Do you remember your very first day of high school? Do you remember the feelings of excitement and fear swirling around in your stomach as you step into your new school for the first time? Whether you attended Manitoulin Secondary School or a school far away from here, those feelings are universal. On Wednesday, September 6 MSS’s incoming Grade 9 class experienced what generations of people have: getting lost trying to find their classes, cursing the person that invented combination locks and trying to figure out where to sit at lunch. Settling into a new routine can be tricky at first but by the end of the week many of these new students began to figure it out.
Of course, it was not only the Grade 9s coming back to school. The older grades were also finding their new classes (though with a bit less difficulty, I suspect), and catching up with friends. Students and teachers alike were settling back into their routines and preparing for the year ahead.
This year will be especially important for our senior class, as for most Grade 12s it will be their last year attending high school. These students will soon begin applying to universities and colleges and making arrangements for the next steps in their lives. This past Wednesday may have been bittersweet for our Grade 12s as it was their “last first day.”
There have been several new classes offered at MSS this year. One of them included an after-school musical theatre class. This class runs from three to five on school days and counts as a credit towards graduation. There will be a robotics class that will be offered next semester. And for our tech classes a CNC machine and laser printers are being added.
Along with these new classes there is also a new busing policy being introduced. Students now have bus cards with a QR code on them that must be scanned before they take a seat on their bus. This was implemented to ensure that students were on the correct bus and to confirm where students got on and off the bus. On Friday, September 8 these bus cards were handed out at lunch to students and subsequently used as they boarded the bus to go home at the end of the day.
On Friday, September 8 an interest meeting was held for the junior girls’ basketball team. This session was hosted by the coaches Mr. Balfe and Mrs. Watson. It is sure to be an exciting season. Best of luck to our athletes!
The Stratford Trip is coming up soon and there are still three spots available. The Stratford Trip is an annual field trip where students head to Stratford, Ontario to see different live theater performances. This year students will be able to see ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ ‘Les Belles Soeurs, Rent’ and ‘Spamalot.’ It is sure to be an unforgettable experience as Stratford is known for their incredible productions. There was a meeting for participating students on Tuesday at lunch.
This week marks the beginning of the Week of Welcome, or WOW. WOW is filled with activities to help ease the transition into high school for Grade Nines and celebrate all students. Some of the activities included: Selfie with Stangley (the school’s mascot), as well as lunchtime trivia in the cafeteria, and a spirit day.
That is all for this week! Best of luck to all our students this upcoming semester!
Until next time, go Mustangs, go!
