Week one

Graduating Is Not Frugal!

The cost of feeling and appearing like royalty is not cheap. On the 23 rd of May the seniors of WJ Mouat Secondary school will be dressed to the hilt in glamorous attire, and walking through the halls of our high school for the last time as high school students. The highlight of this extraordinary event is none other then the dress‘, tuxes, shoes, purses, and accessories. Since when did graduating become so materialized? Personally my prom dress cost over 300 dollars; one of the cheapest ones at Champagne & Lace. Since modern technology was formed the senior prom has always, and probably will always be, expensive. On top of buying the outfits, there are also the hair, make up, and nail appointments. These range anywhere from $20 all they way up to $150 dollars or more! There is also the “role” that the date plays, typically the males, where they adorn their partner with a corsage, either on her wrist or on the top of her dress. These also vary in price, and goes to show just how much prom relies on material items to make the night, a “night to remember.” Of course prom night is not the only night that is expensive about graduating. Grad photos are one of the first expenses that are made at the beginning of grade 12, and if receiving them from school and not a department store, the prices start from $100 all the way up to $400. And grad packages that include your cap and gown for the leaving ceremony, tickets for guests, bus ride to prom and dinner once you arrive, diploma, night to remember DVD, and other items; for the full all inclusive package it is $100. In all graduating is one of the biggest stepping stones that anyone will every go through, maybe this is the reason it costs so much, or because we don’t know anyway different to do things. Whatever the reason is, if you can get past the cost, graduating truly is “a night to remember.”

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In other news Grade 12 girls are turning to the social networking website face book to avoid the ultimate grade-night disaster-someone else in the same dress. When you buy your dress you post a picture and description of it. The dress photos posted on the school’s sites earlier this week show no obvious duplications, but they have happened! . Some dress photos appear to be of professional models, while others show the grad in her dress, and still others show the dress on a hanger. Two girls found that they had the same dress, but it ended happily because they ended up going to different schools, so that tragedy turned into a laugh. Some dress photos appear to be of professional models, while others show the grad in her dress, and still others show the dress on a hanger.

By Michelle Huish

Week Two

Victoria Day

This upcoming weekend we have Monday off, but this is not just another Pro-Day, but is a national Holiday. May Long Weekend is not just an excuse to party a month early before summer hits. Victoria Day is a Canadian holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on May 24 th in honor of both Queen Victoria’s birthday and the current reigning Canadian Sovereign’s birthday. While Victoria Day is often thought of as a Canadian event, it is also celebrated in some parts of Scotland, particularly in Edinburgh and Dundee, as well as the Cayman Islands, where it is also a public holiday. The birthday of the Monarch was a day for celebration long before the confederation. On May 24 th, 1854, 5 000 residents of upper Canada gathered in front of Government House to give “cheers to their queen.” This year it falls on May 19 th.

Several Canadian cities hold a parade in honor of the holiday, with the most famous being in the monarch’s namesake city of Victoria, British Columbia. This holiday is also often celebrated with fireworks shows. Victoria Day is regarded as the beginning of the unofficial summer season in Canada, and is thus the weekend when many businesses, parks, etc., that operate during warm weather months, will open. This long weekend also often marks the beginning of spring to gardeners in much of the country, as it falls around the time that they can be fairly certain that frost will not return until the next autumn or winter. For much the same reason, because colder parts of the country winterize their recreational cabins and turn off water pumps, this weekend can also mark the beginning of the cottage season with cottagers making their first visits to check and clean their properties. It seems this year the typical warm days of the May Long Weekend are ahead of us, starting on Thursday May 15 th where temperatures are expected to hit at least 15 degrees C, all the way up to Monday which reaches a high of 30 degrees C.

This weekend when you iron out your wrinkled shorts from the bottom of your dresser drawer, plaster a set of sunglasses to your pale faces ready to get that summer tan started, and hop over to the nearest local lake to enjoy a barbeque and a dip in the water, remember what the real background of Victoria Day is. This day is not strictly for partying and having a good time, but it is to raise your glass to Queen Victoria and the Nobel royalty of our days.

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On other news recently our grad 08 classes have in fact displayed the brilliance of this year’s slogan “stay classy.” In a recent article by Nicolle Hodges appearing in the “You Think” Magazine around high schools in Abbotsford, it was stated that the students and teachers had tears in their eyes as the grad vs. students campaign began, and the teacher’s tried to match or beat the amount of food donated by our own grad class ($1,300 dollars worth). In years before us students have left the school with a bad reputation, horribly vandalizing our school, and sometimes even getting suspended for the last month of their high school career. This year, we are doing the exact opposite. When people think of WJ Mouat Secondary School this year they are no less then pleased and ecstatic about our wonderful students and their grown up, mature persona they have let everyone see this year. Let this be a lesson to any student in the future who wishes to hold a grad prank, remember the year 2008 and the reputation that will forever be remembered as the students who switched from teenagers to adults in a few short days.

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By Michelle Huish