Bill 115

Ahh yes, the infamous Bill 115.  But what is this 'Bill'? What does it mean? Why are the rights of our teachers being taken away? Why are OUR sports teams, and clubs being taken away from us? The teams who have just started training, and now can't practice anymore, just before they were supposed to start their first games? How about the music clubs? The choir, percussion emsemble and intermediate band, that were all doing so well, and getting better with each practise. What about our very own Oracle, which can't continue either?

Thankfully, the yearbook committee is also a class, but just think how boring the yearbook will be, with no pictures of people on clubs or teams! And Social Justice Comittee! Does this mean no BareFoot Walk this year? If all this is still going on, there probably won't be one. 

To start, Bill 115 is an amendment to the Education Act. When I went to read it, I thought, holy crud, this is long. In my attempt to read it, I realized how boring it is. So let me just attempt to summarize. Bill 115 takes away the rights of the teachers to strike, and to bargain with their school boards. Bill 115 hasn't been enacted yet, which is why teachers do still have these rights. The teachers are supposed to be baragaining for a a contract that adresses all their needs. Because our teachers run our extra-curriculars, they have been taken away. For now, teachers aren't allowed to engage in anything besides doing what they need to do for their classes. (I think. Maybe don't take my word on that).
Tomorrow there's going to be a 'walk-out'. During period 2, 10:00 am, students who wish to support their teachers will walk out of class to the front of the school, or the football field. There they will either sit or stand in a protest for our teachers rights. I think it's a noble thing to do for out teachers, but truancy just isn't my thing. I wish everyone who participates in the walk out good luck though!
This seems to be where I should say something inspiring, as this is our last article. However, I don't have anything prepared. So hopefully, soon this whole thing will blow over, and everything will go back to normal. It's a pity the Orcale won't reach it's full potential just yet. We had to a of cool things planned. For now though, this is goodbye! 

Get Your Scrooge On!

 This year's competition is getting fierce. All homeroom classes here at South have been eagerly collecting cans for the past 3 weeks. The classroom with the highest number of cans per capita will win a pizza party!  It's now time to take part in helping our community and get involved with this campaign. You can donate your cans, your money or your time.  Classes have already started canvasing so make sure to check with your teachers for which streets are on the list. The highest number of cans/student so far is 22 cans. 

There are so many families in need this time of year, right here in London. So come on South...Let's get our Scrooge on!

TOP 5 MOVIES OF THE WEEK!

1) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 2

2) Skyfall

3) Lincoln 

4) Rise of the Guardians 

5) Life of Pi

Top 5 Songs of The Week

1) Scream & Shout (Feat. Britney Spears and will.i.am)

2)Locked Out of Heaven-Bruno Mars

3) Thrift Shop (Feat. Wanz) - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

4) Gangnam Style - PSY

5) Diamonds - Rihanna

By: Ricki Kefalidis

Top 5 Songs of The Week

1) Gangnam Style - PSY

2) Locked Out of Heaven- Bruno Mars

3) Die Young - Ke$sha

4) Home - Philip Philips

5) I Cry - Flo Rida

Season Must Haves!

Fashion: 

• Sparkly shirts, skirts, pants; If it has sparkles you should wear it 
• Combat Boots* 
• Leather Jackets* 
• Over-the-knee Boots* 
• Patterned Leggings * 
• Warm Colored Jeans (Red, orange, mustard, maroon)* 
• Everything should have sparkles, studs or sparkly studs 
• *all the stared items would look span-freaking-tacular with sparkles, studs or sparkly studs 

Electronics: 

• iPhone, (Galaxy S3 will suffice)  
• Apple iPad 3 
• Halo 4 
• Assassin’s Creed 3
  
  
  By: Nafeasa Elhassan 

Top Movies of The Week

1) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn- Part 2

2) Skyfall

3) Lincoln 

4) Rise of the Guardians 

5) Life of Pi

S.C.R.O.O.G.E!

Bah Humbug!!!
Yes, that's right, Scrooge is here again! But it may not be the Scrooge you're thinking of! South's S.C.R.O.O.G.E Campaign is one of the biggest fundraising events of the year. South students bring in cans to their homeroom classes and all our amazing cans go to help families in need this holiday season! (How awesome are we?) The homeroom class with the most cans will win super amazing prizes, brought to you by the students council! (That means they'll be good!)
As long as we're here, I'd better mention Life Spin! Life Spin helps provide things for families who will be going without lots  this Christmas. The homeroom classes at South can decide if they want a big or small family, and Life Spin will provide your class with a family to sponsor, and a list of things they want. You can bring in gently used items like old (but clean) clothes, jackets, hats and mittens, or toys you don't use anymore! You can even bring in money! Anything helps these families to have an awesome Christmas!
Please donate to both of these great campaigns! Everyone deserves to have a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, so help a family today! (or tomorrow. Or from now until the campaign ends!) Go South! :)

Ricki's Playlist

Top Five Songs this week:

Over You - Cassadie Pope

Try - Pink

Gangnam Style

Skyfall - Adele

Die Young - Ke$ha

Showing off their Stash - Movember

Twilight-Breaking Dawn Part Two

Friday November 16, 2012 marks the release date for the last Twilight movie. This movie is expected to bring in a lot of money in the first weekend. Thousands of people already bought their tickets 2 weeks earlier. Imagine how many people might be camping out for that movie? To be honest I only saw the first 2 movies, but only because I was dragged there by my twilight-lover best friend.  I never really understood the movie. This movie has a lot of unreal characters in it, which makes it so hard to compare your daily life to.

This whole event started with a dream. A dream that Stephanie Meyer had, that changed the lives of millions. I can still remember when everyone in class had a twilight book; I took one look at the size of that book and was like “No way”.  The book had like 500 pages in it. What kind of crazy person would read a book that long, I thought? But, it turns out that 100 million people were crazy enough to read it.

In 2008 the first of the 5 twilight movies was released. It was quiet shocking to see the long lines and the camp outs. I guess some people really are interested in this book. So I read the first page of the first twilight novel. It was nearly the end of the page when I was getting bored. But, like they always say ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ so I gave it another read; but it was not really my style of reading. There was a lot of fantasy and strange events that I couldn't quiet grasp.

Now as the 5^th and final movie is released I look back to the many years of seeing people line up all day, and the advertisements that filled most of the London stores and Shopping malls. This novel was a journey that everyone discovered. And now as I’m writing this article I’m starting to really debate going to that final movie, just to see the people that will never fill up the movie screen with their scary vampire stories and memorable moments.

Well if I’m going to see the last movie I should probably start watching the past ones I missed.

By: Floranda Agroam 

Top Songs of the Week!

1) Skyfall              Adele
2) Diamonds        Rihanna
3) Little Things     One Direction
4) Gangnam style   Korean Dude:P
5) Locked out of heaven Bruno Mars

By: Fredericki Kefalidis

November 12th 2012,


An exclusive interview with Student Council President Noor Shakfa, by Nafeasa Elhassan

Q: How does it feel having people look up to you?

Noor: I think it first and foremost is an honour. I like to have that and I feel really respected. Because I have this position of being a role model and stud I take everything I can from it. I don’t want to take it for granted but I also want to give back to the student body because it is a position of high stature and it means a lot to be respected in this sense. Yeah, I definitely feel respected.



Q: What is your favourite part of the council experience?

Noor: My gut reaction to that question is the family connection we have. Our council, legitimately, is not like a council it’s more like a family. We respect each other in that sense. If there are ever any conflicts that arise we tell each other. If we didn’t have that council family environment we would not be enjoying out time. It is high school, right? And you’ve got to make every experience count and because we are so close we have fun planning these events and it makes it so much more worthwhile. That in itself is enough of a council experience for me. Even if an event doesn’t turn out as great as we want it to, it was worth planning it, running it, and being there with my council.



Q: Is there anything you do to cope with the extra stress of being president? Perhaps a song or movie that relaxes you or just anything you do to keep focused?

Noor: My naps. I have to have a one hour nap sometime in my day and that legitimately keeps me running. When I don’t have my nap I will reach a certain point in the day where I will turn completely grumpy and it might not be a good part of the day but it happens. I will get over that point and sometimes I can’t really fit it into my schedule, however my naps just rejuvenate my energy.



Q: What new or exciting events do we have to look forward to this year?

Noor: This year we’re bringing back what we call The Backyard Bananza. That’s going to be near the end of the year. Usually what happens with council at the end of the year is: we have out new council elections, we’re all so busy with exams and everyone’s so busy with the whole end of the year that we completely forget to have fun. But this year we’re bringing it back. We promise to do it every year but we never actually end up following through with it. It’ll be like a funfair and we’ll have it on the track. We’re just trying to bring back a great day for all of South to come out and buy some food, have some fun and play games and stuff. We get to high school and forget to have fun so hopefully this will work out.

Also we have planned a Dynamic Duo Day that we haven’t done. It’s basically like a twin day so you’ll pick a dynamic duo like Mario and Princess Peach or Michelle and Barack Obama or pick a twin if you want. So it could either be a couple thing or a twin type thing. It’s your choice really, just a fun day to dress up.

And of course our traditional pajama days before exams; definitely looking forward to that.



Q: Is there anything council is doing differently this year?

Noor: Every council is different, every council that you’ll ever have is going to be different depending on who’s running it and who’s on it. This year we don’t have Mrs. D’Alessandro as our staff advisor. It’s a really big change because usually Mrs. D helps us with everything but this year she is gone because she is pregnant and we have Miss. Cartmell. Miss. Cartmell, I can’t even put into words how absolutely, incredibly organized with woman is and how much she can get done. She can tell when I have a lot on my plate and will make sure the council knows. So two weeks ago I had a lot due, with exams, midterms, social justice and all that and all these other committees and all these other groups, plus school and university, so she offered to step in and run a meeting. Meetings take a lot of time to plan and a lot of time to get things ready for. She offered to step in and help. Miss. Cartmell in herself has been a complete change but it’s completely positive. We don’t want to take her for granted because she’s absolutely great.

Also we have a lot of new faces on council. We do have a lot of returning members but because a lot of the members last year were seniors a lot or seniors this year that were not previously on council joined. It’s nice to have them there and we’re looking forward to a good year.



Q: Do you have any advice for some of South’s junior students that might be thinking about joining council?

Noor: Exactly like I said to the Grade Nine reps: We elect our council in the end of May, early June of every year and it takes so much energy, courage and responsibility to be on council because planning events and having everyone be excited for them is a big deal especially in a high school environment. My advice to them is: Get involved no matter what. When the grade nines ran I said they’re incredible for being able to stand up on stage and write a speech and give it and expect people to vote for you. It’s a lot, it’s a lot to be able to do and the fact that these people do I is absolutely incredible. I look up to these guys. My advice to the juniors is: Get involved. Honestly, I was one of those people that was all nervous and shy in grade nine, however I started building more courage and joining in after that point. Honestly, I wish did it when I had more time, but I will never regret doing it now because it teaches you so much about management, responsibility and it’s always a way to be respected at South and it means a lot to me.

Remembrance Day 2012

Last Sunday, as I hope you all know, was Remembrance Day. I myself was at the national ceremony in Ottawa this weekend. The ceremony was absolutely lovely, and a really amazing thing to experience. When I got there, I honestly wasn't expecting that many people to be there. But as my group handed out programs, the crowds only got bigger. More and more people showed up to pay their respects to the soldiers who gave their lives for us to be standing here today. To me, that was amazing. I sincerely hope no one will ever forget what the soldiers did for us.

My group, as I said earlier, had been handing on programs to the crowds of people. However, since the weather was freezing cold wind and rain, we were given the job of handing out blankets to veterans who wanted them. I was glad to be given such an important job, and as the ceremony went on, a few of my friends and I were able to talk to the veterans. They were incredibly nice and sweet, and you wouldn't believe how thankful they were to receive our help. As we left, they thanked us, and we thanked them. I was completely honoured to be able to say I helped a veteran who once helped Canada to win the war. Those brave men and women deserve anything we can give them, and I believe no one should ever forget that.

Where’s Your Mo, Bro?

It’s that time of year again. Leftover pumpkin pie, a mound of assorted Halloween treats in your drawer, piles of leaves everywhere and a mustache on every face you see. What?

November first marks day one of the annual awareness campaign for men’s most pressing health concerns. Prostate cancer. Most recently the campaign has expanded their focus to include mental health issues. ‘Mo Bros’ participate in this worldwide campaign by registering online with a clean shaven face and refrain from shaving all month long.

The goal of Movember, moustache November, is to provoke discussions on men’s too often ignored health problems. The movement began in 2004 and has expanded to over 21 countries, raising $125.7 million last year in Canada alone. South contributed as well, raising $2,605 last November.

This past Movember, many of South’s male teachers took part in the campaign. Throughout the month students voted for their favourite Mo Bro and to conclude the moustacheulous month Mr. Fish was announced as the possessor of the most superior stache. 

Men aren’t the only ones partaking in Movember. Mo Sistas are becoming more and more common with over 16,000 registered last year. “Just because you can’t grow a mustache doesn’t mean you can have a lifesaving conversation, create awareness and contribute to the great cause,” Angela McNally told the London Metro News.

Join the excitement and participate in or donate to the cause.

Check out the Oracle again next week for more Movember updates.

 

By : Nafeesa ElHassan

The Weather Outside is FRIGHTFUL!

So here we are. November. The month before Christmas, the month of Remembrance Day, the month after Halloween. November is an in-between month. You get the sheer awesomeness of Halloween, with its spooky skeletons, creepy axe murderers, and jack-o-lanterns, and then whoosh, November sweeps in on a freezing cold gust of wind. Then there’s the waiting. During which Mother Nature can’t decide if she wants us to be freezing, at negative whatever-Celsius, or a little warmer, at maybe between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius! Then some more waiting…and then BAM! Christmas!!! And who doesn’t like Christmas, right? I mean, seriously. No school. I’m pretty sure that’s the best thing about Christmas time. And let’s not forget the other holidays too, like Hanukah and Kwanza!  

            If you’re a super nerd like me, you can’t forget that Christmas marks the date when Doctor Who comes back! (Yay Matt Smith!)

            You should probably ignore that nerdy comment up there…I don’t know what I was thinking. So anyway…Christmas. Yeah… Snow. Hot Chocolate. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire (Do people still do that?) There’s also snow forts, and snow ball fights. Curling up by the fire with friends, just chilling, hanging out.

            And cookies. Lot’s of cookies. Shortbread, Gingerbread, Rum Balls, Haystacks…but you can’t forget Fruit Cake, Christmas Pudding, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, corn…(Geez, I’m getting hungry…I better stop the food talk before I eat my computer mouse).

            But how can we forget the most important thing about November? You know what I mean…Movember! What will yours be? English style? Wild West perhaps? How ‘bout a Handlebar? Street Cop? Broom Salesman? Then of course the ever popular Fu Manchu! For more about Movember, check out an awesome article by Nafeasa Elhassan. (Seriously, it’s good!)

            With all the good things before and after November, this month should be awesome (Despite the freezing cold air making you shiver each and everyday…but hey, Canada, am I right?). Try not to let the cold get to you, and enjoy a happy November! (And read the Oracle. We have cookies).

Symbolizing the Hijab

I am sure you have all seen many girls with a " Scarf" on their head , and wonder what is that on their head? The thing that's on their head is called a hijab , the main reason why we wear the hijab is to cover our beauty; by beauty, I mean body and hair. You probably think "well that's everything a girl has" but guess what, you missed one thing, a great personality.
It's actually true but we cover it to not show our beauty to guys, to keep our features hidden. In London there are many muslim girls who wear the hijab. When a girl reaches the final stage it means it's time to wear the hijab, but some parents dont always enforce the steps . When I first put on the hijab I was quite confident that wearing it was the best choice to make , following your religion should always be your main goal . I've been wearing it for five years now and I'm very proud. Hijab becomes a part of you when you wear it. It's the most beatiful thing to have on your head . Many people think hijab is an option, but you actually have to wear it, although people tend not to wear it. Remember that every girl is beautiful they way she is and the hijab makes her more beautiful because it lights up her face.

The Power Struck By Many Leaders

During the years, I have experienced crucial times towards others, I describe this time as power by that I mean someone is leading or someone is pressured into joining this idea. People generally go with what they feel comfortable in doing.

Let's give an example a new girl's first time in a public high school. She has always been in a small private school and now has entered a new beginning. This is an idea of the picture I am trying to portray.

Life will always show us the bright times and the dark days. With that being said, even if we have second thoughts, we will never give up. Many people think that others will follow their actions and actually accept them. The truth is far from the expectation, not necessarily with the thought out outcome. The picture is not yet complete. If you read the sentence carefully, it just shows that there is a new girl entering into a completely new environment. Not everybody is very comfortable with this idea because people always get a different picture in their head.

Girls and boys can be leaders in things or a part of a group. The hard part is how to fit in. That's probably the most common thing that comes to mind when you're new to a school, there's something missing in yourself: confidence. Without confidence in a person any big or little thing you do makes you think you're not good enough or you can do better.

School Journey

As students we have the right to raise our voices, introduce ourselves to new things. We should be more comitted to do this. We have oppurtunities all around us. London South Collegiate Institute has many programs and clubs.

The Social Justice Committee is a popular one, doing a great job for the events that they organize. The biggest event that the Social Justice Committee was involved in is the Barefoot Walk. It was a great experience for the school. I recommend all the grade nines to participate in it this year. It's very educational and fun as well. You learn many things about the less fortunate children in the world that have to work to support their families instead of going to school. They live sad lives, but at the same time are very inspiring. At the Barefoot Walk there are many amazing speakers and fun entetainment.

School is very important to us students. We should remember to not be afraid to show who we are. Everyone should accept each other in order to have the best school environment. We should participate in more clubs and teams, even make new ones. These are the years to make your most important impression by following the school rules, completing your work and getting the best grades you can achieve. All teachers are going to be proud of you if you succeed, or at least try.

Many of us here have great talents, and those talents should be shared with the school. Encourage yourself to do these things, make new friends and find your comfort zone. If you don't feel comfortable with some people, tell them. I am sure they will understand your concern. Don't be too open with people about things that involve you, especially if you're getting to know them. Respect who you're with and just be yourself. Remember that each person in the school has a great quality in them and, if someone doesn't understand that your unique qualities, there are others that will realize you're unique in your own way!

by Meriam Al-hamad

If you would like to give South Oracle any ideas for future articles, you are more than welcome to send us and email, or visit us: afterschool on Wednesdays in room 215

Thank you for reading.
South Oracle