Confederation Secondary School Welcomes Hundreds To Open House

Confederation Secondary School Principal, Jeff McKibbon, spoke to a packed amphitheatre on January 15 during the annual open house for prospective Grade 9 students. The evening began with a dinner followed by the presentation and a tour of the facility. At least 25% of those in attendance were concerned adults, hoping to see for themselves what the school has to offer their children. All secondary schools provide the same opportunity for members of the public to visit at this time of year. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board was holding a special information session at St. Anne School two nights later. More on that meeting will be provided in the next issue of The Vision Paper.

McKibbon told those in attendance of his personal pride in the accomplishments of graduates of Confederation and pointed out the success of the current students in the areas of academics, sports and community involvement. While he acknowledged that each high school principal makes the same claims, he feels strongly that Confederation Secondary School has done a great deal to distinguish itself among similar institutions in the area. As an example, he pointed out that Confederation has more computers per student than any other school in the Board. In addition, he explained in detail that the school is committed to help all students to succeed.

“It’s what you do with the kids who are not succeeding on their own that sets a school apart,” McKibbon illustrated. “We send reports home every four weeks for students who are identified as being at risk. As well, we conduct interview with these students and have a special ‘Credit Reclamation Room’ where they can get extra assistance from staff members who volunteer their time to help out. We are proud of the fact that a student has to work extremely hard at being unsuccessful at Confederation. Our support system is geared to providing everyone with what they need to succeed.”

Grade 8 students will be making their secondary school selection very soon and are taking advantage of the opportunity to see what each facility has to offer.

Valley East Waves Swim Club Wins Team High Point Trophy At Dinan Insurance Invitational Meet

Members of the Valley East Waves Swim Club took time out from their training schedule to pose for a victory picture to celebrate winning the Team High Point Trophy at the Dinan Insurance Invitational Meet held at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre on January 20. Over 200 swimmers from various clubs in the North-East competed in the Inaugural event. Councillor Louise Portelance and Grant Dinan officiated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday.

Nineteen Valley East swimmers qualified for the Dave Kensit-Pre-Provincial Championships which will be held in Sault Ste. Marie on February 8-10. In addition, eleven (11) members had perfect meets. To demonstrate how much the Waves members have improved, there were 99 personal best times out of 125 swims for the entire team, thus shaving 595 seconds off their previous best times. This was a remarkable performance.

As for individual winners, the Waves had three swimmers win Individual High Point Awards for their respective age categories. Karly Roberts (13 and 14 girls), Eric Dupuis (13 and 14 boys), and Beau Lacroix (15 and over boys) each won high point awards.

The Valley East Waves will continue to provide swimmers such as Logan McGinn (12) and Carli Hill (11), shown in the photo, with opportunities for healthy competition against other clubs in the area and in the province.

Only One More Week To Tell Us Your Story

Many readers have already submitted stories about the first time they met the  “Love Of Their Life”. The Valentine’s Day issue of The Vision Paper is saving space to publish a few samples of how “Cupid” has worked in the lives of our readers. This will be our special way of celebrating Valentine’s Day.

When you first met your loved one, was it “Love at first sight?” Or was there something unusual about the encounter? See if you can express your feelings in words and allow us to share the story with our readers. We are sure that there are some very romantic stories in Valley East and Capreol. Don’t worry about the grammar or structure of the story. We will make any necessary editorial changes to your submission in order to make it flow properly.