Students and staff jumped at the opportunity to participate in the many events MSS offered this week. On Wednesday, April 12 the badminton team travelled to Elliot Lake for NSSSA. The junior singles and midget singles and doubles played at VFG while the junior doubles and senior singles and doubles played at ELSS. All of the competitors from MSS played their best and represented our school well. Six boys from MSS placed in the top two of their divisions and qualified for NOSSA: James Scott placed second in junior boys’ singles, Tyler King placed first in senior boys’ singles, partners Pierre and Dylan Moggy placed second in midget boys’ doubles, and finally Josh Robinson and AJ Vankesteran placed first in midget boys’ doubles. The OFSSA competition will be held on May 5-7 in North Bay.
On Friday, April 14, Mrs. McGraw and the Three Fires Confederacy of MSS put on their 20th annual Pow Wow. At 12:30 the students and staff of MSS were welcomed into the gym by Master of Ceremonies, Don Abel for the Grand Entry of the pow wow. The flags were carried in by Tyson Otosquaiob, Dillon Dunlop, Nathan Bush and Caleb Blackbird. Following the flagbearers was Joe Endanawas and the head dancers, Jolene Debassige and Shane Kaiser. Next the guest dancers from Lakeview Public School came out. There were ages ranging from seven to eleven and different dancers including jingle dress, grass, shawl, and traditional. Once the Grand Entry was finished, there was an intertribal dance, where staff and students from MSS, and the different attending tribes joined the dance area and joined in the flow of dancers. There were several different pow wow activities including spot dances, Bet You Can’t, and the Potato Dance. During the Potato Dance, Mr. Theijsmeijer and Mr. Balfe won the first round, never once losing their balance—even on one foot. In Bet You Can’t, the MC put a five dollar bill on the floor, and participants had to pick it up off the floor with their mouths without using their hands, bending their knees, or falling. Many students succeeded. Gymnastics coach Mrs. Theijsmeijer and gym teacher Mr. Gurney were called out by the whole crowd. A drummer sweetened the prize by donating an extra $10. Mr. Gurney tried his best, but just couldn’t stretch far enough. With a bit of convincing, Mrs. Theijsmeijer also tried the game and showed her flexibility by easily snatching up a fifteen dollar prize. At the end of the pow wow students were able to go thank the Three Fires Confederacy, the drummers, and all the dancers. All of the students who attended the pow wow had positive things to say about the event. April Torkopoulos, a Grade 9 student, said, “I loved it! I’ve never been to a pow wow before and it was so fun and interesting! The regalia was beautiful and the dances were cool. It was great.”
On Friday, the SHARE/Go Green Group conducted energy and waste audits as part of the Ontario EcoSchools project. Ontario EcoSchools is an environmental education and certification program for all grades. Ontario EcoSchools does workshops, webinars, and conferences to equip EcoTeams of teachers, principals, and students with the tools they need to create a green school setting. The SHARE group split up into teams and went around the school checking which classrooms had lights on with no one in them, and which blue boxes and garbage cans had the proper waste inside them. The goal is to increase awareness, conservation, and waste reduction. Next week, SHARE/Go Green will be weighing the amount of waste produced, planting trees, and going on a Field Trip with Manitoulin Streams to a rehabilitation site. Mr. Becks, who is coordinating the initiative, says, “We hope MSS will become a Gold Certified EcoSchool this year.”
Whether it was smashing a shuttlecock, dancing with a potato, or auditing energy use, participation at MSS was on point.
