"Some minuet"

 A1's -- remember that I will want to collect your reading logs today.  Obviously, I want you to keep reading after you do your book report.  I expect that you will continue to do 20 minutes of reading on your off-days and write in your reading logs.  I have given you topics up to now to write on.  From now on, you should write whatever you want in response to what you've read.  As an example, if I was writing reading logs about The Wars and we have been assigned to read to page 120, I might write about how much I like Juliet d'Orsey (much more than Barbara).  I might also write about her speculation that Harris was in love with Robert.  I don't think he was.  Or I might draw a picture of how Siegfried Sassoon (the poet) describes walking along and seeing  a soldier dead with his head smashed in and accompany it with the line "I still maintain that an ordinary human being has a right to be horrified by a mangled body seen on an afternoon walk".  The main thing is to think about what you read.

You should have something to show for your inspirational patriotic Canada item -- a brave speech, a rousing song, a catchy slogan, a colourful poster!

A2's -- same thing on Friday!

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers!

 Today in A1, we had our grammar quiz.  Tomorrow, we will repeat the operation with A2.  Just look over the grammar lessons on the blog and you will be fine.  We won't be doing anything we haven't covered.  We will hear Leo, Lily and Wesley present their book reports tomorrow.  Tracy will ask the question of the day.

Today, A1 looked at examples of artwork that glorifies wartime sacrifice and patriotism and I asked you to come up with something of the sort yourselves -- it can be a poster, a catchy slogan, a speech like the one we saw, a song, whatever you think will get Ms. Kosar to tear up and want to go into battle for Canada!

We discussed (very quickly) The Wars to page 108 and I asked you in A1 to continue reading to  the end of Section 2.

Remember, I want to collect your reading logs this week.  A1's on Thursday and A2's on Friday.  The topic is to compare what you're reading to something else you've read or seen.  There is an example on the previous blog post.

Drama 8 - Fairy Tale Mimes

 Choose a fairy tale.  List out the important scenes you want to include.  Decide who is going to play which part (casting).  Choose what you will show in each tableau (introduction, climax and "happily ever after").  Then you need to compose your tableaux and plan out how you will tell the story through mime.  Remember to cheat to the audience, exaggerate your facial expressions, and take your time in the performance so that the audience can understand what you're doing.  The whole performance should take about 3 minutes.

You need to have incidental music to accompany you throughout your mime and tableaux performance.  There should be no time during the performance when there is no music.  If you have items at home that can help your performance, you may bring them.  During the COVID epidemic, we can't use the props and costumes we have in the closets.

Then you need to practice!  Practice makes perfect.  The more times you act it out, the less likely it is for you to forget what to do or make mistakes when you perform.

Journal #2:

How would you rate yourself (from 1 - 4 with one being not good and 4 being excellent) at your skill at group work?  Why do you choose the rating you do?  What are you good at with groups?  How can you improve?  Are you a good leader?  Explain your answer.

Write about a time when you worked in a group (it can be a good or bad experience).  What did you learn from the experience?

Quizzzz! (English 12)

 The grammar quiz is NOT set up to fool you or make things difficult.  The questions will be based on what we have done in class and the lessons posted here on the blog.  It will not take long and should be easy for all of you!  The purpose is for you to demonstrate that you understand how do write dialogue properly and that you can edit your own work or someone else's.

For your reading logs over the next two days, compare what you're reading with something else you've read or seen.  I am presently reading the book, Spoon River Anthology, which is the basis for the fall play we are doing.  The language is quite formal and poetic and reminds me of the Victorian poets, like Percy Bysshe Shelley or Alfred, Lord Tennyson (who are both mentioned in Spoon River).  I am comparing it to plays we've done before and in particular, last year's play, "As You Like It".  Of course, Shakespeare wrote "As You Like It" to be performed and Edgar Lee Masters wrote Spoon River to be read.  I am trying to think how I can liven up the series of speeches by the dead citizens of Spoon River and make it as entertaining as Shakespeare -- that won't be easy.  This is an example of what you might write.  I have compared Spoon River to other poems and also to Shakespeare.

Tomorrow and Wednesday in class, we will have the grammar quiz, hear more book reports (A1 - Esther, Angus, Travis and Jack, A2 - Lily, Leo and Wesley), answer the question of the day (A1 - Aya, A2 - Tracy), discuss The Wars to page 108 and look at some other representations of war, and discuss the format of the "bildungsroman" further.

I intend to collect your reading logs on Thursday and Friday.

At Last . . .

 English 12:

Here is the course outline I promised you:

English 12 – J. Kosar

 

I am who I am.

A coincidence no less unthinkable

than any other.

            Wislawa Szymborska

 

Welcome to English 12!  We will spend the quarter reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing and representing – exploring the six strands of English.  The study of English encompasses an exploration of what makes us people, of life experiences and how to describe them, of expressing ourselves in a variety of ways and also a growing understanding of how we communicate with our language.

 

Texts used:

The Wars – Timothy Findley

“Hamlet” – William Shakespeare

Inside Poetry

Inside Stories III

Elements of Essays: Patterns, Purpose and Perspectives

 

Expectations

Hand your work in ON TIME.  Make sure you read my comments and if you don’t understand them, you must ask!  Otherwise, you won’t learn or make improvements.

Participate in class.  Share what you are thinking.  Answer questions.  Contribute when assigned to a group project or discussion.  We are only together half the time, so you must take advantage of the time we spend together to listen and interact with your classmates and me.

Do the reading.  On off days, you must read AT LEAST 20 minutes a day.  You should also be reading on the days when we have class.  The more reading you do, the more your English will improve.

Since we are working in a hybrid model, you MUST make use of the blog.  Look at the blog every day.  I will post grammar lessons, assignments, due dates, suggestions, and reminders!  It is vital that you keep checking the blog. In the situation in which we find ourselves, you need to demonstrate initiative and self-discipline – good preparation for your life outside of high school!

 

Course components

“The Wars” – novel study – various assignments

We will begin our time together with a class novel.  We will read the novel together and discuss it as we go.  We will be looking at related poetry, current events and articles that relate to the theme of the book.   Short writing projects will be included.

“Hamlet” – group project

Much of our study of “Hamlet” will be group-oriented and will be based on performance, since Hamlet is a play!  This will be a chance to represent our ideas in ways that don’t necessarily depend on the written word.

Poetry project

You will be asked to find five poems that speak to a theme of your choice and explore how the poet addresses the theme.  You will write two poems in different styles that relate to your theme.

Short Story survey

We will read several stories written from a woman’s point of view and then you will be asked to write a short story yourself.

Reading logs and book report

You must read books of your own choosing and respond to them in your reading log.  You will be asked to present an oral book report on a book of your choice.

Class participation and ongoing writing

One way we learn is by listening to others and speaking about our own ideas.  We will also do short assignments throughout the quarter to hone our skills as writers and presenters.

 

The marks will be assigned in this manner:

Reading and writing (including reading logs, discussions of all course material, final tests on The Wars and “Hamlet”, essay writing, grammar lessons) - 30%

Speaking and listening (including question of the day, book report, group work on “Hamlet”, debating, scene study of play and stories) – 30%

Viewing and presenting (including performances of scenes and themes from Hamlet, illustrations of poetry and novels, impressions of filmed content) – 30%

Class participation – 10%

 

Maybe suddenly,

I was frightened, knowing that the classroom

with chalk, globes, books, and blackboard, maps and desks

was floating out to sea, ungraspable;

and I was left, as the man had said,

with life as a war

and the world

            an exploding time bomb

                                                in my hands.

                                                            “Graduation Evening” by Elizabeth Brewster

I hope this helps you all see where we're going in the course.  It is a challenge to do all of this work in such a short time period, but it is also helpful that we are together every other day to touch base (I didn't like online learning as much -- it seemed so clinical to do everything online).  If you do everything to the best of your ability, you will achieve success!

 

Grammar lesson on the weekend -- English 12

 I am marking some of your writing and just want to remind all of you to proof read carefully.  Especially make sure that you watch for the things we've talked about already -- comma splices, run on sentences, agreement of subject and verb and consistent verb tenses!  If you are still unsure about how to write dialogue, make sure you check out the lesson I posted here.

Here is today's grammar lesson:

When you are listing things, all the items in the list should be written in the same form.

These are the things the squirrel did on my balcony:  ate the nuts I left for him, ran along the railing, and sat on the arm of the chair.  

Notice that each item starts with an active verb.

This would be an incorrect way of writing the same thought:

These are the things the squirrel did on my balcony: eating the nuts I left for him, ran along the railing and he sat on the arm of the chair.

Do you see the difference?

New Westminster cemetery photos for "Spoon River"

 

"Spoon River" crew:  here are some great photos of the cemetery in New Westminster (they're on the cemetery's website).  This is the style of cemetery that is close to the period of time of "Spoon River".  In the last photo, I like that you can see houses near the cemetery.  I think this would be a good spot to source interesting looking graves to go along with the show!

I was thinking perhaps we want someone to design a few headstones on which we could have the people's names.  Is anyone good with calligraphy and fancy writing?

Enjoy your professional day!

 A couple of the A1 students asked me to post info on class after we had class today, so I will try to do that.  It is likely a good idea because then we can keep both halves of the class on track.   I will try to post an update daily for each class and then general notes for all of you as well.

For A1, today, we talked about having a grammar quiz on Tuesday, when we meet again.  (That would mean A2 would likely have the quiz on Wednesday.  I guess I will create two different quizzes!)

On Sept. 29, Esther, Travis, Angus and Jack will do their book reports.

Aya will ask the question of the day.  

We talked about the idea of the "bildungsroman" and I would like you to think of something that you could use as the seed of a story of your "coming of age".  The traditional bildungsroman takes this form -- it begins with an emotional loss; the goal is maturity; the protagonist faces difficulty; there is a conflict between the protagonist and society; in the end, the protagonist is accepted into society and they accept the society's values and are happy with their place in the world. 

I had thought to collect your reading logs yesterday and today but I forgot!  I will do it on Thursday and Friday of next week.

A2:  On September 28, Aden, Shelley and Cheryse will present their book reports.  We will show our photographs (those who haven't already) and talk about them.  

Tracy will ask the question of the day.

You will have a grammar quiz on September 30.

Since you have a long weekend ahead, I've asked all of you to read on to page 108, or to the end of Section 2, chapter 10.

Keep dry!

"Bildungsroman"!

 For your reading logs, write about the similarities between yourself and one of the characters.  If it is a non-fiction, self-help sort of book, write about the kind of person to whom the book is meant to appeal.

Grammar lesson:

When do you use "less" and when do you use "fewer"?  The grocery store signs are wrong!  Their signs should read "10 items or fewer", not "or less" because we use the word "fewer" when you can count the number and "less" when it refers to an amount that can't be counted.

Example:  You have fewer cards than I have.  

                    I take less sugar in my coffee than my dad does.

3 troublesome words!  there, their and they're

The battle was fought there.  (This word can have multiple functions.  In this case, it is an adverb modifying the word "fought".)

Their raincoats are all wet because they all walked to school. (possessive)

They're (contraction meaning "they are") walking through all the puddles and getting their (possessive) feet wet.

Remember, over the weekend to read to page 108 in The Wars.  A2 will start the book reports on Monday. Try to stay cozy!

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

 English 12:

Remember you are to read the book you have chosen for twenty minutes per day and write about that book in your reading log.  Reading log topic for September 23 (A1) and 24 (A2):  Draw an illustration of a scene from your book.  Under your illustration, write a line that reflects what is going on.

We are reading The Wars as a class.  I will assign activities and reading for this class novel as homework, in addition to your reading and your reading logs.  You should read to page 44 today.  Some of the language and content might shock you -- think of why the author uses the language and includes the content.

I have given you two samples of writing about soldiers and war.  One is the great poem by Wilfred Owen called "Dulce et decorum est", written in World War I.  The other is a contemporary article about Donald Trump's comments about American soldiers.

Wilfred Owen was a British soldier in World War I.  He was wounded in battle and was sent home to England, but returned to battle in July of 1918 and was killed in action on November 4, 1918.

Donald Trump was 22 years old in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War.  He received a deferment to the draft four times because he was at college and then, when he graduated and was able to serve, he received his fifth deferment for bone spurs (a build-up of calcium on his heel), which he said healed on its own over time.

Read both the poem and the article and answer the questions below.  (Warning:  some of the language in the article is very crude.)

VOCABULARY:  “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”, performative, corrosive, cynicism, lambaste, pathological

In   1.  In one sentence, tell what each sample is about.

2.     2.   How does each example describe soldiers?

3.     3.  What is Wilfred Owen’s view of war?  What is Donald Trump’s view? Do you agree with either?  What does each person know about war?  In The Wars, Robert Ross “doubts the validity of all this martialing of men” at the beginning of the war --- with whom would he agree?  Explain.

4.     4.  Does either example shock or surprise you?  Explain.

5.     5.  What is “performative patriotism”?  How does this phrase fit either Donald Trump or Wilfred Owen?

6.     6.  As we approach Remembrance Day, what are your thoughts on the views expressed in these two samples?

7.  .  Can patriotism help people?  Can it be dangerous?

(I do not know why the font on the numbers became small and then large again!)  We will discuss your answer next day in class!

Remember to work on your book report.  A1 will start presenting the book reports tomorrow.  A2 will begin on Monday. 

Homework for the weekend 

The Wars:  Friday is a professional day so take the time to read to page 108!  As you read, remember to use the stickies to comment on your readings, to note interesting passages, to respond to surprising events, or to remind yourself of important elements of the story.  I expect at least 20 stickies in your book when you return it.

R

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

 English 12

Reading log for your day off?  What questions have you come up with as you've been reading? 

 Timothy Findley says "many men have died . . . obscured by violence" and then he names people, like Lawrence, Scott, Mallory and Euripedes.  Who are they?  Is it important to know who they are?

Do you have any photographs that are important to you?  Think about one and be able to talk about it in class.

Read to page 17 in The Wars.

Answer the questions about the two sample essays - hand it in next day.

Work on your oral book report. 

PHOTO DAY:  Those of you who are home this morning will have your photos taken this afternoon.  You will be called down by class.  Make sure you wear your mask and social distance until you get in front of the camera (then you can take your mask off and smile!)  We received this information late, so apologies for those of you who were wondering.  You have time to wash your hair and pick out a nice shirt before you have to come this afternoon.  The teachers were photographed from head to knee!  (I am not sure if that is the plan for students, but we didn't sit down, like we usually do, probably because of the COVID safety protocols.)

"I sank into the grave". Spoon River Anthology

 Drama Club:

As I said, if you are interested in performing in the SLSS Drama Club's fall performance, you can audition on October 1 and 2.  

INSTRUCTIONS:  If you have never auditioned for a play before, here are the instructions:  you should memorize one of the following monologues and when you say it, you should speak loudly and clearly and use lots of expression.  Try to think about what the character is saying, how they feel and how the audience should feel when they hear the monologue.  If you are interested in performing, I will make sure you get a part, but it might not be the biggest part.  Remember, there is no such thing as a small part, just small actors!

Usually we hold auditions in the theatre over the course of several days, but of course, this year, we have to do things differently.  You may come to the theatre at lunch or after school on October 1 or 2, or you can send me a video of your monologue to my email. 

Alumni:  Once we've cast the students, I will send you an email with your character and speech.

Monologues:

OLLIE McGEE

Have you seen walking through the village

A man with downcast eyes and haggard face?

That is my husband who, by secret cruelty

Never to be told, robbed me of my youth and my beauty;

Till at last, wrinkled and with yellow teeth,

And with broken pride and shameful humility,

I sank into the grave.

But what think you gnaws at my husband's heart?

The face of what I was, the face of what he made me!

These are driving him to the place where I lie.

In death, therefore, I am avenged.

FLETCHER McGEE

She took my strength by minutes,

She took my life by hours,

She drained me like a fevered moon

That saps the spinning world.

The days went by like shadows,

The minutes wheeled like stars.

She took the pity from my heart,

And made it into smiles.  . . .

I beat the windows, shook the bolts.

I hid me in a corner--

And then she died and haunted me,

And hunted me for life.

 

"Then we shall all go together." (Timothy Findley, The Wars)

 English 12:

A2 -- I didn't realize that Friday is a professional day, so we will have to wait for the book reports till Monday, Sept. 28!  You should be reading twenty minutes (at least) every day and writing in your reading log.

From reading your work, here are a couple of grammar tips!

1.  Observe the rules.  You aren't sending me a text, so you need to capitalize the beginning of sentences, proper names, and the word "I"!

2.  "It's" is a contraction meaning "it is"; "its" is the possessive form of "it" (for example, "the horse threw off its saddle").

3.  What is a comma splice?  It is when you join two independent clauses (like sentences) with a comma.  How do you fix a comma splice?  You can use a period or a semi-colon (if the two independent clauses are closely related), or a conjunction (like "and") or you can make one of the clauses a subordinate clause by using a subordinating conjunction.

Here is an example of a comma splice:

My favourite food is ice cream, it is so delicious.

Fixing it:

(using a period) My favourite food is ice cream.  It is so delicious.

(semi-colon) My favourite food is ice cream; it is so delicious.

(conjunction) My favourite food is ice cream and it is so delicious.

(subordinating conjunction)  My favourite food is ice cream because it is so delicious.

If you don't understand, let me know.

This week:

We are starting to read the great Canadian novel, The Wars by Timothy Findley.  We will also take a look at some great war poetry.

Aden will ask the question of the day tomorrow with A2 and Angus will ask the question in A1.

Drama 8:

Remember!  Your journals are due tomorrow.

Lakshya will lead the class at the beginning, asking the question of the day and presenting a warm-up activity.  We will go clockwise around the circle with each of you leading the class.  

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!  Thank goodness, the smoke seems to have been washed away.

Drama Club updates!

 Hi everybody,

I just wanted to post an update on the fall production of "Spoon River Anthology".  I  would like to have a Zoom meeting on Thursday, September 24 at 6 p.m. (for about 30 minutes), with people who are interested in working "backstage".  There are a number of things to do, even though we won't need lighting and sound people or the normal things, like painting, etc.  We will need someone to do some research on period costumes, someone to film monologues and edit them together, someone to find and create a soundtrack, stage managers to organize meetings and contact people, and all sorts of other things that will come up as we go along.  If you would like to attend the meeting, let me know and I'll send you the link.

If you are interested in performing and are a student at SLSS now, I will post a short audition piece here on Monday and we will hold live or filmed auditions on October 1st and 2nd.  You can come to the theatre at lunch or after school and audition or you could send me a film of you doing the assigned monologue.  I would like a couple of the people who said they would help backstage to watch the auditions with me to help me with casting.

If you are an alumni and have said you are willing to perform, I will contact you with your role.  If you are familiar with the story, you can let me know if there is a particular character you are interested in playing.  There are 212 characters, so there are lots to choose from!  I really appreciate those of you who have said you will take this on.  I know you are all really busy with school and work and life, but it is great to hear from you and know that you want to help us out in these difficult times. 

My vision is kind of like this.  The "audience" will find itself at the gates of the cemetery.

The gate will open and the "audience" will walk into the cemetery, while the opening poem is being said (by all of you!)  The "audience" will look around at all the graves. 

I am hoping that your various videos can somehow waft up from the headstones as the stories unfold.  (Film experts?  Is that possible?)

I would like to have the sense of exploring the cemetery while the speeches are presented.

Some peaceful sounding music to accompany the walk would be lovely.  I know some of you write music.  Do you have anything you think might be appropriate?

That's all for now.  I am looking forward to learning a lot of new things through this project and also at the prospect of continuing the storied career of the SLSS Drama Club.  All the world's a stage!

Journal Day!

 Drama 8:

Your journal topic is:

What should Ms. Kosar know about you?  You should include whether you've done Drama before (maybe at the Gateway classes or RADA or in elementary school), whether you have stage fright, what you expect to get out of the class, any concerns you might have.  Hand in the journal on MONDAY!

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting this evening about the historical vignettes.  I am excited that they are going to work on rewrites and that the performances in Steveston next summer will be even better than the ones the Drama club did in 2019!

 

This is the world, which is fuller and more difficult to learn than I have said. (Margaret Atwood)

 Drama 8:  We are going to perform open and closed mimes today.   Try to think of a question of the day that you can ask when it is your turn.

English 12:  Reading log topic:  What is the theme or the "big idea" behind your book?  Why has the writer been compelled to write this book?  What message is the author trying to convey to his readers?

Rewrite your personal narrative essay, making the corrections I've suggested.  Attach the rough draft to the final copy when you hand it in. 

Choose one of the essays and answer the questions on the handout. 

Grammar lesson:  

How to write dialogue:

Use quotation marks around what is said.  You should start a new paragraph every time a new person speaks.  If your speaker says a statement, the statement should end with a comma, then the closed quotation mark and then your identifying of the speaker.  Here's an example:

"You are so lazy!" Angela told Bruce.

Bruce was shocked.  "I'm lazy?  What about you?  You left the dishes in the sink for three days!  They're all crusty."

"That's your job," Angela sighed.  "Look at the chore chart."

"Oh," Bruce said, shaking his head.  "I'll do the dishes now."

Structure of the paragraph:

The traditional structure of the paragraph consists of a topic sentence, three supporting sentences and a concluding sentence.  Obviously, all your paragraphs will not look exactly like this, but it is a good structure to keep in mind.

There are four important elements to writing a good paragraph:  unity (the paragraph should be focused on one topic), order (there should be a logical progression of details -- it can be in chronological order, or order of importance, or a series of logical arguments), coherence (you need to connect the sentences, using transitional words, which show order - like "1st", "2nd", etc. - or logic - like "furthermore" or "therefore" - be careful to use the correct word -- "however" and "therefore" are NOT interchangeable; you must ensure you use a consistent verb tense, as well), completeness (all the sentences should support the topic sentence and your conclusion should summarize the idea).

When you are completing your personal narrative essay, keep these things in mind!

Drama Club:

Two things!  Let me know if you are interested in performing in the school play, which will be "Spoon River Anthology".  Pass this on to anyone who might be interested.  We won't be having announcements this year at school, so it is hard to get the info out.

If you are interested in performing this summer in Steveston in the historical vignettes that students did in 2019, let Ms. Kosar know! You will be paid for your acting and it is a lot of fun and great experience!

Email Ms. Kosar or comment on this blog post!

You begin this way . . .

Well, we have that very difficult first day under our belts now.  I always feel nervous on the first day (even after 28 years of first days!) and I want to thank you all for having made it manageable.  Lots of your teachers really appreciate your wearing masks and following the rules for safety and health.

Everyone, please remember to give your parents the letters I gave you.  My hope is that the letter will help allay some of their concerns about this unusual "back to school" and also give them some insight into what you will be doing over the course of the quarter.

English 12:  I am looking forward to meeting the second half of my English class this morning.  For those of you I saw yesterday, your homework is to answer the questions about the poem, "You Begin" and begin to plan your oral book report.  A couple of you had some good questions -- for the illustration of the poem (#2), ideally, I would like a drawing, but if you want to describe your illustration in words, that's fine, too.  For the book report, if you would rather speak about a non-fiction book, that's fine.  Instead of the plot and characters, you can describe the message of the book and the author's purpose in writing it.   Remember to begin each home session with 20 minutes of reading and then write in your reading log.  I read your writing samples and was very pleased with the quality of your work.

Drama 8:  We will begin mime today!  I hope you all remember each other's names.  I am going to be working on that over the next few days.  Remember to have a duotang, some paper and a pen for Friday.  Put the handout I gave you in the front of the duotang.

Drama Club:  If you are interested in participating in the Steveston Historical Society's vignettes this coming summer (2021), we are having a Zoom meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m.  We will be discussing the idea of turning history into theatre and the coordinator of the vignettes will be there, along with the writer of the vignettes and one of our past performers who are going to be working on updating the script.  If you are interested, email me and I will send you the link.

If you are interested in performing in "Spoon River Anthology", please send me an email.  I am thinking about how it will be presented and sometime next week, I will start choosing roles, so I need to know if you would like to participate!

Have a great day two, everyone!

Great to be back!

 Great to hear from many of you about Spoon River!  I hope to hear from more of you in the days to come and will start thinking about how we're going to put things together.  Also, great to hear from some folks who can help with the logistics and filming and editing.  The more the merrier, so make sure you send me an email if you can lend us your considerable talents and skills for this exciting thing (whatever it turns out to be.)

It was also great to see a class of students in the theatre after all these months away.  It was only a homeroom class, so just all that administrative stuff that you all know I love, but once I see a group of kids, for some reason, my anxiety level goes down.  Now we have a weekend to regroup and we will be up and at it for our first quarter on Monday!

Here's a link to the Guardian Comedy Wildlife Photography awards, which might give you a laugh if you need one.  Who doesn't need a laugh once in a while?  https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/sep/11/comedy-wildlife-photography-awards-2020-finalists-in-pictures

This is the state of man; today he puts forth the tender leaves of hope; tomorrow, blossoms, and bears his blushing honours thick upon him!

Today, we are putting forth the tender leaves of hope, hope that this school year will bring us back to something we can consider "normal".  Maybe, in the months to come, our leaves will blossom into honourable flowers!  We have a new beginning ahead of us and we do have the power to make something of it.  Let's do our best and have a positive attitude and take the lessons we learned from the last few months into our new school year.

No matter how challenging the last few weeks have been, with all of us trying to imagine school and what we will do, I know that once I get to see your shining faces back in the theatre, I will feel like there are all sorts of new possibilities ahead of us.  We will figure all of it out together!  Many heads are certainly better than one.  A few things to keep in mind to keep yourself (and old folks like me) safe -- wear a mask when you can and try to respect the two metre physical distance from people.  Wash your hands whenever you think of it.  Try your best to follow the rules -- they've made these rules (like the directional arrows in the hallways) to keep us all safe.

If you are interested in the school play, I am planning something different this year, since it is unlikely we will be able to do a regular performance with an audience crammed into our little theatre and with you guys hanging around at lunch and after school for rehearsal.  (Maybe that can happen in the spring!)  I mentioned Spoon River Anthology before.  It is a series of short poetic monologues spoken by the denizens of the fictional Spoon River cemetery.  The idea for this is that each of you could prepare one of the character's monologues and we could get some of our film school students (presently in film school, or graduates, so they'll know what they're doing!) to put it together and we could present the thing virtually.  There are lots of monologues, so if you are an alumni, recent or long ago, we would love to have you participate, too!  You can tell me if you're interested in the comments section of the blog, or you can email me.  I hope to hear from lots of you soon!  I will post a couple of sample monologues here in the days to  come.

Brevity is the soul of wit!

 If you did write that short story, look at the CBC's website to see how to enter it into the CBC's short story contest.  You could win $6000 and get a chance to go to the Banff Centre for a two week writing residency and get your story published!  Here is the URL:  https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/calling-all-writers-the-2021-cbc-short-story-prize-is-now-open-1.5705720

Won't be long now until we're back in the saddle!  It will be very different, and we are having a staff meeting to find out all about it today, so I am looking forward to that.  On Thursday or Friday next week, you will be coming in to get all the latest information, so don't stress too much till then.

See you soon, everybody!