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The community of Valley East is the fastest growing section in the City of Greater Sudbury. We are
also the community with the largest average number of people per household
- a statistic which is indicative of the number of children living at
home. As a result, Valley East is a place where schools are being built
and expanded, not closed. We have a total of 15 schools serving the
population, and a large number of our youth also attend schools in
Sudbury. It is a booming community largely because our schools offer some
of the finest experiences in the region. |
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CONFEDERATION SECONDARY SCHOOL
Confederation Secondary School has had a large number of articles
and features on Valley East Today over the years. For
More>>>>> |
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SAMPLES OF FEATURE
ARTICLES |
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Ontario
Students Against Impaired Driving Group From Confederation
Secondary School Is Committed to Making A Difference In The
Community |
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Austin Powell (Grade 11)
Amanda McCutcheon (Grade 11) |
Hannah Merchant (Grade 11)
Ashleigh McBain (Teacher) |
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The
Learning Clinic Radio Show, hosted by Robert Kirwan on
Laurentian University's CKLU 96.7 FM included members of the Ontario
Students Against Impaired Driving Group from Confederation
Secondary School as special guests on the December 21, 2009
program. Ashleigh McBain, the Teacher Supervisor of the group,
brought along three students to represent the close to 40
students who have signed up to participate during the
inaugural year of this important extracurricular organization.
All students were in Grade 11: Austin Powell, Amanda
McCutcheon and Hannah Merchant. During the show they spoke
about how it was the death of three young teenagers in a
tragic accident in Valley East on June 21, 2009. Steven
Philippe (16) and Jazmine Houle (15), who both attended
Confederation secondary school, were walking along the side of
Hwy 69N in Hanmer with their friend, Caitlin Jelley (15), when
all three were killed by an impaired driver. Students at the
school have shown tremendous support for the activities being
organized by the OSAID group as the students try to raise
awareness among community members of the need for people to be
more sensible when it comes to driving while being impaired in
any way. They stated that while alcohol is often the root
cause of accidents where impairment is a factor, cell phones,
loud passengers, medication, and a long list of other things
that can reduce one's ability to focus on driving.
If you are interested in downloading the radio program to
your computer, just click
here to get to the archives.
Make sure that you have the date set at 2009-12-21; the start
time set at 18:00; and the duration for 120 minutes. Then all
you do is click on "download" and it will be saved
to your computer in an mp3 format. Then you can enjoy the
interview whenever you wish. NOTE: The archives will only be available
until January 19, 2010. |
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Ashleigh McBain and several more of the students in the
group were at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre on Saturday, December 19,
2009, creating awareness among the community of the dangers of driving
while impaired from any substance. |
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The group was set up in the Centre Court area of the Hanmer
Valley Shopping Centre all day long singing Christmas Carols for shoppers
and drawing attention with "Charger" who was a huge hit with the
youngsters. |
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"Charger" even had a chance to visit with Santa
and Mrs. Claus to give them his wish list for this year. Rumour has it
that he wished for a city football championship in 2010. |
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A second display was set up just outside Cousin Vinny's
Restaurant & Bar. The owners of Cousin Vinny's have pledged support
for the group all year long in an effort to promote safe driving practices
among adults in the community.
The purpose of OSAID is to make students aware of the choices they make
when drinking and to make responsible decisions. The students from
Confederation will be raising money all year long to send representatives
to a provincial conference in Toronto on the first weekend of May 2010.
There they will take part in developing leadership skills and be trained
in approaching peers and the community with the issues and seriousness of
impaired driving.
For more information you can go the the Confederation Secondary School
web site or contact Ashleigh McBain at the school during normal business
hours. |
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Confed’s
Evolutionary Band Members Are Earning Their Education |
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Members of the
Confederation
Secondary School
’s Evolutionary Band, all consider their
experience with the group to be memorable and very rewarding. They get to
practice and rehearse for most of the school year to prepare for a Spring
Tour of concerts and trips all over the region under the direction of Band
Leader and Music Instructor, Norm McIntosh. Each year there is usually a
major overnight tour that is the highlight of the season.
All of these activities cost money, and it
is up to each member of the band to do their individual part to help raise
the necessary funds. One of the major fund-raisers of the year is a raffle
which will produce eight winners of beautiful prints by Gordon Drysdale.
Students, such as Hailey Chinn, above, are responsible for using their
creativity and initiative to find ways of selling tickets to the general
public. Hailey is one of the students who have been seen selling tickets
on the prints at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre recently. Hailey, who
is in her second year with Evolutionary, is a member of the crew and is
responsible for the sound board. “I’m not very good at performing or
being in front of an audience, but I love music and wanted to be part of
the band. When I got an opportunity to be part of the crew I took it and I
love every minute of my experience,” Hailey explained. Besides the lead
singers and instrument players, there are a lot of people needed behind
the scenes to make sure that the set is properly constructed and the sound
comes out just right. The nice thing about Evolutionary is that it
provides so many young people with a first hand experience in the music
industry so that they have a better idea of whether or not this is the
kind of career they would like to pursue after high school.
If you have a chance to purchase tickets on
the Gordon Drysdale prints, or if you wish to help the band out with a
donation of any size, just contact
Confederation
Secondary School
and
ask to speak to Norm McIntosh. |
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Amanda
Kohls Helps Spread The Message In Honour of Steven, Jazmine and
Caitlin |
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Steven
Philippe 16, Jazmine Houle, 15, and Caitlin Jelley, 15, troubled Amanda in
much the same way virtually every other member of this community was
upset. Amanda shared the overwhelming feeling that enough is enough. It is
time to stop the madness of drinking and driving and get the message out
in the public once and for all.
So when Amanda approached the rest of the Shoppers Drug Mart Hanmer
staff with an idea to hold a barbecue fundraiser in honour of the three
teens she received their full support. She then called around and gathered
donations from over 65 businesses for the penny table. Under Amanda’s
leadership, the store teamed up with Action Sudbury, Citizens Against
Impaired Driving and put on a tremendously successful event on
Sunday, July 5, 2009
, raising over $3600 to help Action Sudbury in
their efforts to promote safe driving.
Amanda is shown in the
photo with her boyfriend on the left, Johny Goulard. Stephane Leblanc, a
friend of Jazmine Houle, is shown in the background cooking some of the
600 hamburgers and 300 hot dogs that were sold during the day.
Recognizing that she is now at an age where she will be faced with
enormous peer pressure to hit the bars and taverns with the college crowd,
Amanda has noticed that many people in her age group are being “smart”
when it comes to drinking and driving. “When people go out for an
evening in groups there is always one person who volunteers to be the
designated driver. This person is responsible for making sure that
everyone gets home safely and that no one drives after drinking. Many of
us are also taking taxis to the bars when we go out for a night on the
town. I think most of us are starting to take our responsibility
seriously.”
While there are still far too many people getting behind the wheel
of a vehicle when they are impaired, the message seems to be getting out,
especially to the young crowd. Amanda’s mission, however, is to do
whatever she can to continue to get that message across to people of all
ages. The barbecue on the first weekend in July will become a regular
annual event in honour of Stephen, Jasmine and Caitlin. Each year the
money raised for Action Sudbury will be donated in their names. Amanda
hopes that there will be a time in the not so distant future when our
roads and highways will be safe again.
Amanda and
her good friend, Danielle Beaulieu, appeared on the weekly radio program,
The Learning Clinic, hosted by Robert Kirwan, on July 20. Amanda and
Danielle spoke at length about their feelings regarding drinking and
driving. They also shared some insightful information about their own
career aspirations and some of the issues they have faced in school and in
life in general.
Amanda wished to extend
her sincere appreciation to the hundreds of people who stopped by to
support the barbecue and she also wanted to thank everyone who volunteered
in any way to help out. |
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