Tough Loss For D.S.S.

Tough Loss For D.S.S.

Caitlin Ottaway

Dunnville Secondary School’s (DSS) boys soccer team travelled to Hagersville on Tuesday, May 22 for the Zone playoffs. Zone consisted of 4 teams including Dunnville, Cayuga, Hagersville and McKinnon Park. The DSS team had already had quite the season, only losing to Cayuga two weeks prior to Zone. The team was feeling pretty confident going into Zone knowing they were playing McKinnon Park. “It was a tough loss losing to a team we had already won against,” said coach Andrew Spence. The team went into Zone looking for a win against McKinnon that would give them a chance to play another game and if won that would put the team through to SOSSA. The team had a tough loss, losing to McKinnon 3-0. A red card and 3 yellow cards were given to Dunnville, meaning one member of the team was ejected from the game due to unsportsmanlike conduct and three others were benched for the rest of that half for the same thing. “This had an impact on our performance,” said Jeffrey Blayney. “ Both teams came to win; McKinnon took it away from us. The team didn’t play to their best ability and it was a tough loss for us,” Blayney added. The boys had a great season, but it just wasn’t their day.

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Rockclimbing at DSS

Rockclimbing at DSS
Danielle McMahon
Dunnville Secondary School (DSS) had an amazing opportunity again this year. Students were given the chance to try rock climbing, ropes courses and zip-lining.
Students in the gym and fitness classes this semester all participated, as well as the Trailblazers class. Any students in the school could also choose to sign up and take part. This was a fun change of physical activity for everyone at DSS. The courses helped develop leadership skills, teamwork skills and problem solving skills. Students also faced fears of heights and climbing.
"The rock climbing experience helped me get over my fear of heights and it was a lot of fun with my class. I hope we get to do it again next year," said Grade 10 student Ryleigh McMahon.

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Reach for the Top First Victory

Reach for the Top First Victory

Danielle McMahon

After a delayed start to the day, Dunnville Secondary School’s (DSS) Junior Reach for the Top Team (Reach) participated in a tournament in Niagara-on-the Lake on May 16th.

The Reach team played five games all day and won one of them. It was their first win of the season. The team this year consisted of Megan Wilkes, Griffin Walker, Maggie Bassendale, Shayla Hannigan and Vicki Alton. All of the students are in Grade 9. The point of Reach is to answer questions using random knowledge. The team competed against Beamsville District, Stamford, A.N. Meyer and Centennial. There is no league for Haldimand.

The team’s coach, Kathy Maciuk, was proud of the team's first win of the year. As a team of all new players, she thought they played well this year and hopes that they stick together over the next three years.

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D.S.S. Takes on Slowpitch City

D.S.S. Takes on Slowpitch City

Caitlin Ottaway

The Dunnville Secondary School's (DSS) Girls Slowpitch team travelled to Dorchester on May 24^th for the annual Slowpitch Tournament held there every year. Dorchester is located about ten minutes outside of London, Ontario. The team had two games scheduled for Thursday. The first game was at 12:30pm and the second one at 3:00pm. “ I told the girls before the games to go out there and have some fun,” said coach Kurt Lorhum. The first game the girls had a tough loss. Dunnville's pitchers struggled and the girls couldn’t score enough runs in time to win. Their second game showed more of Dunnville’s potential as a team. The girls battled hard to put up a score of 23-17. This win meant the girls would play bright and early the next day at 9 am sharp. On Friday morning the girls were ready to play. They started out strong putting up 4 runs in the first inning. The team's worst nightmare came true; Dunnville's pitchers started to struggle again which resulted in the other team running up the score in walks. The girls fought hard to hit in more runs, but it wasn’t enough, and the team came up short. “ Our team had the ability to win all three of our games; our pitchers had a rough go and the other teams were not swinging the bats, all they looked for was walks,” said Meaghan Crossman. The girls had hoped for a better outcome, but all in all a good season was performed by the girls.

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DREAM Gets Things Cooking

DREAM Gets Things Cooking

Randy Koster

DSS Press

Dunnville

The students of DREAM have been fast at work cooking for Dunnville Secondary School’s (DSS) Breakfast Program. On Sunday, May 27^th, 2012, grade ten DREAM students volunteered at the Shared Harvest Community Farm to make nutritious, organic and fair trade banana chocolate chip muffins for their fellow students to enjoy.

DREAM’s Homelessness and Poverty working group established the Breakfast Program, which provides healthy snacks to the students of DSS throughout the day. The group’s main goals for the program this year are to incorporate products that are local, organic, and fair-trade into their snacks.

Group mentor, Debbie Van Grieken and student mentor Hayden Van Grieken are very pleased with their group of grade ten students. “The group holds a lot of leadership skills and the students are very committed to the DREAM program,” explained Debbie. “As they grow in the program, these qualities will only improve more. I am confident that the members of this group will create positive role models for future students as they reach their senior years!” she added.

This particular group has been a common guest at the Shared Harvest Community Farm kitchen. A few weeks prior, the group hosted a community potluck dinner. This event was held on May 16^th, 2012. The dinner brought many different people together to converse and learn about the farm as well as the DREAM program.

The Shared Community Farm will continue to keep its doors open for the DREAM students, allowing them to reach their goals and better the community.

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Co-op Breakfast @ DSS

Co-op Breakfast @ DSS

Randy Koster

DSS Press

Dunnville

The students of Dunnville Secondary School’s (DSS) Co-op program enjoyed an excellent breakfast with their employers, supervisors, and co-workers at the 9^th Annual Employer Appreciation Breakfast.

The event was held on Thursday, May 17^th, 2012 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in the DSS cafeteria. During this time the 120 attendees enjoyed a full breakfast catered by Lynda Hall, the Compass Group Canada Cafeteria manager, and her wonderful staff. There were a variety of foods to choose from such as fresh fruit, french toast baked with blueberries, eggs with bacon, and much more.

“The breakfast was really good and the food was delicious!” explained Blain Walpole, a student of the DSS Co-op program. “It’s a nice way for me to thank my supervisor and meet other people from the community,” he added.

The Employer Appreciate Breakfast is held every year to thank the community members for mentoring the DSS Co-op students and providing them with a valuable workplace experience. Each employer was presented with a complementary gift, which included a certificate from DSS recognizing their mentorship and experiential learning that they provided to these students.

The Co-op office and DSS would like to send a big thanks to all that attended the event and to all of the employers, supervisors, and co-workers for embracing these students and allowing them to grow within their workplace.

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Volunteers Reach Out

Taylor Rowe

Last Thursday, May 10, the Out of the Heat program hosted their monthly dinner at the Hope Center in Welland. The dinner is funded by Faith Tabernacle Church, and is put on every second Thursday of each month by volunteers from the church and other surrounding communities.

Carly Bowden, a member of Faith Tabernacle Church, has been the main organizer of this dinner for many years now. Each month, she puts together a group of volunteers to help her with this dinner. Volunteering with her last week was Jessica Heron, Janelle Mous, and Rylan Johnson. The group made Caesar salad and perogies for dinner, and treated guests to banana splits for dessert.

“We served just over sixty people," said Bowden.

Along with preparing and serving the meal to their guests, volunteers also participated in the clean-up afterwards.

The purpose of putting on this dinner each month is to provide those whose challenges in life make it difficult for them to put meals on the table for themselves and their families on a regular basis. This dinner gives these people an opportunity to have a home cooked meal to reduce the pressures of their daily struggles.

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Spa Night at DSS

Carlin Dykstra

            Many were pampered on the night of Wednesday, May 9 at Dunnville Secondary School (DSS), as part of the annual Spa Night.

            The night is organized and put on by the senior grade eleven and twelve students of the aesthetic program at the high school. The night is their culminating task which is a project at the end of the semester aiming to collaborate everything that the students learned through the course.
            The girls had to plan the entire night from gathering refreshments such as tea, juice, fruit, and vegetables, to setting up the Cosmetology room to feel more like a professional spa.
            At 3:30 p.m. teachers and fellow students could come to receive facials, manicures, and pedicures. Following these customers, family and friends began to trickle in for their night of pampering.
            "The girls did an excellent job planning the night. When they put on the white spa jackets, it was as if they instantly became professionals," said Cosmetology teacher Karen Douglas. "People don’t realize how much the girls have to know to be able to give these treatments. Skin types, steps, and knowledge of different products are all important parts of the job."
Following the night, the girls were asked to write a follow-up paper, reflecting on their likes and dislikes of the night, any improvements they could have made, and what they will take away from the experience.

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Wilderness Trail Blazers' Three Day Hike

Ashlyn Minor

       The Dunnville Secondary School (DSS) Wilderness Trail Blazers (WTB) were led by Mark McCormack and Jessica MacLeod on a three day, overnight hiking trip.  The trip went from Wednesday, May ninth, to Friday, May eleventh.  They left for their trip at 9:30 AM on Wednesday morning, and arrived at the location at 11:00 AM and hiked at 11:30 AM.  The two teachers led twelve WTB students.  They hiked Bruce Trail, near Milton, camped at Kelso Conservation area, and camped at Rattle Snake Point, where they saw rock climbers and found a cave.  On the first day, they hiked for four hours - 13.8 km.  On the second day the group hiked for three hours - 11 km.  Lastly, on the third day they hiked for three and a half hours - 13.5 km.  The group hiked a total of approximately 40 km, and found it extremely tiring.  They went on this hike for the sake of site seeing and to visit conservation areas.  The students were told to bring food, some of which was eaten by raccoons.  They cooked hot dogs and Kraft dinner, that were not stolen by the raccoons.  When the trip came to an end, the tired students and teachers were picked up by a bus at 1:30 PM on the last day.  “I think the kids really enjoyed themselves on their hiking trip.  They worked hard, and were very proud to have finished,” said Wilderness Trail Blazers teacher, Mark McCormack.      

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DSS Zumbathon a Success

Carlin Dykstra

           

            Dunnville got active once again on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in the Dunnville Secondary School (DSS) Zumbathon. This was the second Zumba class that Physical Education teacher Kim Rombough held for the DSS students and the Dunnville community.

            The first class was held in April and had a good turnout which was why the second date was scheduled. One of the major issues with the first class was the lack of male attendance, but thanks to advertisement and encouragement, the May Zumbathon had a considerable number of male participants.

            The Zumbathons are fundraisers to raise money for the DSS Physical Education program and the activities which are put on. Some of these events include New Heights Rockclimbing, which is a company that goes to schools and sets up rock climbing walls, zip lines, and climbing ropes for students to challenge themselves on and experience new forms of exercise; an Olympia trip where students travel to an overnight camp to participate in team building activities; and other sports and games.

            “It was really great to see so many people here, and I was glad that more males decided to participate,” said Rombough. “It was awesome to see other Zumba instructors from the community come. A special thanks to Fierce Fitness Studio for their donation of $100 to the DSS Phys. Ed. Program.”

            A note to anyone interested in Zumba that the next Zumbathon is planned for June, so watch for the date. Anyone attending should wear light, comfortable clothes, and bring a water bottle.

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