Moving!

We're moving the Hillelian to a new location! Facebook!

So say goodbye to the blog and hello to the new Facebook page! Click this link and simply like the page for The Hillelian updates! Thanks soooo much for all your support and we ask that you continue to support us!

Love you,
Alysia, Brooke and Charles.

https://www.facebook.com/thehillelian

Hillelian Vlogs!

Thanks to an idea courtesy of our fellow student Alexander Brewster, Brooke and I have decided we're gonna make vlogs! I mean what's a blog without some regular videos? Videos... on a blog.... blog posts in video form...video blogs... vlogs, duh.

So, Brooke and I have come together and made our plan of action. We'll be posting monthly vlogs at the end of each month, summing up anything and everything that happened concerning Hillel during that month. So, videos we take of assemblies, classes, school events, sporting events, clubs will be mashed up into one big vlog that we'll post at the end of each month.

But we want your help and input, we want these videos to be something you look forward to watching, so what better way to do that than have you send in videos or pictures you take yourselves...funny videos or pictures of your friends at school, funny things that happen in class, during school or at different school or class activities. Send them in secretly, don't let them know and when we post it you'll all be dying of laughter all over again.

Sounds good right? So, look out for the first one next week friday summing up the past two terms, and after Easter we'll start the end-of-the-month vlogs!


Alysia

Peer Counsellor Advice Post #1 - Bullying

To this day... 

Everyday, people all around the world are bullied. It can result in serious emotional or physical pain. So before you do or say something mean, think, what if someone did that to you? Also, if you are aware of someone being bullied, speak up! Tell a teacher, a parent, a friend, or just anyone that you know you can trust. We have the power to stop bullying, one step at a time.

The video above is the original video, with all the animation and transitions but this is another version from a TED talk that the poet, Shane Koyczan, did recently. Let's you really hear his voice, and see his expressions...shows you his true feeling. Yes, I cried quite a bit. 

Racquel Thwaites, Ashlee Touzalin and Leah Brown - our peer counsellors in training! 

Congrats to the new Student Council Executive Body! So what's next?

As I would normally say, "new Student Council Exec body in the House!"

About a month ago, a new Student Council Executive body was voted in here at Hillel Academy, school of democracy and universal student suffrage. As you all should know, the entire student body voted and decided that you really can't go 'wong' with Megan Wong. Congratulations again, Megan! 

Because we know it takes some time to get used to the new leadership position and responsibilities involved - we gave our new Student Council president, Megan Wong, some time before interviewing her about what's to come for the SC!

1. Who is in the new executive body?

President - Megan Wong

Vice President - Jodi Chung 

Secretary - Bradley Chen See 

Assistant Secretary - Kieran Cousins

Treasurers - Julia Foote and Kathrina Dabdoub

Upper Coordinators - Suhaas Romani, Shania Gloudon

Lower Coordinators - Ally Fatta, Arianna Dabdoub

2. How do you feel being the new president of the council, especially about making a name for yourself in the club seeing as a new member?

Firstly, I'm extremely honored to have been voted as President out of so many worthy opponents and I feel as if I can really make a change in my year as Student Council President. Of course making that change would require me to be liked by the council members so I really I feel as though they respect me and value my suggestions. I think campaigning through the election period really helped me  in the "making a name for myself" part. I walk around the school and most kids greet me with a smile, wave or say 'Hey' and it really makes me feel welcomed.

3. How has the council responded to you being president, how have the meetings gone so far? 

In our first meeting Jodi and I worked together to run it. It was my first time running one, of course, but I felt like I was in control. I had Jodi by my side and we work really well together in terms of keeping the council in order and initiating discussions. I felt like the council really engaged in the discussion and  new sense of order was brought to the meeting which I hadn't witnessed before. I guess Jodi and I really do make a great team!

4. As president what are your personal goals for the upcoming year? 

Personally, I'd really like to cover the walk ways that aren't sheltered during the rain and become a part of the National Secondary Students' Council. But a pressing matter expressed by the student body is the speed of the internet. I know the school has been trying to fix this (covering the walkways) but perhaps adding a little more persistence to the requests will show them how urgent this issue really is. I really want to make the student council a bit more prevalent and noticed in the school by increasing the number of meetings we have, as well as the number of projects. Our main focus however, is really just improving the school in any way we can. Though we haven't planned out every activity we plan to pursue, Jodi and I have great expectations and plans for the coming year. 

5. What are the recent happenings in SC? What are the new projects the council is planning for the upcoming months and what problems are they planning on addressing?

Well, we were recently asked by the PTA to promote the party Frenzy but difficulties with that arose so it was postponed. With that in mind, we have been discussing new ways to promote and even new types of fundraisers in general, ideas such as a family barbecue or a party with a different theme are among those in the mix.  Although that isn't exactly our project we do want to help in the process as much as we possibly can. Another idea which my vice president, Jodi and I thought would benefit the school is installing a suggestion box in a central location. We know its hard for you guys to remember your suggestions for us until your student council representative asks or you have the oppurtunity to tell them, so we feel this may be a great way for us to get your opinions as soon as possible.  

President Megan Wong and Vice President Jodi-Ann Chung! 

Unfortunately our Vice President wasn't here for this picture session, but here is the current Executive Body minus the Vice President, Jodi-Ann Chung!

Left to right: Kathrina Dabdoub, Julia Foote, Shania Gloudon, Megan Wong, Bradley Chen-See, Ally Fatta, Suhaas Ramani

Alysia

Interhouse Water Polo!

On Friday, March 1, 2013, Hillel Academy hosted its annual Inter-House Water Polo competition. This gave students, parents and teachers the pleasure of yet again cheering their various houses as the members of Maccabees, Sinai, Carmel and Masada were given the opportunity to showcase their skills in the pool.

The competition took the form of a Round-Robyn – every team played against each other and then the points were tallied. The team with the most wins won the overall competition. The competition proceeded as follows:

Carmel 2 vs Sinai 4

Maccabees 6 vs Masada 2

Masada 0 vs Carmel 3

Sinai 3 vs Maccabees 4

Carmel 1 vs Maccabees 3

Masada 0 vs Sianai 3

The goal scorers in the Competition were:

·      Jacob Adam

·      Adam Chin

·      Alex Cassali

·      Nicholas Chen

·      Steven Duhaney

·      Joel Fletcher

·      O’brien Francis

·      Zachary Jardine  

·      Max Murphy

·      Blake Nash

·      Timothy Skyers

·      Joshua Wright

At the end of the day, 1^st place went Maccabees, 2^nd place went to Sinai, 3^rd place went to Carmel and 4^th place went to Masada. Congratulations to everyone on a job well done! Thank you for your support and good luck to all houses in the next set of events coming our way: The 3K Road Race, Cheerleading and the ultimate showdown- Sports Day!

Timothy Skyers 

Peer Counselling Advice Column Coming Soon!

What's a newsletter without an advice column?

Every newspaper has one, it's like a pre-requisite to having a successful newsletter... so I guess the Hillelian's a bit behind huh? 

Not for long! Starting this week we'll be having weekly/bi-weekly posts filled with advice, motivation, positive thinking and just all round.... I'm not sure what else, but it promises to be something you look forward to reading! The posts will be written by your peer counsellors, your fellow students who know what the real issues among the student body are - whether it's work ethic, confidence, public speaking, different insecurities... These posts will be geared anonymously towards the student body and will hopefully help you through those rough patches.

So look out for the first post coming very,very soon! 

Alysia 

Scene Unseen - Movie reviews brought to you by Rachel Chin!

Hillel is coming with its own IMBD or Rotten Tomatoes! Soon this is where you'll be going to check for reviews on the movies both old school and new school.

Our very own Rachel Chin, a talented, eccentric Grade 12 student coming from Campion College will be giving you her take on an endless list of movies, from horror to action, romance, sci-fi...trust me there'll be something for everyone!

And she wants your help! Leave comments about movies you want her to review, maybe a movie you haven't seen in a LONG time, or a new one you're contemplating on watching.

Look out for the first review coming later this week!

New Prefect Body in the house!

A new year has begun and a new prefect body has been appointed. What an exciting achievement for the new 2013-2014 year!! First off, I'd like to give a big congrats to all the IB1 students who have been appointed prefects, and to encourage those who didn't get appointed just yet, to work for it in the future.

Since the prefect body is so large this year, as it is every year, because the students at hillel are such role models in society today, I'll just list off the new Head Prefects and Senior Prefects of 2013. Our new Head Girl is Alexandria Baugh, the Head Boy is Jacob Zacca. For our deputies we have the Hillelian's co-founder, Alysia Francis, and Jacob Adam. Our Senior Prefects are Megan Wong, Jodi Chung, Kathrina Dabdoub, Dominique Webster, Matthew Harrison and Charles Tufton.

On behalf of the entire prefect body, the head prefects were interviewed about their reactions towards their appointment as prefects, their goals and pending projects for their term at Hillel! I'm sure, just like every other Prefect body, they'll make it worth the school's while:

1. How do you feel as the head prefects for the 2013-2014 terms?

We all definitely feel a sense of enthusiasm and excitement for what we, alongside the prefect body, will to be able do in the near future. We really couldn't have asked for better people to work with as Head Prefects, or a better Prefect Body for us to lead. We all share a genuine desire to better the school and leave our mark on Hillel as best as we can, so right now we all, the entire prefect body, are just going full speed ahead, and it's very exciting.

2. How has the prefect, student and staff bodies responded to you as the heads?

The most overwhelming support that we've gotten so far has definitely been from the teachers. We have their full support and simply couldn't have hoped for a better response. Everyone in Grade 12 is very supportive of one another so all our friends, both on the Prefect Body and off have been very lovely and supportive, as they are to any and everyone. 

3. As the Heads of the student body what are your goals for the upcoming year? What do you want to accomplish?

As the Prefect Body, we know that our job is to ensure that the school is running properly - we are supposed to be the enforcers of discipline. However, in a meeting that we had with Mr. Holmes, he told us that he had yet to see a Prefect Body with a project that could uplift the school, or raise awareness for something, or just generally leave a proper mark on the school in that way. So, that's our goal as Prefects for the next year - we want to do something impactful.

4. What are the recent happenings among prefects - are there any projects you want to take on or are in the process of organising?

We have been throwing around ideas and trying to settle on one that the whole body can agree is perfect for us. One of the most prominent has been to have fitness rallies and various fundraisers surrounding mental, physical and emotional health, with the proceeds going towards either building a gym for the school, or to donate to a charity that has the same basic theme. However, nothing is final yet. We're definitely still brainstorming.

Doesn't it sound like they have some serious plans for the near future? Good luck once again to all of you, and congratulations! I can't wait to see the mark you all leave at Hillel, and if you do concretize your gym idea I will be eternally jealous that I wouldn't have been there to milk the facilities! :-)

Brooke

Have you been looking? Well keep searching... It's Grade 12.3's CAS Project!

MARCH 1st.

After School. Fly solo, or work in team to find the treasure at the end of... 

THE SCAVENGER HUNT

Brought to you by Grade 12.3! 

Sickle Cell Walkathon!

As you know, grade 10 and 13-1 held the first walkathon ever for a CAS project, on February 9th.

We didn’t pick this project randomly. From grade 7, we've watched and supported our fellow classmate,  Nialli Meeks who is now in grade 10, battle this sickness. So collectively the Grade 10 and 13 students thought we would dedicate this year’s CAS project to her as she courageously battles this life long illness and to everyone else in this country who struggles daily with the symptoms.

For about 3 weeks students from all grades worked hard going to family, friends and neighbors to get sponsorship and participants for the day. While some of us could barely do 5 laps, the rare few were clocking 30+ laps!

And in the end, we raised a grand total of almost $400,000, which is 62% more than our goal! All the money was presented to Dr. King from the Mona Sickle Cell Center during this week’s assembly, to purchase equipment that will improve the care for those who suffer with sickle cell disease.

Grade 10's form teacher, Mrs. Cuthbert, and Dr. King

Handing over the check! 

The walkathon had an amazing turnout!

Thanks to everyone who supported!

Isabelle Hamilton