July 23 - August 22The next bathroom stall you consider walking into will contain a wormhole that displaces surrounding matter two thousand years into the past atop mountains in Siberia. But just before walking in, you will remember this warning and use the stall to the left. Or maybe you'll be adventurous.

Virgo August 23 - September 22You’ve always had an inclination towards nature. When a tree falls over during a thunderstorm on your street next week, your in-ner Tarzan will urge you to charge out of your window and swing through tree branches while hanging precariously off power lines, tearing down several utility poles in the process and thereby trigger-ing a power failure in your entire block.

Libra September 23 - October 22Next week you will walk into a booth looking for a pay phone. Un-fortunately there will be no phone; you probably shouldn’t have looked for a phone booth in a tanning salon. By the time you realize your mistake you will be orange. Don’t feel too bad though; it will only last six months.

Scorpio October 23 - November 21Your friends will invite you to opening day at Canada’s Wonderland for a birthday party. While riding on the Behemoth, the automated camera will take the most embarrassing photo of you in your life. Be sure to hurry your friends out of the booth as soon as you finish the ride. We are only trying to help you.

Sagittarius November 22 - December 21The bravery and compassion in your heart has always been cease-less. You will find yourself courageously saving a pet hamster named Rocky from a house fire on Friday. Dress for school lightly.

Capricorn December 22 - January 19Be careful. An armed police task force will raid your house tomor-row night suspecting a multi-million dollar drug operation in your basement. Hide everything.

Aquarius January 20 - February 18You've always displayed good judgement in decision-making, but you have to be careful and continue doing so. Exactly two weeks from today at 7:43 PM a man named Clarence will knock on your door. He will present you with a difficult choice. Say no.

Pisces February 19 - March 20On your walk home tomorrow (following heavy rain), a passing car will splash water and mud all over you and a winning lottery ticket you spontaneously decided to purchase earlier in the day. You will discard the ticket in the ensuing mess. Millions of dollars will un-knowingly be lost.

Disclaimer: Despite our best attempts at accuracy, the universe may defy itself and prove these predic-tions incorrect. Please make responsible decisions based on the macroscopic universe as it appears to you.

www.thereckoner.ca

EDITORIAL

April 2013 P3VOL. 1 NO. 6

It is currently unclear which vice princi-pal will be leaving. The board is still in deliberation. Our vice principals come to work every day knowing that any time the phone rings it could be bearing bad news. The board will first attempt to re-locate the vice principal to a similar po-sition in a different school. If this cannot be done, the vice principal may be de-clared “surplus” and asked to step down from administrative duties and return to teaching. The board shuffles its teachers around in the same manner, simply hop-ing that enough staff will retire to accom-modate its rearrangement. Whichever vice principal is lost, the result will be a busy year for the admin-istration. Three people performing the duties previously spread amongst four is a big change. Since the new schedule was put in place at Garneau one of the duties of a vice principal is supervising the caf-eteria during spare. The remaining vice principals and Ms. Goldenberg will be forced to take on extra shifts in the cafe-teria to make up for the lost position. And for Ms. Goldenberg, the extra workload doesn’t stop there. She will be taking on the assigned grade of the displaced vice principal. There are many long days ahead for our administrative staff. This is not the first time that the board has found it necessary to make drastic changes within its staff. And it certainly won’t be the last. There is a wave of stu-dents making its way through the ele-mentary system, especially in the Thorn-cliffe area. Soon these kids will be in high school, and then new teachers will be needed in the secondary system and elementary teachers may face relocation. The impending relocation is an axe looming over everyone’s heads. Whether the numbers on paper demonstrate it or not, our fourth vice principal is a saving grace at our school. Our vice principals hold the school together: they supervise, they organize trips, they deal with disci-plinary issues and they perform admin-istrative work. They've established them-selves as a part of the school community. They understand the culture and the stu-dent body. This is all lost as soon as they are transferred to a new school. Garneau will survive with three vice principals. The students will still be ac-commodated and life will go on, but the change will place a lot of extra pressure on our administration. Yes, we’ll get by. But should the standard of our education system be just ‘getting by’? ■

MGCI to operate with Three

Vice Principals Starting

SeptemberVice PrincipalsContinued from P1.

To the editor: I am writing in response to Claire Hamilton's April 2nd online article "Boys and Girls", and some of the gen-eralizations about gender contained within. In light of recent rape cases in the news such as Steubenville, Rehtaeh Parsons, and Audrie Pott, to name just a few, I believe that it is naive to begin a gender-based article with the line, "The crusade for equal rights for women is often thought of as a thing of the past." Who exactly thinks this? Despite pay-ing lip service to "women's issues" such as advertising in drugstore magazines, Sadie Hawkins Dances (do those even still happen?), and pay inequality, these topics and more important issues relat-ing to women were not explored or re-searched in this editorial enough for it to be considered a thorough treatment of the male/female divide in our society as a whole. According to the author, it's "obvious to any who look" that women in "devel-oping areas such as the Middle East and Africa aren't treated the same way as men". Does that statement apply to ev-ery woman in Africa, as a continent with a population of over a billion people? Which of the 54 African countries are specifically being referred to? Maybe if I speak to some of the hundreds upon hundreds of students at MGCI who hail from countries in Africa and the Mid-dle East, I could get a clearer picture of exactly what it's like to actually live there as a young woman or man, and understand some of the differences be-tween cultures when it comes to rights and treatment. Well, thank goodness I don't live in some unnamed country over the ocean, where gender inequal-ity is apparently "running rampant" in ways that are not backed up with pre-cise locations, statistics, or examples. I am not denying that gender inequal-ity exists. Quite the opposite. I live, as does the author, in a place where 1 in 5 women will be raped in their lifetime. Where 90% of rapes are committed by a man the woman already knows, most likely a partner. Where women in Can-ada make 72 cents for every dollar that a man makes, even though we're not "burning our bras" about it anymore. The author asks, "if we're pushing for… complete equality, where do we stop?" What a bizarre rhetorical question. We stop at equality, I guess? But we must be prepared for an "awkward transi-tion", apparently. I wonder what will be more awkward… when men and women make the same amount of money? When women make up more than 20% of elected national parliamentary posi-tions worldwide? When women are not being raped and assaulted anymore?

Garneau is known for its cute plastic gar-bage bins pinned around the school. In the galleria, we are encouraged by one eyed green monsters and transparent digestive tracts to put trash in its place. They have done their job well; these days the occasional plastic yogurt sleeve on the ground can be traced back to only the laziest individuals. However, as the only places to put our waste in, garbage bins are often filled with recyclable items. Plastic water bottles, crumpled chemistry tests, and empty soda cans find their way into gar-bage bins with banana peels, saran wrap, and old shoes (I’ve seen it). It doesn’t take an environmentalist to say it’s a shame that instead of being processed into recycled goods, our recyclables are ending up in a landfill with all our other trash.

Fortunately, TDSB policies dealing with handy work like simply pinning recycling bins to the wall changed since five years ago. No longer do we have to hire contractors to do the gargantuan task of drilling four holes in cement and screwing a plastic bin to the wall – we can save most of the $500 it would have cost by letting our trained custodian staff do the job. So why don’t we have recycling bins? It’s not because our caretakers don’t want to; it’s because there are no bins to install. When the existing garbage bins were installed, space was left beside them for their twin bins, which former head caretaker Dave Drysdale says were promised to be supplied by the TDSB’s recycling initiative headed by Mieke Fos-ter. Like all other schools, we didn’t get any bins and received no explanation.

More recent reports from the school administration indicate that the instal-lation of bins may be deemed a hazard by the fire department. And yet, garbage bins line the halls, and our recyclables continue to end up in the only bins that are available. Recycling bins will soon be added into the cafeteria, as well as in the pho-tocopying rooms. These are great im-provements. But recycling bins should be in the halls, too. Not so that stu-dents don’t have to walk a little further to a room with a recycling bin, but so that no matter where you go in Gar-neau, our community’s commitment to recycling is clearly visible. It is frus-trating to imagine the only thing stop-ping Garneau from having a recycling program at all is the lack of a couple of bins ■

The Empty Recycling Bin

by PETER WEN

If you’ve dropped by the SAC office re-cently, you may have noticed that it’s sporting a new look. While renovations of this sort typically aren’t cheap, SAC was very conservative with its spending to complete this aesthetic makeover. SAC Treasurer Jerry Wu informed The Reckoner that the cost of the entire op-eration summed up to only $75.25. Con-scious of their own budget, the student council sought out cheaper alternatives to the usual renovation methods. A couch was purchased second-hand from Goodwill, and despite being a bit worn out, gives the office a homey feel. Two locks were also purchased to help secure the office, and donations of furniture such as chairs contributed to the reno-vation as well. The walls, doors and win-dows were freshly painted using both newly purchased paint and excess paint left over from previous school events. The SAC renovation should serve as a model of efficiency for other student-run organizations. The SAC office is a place where in-terested students can come to inquire about school events, participate in fund-raisers, sign up for school activities and

offer their opinions. The student council also acts as a liaison between the stu-dents and the school administration. It’s important that the presentation of the office reflects what it does for the school: providing a hub where students can receive information and give SAC feedback. An ugly, messy office does not give off the vibe that the students’ opin-ions are being valued, or that the office should even be taken seriously in the first place. Because of this, the new look is a welcome addition. Renovations haven’t been previously considered because of cost and the fact that it would be hard to fit a renovation into the budget. However, this time student council was able to collect fur-niture donations and made used pur-chases instead of buying brand new, saving a significant amount of money. Student volunteers also lent a hand in the project, doing things like painting and cleaning up. This renovation shows how student council can successfully achieve its goals while keeping a smart eye on the amount of money involved. Unfortunately, overspending and waste-ful management of budgets isn’t uncom-

mon in many schools and student coun-cils alike, so it is comforting to see that the Marc Garneau student council is still able to think critically when it comes to financial management. Last semester, the effects of the la-bour dispute caused many high schools, including Marc Garneau, to withdraw extracurriculars. As a result, SAC was able to draw from unused resources, providing them with an expanded bud-get for second semester. Despite this, SAC chose to be conservative in their spending even though they could have gotten away with spending a bit more on themselves. This responsibility with spending is helping direct money to where it should be going: clubs and school events. It is nice to see that this ideological model is being followed by SAC, something today’s governments have trouble with. The renovation of the SAC office is a welcome gift in many senses. SAC has demonstrated their willingness to coop-erate, their responsibility to the school and their prudent sense of expenditure. These are traits that today’s govern-ments should strive for. ■

The newly renovated SAC office. Photo: Abigail Chau

Garbage cans lining the hallways combat littering at Garneau, but a lack of recy-cling bins means that recyclables are often lumped in with trash. Photo: Susie Liu

The Price Was Right: by KAARTHIC PULOGARAJAH and DAVID HAO

Letter to the Editor

When slut-shaming and victim-blaming no longer leads young women to commit suicide? We need to have conversations about gender. We need to have articles written in the school newspaper about rights, equality, and positive change for both genders. We also need to have articles

written that come from a place of knowl-edge and understanding, not a rehash of tired stereotypes. ■

Ms. Emma Munro is an English and Leadership Teacher at MGCI. She is also the staff advisor for the school’s Queer-Straight Alliance.

The article discussed in this letter can be found online at http://thereckoner.ca/boys-and-girls. To submit a response letter such as this, send your thoughts to editor@thereckoner.ca .

SAC Office Renovation

www.thereckoner.caDo you have a response to an article in this issue? Make your voice heard! Contact us at editor@thereckoner.ca.

April 2013VOL. 1 NO. 6P4

The Reckonerof Marc Garneau C.I.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFMAHAN NEKOUI

NEWS MANAGERTIANYI MA

LIFE MANAGERKASRA KOUSHAN

EDITORIAL MANAGER

THOMAS DONNELLY

DIRECTOR OF PRINT

DEVELOPMENTSUSIE LIU

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHYSABRINA BERTSCH

DIRECTOR OF WEB

DEVELOPMENTSOHEIL KOUSHAN

BUSINESS MANAGER

RIGERS RUKAJ

DESIGN CONSULTANTYANCHENG LU

SAC CORRESPONDENT

LILY SONG

STAFF MEMBERSABIGAIL CHAU

ALIE TEACHMANANANNA RAFA

AVRILYNN DINGCHRISTINA CHEN

CINDY ZENGCLAIRE HAMILTON

CONNOR ADAIRDAVID LI

FELIPE GONZALEZFRIEDA RONG

GABRIEL WONGHENRY HEJACKIE HO

JOSHUA TSENG-THAMKHADIJA AZIZ

LILY SONGMARA GAGIU

MAYLYNN DINGMICHELLE YEUNG

MIKE LIMJ CHEN

NEERAJEN SRITHARANPETER WEN

QUINCY LAMRYAN MARKS

VALIANT CHANVASILI MANIKAS

APPRENTICESBENSON WAN

DANIEL PEKARDAVID HAO

HELEN FENGKAARTHIC PULOGARA-

JAHSHELA QIUVICKY XU

In our society, those who seek help with mental health are made to feel like they are alone, but according to Children's Mental Health Ontario, about one in five children have problems with their mental health. This translates into ap-proximately 50 000 students across the TDSB. According to the TDSB, support-ing its students’ mental well-being is “much more than offering a sympathetic ear”. The school board provides many ser-vices within their schools to help the stu-dents reach their full potential. Some of them include school social workers, psy-chological services, and mentoring. Stu-dents at Marc Garneau have access to:• a board-hired social worker who is at our school one and a half days every week,• a social worker from a community agency called Oolagen, who is available at our school two days a week,• two leadership courses led by Ms. Munro, a certified Guidance teacher, which are aimed at providing mentor-ship for students of MGCI. Senior Lead-ership students lead workshops for, and tutor younger grades each semester.

• an art therapist who runs a program called “Expressive Arts”, available two days a week in Room 248, and• a Focus on Success (FOS) program where an FOS teacher, an art teacher, and a Youth and Child Worker work to-gether to help students overcome their problems. FOS is a drop-in program for all students; open all five days a week from Period 2 to Period 5.None of Garneau's guidance counsellors are social workers, nor are they supposed to be. Neither guidance counsellors nor social workers can diagnose mental ill-ness; only mental health professionals can do that. Instead, the responsibility for guidance counsellors is to talk to the students, to give them advice according to their situation and keep in touch with them to see how they’re doing. If the advice doesn’t work out, they will then refer the students to one of the school’s social workers. All appointments are completely confidential unless it seems that the student may harm themselves, others, or is constantly being harmed by someone else such as a family mem-ber. No drugs will ever be prescribed. “More serious issues such as clinical

depression or mood disorders are not always understood by students or their families. There are also many stigmas, stereotyping, and bad habits that exist around these issues,” said English and Leadership teacher Ms. Munro, refer-ring to name-calling of troubled students as 'moody' or a 'drama queen'. “When other people stereotype about what men-tal illness looks like, those who are suf-fering feel like they can't talk about it, or they could be labelled as 'crazy' by their peers." According to Ms. Jamal, a Grade 10 guidance counsellor, not enough stu-dents seek help from the Guidance de-partment, but she'd like to tell them that they're completely non-judgmental and that there’s no shame in seeking help. Teachers are asked to refer students who could use some help to Guidance, but it's ultimately up to the student to go forward and speak to somebody who will listen. Students of MGCI should look forward to an exclusive art gallery by Art Council from 7 May - 8 May in the galleria and cafeteria during lunch. The gallery's theme will be mental health and the causes and affects of mental health. ■

There is HelpA Report on Mental Health Support Options Available at MGCI

by KHADIJA AZIZ

An article in the March issue entitled "MGCI Art Show" included photographs misattributed to Michelle Yeung; the photographs were actually taken by Lily

Song. An article in the March issue enti-tled "Extracurricular Activities Return to MGCI" incorrectly stated that the

OSSTF's ban on extracurriculars was ended on 22 March; the ban was actually ended on 22 February. ■

Corrections

Marc Garneau has recently had the plea-sure of introducing a new caretaker to its staff. Mr. Chanmugam has been working with the TDSB for 25 years, and trans-ferred here from his job at Market Place to work closer to home. He is replacing Dave Drysdale, Garneau’s former head caretaker. To Mr. Chanmugam so far, the most impressive attribute of Marc Garneau is its demographic. He enjoys the culture and business of such a vi-

brant community, although it’s a change from working in elementary schools where the student body is 300 kids. For fifteen years he’s been working at the elementary level where he’s been able to know all the kids by name and form personal connections with the students. Certainly working at Garneau will be a big change, and we are happy to have him. ■

Mr. Chanmugam, the new caretaker. Photo: Jackie Ho

MGCI Welcomes New Head Caretaker

MGCI Among Champion Schoolsin National Math Contests

Housed within the Faculty of Mathe-matics at the University of Waterloo, the Center for Education in Mathemat-ics and Computing administers many Canadian Mathematics Competiions written by more than 200 000 students internationally each year. Marc Garneau students achieved first, second, and second respectively in the Pascal, Cayley, and Fermat contests, multiple-choice exminations lasting 75 minutes designed to challenge students to use their problem-solving skills. This year, close to 25 000 students in Ontario registered for the three contests. Gold medallists for these contests are selected from each school according to their contest scores. Ninth grade stu-dents Morris Chen, Defilia To, Rebecca Wong, and Victor Yu received gold medals; their combined scores placed the MGCI team as one of the top-per-forming schools with a perfect score of 450/450. Grade ten contestants’ com-mendable scores landed MGCI as the second placed spot in Canada with a score of 426/450.

Eleventh grade student Jerry Zhou won a gold medal score and regional champion prize, while the combined eleventh grade MGCI contestants landed the school a second-place finish with 430/450. Also from MGCI, David R. Wang, Jessica Cao, Amelia Zhou, Si-mon Huang, Mike Li, Susan Su, Tariq Haji, and Jerry Wu were featured on the contest's Honour Roll. Despite challenges earlier in the year due to the ban on extracurriculars, the math contests went ahead on 21 Feb-ruary in periods 2 and 3 thanks to the efforts of Ms. Chan and Mr. McMaster. “As a team, we are definitely among the best, [even though] none of us are really the best at math in Canada,” says veteran competitor and Math So-ciety President Jerry Wu. “We are able to achieve amazing results because we are overall really good whereas in other schools you have just one or two high scorers. [MGCI’s] math program is very strong and the teachers are supportive. Everyone helps each other so no one is left behind.” ■

by MAYLYNN DING

by ALIE TEACHMAN

The Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute Selects boys soccer team attended a tournament on Wednesday 3 April at the Downsview Hangar. The team practiced hard, twice a week at Grenoble Public School’s soccer field. Players were confident of their abili-ties and arrived at the games with high hopes, aiming to win as many games as possible. After a tough day, the Selects lost three games, the first against Lea-side (0-2), the second against Langstaff (1-3), and the third playing Waterloo (2-3). Ninth grade striker Eric Su reflected on the outcome: “It was a good experi-ence. We saw where we went wrong and understand how to improve. We are slightly disappointed with the outcomes, but we know that you can’t win all the time. At the end of the day, our team

won’t be hampered with just a bad day, so we take the losses light-heartedly”. When asked what went wrong during the tournament, Su cites hesitation to shoot: “We were cautious and tried to wait for the perfect shot.” In many instances, the perfect shot never came. Eric comments that the coaches con-tribute significantly to the Selects’ game-play. “We’re lucky to have Mr. Fradelos and Mr. Chrisopoulos as our coaches. They’ve put so much of their time and effort to make our team happen.” Afterwards, Coach Chrisopoulos spoke of the Selects’ future plans. “We are reg-istered for several more tournaments. In the near future, the Peel Cup in Missis-sauga will be on May first and the Sen-ator O’Connor Tournament will be on May seventh. We hope to take this team, or next year’s team out of the province,

maybe even into the United States for tournaments. We are trying to get play-ers recruited, either into university or the pro league. As well, we will have for-mer pros from Europe coming in to train the players.” Coach Chrisopoulos is proud of the team’s solidarity. Most of the team’s ac-tivities are coordinated separately so the players attend non-TDSB soccer tourna-ments in addition to the ones inside the board. “We have our own uniforms, our own equipment, our own benches. We even have our own name: rather than being the Cougars, we are called ‘MGCI Selects’.” Coach Chrisopoulos adds that the team is looking for goalies. Inter-ested students are encouraged to try out.

■

After several months of hard work, members of Marc Garneau’s Moonbuggy Team are finally finishing up their de-sign and construction of their moon-buggy, a three-wheeled, collapsible structure designed to race and compete with several other international teams in NASA’s Great Annual Moonbuggy Race. The team’s design process began with sketches, and digital renders of their craft, and continued with consulta-tions with experienced teachers and tradespeople. Construction continued throughout the winter month. In early

March, the team was granted a sur-prise visit by Dr. Garneau, who in turn was offered an opportunity to sit on and test out the moonbuggy. Since then, the team’s story has been picked up by the Sun, Metro, and Omni News networks, which helped the team gather sponsor-ship from Skiis and Biikes, TDM Aero-space and Aversan. Now, the team has designed jerseys, t-shirts, and has designated a rider (grade 11 student Nancy Wu) to partic-ipate in the competition. “This past year has been really exciting” says Peter Wen,

the founder, lead engineer, and proj-ect manager of the MGCI Moon Buggy Team. “At the start nobody really knew what would become of the team, but a few stints of luck, instances of inspir-ing commitment, and several hundred working hours later we are ready. We are really excited to represent Canada next week. We haven’t even painted it yet, but I am proud of my team because it’s already a huge accomplishment to do what no other Canadian high school has done.” ■

MGCI Moonbuggy TeamPreparations Continue

Boys’ Soccer Team Takes to the Pitchby DANIEL PEKAR

by TIANYI MA

Left: the moonbuggy as it nears completion; right: a member of the MGCI Moon Buggy Team working on their vehicle.Photos courtesy of MGMT, used with permission.

Grade nine medallists. Photo: Tianyi Ma