A stunning turn of events: Odolinski can draw!

It was a typical Tuesday in Mr. Fuerth’s Media 9 (or was it socials 9?? Baah, what’s the difference?) ..the class was unfolding in a typical manner: Isabel and Olivia were paying attention; Isaac was at home in bed; Trevor was bobbing his head back and forth while his mind wondered elsewhere; Haleigh and Ava were so deep into a discussion they weren’t aware they were in a class; Sophia was Sophia-ing; Madi was in the bathroom; and Fuerth was droning on about some useless topic such as, why critical thinking is important to our future - when Brodie (the master of distraction) suddenly held up a piece of paper and exclaimed, “Hey Trevor, that’s pretty good! - Hey Mr. Fuerth, check out this drawing Trevor did of me, its actually pretty close!” Brodie seemed genuinely pleased someone could capture his majestic likeness. Like getting a photo of a unicorn!

Mr. Fuerth, now past the hopes of actually getting through to anymore than the 2 students still listening, approached Brodie’s desk to have a gander at the rendering in question, “Hey, wow! That is pretty good, he really captured your likeness! …Who knew? …Trevor can draw!”

Now no one is suggesting Trevor is without talents; he can recite all the teachers licence plates by memory, as well as where their make and model of car was manufactured. He can tell you everything you never cared to know about Crown Victorias until your eyelids get heavy. But for whatever reason this was different ….it just seemed so un-Trevor like. It just goes to show you, you never really know who you’re sitting beside until you bother taking some time to get to know them.

An apple a day keeps the grade 8's away

By Eva Celella

Ever since the grade 8 (grad of 2027) class came to AESS in 2021, bathroom breaks have been on the rise. Teachers report large numbers of students requesting to use the bathroom at the same time. This increase in numbers has forced some teachers to let multiple students out at the same time as long as they are going different places. A handful of theories have risen to explain the sheer amount of bathroom breaks, but one stands out from the rest as “the only possible explanation,” Mr. Fuerth’s apple theory. 

The problem specifically, stated by Mr. Fuerth, is “consistent, sequential bathroom breaks by the same sex, in a short, demanding timeframe.” It should also be noted that it effects females more than males. Historically teachers have always accused students of not going during the break leading many to believe this is the cause. It has also been mentioned that students may not realize they have to go the bathroom until it is mentioned. Mr. Fuerth’s  theory states that students, specifically grade 8s, leave an apple in the bathroom. They then ask to go to the bathroom one by one to take a bite of this apple. Recently, following the creation of the apple theory, it has spread through the school through word of mouth, most often from Mr. Fuerth himself. There still is no record of any grade 8 students confirming this theory though many wonder if they will ever speak about it. 

One piece of evidence that supports this theory is the fluctuation in bathroom visits. Mr. Fuerth believes that this is due to different apple varieties in the bathroom. Mr. Fuerth has stated that the “most likely source” of apples is the office, though it is unknown where the apples originate if the office has no apples. He has also stated on multiple occasions that he believes granny smith apples have appeared in the bathroom, which is an apple that is not displayed in front of the office in regular rotation. It has also been stated that an apple of the jazz variety is a symbol of class, and he hopes that students use them more often. 

As of now there is no known solution to this epidemic, but as the school year comes to an end, bathroom breaks have slowed. It is unknown if this will carry on to the new year. 

Grad 2023

By Holly-Rae Myrden

All the grade 12’s time at AESS is slowly coming to an end. The graduation ceremony will be held at AESS’s gymnasium on June 2nd, 2023. The doors will open at 3:30pm then the event will begin at 4:00pm. This year’s valedictorian is Kylie Gerrard, becoming a valedictorian usually means someone has reached the highest level of academic achievement out of all the students in their class. Kylie Gerrard is a hard worker, winning a $40,000 scholarship from a well written essay. Kylie has achieved two major goals in AESS by becoming the student council president along with becoming the valedictorian, which shows how much more she will achieve moving forward. She will also be presenting a speech at the ceremony recapping the time she had at AESS. The graduates are still expected to attend school until the last day and finish off the year strong. Everyone is welcome to the ceremony but if you were to attend the graduation banquet afterwards it would’ve cost $80. Make sure to come and congratulate your siblings or friends as they make one of their final appearances in AESS. 

Activity day has returned

March 9th was the first AESS activity day in three years. Because of COVID, the school had not had one in 3 years. For the day, students could choose a variety of different activities such as; skiing, skating, snowboarding, tubing or multiactivity choices such as; rock climbing and a movie or swimming or escape room and laser tag.

I went to the aquarium with my friends. The bus ride was exceptionally long on the way back (traffic), but it was short going there. The aquarium is in Stanley Park. We had to wait for the teacher to sign us in and then we just got to roam around and do whatever. It was cool because we got to see all the animals, and we got to watch a show about them training sea lions. We took Hastings Street, where all the homeless people live, it is incredibly sad.  

For the skating and the movie; they skated for like 45 minutes and watched Black Atom, the new superhero movie by ‘The Rock’. 

The skiing was fun, but there were a few accidents, one student had to go to the ER, hitting his head on a tree and Jordin hurt her leg. It was a mostly sunny day with hard packed snow. 

The laser tag and escape room were in Langey and had about 50 people in total and there were 3 groups, they got free pizza! 

School dance next week! - Under the Starry Night 

By Jordin Walker

On March 8, a school dance will be hosted in the gymnasium at 5:15- 7:30PM. The theme is starry nights, which means the colour palate is purple, blue, black and a little bit of white. 

Tickets are being sold outside of the commons room for $5 everyday at lunch. Perhaps you have heard the announcements, "go by your tickets now, before they are sold out!” And they mean that, so go buy your tickets now before they are sold out!  

If you are hungry while you are at the dance, there will be a concession stand for you to get food, so bring some cash.  

If you are a grade 12, you can bring a friend from another school, but you just must give the school's phone number to Ms. Swinford and if they are home schooled you can give the guardian's number to Mrs. Swinford, and they will contact the school or guardian beforehand. 

Japanese students visiting AESS

By Jude Greenizan

Were you aware that AESS has a sister school in Japan? Yes, in fact, we do. Some of the Japanese students come from Japan to our school while it is their summer break. They come here to learn English. Japanese students have been coming to our school since 2013. When the Japanese students come to our school, they stay at host families. A host family is a family who has one or more students stay in their home for the month they are here. The main reasons the students come to AESS is because they are trying to learn English so they can go to college in Canada or in the USA. Our school would like the students at our school to be as nice as they can, so our visitors feel safe. They might not understand you or you might not understand them but please be considerate and use this opportunity to learn about new culture. Our school has an assembly for the Japanese students about the culture, and it is on February 21. The students also go to manning to go tubing. The Japanese's students are paired up with leadership students to make friend's and show them around the school. The Japanese students also have other class other than English they go to elective's and for half the day is they do English. 

AESS Christmas concert December 7th!

By Brooke Anderson

If you're interested in live music and/or theatre, come to AESS’s Christmas concert on December 7th at 7pm in the gymnasium! 

Ms. Martin, her grade 8 drama class and their tutor will be performing the classic play “A Christmas Carol” with Ms. Hunts band class playing in-between every few scenes. 

Were excited to be hosting an event like this! COVID has stopped concerts, making this our first concert in about 2 years. AESS has not had a drama class since 2002. We are happy to have a drama class again and to be performing for the school! All thanks to Ms. Martin for teaching drama 8! 

The cast of the play is 

Scrooge – Camryn Wood 

Young Scrooge – Trevor Geldart 

Fred – Wyatt Cote 

Bob Cratchit – Madilyn Marchesi 

Mrs. Cratchit – Brooke Anderson 

Peter Cratchit – Brody Gorzo 

Tiny Tim / Sparsit - Colin Twigg 

Jacob Marley – Emma Giesbrecht 

First Spirit (Ghost of Christmas Past) / Girl – Amy Jolly 

Second Spirit (Ghost of Christmas Present) - Zeplynn Jarvis 

Third Spirit (Ghost of Christmas Future) - Brenden Van Ginkel 

Fan, Scrooge’s Sister – Charlize Joe 

Sweetheart of Young Ebenezer Scrooge – Kylie Gerrard 

Gentleman Visitor – Cole Aleck 

Cook – Dawn Julian 

Charwoman – Amanda Hewitt 

Warder – Peyton Armstrong 

Boy – Adrienn Bencsik 

Ben Benjamin – Emma Chrisp 

Jack Walton – Mikaya Deseron 

Come and support your friends in band or the play! 

What is Agassiz doing for Remembrance Day?

By Haleigh Campbell

On Friday, November 11, the town of Agassiz is holding a special event to recognize the bold and courageous acts of our fallen soldiers. The ceremony will start at 10:45 a.m. before the ceremony starts, wreaths will be laid at the cenotaph. Unlike other well know areas like Chilliwack, Mission and Abbotsford this event will be in person. 

Agassiz Secondary will have formal day on November 9th where all the students are recommended to dress formal. On Thursday November 10th AESS will be having a pro-d day. On Friday November 11th school will be closed for Remembrance Day 

Vandalism at AESS

By Madilyn Marchesi

Students at AESS are unable to properly use bathrooms 

The students of AESS have once again started to tag the bathrooms causing them to be closed, although the bathrooms aren’t still being vandalised. The prime suspects of the acts had been the 7th grade students, as a couple of weeks prior a pair of grade 7 girls broke the bathroom stall door by hitting and kicking it off the hinges. The taggers of this year are yet to be caught but rumours have been spread on who the vandals might be. Ms. Swinford has commented on the situation saying that “proper bathroom use is a basic expectation.”  If you see anyone vandalising the washrooms, please report it to Ms. Swinford or Mr. Lawley. 

Controversy strikes as students wonder who really started it all: Ms. Lloyd, or Mr. Fuerth? 

By Olivia Williams 

Pep ralley

By Olivia Williams

On Thursday, December 21st, block order 8765, students were granted with something nobody would've ever expected.

During the first class of the day, right after the morning annoucements, Mrs. Deschenes had called down any colour day particpants for a photo. Even though wearing an assigned grade colour might've seemed like a bit of an odd spirit day if one were to think about it, nobody did, as it was one of the five spirit days for the last week of school. However, that annoucement was followed by another minutes later, calling all student council members to the gym. This was where only the intelligent started to get suspicious.

When my class heard the announcement nobody thought anything of it, and we kept doing our English work. That was until Tianna, who was sitting right beside me, looked over. Could it be, I thought while we both smiled at each other. "Do think it is?" Tianna asked. I took a second to think about it; Colour day, student council members to the gym... "It's got to be a pep rally!" Tianna exclaimed, though in a quiet tone, incase we were wrong.

We put our heads back down into our worksheets, although I for one couldn't think anymore with the exhilerating thought of a pep ralley now engraved in my train of thought. It became obvious that even since Tianna and I were quiet before while talking about it, Koen and Aubrey must have heard us. "We think it's a pep ralley!" I told them. They began smiling as well, and it was thankfully only a short amount of time later that we were all saved from the suspense. We were right... The pep ralley was on!

The gym was everything anyone could've imagined! Bleachers out, balloons everywhere, and music playing loud, representing and carrying the true energy of this event.

To win grade points, events included tug of war, free throw tic tac toe, a balloon popping battle, finish the lyrics, and a few more. (Although might I add that Brooke and I absolutely carried every basketball challenge there was, crushing the senior boys multiple times, completely dominating).

To no one's surprise, though to everybody's excitement, (except for maybe every other grade) the grade 9's won! As of right now, our prize is still unknown. Some may say that winning all three pep rally's of 2023 might be enough, and maybe it is. All I know, is thank goodness I'm in grade 9!

AESS fall hikes 2023

By Olivia Williams

This fall, AESS went on a total of six hikes, varying in level of difficulty. It was without doubt a successful hiking year for the school, as the outings included Snow Camp Mountain in Manning Park (challenge), Dragon’s Back in Hope (moderate), Tikwalus Trail in Spuzzum (challenge), Spirit Caves in Yale (moderate), and finally, the Lightning Lake loop in Manning Park (easy). I went on nearly every hike, only missing out on one...the Spirit Caves trail.  

My favourite hike would have had to have been either Snow Camp or Tikwalus, although I did enjoy the Lightning Lake trail as well, particularly because Mr. Fuerth brought his dog. I think it goes without saying, (especially coming from someone like me, whose dog is their best friend) that hiking with almost any dog makes the journey more pleasurable. Snow camp had gorgeous views, beginning all the way from the ridge that you walk along before reaching the summit, and I think everyone appreciated it even more when the clouds cleared away as soon as we got there!  

However, despite the other great view we got from Tikwalus, something unfortunate also happened. We were more than halfway to the top of the mountain, and someone (nobody knows who) must have stepped on a wasp nest! Mr. McDonald was leading the way, with a group of about five or so behind him, but Koen, Aubrey and I had fallen a few minutes behind because we were filling out these worksheets at a sign. The three of us wanted to catch up when we finished writing, so we started running along the trail, but then... The bees came out of nowhere, attacking us like never before! We tried sprinting past them, but all ended up getting stung in the end, as well as the group that passed the area a little while after us. Some people were lucky, and only got stung once or twice, but some were the real targets of the bees, being ambushed over and over again. I think Mr. Fuerth got a total of nine stings, one of which was on his lip! 

Although getting stung was awful, it sure did make Tikwalus a memorable hike!  

Now that the fall hikes are over, I’m looking forward to snowshoeing in the new year. Since it’ll be winter, hopefully no more wasp attacks take place, and we go on some good trips! 

Jeopardy

By Aubrey Sutton

This story is true with an underlying lesson of expectation vs reality.  

The Leadup.  

Today May 17th, 2023, we had the long-awaited School Jeopardy, everyone has been so excited for it since it was announced months ago. I don’t know what anyone expected but most expected the biggest school event ever, but it just never came, until today during second block. The event started by calling everybody to the gym in the usual manner as most special events do but little did we know we were throwing ourselves headfirst into one of the biggest traps since Arnold Schwarzenegger was lifting. We were welcomed into the gym by the planners themselves, the schemers themselves, the top of the pyramid. We are put into three teams, grades 7, 8, and 9. We were feeling good because we win most of these events.  

First Blood.  

They started with a cheering competition and just to play it safe they gave the grade nines the least number of points so we wouldn’t get suspicious. Things were going alright for the grade eights for the most part until about halfway through I noticed the grade nines had 7000 points??! They never earned that many points and then noticed we were way down in the 400s. At that moment I realised that the whole thing was rigged and there was not much hope left, except for one thing, a dance competition.

The Dance Off.  

In each grade two people were selected to take part in the dance battle, in our grade Liam and Colin stepped up to the floor. The music started and right off the bat they gave it their all, Liam was rolling all over the floor and busting out crazy moves. Colin was doing calisthenics like balancing on his hands and doing the worm! While they're rocking it, I look over to see the grade nines all sitting down not doing anything! So, I think we’ve got this, the grade sevens were participating but not enough! The music stops, the contestants sit back down, and the results are in, the winners of the dance competition are... The grade nines! If it wasn’t already obvious it was clear as day now, this is a scam. I had lost all hope, not only for this Jeopardy but humanity as a whole. But me and my friends were up to answer the questions, if anyone could settle this dastardly score, it would be us. 

Blatant Ignorance.  

We were doing well until the grade sevens get one wrong, and we knew the answer and it was for 1000 points! We put up our hands and yelled, "steal, steal, steal!” Making it as clear as possible we knew the answer and wanted to get the points. The moderator nonchalantly walked past our group and asked the grade nines, “Do you want to steal?” They say yes and get the points, its over even if we got all the points left up on the screen we couldn’t win. As the last question is answered the grade nines roar. 

A New Hope.  

“But wait; the moderator says, “there's one more thing, a final Jeopardy”. Everyone rushes off the bleachers to help their teams and we realize we are already losing so we risk all our points for this question. They ask the question, what colour can sloths turn? Green! We know it we send it in, and they calculate the points. The grade eights won! We shout, jump, celebrate and march back to class triumphantly. In the end the Jeopardy was very fun and I'm sure we all hope that the event, or something along those lines happens again. 

2023 Pink Shirt Day

By Mathew Talari and Amy Jolly 

Pink Shirt Day is held all over the world on different dates. Canada’s national Pink Shirt Day is on Wednesday February 22, 2023.  It is also known as Anti-Bullying Day.  

AESS does Pink Shirt Day every year, and will be doing Pink Shirt Day on the 22nd of February. It's also on a Wednesday, so come to school with a proud attitude for Anti-Bullying Day. 

Pink Shirt Day all started when two twelfth graders saw someone being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. They decided to help by wearing and distributing pink shirts to everyone. They got 50 pink shirts to distribute. For that week, since they began their distribution, most students wore the pink shirt that week and the bullies, they say never bullied the student again.  

There a plenty of sites that can help give you information on pink shirt day but here is one site that's efforts are being recognized all over the world. Their site is called “pinkshirtday.ca” and there are different places that you can explore. The place that has the most impact is the donate button. They say “Since 2008, CKNW Kids Fund and 980 CKNW have been raising funds for anti-bullying. 100% of the net proceeds are distributed to various organizations that support children’s healthy self-esteem, both with their peers and themselves. They teach empathy, compassion and kindness.” 

“From 2021 alone, they funded programs that impacted over 50,000 children and youth, including the following, Leave Out Violence Society (Love BC), Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Central of BC, Boys and Girls Club of Western Canada, Vancouver Out On Screen Film and Video Society and Stigma-Free Society. There are plenty more programs.” - pinkshirtday.ca 

Don’t forget to wear a pink shirt! 

What is Capstone?

By Brooke Anderson

A Capstone is a great learning opportunity that allows students to reflect and share in important and personal ways. It is a requirement for graduation. The reason we have Capstones is to let students show their knowledge, competencies, and passions that they can offer to get a job, as they combine personal interests, strengths, and new learning with their choice of future possibilities. It gives students better and more superior knowledge so they can be more successful after graduation. It provides an opportunity to reflect and celebrate.  

The Capstone is an opportunity for students to further develop and show off their strengths, passions, and learning journey to an audience. As a celebration of their learning journey, the Capstone is a place where students are encouraged to share successes both in school and out of school, including their reflections on Core Competency development, their contributions and desires, and their plans for after graduation. The capstone can take many different forms, depending on student needs, interests, and the opportunities available in local school communities. 

There are 2 types of Capstones you can do, an E-Portfolio or a Passion Project. If you choose an E-Portfolio you will have to write a big Essay with a minimum of 12 reflections of things you earned throughout high school, you could reflect on classwork, projects, awards, volunteer work, etc. In this essay you must also demonstrate the skills you have developed in high school to prove you are ready to move on from high school. You will be reflecting on 3 core competencies: communication, thinking and personal and social responsibility. You will write about 2 of your career choices, in each one you will write about the career overview, working conditions, salary and future outlook, educational path and why you are interested in those careers. 

Then there is the passion project. There are many options provided for you to choose from, they're the Investigate and Report Capstone, Connect and Collaborate Capstone, Create and Build Capstone, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Capstone, Service Learning Capstone, Create and Express Capstone and finally Personal Story Capstone. Of course, you can choose one you have thought of, it doesn’t have to be one of these 7 provided capstones. 

Now let's go into more depth. 

Investigate and Report Capstone: This process is an opportunity to build research and communications knowledge and competencies through active exploration of a meaningful question, problem, or issue.                       

Connect and Collaborate Capstone: This capstone includes a lot of partner work with a professional or personal expertise relating to your project. This option is portrayed by guided experiential learning, including observation, dialogue, and practice, and opportunities for application. When you can, the student and learning partner should meet primarily in person to encourage relationship building and to get a better understanding on your chosen topic.  

Create and Build Capstone: Applied design is a great skill to have if you choose this option. This process includes growing and understanding of the people for who we are designing products and can be useful in engaging with challenges and/or functionality that require creative ideas and hands-on approaches.  

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Capstone: The main focus of this project is to make and experience the start of a new business initiative and/or explore your desired career paths. You will visualize a product and/or service which is original to you and may include active job shadowing/internship. This Capstone is best for students who are enthusiastic about following a personal passion, self- motivated and want to experience working independently. It may also be a good option for you if you want to meet new people and network with other entrepreneurs and professionals as well as help people use products and services to improve their live. Or you can create and build your own personal brand by becoming an expert and learning about the industry through first-hand experience.  

Service Learning Capstone: The service capstone is for all the students that want to contribute to the community, learn leadership skills, and encourage other to make a difference in their school and community. Through experiential learning, students will contribute to the community, show their desire to make the community a better place, recognize the distinct roles of a team to work towards a goal, and demonstrate a willingness and enthusiasm to actively participate.  

Create and Express Capstone: This capstone option gives students with a creative mode to convey their learning, interests, passions, talents, messages, feelings, and emotions can be expressed through images, words, talents, music etc. Creation and expression can take many forms and includes students sharing their creative work to a fitting audience. 

Personal Story Capstone: This capstone allows you to reflect on and share meaningful life-changing experience/event. It is an autobiography narrated by the student and it will include four stages: identify purpose and intent, plan and design, create and review, and present their personal story. 

These are all the different options for capstones, hopefully this helps you understand better and decide which capstone you will choose! 

First AESS dance in 3 years!!

By Koen Noddin

We are having a dance at our school for the first time since 2019’s Halloween dance. Due to covid most curricular activities, like movie night, sports and dances were shut down. The dance date is undetermined, but it will be around December, the week before school ends, 2022. Our school leadership  is making this dance. They are planning on charging for tickets, the price is also undetermined at this time. The theme of the dance is ‘winter’.   

AESS leadership has an Instagram account

By Koen Noddin

Did you know that there is a cool Instagram account for the school leadership? It has been on Instagram for 2 years. There are many interesting things you can find on the page, such as upcoming events happening inside and outside our school, such as, food drives, toy drives, spirit days and giveaways. If you participate in school spirit days and events, you can earn a big prize for your grade, as you get points for each kid doing the spirit day. Currently, there are 165 followers 45 posts. Every year there is a new owner of the account. This year's current owner is Carlie Van Oort. She mostly uses Canva to make her posters.   

Haloween at AESS

By Maurice Joe-Quipp  and Quentin Reyburn