Clubs and Committees

DECA:

This school year, the STL DECA chapter upped the game, played to win, and shattered all precedences on the provincial and international stage. With a record-breaking number of members placing top 10 at DECA Ontario’s provincial competition, the 14 students headed down to Orlando to compete at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). From April 25th to May 2nd, students enjoyed the Floridian sunshine, all while training, networking, competing, and touring Universal and Disney Springs. All students performed phenomenally, and special shoutouts go to the team of Mary Zhuang and Aishwaria Maxwell, and the team of Mikail Bardai, Renee Wu, and Sherry Yang for placing top ten overall in their respective categories. A huge congratulations goes to Angelina Zheng for placing 1st in the world in the category of Principles of Business Administration.

The DECA chapter at home was working hard to bring DECA day to STL students. The chapter ran a booth promoting all the benefits of getting involved with a business club like DECA, posing the question “What kind of professional do you want to be?” DECA Day was sponsored by Ten Ren’s tea, who provided delicious milk tea and peach green tea for students to purchase. DECA Day was a huge success, raising over $800 in donations for L’Arche Daybreak.

Thanks go out to the executive team for the hours they committed to training, meeting and achieving the success that they have this year. STL DECA’s success this year would not have been possible without the dedication and support of chapter advisors, Mr.Garreffa, Mr. Peticca, Ms. Kwong, and the ICDC trip advisors, Ms. Hayhoe and Mr. Deocampo.

Empowered Student Partnerships (E.S.P.) & Stomping out Stigma (S.O.S.):

Our E.S.P./S.O.S. Committee focused on National Mental Health Week in May. St. John's Ambulance therapy dogs were in the library during all three lunch periods. Many students came to spend time with the dogs. They certainly were the highlight of the day. Our Garden of Hope banner allowed students to write down the many ways they deal with stress. In doing this, students are made aware that they are not alone in their struggles with stress and anxiety. We also had a number of organizations come to share the good work they do for our community. We also gave away free fruit to emphasize that eating well and not skipping meals can also help alleviate stress. While mental health issues are an important part of our committee, we also focus on drug and alcohol awareness. MADD Canada came in with their media show No Tomorrow. All students were reminded that impaired driving is never right as the consequences are too serious. Thank you to Officer Rob, our school resource officer who assisted us in a number of our events. Thank you also to Anna Malakhouskaya, our President, and Micaela Onofre, our Vice President, for their hard work on the committee. We also like to thank the many students that helped out throughout the year. Remember, There is help. There is hope.

Free the Children:

Free the Children always strives to have the smallest things make the biggest difference. This year, STL’s Free the Children Club was successful in accomplishing many of our goals. Throughout the year, FTC worked towards raising awareness about the conditions of children and families in third-world countries, such as no access to clean water and children not receiving an education. Our main goal this year, in terms of third-world country issues, was to begin a pool of funds to send a girl to school in a third-world country. As well, FTC looks at local issues, such as homelessness, hunger, and poverty. Just in the first semester, we collected food instead of candy on Halloween to send food to the homeless shelters; we sent Love Boxes to hospitalized children as Christmas gifts, and hosted a Rafiki bracelet sale during Parent-Teacher Interview night. In second semester, FTC held two Rafiki bracelet sales, two bake sales, FTC’s Education Week, and Change Jar booth. We were able to raise up to half our financial goal of sending a girl to school, which is more than we hoped for. Overall, this year’s FTC was, by far, the most successful year for raising awareness, helping out local causes, and for hosting numerous events to work towards our goal. This could not have been done without committed members or without our teacher supervisors, Mrs. Gennaro and Ms. DiBernardo. It was truly an amazing year to be a part of Free the Children.

Zaynab

President of Free the Children, 2018-2019

Model United Nations:

STL's Model United Nations chapter attended the last conference of the year at the United Nations York Catholic Assembly. After a furious day of debate, STL was able to snag four awards. Congratulations goes out to Pe'er Krut for winning best delegate in the World Health Organization, Nesta Muthu for winning best position paper in the Human Rights Committee, and Ritchie Xu for winning both honourable mention and best position paper in the historical crisis committee. Congratulations to all delegates and a special thank you to teacher advisors Ms. DeLucia and Mr. Saggese for their support.

Pride Club:

The Pride Club at STL, a group of dedicated students who work diligently to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues held its annual bake sale in June. It was a huge success, raising over $300.00 for Rainbow Youth York Region, a free support group that provides an opportunity for queer or questioning youth, 26 years-old and under to meet others and share their struggles, successes and stories. We look forward to continuing raising awareness of LGBTQ+ rights next year!