The Week is Drawing to a Close

We had another relaxing afternoon listening to music and sketching yesterday. 

 

Ashley practiced her fonts.

Chris sketches out a comical tale of two boats!

 

Edgar created this eco-friendly character.

 

Miah shows us how to draw eyes like a pro.

 

A spot of sun breaks through Terry's monochromatic sketch. 

A hopeful image on his birthday. Hope it was a good day Terry!

A Great Start!

Check out today's dance club choreography. It's only the beginning and already, it's going so well!

(I like it!)

Eyes About Town

Terry, Selena and Robin took the cameras out for a spin last night. 

Here's what was going on in Waswanipi on a Monday evening....

Terry caught the Hockey team in action.

And gave it a bit of an abstract spin!

Selena framed this moody fall scene.

She also worked on finding a focus point in movement!

Robin snapped these night-bikers' great expressions 

 and generated this mysterious image from the night! 

What's Your Favourite Memory?

The first News Club venture is ready. Last week we interviewed each other and practiced our portrait photography, and this week we edited everything together. It's a great start, and you can expect much more from this group! Thanks to everyone who contributed to this project!

Clouds on the Water

Photo Club members are great at looking at the world from a slightly different angle. We have some gorgeous shots from last Thursday's bush-walk that give you a new perspective on skies and water. 

Enjoy!

 

Kayla frames big sky and calm waters at the boat launch.

 

Megan had framed this photo and was about to snap it when Lyric stepped into it!

 

 Chantal documents the late afternoon sky over the Waswanipi River.

When he described this photo, Robin said that he "got the tipi with the sun on the side."

Here, Robin "was waiting for the sunset so I took the picture earlier, before the sun set."

 

When the time was right, Robin focused on  "the sunset with a tree in it."

 

Traci took this picture because she "saw the clouds on the water."

 

 Traci turned her attention to the sky through the filter of the tipi point.

 

Thanks Gang!

Flowers Before the Frost

Last Thursday Photo Club went down to the river to test our skills in nature. 

You guys did a beautiful job capturing the flowers before they disappear for the next six months.

Here are some of Chantal's close-ups.

Megan says that she chose to focus on the clover leaves instead of the flower because she was, "playing with the camera."

 

 Robin snapped this bright autumn flower as he was "just playing around with the camera. It looks fake but it's real!"

(Can you see the face?)

Sketchy End to the Week!

It was a rainy Friday afternoon and we were going to have a jam session, but we didn't have any instruments. So we listened to music and did some drawing instead!

Miah whipped up a few characters while we waited out the storm.

 

Robin free-associated this colourful creation.

As Promised, more from Orlando

Here we have a compelling essay about the teacher situation at school. Thank you for expressing your opinion so lucidly, Orlando! 

I’d Rather Just Stay Home.

When I wake up first thing in the morning, I like to go to class and work slowly. Go with the flow. I work slowly that first class then speed up on the second, and if anything, do the rest for homework. I do not, however, want to go to class first thing in the morning so I can watch a movie or go to the computer room and play games, I can do that at home!

        The lack of teachers in Willie J. Happyjack Memorial High School (or just School) is upsetting. At some point during the day, we can probably take every student in the school and put them into one class and the classroom still wouldn’t be full. Students are waking up in the morning just to get sent home! I don’t want to walk to the other side of town just to get to school so I can be sent back. And worst of all, if we don’t travel this distance, we get put as absent! We’re marked as Absent for not walking our selves to school so we can get sent home or watch a movie our substitute decided to bring in, which they don’t even do half the time!

And what’s with all these substitutes? Are we really that unreliable that we can’t just sit in class and do some self study? I’ve lost count of the times we’ve been sent home or a substitute was brought in to watch over us. We aren’t kids! We can look after ourselves. A substitute is really just an insult to us, saying “Oh, bring in [Insert Random Name] to substitute for these kids so they don’t fool around.” We’re in our final year of high school now; we know how to be civilized! We’re mature enough to handle an empty classroom!

        Why do we, the students of Willie J. Happyjack Memorial, have to spend our time like this? We have to sit through an entire class watching a movie we may, or may not, have seen already and may, or may not, want to watch. That, or we go to the computer room and have the whole class to do nothing but look at funny pictures on “Google Images” and play flash games on the Internet. I’d rather just stay home and sleep and maybe even do homework (maybe). I’d rather just stay home and play the games I want to play and watch the movies I want to watch. There’s no point in going to class if all we’re doing are things I can easily do at home, minus all the walking and frustration.

        We desperately need a solution to solve this crisis we are having. And by crisis, I mean the lack of teachers and the influx of substitute teachers. If it wasn’t for the attendance, I would not even bother going to class anymore because it’s no longer a place to learn!

Orlando Blacksmith

Check Out These Great Photo Club Pictures!

Traci takes a beautiful look at the textures we pass over everyday.

Traci says that when she took this photo, "I was playing around with the camera."

Selena uses light like an expert in this candid portrait.

"I told Traci to look at me and I took a picture really quickly."

Leanna captures a lovely piece of evening light.

"We were waiting for Megan so we played broomball. We tried to hit the small ball in the air."

Megan snaps a dynamic moment at home.

Megan calls this photo 'Life in Waswanipi.'
She says it's, "My cousin Joy playing with the dogs in the yard."

Chantal drums up a comical action shot.

"Silas is running away from the girls," Chantal explains.

Not Completely Found Alphabet

For the first meeting of Photo Club, we turned our daily world upside down, and looked at school in a new way. Here you see a work in progress that combines photos taken by Selena, Miah and Kevin.

Great work guys! Let's find the last few letters to complete the Alphabet this week!

Persuasive Writing from Orlando Blacksmith

To kick-off the year, we have an excellent persuasive essay written by Orlando Blacksmith. He urges us to re-evaluate how we approach money, and the people around us. We're looking forward to reading more from Orlando. Enjoy!

The Root of all Evil.

    For most people in our modern world, it is the first thing, and sometimes the only thing that measures success in their life. It makes them feel powerful, important, and sometimes even desired. People will do ANYTHING just to get it. People lie, cheat, and steal to obtain it. Some people even sell their bodies to obtain it. People will even do harm upon another person’s body. Some people would even kill for it. This is used to get whatever they want. Yes, I'm talking about money: Silver, gold, coins, bills, checks. Money. The money we use daily. The money we might greedily abuse. The money we might cautiously use. The money that may, or may not, bring joy to us. The money that can’t buy love or happiness. The money that will lead to our untimely destruction.

    I believe money is the root of all evil. It makes even the purest person into a monster. Money DOES NOT give you the right to hurt other people. Money DOES NOT give you happiness or long lasting joy in anyway. Money might give you temporary joy - that is, joy that won't last long. People who don't have too much money find constructive ways to use it. On the other hand, people with too much money waste it on anything that "looks nice". Luxury does not equal happiness. Power does not equal mirth. Why do we, the people of Earth, desperately try to obtain money? Do we want to be known? Do we want to show off our power? Do we want it just to buy love? I don't know why people want money so badly, but I do, on the other hand, know what money is capable of and what people would do just to get their greedy hands on it. You know what they say, "Once you get a taste of power, you want more!”

    Money is the slow-but-sure route to earth’s destruction. An example of this is War. Wars are fought for money, or "power" which, in turn, is money. Countries invade other countries - for money. Innocent people are killed - for money. Good, modern people like you and I are killed - for money! Why is money so important? What's the point of having money, other than buying things you might not even need? That's the thing, there isn't one. People measure their worth, and other people's worth based on money. Sure, you have more money than he does, but are you happier than this man?

    Although I say this, I do believe there are some good ways to use money. Imagine this; you’re a street kid. You only want to feed yourself and your little brother, maybe even just your little brother. So you steal money from a rich person. This money might, or might not, have been stolen from another poor family and now you're using it to feed yourself. Because you never know where this money comes from or who had it before you did, or even how it was obtained. You might even walk down the street and see a man with nice clothes, hair, and shoes, but you never know. That man could be a thief, a killer, a blood spiller. He might do anything for money; even destroy a whole country if he could. Now, I'm not saying we should judge every rich man like that. Some rich people might have earned their money by being the best hockey player, by being a famous actor or model, or even just working his ass off to make it to where he is.
 
Like I said earlier, money does not bring you happiness, but it can bring the thought of buying something that might give you a little joy. I, personally, don't know of another way to obtain happiness except by being with your family and friends. I don't know of any other joy than hearing people say "Thank you" or "You're welcome." There must be several thousands - no, millions of other ways to obtain joy other than buying yourself shiny junk.
  
  I might be a hypocrite, because I too, desire money, but I can't help it. It's a common daily necessity for us, humans, to live on in this cruel world. But whenever I think about money, all I can think about is the pain and suffering it causes. For all we know, the money in our wallets could be blood money - that is, money obtained by doing something wrong, like killing or stealing. I don't think there's a real solution for our problem. Money is a resource, and resources are essential. And without money, you starve, which will inevitably end with death. I don't have a personal solution to stopping the greed of money or "power", but maybe sometime in the future you'll look at your money and say "Hey, that Orlando guy was right! I'm not any happier with all this unneeded money!" And maybe, just maybe, you'll do something nice for someone else.

By: Orlando Blacksmith

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