Student Paintings at the Montreal General Hospital

Students of Mrs. Romanuk's Ethics class (412-03) are given a Big Thank You for having been the first participants from a school in creating paintings for the Montreal General Hospital. On September 28th, Dale Perks a registered nurse working in the surgery clinic came to Heritage along with a reporter from the hospital newspaper to discuss the implication of having the students contribute to the project while interviewing several of them The student's were clear in their message that they were happy to not only have their work on MUHC walls, but that they enjoyed the notion of pleasing patients by creating a more interesting environment.

Many of the students taking an art class now in secondary 5 have expressed an interest in making more paintings for the hospital this year - A great way for students to become active community members - wouldn't you say?

IB Secondary V Field Trip

On September 17th and 18th, 53 senior IB students got the opportunity to visit an observatory on Mont-Megantic, the only National Dark Sky Reserve in the region. The observatory is one of the largest and most powerful in North America. Part of the day was spent at the Astrolab at the base of the mountain, which allowed students to develop a better understanding of the Big Bang theory, our solar system, our galaxy and beyond.

That evening, we were treated to a perfectly clear sky which allowed the students an opportunity to observe through powerful telescopes such celestial bodies as Jupiter and 4 of its moons, the Andromeda galaxy, and several stars up close. As well, we spotted the space station orbiting the earth and found out how to identify the North Star when looking up at the sky. The evening was very cold, the temperature being barely 3 degrees Celsius, but the students quickly forgot the cold air when they were treated to the sight of several shooting ‘stars’! All were in awe of what they saw and learned during the outing, and for a brief moment our group felt very small in this very big universe.

Climbing at Heritage

The Physical Education department added a brand new rock climbing wall facility over the summer. Students are introduced to this activity through their physical education class. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport. It uses the climber's strength, endurance, agility, and balance along with his or her mental control. Although the wall is only 9 feet high, the many routes and problems given to the students makes it a really tough challenge. The comments we hear so far are very positive and we hope to offer them even more in the years to come.