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| Week 30: 22nd June, 2005 | Last
Edition for the year: Thursday
30th June, 2005 |
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The annual Internal Awards Ceremony was held Monday, 13th June. At this assembly, the winners of major prizes based on fine arts and sports were announced and were called forward to receive recognition on stage. Presentations were also made to students receiving Colours in fine arts, sports, and academics.been in good one of There are two Awards Ceremonies at the end of the year, with the second — where the major awards and subject prizes will be announced — to be held Saturday, 25th June. All parents and friends of the school of invited to attend, with the function commencing at 2:15 P.M. Note: special presentations and ceremonies specifically related to the graduating class will be held earlier that day. SPORTS AWARD WINNERS |
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FINE ARTS AWARD WINNERS Back
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Tony
Kuo (Helen Ormiston Smith Bowl for outstanding achievement in
Ceramics)
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Sydney
Black (Photojournalism Prize), Marguerite Thompson and Amy Weinberg (Outstanding Jazz Vocalist), Stephanie McClellan (Joyce Maclean Dance Cup, Performance & Choreography), Samantha Choi (Helen Ormiston Smith Bowl for outstanding achievement in Ceramics) Sarah O'Born (The Earnshaw Trophy for Outstanding Contribution to the Performing Arts – Backstage), Jennalee Desjardins (The Butterfield Cup for Musical Theatre) |
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Everyone has their rituals, ceremonies they believe bring them luck. In the stressful Brentwood exam week, these ceremonies tend to come to the fore. Commonly, only the most superstitious among us reveal their practices to the world, but as exams which can determine a grade for the entire year approach, even the most levelheaded people can be tempted by a four-leaf clover. What
then do people do for luck? Though the traditional avoidance of black
cats and ladders is common, there are also those who |
 Math class exam preparation. Method # 1: appealing for divine intervention. |
more complex. Before his Spanish exam, Jonathan Dunstan, Grade 11, chose a rather novel form of studying: instead of opening his books, he opened his mouth, eating a burrito as preparation for the test. Other superstitions include that there will always be more B's and C's on a multiple choice then A's or D's, or simply that in order to obtain luck, you must simply follow the same routine every morning, doing everything in the exact same order. There are always those who will try the radical, however, and break their routine. Moving from a fairly standard haircut, Sunghwan Lee clipped his hair into a less common shape: an overly large mohawk! Unfortunately for his efforts, such a haircut is frowned upon in exams, and he was not |
 Math class exam preparation. Method # 2: ritualistic exercises. |
permitted to test his superstition in an actual sitting. He feels certain, however, that such a cut could have improved his marks dramatically. For those of us less willing to try something different however, there are certainly alternative superstitions available, ones of a slightly less hairy disposition. Story by: Nicholas Chesterley (Grade 11) |
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Not surprisingly, on June 17th, the last true day of academic classes, our Brentwood boys and girls swapped their school uniforms with each other to partake in our annual cross-dressing day. Yes, that’s right, some of our most manly, and athletic Brentonian lads, braved this year’s rather “iffy” June weather, wearing only the Mackenzie tartan kilts, white blouses and black knee socks. Girls alike, dressed, though somewhat shyly, in the baggy gray pants and shirts of their best male friends, and all made their way to their last classes of the school year. There is a somewhat hazy fog cast over the length of this tradition. When asked, even Mr. John Allpress and Ms. Eileen Mais, could not exactly recollect when this tradition began, but it seems to have sprung out of the tradition of the old “rent-a-grad day,” (which used to be called “slave day” which in its time, rapidly became a very popular day of “drag” or cross dressing for many |
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male Brentonians; even the teachers had the urge to participate and dress up. This year, to celebrate “Hanimatsuri” or “Girl’s Day” which happens annually in Japan, Grade 12 student, Hanako Okano, organised an event, similar to “slave day,” in which the senior boys were auctioned off to the girls; once again, most of the those auctioned dressed up in girly clothing. In fact, it seems that when any human auctioning of any kid takes place at Brentwood, there is an uncontrollable urge in the majority of our male population to dress up in “drag.” Is this merely coincidence, or is there more to our Brentonian men than meets the eye? Whatever it may be, it can’t be denied that the male-kilt turnout was quite extraordinary on this year’s cross-dressing day, as the pictures will doubtless prove. Thanks to Ariana Vito, David Sommer, Brynne Clark, Annika Hammerschlag, Michelle Child and Joni Toews for sending in their photos! Story by: Amy Weinberg (Grade 12) |
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In the beginning, everything is white walls slanting downwards to meet blue carpet stretching to touch white furniture. White shelves blend into the surface of the walls smoothing over corner shadows and over the folds of the white curtains. And you’re standing there, an island of colour, tanned cheeks fading with the end of summer, stained with a shy blush, surrounded by brown cardboard boxes and the splash of pattern of bedding. The overloud voices of your parents saying goodbye in unison with all the other parents hugging and kissing goodbye surges forward with the pressure of all the whiteness around you. Enclosing your small refuge of colour until you have turned a disturbing shade of white – a kind of chameleon effect. |
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| To stave off the psychiatric ward feel of stale, disinfected white, roommates in all the houses take to decorating. Vibrant fabrics push back the flat walls, clashing with a handed down couch and splotches of pictures. An oasis of personality and character is created inside the room and the terror of whiteness is forgotten. Until the end of the year, that is. Here in June, it is, once more, time to start packing away the incredible amount of stuff each student has collected over the school term. Organised for a #1 inspection the task looks relatively easy, a couple drawers of clothes, school supplies, sports equipment, all the basics. Boxes come out once more, and the layers of decorations and memories begin to peel away. Gasps of shock at the accumulation of possessions that have been tucked around the room can be heard at all grade levels, the seniors in particular. “I still have this…?” and “Where did all this come from?” are common phrases around this |
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| time of year. Packing is not simply the physical exercise of tightly packing objects into suitcases, nor simply a mental calculation of how much can I stuff in here and still carry it out? As well, it is an emotional reliving of the past months and years at Brentwood. For most, the job is relatively easy. Boxes of decorations and all the random things no one can bring themselves to throw away are packed and left in the storage facilities and suitcases of the more necessary items are packed to take home. For the Grade 12 class, storage is no longer an option, making the packing business that more difficult. Every item must be evaluated and passed down to the younger grades or set in the always growing pile of things to take home. Fridges and couches readily change hands, but the familiar collection of room decorations are less easily parted with. The teenage years, 13 to 18, are spent at Brentwood and the diversity and amount of things collected by the end of the year portray the awkward task of growing into an adult character. Taking down each piece of the room, wraps up many memories of those years. Parting with some items is impossible. They have been guards against the creeping whiteness, distracters during long prep sessions, and have witnessed all the laughs and tears of the years. In the end, as colour slips back onto faces in form of sunburns and tans, the rooms, full circle, re-emerge as dense whiteness. White paper and study notes clutter desks and the hallways turn into jungles of suitcases and boxes. Shelves are steadily emptied as textbooks are handed in and binders recycled during the progression of exam week. Walls, covered yearlong, are breathtakingly white, smudged only by fingerprints and hints of sticky tack. Pure canvases, they await next year’s residents. Story and pictures by: Andrea Norlund |
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 Tella Osler and Mary Nielsen struggle with a box. |
 Is this actually Alex House? |
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On Monday of last week, the Grade 8 students enjoyed a barbecue and fun and games on the lawns of the Head of School's residence. Hosted by Mrs. Andrea Pennells, the event was a lighthearted and very welcome relief from exam preparation and the busy schedule at the end of the term. Games included volleyball and botchy ball, but the main attraction was the opportunity for all to relax in good company. The same routine was then followed for each of the other grades, each day for the remainder of the week. |
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 Grade 8's |
 Grade 9's: Tate Rose, Sam Silbergeld, Sean Ferguson, Brendan Muehlenberg |
 Grade 10's: Nick Hsu and Michael Pasnak |
 Grade 10's: Amanda Petersen, Liz Cosulich, Sammy Hull, and Arianna Vito |
 Grade 10's: Christine Yam and Evan Mallory |
 Grade 11's: Scott Smith, Greg Malcolm, Fletcher Evans, Natasha Mansueti, and Alex Hull |
 Grade 11's: Lindsay Rinning, Carly Turnbull, Stephanie Kral, and Kim Benda |
 Grade 11's: Kira Gersten, Noah McColl, Graham Gilbert, Scott Smith |
Grade barbecue pictures courtesy of Gerry Pennells |
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All students in Grades 8-12 write examinations in the final week of term. These papers are usually two hours in length and required in almost all subjects. The examinations, which constitute between 25-40% of the students' final grade, are held in the sports complex, with Grade 12 students writing in the old auditorium. The internal examinations began Saturday 18th June with the last subject papers to be written Friday 24th June. With the advent of departmental examinations at the Grade 10 level, many students in Grades 10 and 12 will remain on campus after the Awards Day ceremonies to complete their papers. Study sessions and extra classes have been arranged for the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of next week. The final examination will be History 12 written on Wednesday 29th June. |
 Renata de la Pena and Ben Pickering |
 Rona Mitchell |
 Taylor Poelman |
 Taylor Pears |
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The littered halls sigh at the mighty weight of the overflowing boxes. Hangers relax as clothes are sorted and packed. The walls are naked once more and the students could not be more unsettled. Do they celebrate at the end of another challenging Brentwood year? Or do they reminisce on the joyous escapades after prep and those little moments, so quick to be forgotten? With the unstoppable death of a school year comes the birth of another, just months away. The glass tilts between half full and half empty. The student body is on a roll by the time the year ends. Finally becoming masters of their schedule, sports, classes and fine arts, the rug is violently pulled from beneath their feet and they tumble into the world of summer vacation. Lazy, school free days look closer than ever before. All that is left is finishing those exams and then applauding each other out the door. For some, it’s not as simple as a ceremony. This year, the exam schedule differs in that Grade 10's must also remain after Awards Day to complete several of the provincial exams. It is most confusing to celebrate graduation only to realise that it is not quite over. In fact, almost half the school stays for exams. We spend an entire day saying goodbye, only to say hello the next morning. So how do we effectively ease into our alternate identities? Sort the Brentwood lives into boxes and shelve them away for two months? Two months seems like an eternity, and yet, when it is over, we will all look back and gasp at the speed with which it raced by. Returning to our hotel homes we pick up where we left off the year before. The cycle of our school-aged lives begins anew. Story and pictures by: Jennalee Desjardins (Grade 12) |
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 Camera-shy Rogers boys run to return textbooks. |
 Katie McShane packs away Renata De La Pena and Sarah Bell-Etkin |
