Trims, Tributes & Tidings

West Credit Secondary School has been a busy place, much in keeping with its enthusiastic commitment to open doors – reaching out to contribute to the community and welcoming the community in.

The Trims were the haircuts – some more drastic than others – cheerfully endured by grade 9 student Kiah Hendriks and teachers Nicole Bouwmeester, Ed Nunes, Greg Poole and Bethany Prashad before a vociferous rooting section of students and staff in the gym last Wednesday. It was the debut of what is to become an annual fundraising event called “Cuts for Cancer.”

It was a grassroots student initiative in response to the recent loss of a cherished and respected teacher to cancer, says Dale Ward, head of phys ed and the arts. Donations from students and staff and an attendance fee charged at the event raised over $500 to support the Heart House Hospice, a palliative care facility for the terminally ill.

Proudly sporting commemorative t-shirts, the hardy quintet submitted to scissors and clippers wielded by a gleeful team of students from the school’s cosmetology program. The longer hanks of hair are to be sent to the Angel Hair for Kids campaign for use in the creation of wigs for young people who lose their hair to cancer.

The Tributes are to the abilities of student artist Mansoor Naderi. Despite a significant visual impairment (indeed, he’s legally blind), the talented teenager, a refugee from Afghanistan in the ’90s, produces the most amazing pencil sketch portraits of famous celebrities and people he knows.

An exhibit of his drawings at an international disabilities conference caught the eye of television reporter Karlene Nation, and she and a news crew came to the school for an interview which then aired on CTV. Other venues for displays of his creations include the Young at Art Exhibition in Brampton and Walk the Art at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre. Buoyed by the interest in his work and the acclaim for his skills, Naderi is now contemplating a career as a freelance artist.

The Tidings are about a number of newsworthy items:

Art teacher Nathalie Mathews is pleased to announce healthy sales of West Credit art cards this year. The cards are digital reproductions of creative images fashioned by students in the classroom and are attractively bundled in groups of four. Marketing them in churches, arts and crafts fairs, the Board Office and the Oakville Skating Club has been a school council fundraising initiative to benefit the art department.

To the delight of the students, the staff prevailed in a spirited volleyball tilt with a team of local police personnel recruited by Rebecca Durocher, West Credit’s favourite officer from the neighbourhood policing unit. The gate receipts – toonies and canned food goods – were donated to a food bank.

Another big event last week was the annual Christmas turkey luncheon for 42 lucky invitees. Catered and served by students in the school’s hospitality services program, the festive meal is a way of saying thank you to school board dignitaries and friends and benefactors from the community.

And vice-principal Brent Coakwell is pleased to announce that a $7,500 grant from Lowe’s, in conjunction with Skills Canada Ontario, will allow the school to add a hydroponics capacity to the greenhouse and to enhance the landscaping program. Horticulture teacher, Joanne Burnside, who is also qualified in the culinary arts, notes that the greenhouse will now be able to grow spices and herbs that can be used in the kitchens of hospitality services.

It all sounds like business as usual at West Credit.