ANOTHER BUSY MONTH AT KING GEORGE

by Henry MacDougall
(click images to enlarge)

February was a busy month at KG, with fundraisers, clothing drives, report cards, and much, much more! Here are the highlights …

**Close-up of a strip of burnt-out light bulbs outside of the Denman entrance to the KG Gymnasium.**

THE GLOWING WALL — BURNING OUT? … The Glowing Wall, an art installation created by former KG student Stefan Zubovic for King George Secondary’s 100th anniversary nearly 10 years ago, is showing some signs of age, with some light strips becoming burnt out in places. I’ve reached out to Principal Evans, and we are working together with retired KG counsellor Jesse Coomes and the school’s wonderful custodial staff to find a solution.

I will provide an update on new progress in next month’s column.

ROSE GRAMS … The student council ran their KG Valentines’ Day Rose Grams fundraiser this February. Students could purchase a rose with an attached note from February 5-7. The Rose Grams were delivered on Valentines Day to the Valentine recipients’ classroom. The KG Valentine’s Day Rose Grams were real red roses and sold for $2 each or 3 for $5. The fund raiser was a success!

REPORT CARDS … The final semester report cards (for first term) were also released on the MyEd online platform earlier in February, if you haven’t yet downloaded yours, you can do so here.

END OF SEMESTER 1 … Semester 2 has started! Students have now transitioned to new classes after a two-day break to work on unfinished assignments.

INK: A TEEN JOURNAL … If you are a teen writer or artist who is interested in having your material featured in ink, a “teen journal for writing and visual art published by Vancouver Public Library,” scan the QR code in the attached poster or visit vpl.ca/ink to learn more details. Submissions are due April 22nd, 2024.

See the poster to the right for more details.

SLO UPDATE … Although I hoped to include an interview with KG’s School Liaison Officer (SLO) this month, it has unfortunately been made impossible due to an unforeseen circumstance. I hope to be able to conduct the interview for next month’s column.

COURSE SELECTION … Course selection for next year is available for anyone who hasn’t yet submitted their choices. There is a channel in each grade’s Microsoft team with a poll students must fill out. Once this is complete, they may proceed to MyEd to choose their courses. The section for course selection can be found under “My Info” and “Requests”. If you are accessing MyEd on a mobile device, you will need to press the button that says “view full site” before you will be able to access the main page.

INTERACT CLUB CLOTHING DRIVE … The KG Interact club has successfully completed their winter clothing drive. If you don’t already know, Interact club ran a clothing drive this winter for unhoused people in Vancouver parks during the cold winter season. The fundraiser event was in partnership with Vancouver Park Rangers, who wanted a way to help out those who live in the parks at this time of year.

Interact is a service-oriented club that focuses on helping out in the school and neighbourhood community, often through fundraiser events. There is a high chance that you have seen some of these in the past. Some of Interact’s most notable past events may include their "Spin The Wheel” fundraiser last year or their eyeglass drive during the pandemic years. Each Interact club is sponsored by the local chapter of the service organization Rotary International.

**Wide shot of the gymnasium during the MYP Project Fair**.

MYP FAIR … The Grade 10 MYP (Middle Years Programme) Personal Project Fair took place in late January in the school gymnasium. Students in all grades were invited to come check out the well-thought-out projects that the Grade 10s showed off at the fair. The fair was a resounding success! On top of KG students visiting the fair, some other nearby elementary schools sent classes to go see the projects. Parents were also invited to stop by and check out the students’ projects after school.

All visitors were invited to vote on their favourite projects, and the winner received a gift card prize.

SPRING BREAK … Spring break is fast approaching! It feels like it was just winter break, but now here we are with spring break just around the corner! Spring break will begin on Monday, March 18 this year, and classes will return on Tuesday, April 2. This year is going by so fast!

GRAD 2024 … Grade 12 students are invited to the grad dinner and dance on Friday, June 14 at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront from 7 to 11 p.m.. If you wish to attend, the cost is $135.

This year, the grad ceremony will be taking place four days later on Tuesday, June 18 at the Vancouver Playhouse from 2 to 4 p.m.. The cost of attending this ceremony is $110.

If you are a Grade 12 student planning on attending either of these events, please make sure to pay your fees ASAP at https://vsb.schoolcashonline.com/!

Playwrite Matt Cox, creator of the magical world of *puffs*.

SCHOOL PLAY … The KG Drama department will once again be doing a school play! This year, drama students will be taking on the obviously Harry Potter-inspired PUFFS or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, by Matt Cox.

I, like the rest of KG, am HYPED to see what our fellow students have spent so long rehearsing.

PUFFS will be running from Tuesday, May 7 to Friday, May 10 after school in the drama room. At this time, I am unsure of what the price for tickets will be.

KG ROCKS … KG Rocks will be happening again this year! Students enrolled in Contemporary Music 9-12 will be putting on a show for the rest of the school in a fundraiser for the King George music program. The show will take place on June 5 and 6 at 6 p.m., so make sure to buy a ticket if you would like to support KG music.

CELL PHONE POLICY …Following movements all across Canada to restrict phone usage in classrooms, lots of teachers have instituted “phone hotels” in the last couple of weeks. These “phone hotels” are a place for students to drop their phones off at the start of the period, with the goal of lessening students’ distraction during important instructional time.

This is a very big change, and I am interested to see how it will affect KG as a whole.

In closing, I hope everyone has a fun & safe month. Thanks for reading!