Windermere Community News
 
Here are everyone's November photo entries! The theme is black and white this month, to match the cold and rainy weather outside. There are always ways to see the gloomy weather as a beautiful thing. It is also a way to incorporate our dance theme maybe?

Vote for your top THREE! Thank you to all who entered, the photos this month are amazing. Voting will end Friday night.

By the way, get your dance tickets, don't procrastinate! One for $9, three for $24!
 
 
Term one is finally over and for most of us, it's time for a fresh new start to either maintain those grades or boost them up! Here's the video of the week.. it's a cute way for an attempt to change our daily behaviours, even though it probably takes a lot of work to put together. Is it the most effective way to go?
Click here to vote for the "Green Graffiti" project for our Downtown Eastside area! They need all the support they can get. It's easy peasy to vote too.

Just another reminder that photo entries for the black and white November photo contest is due this saturday at midnight! Everyone attending Windermere is welcome to participate. Send to communitywhs@gmail.com.
 
 
Vancouver Sun Article

In recognition of Restorative Justice Week and the Restorative Justice Program at Windermere, a news conference was hosted at the school yesterday. The restorative justice team was joined by community representatives, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson; VPD Deputy Chief Constable Doug lePard; Judge Gurmail S. Gill, Associate Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia; criminologist Evelyn Zellerer. Two Restorative Justice team members including alumni student Charlie Chin talked about their experiences and feelings about RJ. It was a powerful conference as topics were discussed, such as dealing with disputes, acts of violence, bullying and vandalism among the students in the school. Finally, mayor Gregor Robertson took the opportunity to read out a proclamation, officially announcing the initiation of Restorative Justice Week in Vancouver. The goal of the Restorative Justice Team is to seek solutions to restore the peace in conflicts, and to maintain a safe and healthy environment for students to be in.
 
 
It's time. It's time to think about what we're going to do after high school, time to make significant decisions on this turning point in our lives. Tuition fees are increasing by the minute, and we can't wait another second to figure out how we're going to pay for our education. There may not be enough money saved for post-secondary, and scholarships may not be an option. Finally, we may have to turn to applying for student loans. In Canada, about $13 billion worth of student loans have yet to be made up. Isn't our government supposed to contribute money to support the education of the people of the next generation? Aren't our parents' taxes going towards basic needs such as public health care and education? Why is the rate of poverty and hunger rising in our developed country? Where is all the money going? Here are some statistics that have shocked me beyond belief.

Canada's total Defence budget for 2009 - more than $19.1 billion.
     >Canada is the sixthhighest military spender within NATO, fifteenth highest in the world.
           >NATO: Military alliance of 28 independent countries in Europe and North America

 
 
Here are the updates on the latest Windermere clubs and activities.

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White Poppy Campaign by SING and Amnesty International 
White poppies are being sold for $2 at lunch in the hallways! They represent all the civilians, (husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, loved ones), who had died in World War I, the "War to End All Wars". This is not an insult to the soldiers or veterans, as it is a way to remember all victims of war.
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Restorative Justice News Conference
Mayor Gregor Robertson, Restorative Justice workers, various media outlets and more will be at Windermere on November 17th in the morning to recognize peaceful practices in the city for Restoratice Justice Week! Students of the Restorative Justice Team will be speaking about their experiences. Hopefully, this conference will encourage other schools to implement their own Restorative Justice program as well.
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Day and Night Dance by Student Council
Come dressed in black and white for the first dance of the year, happening on November 26th! Tickets will be $9 for 1, and $24 for 3. Come in a group of three to save a few bucks. Song requests can be taken at time of ticket purchase. Get them in the foyer or from any Student Council member before we sell out!
 
 
Youtube description: Since 2007, most of the world's population lives in cities. How can we make sure these urban centers are good homes for humanity? Cities from Bogota and Rio de Janeiro to Seoul are leading the way, using fresh ideas to reduce pollution and waste; provide efficient, clean transportation; and support biodiversity.
 
 
Congratulations to Henry Tan (Grade 11) and Kevin Liu (Grade 10) for winning the top three photos in the photo contest! Thank you to everyone who entered and voted. Everyone is welcome to enter into our November photo contest. Theme? Black and white photos.


Here they are again... Both Kevin's photos were tied for 3rd place!
 
 
Did you know Halloween is a spiritual Celtic celebration of harvest? As many of us can see, Halloween has become much more commercial than it was. Approximately $6 billion is spent during this time of year, on costumes, candy, and decorations. Of course, this leaves a huuge carbon footprint on our planet. Well, I'm not saying that we should stop the Halloween festivities, but at least reduce our impact by using and consuming less stuff! Here are some ways to make your Halloween more environmentally conscious.

1) Make your own costume. It'll make your imagination work and it'll probably be more interesting than if you bought one. Besides, you'll have a fun time raiding your parents' closets. LAST MINUTE COSTUMES.
2) Use local, biodegradable decorations. Reusable decorations for the years to come would work too. Visit the local farmer's markets for local pumpkins and squash. There's farmer's markets all year round! Check out http://www.eatlocal.org/.
3) Use soy candles. The usual paraffin wax candles release toxic chemicals such as toluene and benzene. Paraffin wax burns faster anyway.
4) Reverse Trick-or-Treating. This is something that takes a little more effort. Reverse Trick-or-Treating is an awareness campaign of fair-trade chocolates. Started by the Global Exchange, it encourages children to hand out fair-trade chocolate samples to homes, along with a quick info sheet on the consequences of non fair-trade chocolate. The main issues include forced child labour and poverty among cocoa farmers.

source: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/halloween/

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!

Here are a few pictures that will definitely give you a scare. See more at treehugger slideshows.
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Birds eat our garbage. Not good.
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Piglet with a monkey face born in China! None of the family members wanted to keep it, but a boy decided to save it from the axe.
 
 
Thank you to everyone who entered! This week is the only week to determine the top three photos, which will end on October 31st at midnight. The pictures are a little small, so bare with me! Oh and Happy Halloween!
Voting is now closed. Please click here to see the photo entries.
 
 
TONIGHT at midnight is the deadline to send in your photos! Click here for more information on the contest. Prizes to be won for the top three winners voted by the students.

So here's the video of the week... it gives us steps that we can take daily to reduce our water consumption. Some of them may not be simple, but it can be worth the amount of water you save in the end. The world's on a water shortage, and if we continue with our current habits, 1 800 million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions by 2025. Source: FAO. Already, a billion people all over the world without clean and usable water is living with or is in risk of developing diseases such as Guinea worm, diarrhea, onchocerciasis, malaria and typhoid. Our population is rising, so it would not be surprising if we run out of fresh water in the next generation.