This year’s Interscholastic Red Maple Reading Club Celebration was a hit! Nine schools attended Sacred Heart High School on May 29th to form a grand total of 130 students. Costumes were worn, books were discussed, and laughter was heard. Everybody had an amazing time!
The students weren’t permitted to sit with only their friends- they had to ‘break the ice’ with the other schools first. The Icebreaker activity allowed students from every school to interact with each other, and soon everybody was talking and having a ball. The barrier of the separate schools had been broken down and now it didn’t matter where you came from.
The annual Red Maple Trivia was once again won by Immaculata, but St. Joe’s was the second runner up. The questions quickly became increasingly more difficult, but one member of our team hung on to the very last. Next year I’m sure that we will be coming home winners! Our trivia team (Dream Team) was made up of four members of our team who showed considerable knowledge of the books. Amanda Chiounard, Michael Bascelli, Keelia LaFreniere and Emily De Venz. We came so close, too!
Now for the winner of the Red Maple Award. The book Safe As Houses by Eric Walters won by a landslide, although many of the St. Joe’s members expected Darkwing to emerge victorious. Several students who read all ten of the selected books won a prize. The names of these students are Tsu-Trang Nguyen, Robyn Kemp, Keelia LaFreniere, Silvana Botros, Danielle Denisko, Michael Bascelli, Kayla Duguay, Emily DeVenz, and Amanda Chiounard. Congratulations!
Next, of course, lunch was served. Pizza, pop and cake only increased the hyperactivity of the students, and the library at Sacred Heart was filled with the buzz of laughter. Then the students were in for a huge surprise!
Oni, the Haitian Sensation, visited our celebration. She introduced us to her book, Ghettostocracy and her spoken word style of poetry. The poems she told us were a mixture of rap, singing and poetry, very much to my liking. Many student volunteers had the opportunity to partake in some of Oni’s interesting and enjoyable social justice activities, such as Cross the Line and Change the World. She told us of a homeless poet named Crazy Dave who writes poetry… on cardboard! Oni had student volunteers read his poem Warrior to our group. His poem was amazing, and he is very proud of his work (so Oni tells us). But finally, the Haitian Sensation had to leave, and the day was drawing to a close.
Students loaded the buses among their newly found friends from Sacred Heart, Lester B. Pearson, St. Joe’s, Frank Ryan, Mother Teresa, St. Paul, St. Mark, St. Peter and Immaculata. Almost all had a door prize from the ongoing draw that continued throughout the celebration. Loaded down with prizes and thoughts of the wonderful celebration, the students returned to their schools with enormous grins on their faces.
Now to answer the question on all of our minds- was this year’s celebration a success? The answer is…
YES!
Written by Keelia LaFreniere
Grade Seven
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