First Dance

The Students' Council hosted its first school dance of the year last Thursday night. Once again Northwestern's dance was a great success. The council hired a local, and very well known disc jockey known as "JJ the DJ" who seemed to know exactly how to get everyone in the mood to dance and have fun. The positive energy of over two hundred young people dancing and singing to their favourite songs is something that everyone should get the chance to experience.

A great deal of planning goes into every dance as each year's students' council tries to ensure that they give the students what they want. Of course, kids being kids, only a small percentage of the students buy tickets to the dance before the last minute and so the students' council members are always somewhat stressed as they worry about whether the dance will be a success (and will break even). Mr. Wybrow is the council's advisor and he too does a great deal of work to get ready for the dances. Mr. Wybrow also arranges for other staff members to attend the dances as chaperones and ensures that they know how much the students appreciate that the teachers help with the dances.

One question that has come up over the last few years is over our use of breathalyzers at the dances. Unfortunately, this has become a necessary precaution. We advertise the fact that every student entering the dance will be breathalized and so there's no guesswork about who should or should not be considered a risk. The purpose of the breathalyzers is to discourage students from drinking prior to attending our events and I'm always happy to see students having so much fun without the benefit of alcohol. It's also fair to say that our use of these breathalyzers takes pressure off some of our more junior students. The choice is clear, if you want to attend a dance, you can't be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and so students who are put in the position of having to respond to an invitation to drink can say no without worrying about how this will affect their friendships. The intent of our use of these breathalyzers is not to "catch" students, but to deter students from making poor choices.

Whether students in attendance at our dances are from our school or from one of our neighbouring schools, the same rules of conduct apply. By cooperating with each other, the principals ensure that students who are not part of our own student body know that they must respect our building and our student body just like they would their own.

I'm proud of our students' council for all of the work they put into events like dances and proud of the leadership they exhibit. Secondary school students are often judged by the behaviour of a few students who make bad choices. A night like last Thursday gives a much more accurate picture of today's young people.

Monday, September 14

Our gradual return to school means that today was the first "Monday" we've been at school even though it's the beginning of the third week of classes. As usual, things are up and running very quickly this year. The schedule of extra curricular activities for the week is shown below. As always, we encourage students to get involved and this list gives just a few of the activities that are going on this week. As shown below, we encourage students to go to the weights room for some training at lunch.

Monday, September 14:
Weight lifting - 12:00 - 12:25 in weight room

Wednesday, September16:
Girls Field Hockey - NWSS @ Goderich
Girls Basketball - St.Anne’s @ NWSS - 3:00 pm
Weight lifting - 12:00 - 12:25 in weight room
Emergency First Aid and Adult CPR - see Mr. Roth

Thursday, September 17:
Emergency First Aid and Adult CPR - see Mr. Roth
Ms. Fricker students to Blythe Festival - leaving at 11:20 am

Friday, September 18:
Weight lifting - 12:00 - 12:25 in weight room

Saturday, September 19th:
Sr. Girls Basketball Tournament at University of Waterloo


Annual Terry Fox Run

Every year Stratford Northwestern students and staff take part in the Terry Fox Run for a Cure for Cancer. This fun run/walk will be held on September 24 during period 2. Students are asked to raise pledges for this event. The pledges are submitted as students leave the school to walk en-masse around a pre-set path that usually goes through our immediate neighbourhood, continues across the river, through the park and back to school. The event usually takes about 40 minutes for those who walk the route. All students are asked to take part in this very worthwhile event.

Day 1 of the school year was a success

Despite the beautiful weather, and the fact that we're back in school before Labour Day, staff and students were all here and classes are back in session.

The grade 7 and grade 9 orientation and assemblies were informative and, we hope, allowed students to interact with new friends. Melissa Schenk from AChannel was our guest speaker and she highlighted the fact that school is only as good as a student wants it to be. Her message to students was that they should think about "how they want to be remembered". This message is one we've shared over the past few years with our students and we believe that if everyone would consider the impact that they are having on those they meet and would act accordingly, then there would be fewer conflicts in our community.

After Melissa's presentation, grade 9 students toured the club and sports fair set up in the cafeteria by senior students and staff advisors. We really do encourage everyone to get involved in something extra-curricularly. Even if you're not an athlete, you can help with yearbook, DIY club and many other activities.

Students Who Wish to Switch Classes

If a student wishes to change a timetable, he or she should make an appointment in the Students' Services Office to see a counsellor. As many classes are already full, it might not be possible to get the change you'd like to have on your timetable this year. For that reason we ask that you attend the classes shown on your timetable until the guidance counsellors have time to see you--otherwise you're missing instruction in a class that you might need to keep on your timetable and decreasing your own chance of success in that course.

This Week's Schedule

I'd like to remind everyone that this week's classes will run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We then have a four day weekend to celebrate Labour Day. Classes resume for everyone on Tuesday, September 8.