Submission deadline for this month is...
Eco Club Film Night!
Ashley Sutherland

Earth Week took place mid-April, and the Eco Club at Nepean took charge! They organized several activities, like having classes go on walks to pick up garbage, and a special film night open to all of Nepean High School! Complete with snacks and drinks, this was a night to remember.
The first decision they had to make was what film they were going to watch. Eco club chose to watch A Life On Our Planet because, “It encapsulated a lifetime of observations on humans' effect on the climate. This gave us, as high school students, a different perspective on the climate, ...

Nepean’s Overnight Algonquin Trip
Georgia Jones

Between April 13-14, a combination of Grade 11 and 12 students participated in an overnight trip at Pembroke’s Algonquin College. For many Grade 12s, the field trip was their first—and last—overnight trip in their high school careers. Endorsed by Nepean’s environmental SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) program, the trip introduced students to a variety of valuable tools and skills required in outdoor programs such as navigation with a compass, wildlife identification, and more. Despite being funded by SHSM, the trip was extended to students outside the program as well, allowing for a variety of students to investigate conservation skills and ...

Stonewall Survivor, Martin Boyce, Visits Nepean
Ollie Mazerolle

On April 21st, the tables in the library were swept aside and rows of seats were constructed, all facing a pair of two, blue-backed armchairs. On this day, a guest speaker came to Nepean, an activist from the historic Stonewall Riots, Martin Boyce.
Starting as an event planned for Mr. Wallace’s Gender Studies class, the occasion was opened up to other students as well. In no time at all, the room was filled with students from all grades. It began just a little after the end of the end of lunch, taking up the entirety of third period.
...

A Week of Wellness at Nepean
Georgia Jones

After the extreme challenges faced by Nepean’s school community during the pandemic, it is more important than ever to consider student wellness. Today’s young people have experienced such prevalent disconnect in their formative years that student-led events such as Nepean’s Spirit and Wellness Week cannot be overlooked.
While not an official national week, Spirit and Wellness week was an initiative from Nepean’s Student Council to organise events celebrating students’ mental health. Running from March 6-10th, it took place right before the March Break; “We’ve wanted for a long time to do something for mental health . . . we know ...

The Nepean GSA's Charity Bake Sale
N. Mazerolle

March 31st is the annual date that the transgender community and their wider community of allies acknowledge as Transgender Day of Visibility. This observance serves as a day to celebrate transgender people as well as bring attention to the discrimination they face.
At Nepean, this day started off with the morning announcements informing students and faculty of the date’s significance, but most importantly, announcing the bake sale that would be happening at the end of the day. Teachers had been encouraged earlier to wear the transgender colours of blue, pink, and white.
When the last bells of the day were rung and ...

Together In Song - A Night of Musical Talent
Yana Golic

On the evening of March 21st, Nepean High School had the privilege of welcoming the Magee Secondary School Choir and Orchestra from Vancouver, B.C. into our auditorium for a joint performance, “Together in Song”. The night consisted of Nepean’s chamber choir and vocal class showcasing some of the songs they’d been working on. It also included some performances by the Nepean Choir, which was established in 1975 for “adults who like to sing” and is conducted by one of Nepean’s music teachers, Lee Carter. On top of all these amazing performances, people who attended the event got to witness ...

The Cafeteria Has Opened!
Ashley Sutherland

It's the moment we’ve all been waiting for! This week (March 20th) Nepean opened their cafeteria for the first time in years. Students lined up excitedly at the door, awaiting the delicious dishes the cafeteria has to offer. Their menu is extensive, to say the least, including breakfast, a grill, a bakery and more!
Walking into class after lunch, I notice cafeteria items in the hands of dozens of my classmates. People walked around with an orange juice in hand, a bit of strawberry ice cream, fries and even a grilled cheese! Needless to say, the boundless menu was taken advantage ...

Black History Month at Nepean High School: A Discussion with DSU
Nina Beck and Georgia Jones

Photo Provided by Yasmin Aguiar
With February recognized as Black History Month, Nepean High School is doing their part to recognize the impact that Black trailblazers have had on today’s society. One of Nepean’s biggest clubs is DSU (Diverse Student Union), a club made up of students of different ethnicities with the goal of celebrating and sharing the various cultures represented within Nepean’s community.
In order to learn more about DSU’s plans for February, we spoke to one of the club’s executive members, Grade 11 student Yasmin Aguiar. Yasmin is leading the charge on DSU’s celebrations of Black History month. She’s been ...

JSU Antisemitism Workshop
N. Mazerolle

On the lunch period of January 18th, several students gathered in room 3104 in the English hall to take part in a workshop run by the Jewish Student Union (JSU).
The event started off with an introduction by the JSU’s president, Deena Friedman, which then transitioned to a slides presentation by the student conducting the workshop, Eliezer Teitlebaum. The slideshow began with a brief history lesson. Teitlebaum gave a summary of the significance of Israel to Jewish people and their presence in the territory, before transitioning into an overview on the becoming of the Israeli and Palestinian states as we ...

The Senior Drama Class Presents: A Night of One Act Plays!
Ashley Sutherland

On Tuesday January 17th, at 6:00 pm, the usually darkened auditorium was filled with the voices and laughter of the Nepean Community. The grade 11/12 Senior Drama class had been planning this night for what seemed like ages. They buzzed with excitement: “There's always some nerves when you're wondering if everything will go right… for me it's hard to rival the feeling of a show for an audience, your heart is just bursting and the anticipation of getting to share with the world this piece of art that you've been working so so hard on for months!” comments grade 12 ...

Nepean Playlist Vol 4: Holiday Edition is out!
Finn Bainbridge

See the playlist here!
The Nepean playlist is back yet again! This time, we asked you for your 3 favorite holiday songs, and you delivered! All your responses were automatically compiled into a Spotify playlist, which is linked above.
Coming in at 2h 26m, the holiday playlist is long enough to keep you entertained while you bake cookies, or build a snowman. Five songs, Mistletoe by Justin Bieber, Let It Snow by two different artists, Back to December by Taylor Swift, גומות by two different artists, and Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono were so good they ...

NHS Winter Dance 2022
Leila Laaziz and Ashley Sutherland

The winter school dance was held on the evening of Thursday December 22. Leading up to the first dance of the school year, Nepean students were brimming with excitement. In fact, all of the tickets sold out in the days leading up to it. With multiple checks of student belongings and all large bags taken away and stored till the end of the dance, the school made sure to keep students safe while still having a good time.
The theme for the dance was, “A Century of NHS” – a nod to our school’s 100th anniversary. Students arrived dressed in outfits ...

United Way Breakfast
Isabelle, Allison and Hannah

Hundreds of Nepean students gathered together on December 2nd for the United Way Breakfast. The goal of this pancake breakfast was to raise money for the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Center, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary. This charity is dedicated to helping youth overcome substance abuse, and assuring them that they are not alone. They provide assessment, treatment and guidance to help you become sober again. A new treatment facility is being built in Carp to help them reach a larger number of people in need.
In a meaningful speech, the speaker for the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Center ...

Nepean Dodgeball Intramurals
anonymous

On December 9th 2022, the first intramural competition of the 2022-2023 year was held, as students faced off against each other in multiple games of dodgeball inside the gymnasium. The Intramurals are held once every year. Senior Link Students host multiple friendly tournaments every week for different sports each time.
The first game of this year was dodgeball, and the next week it was badminton. For more information on how to enroll for these events, their venues, and more, please visit the Nepean StudCo Instagram page (@nhsstudco).
The winning team of this week's dodgeball tournament were handed a random prize for ...

Music Night
Nina Beck

On December 15th, for the first time since 2019, the Nepean music department held their annual Winter Music Night. Music night is a long loved tradition of the music department and has been going on for many years and the whole department was happy to bring the tradition back.
The night started with a few numbers performed by the Jazz Band, playing “Let it Snow!”, “Witchcraft”, and “No Harm / No Fowl”.
Next up was the Percussion Ensemble playing “Up on the Housetop” and “Enable Original Sound”. Percussion is one of the many ensemble bands Nepean was lucky to see that ...

Nepean’s Environmental SHSM; The Importance of Nature Connectivity for Students
Georgia Jones

SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) programs allow students to gain extra credits towards their Ontario Secondary School Diploma, while providing opportunities for students to connect with like-minded individuals and gain access to special certifications and experiences. Students are able to get involved in their school’s SHSMs from grades 11 to 12, and a total of 13 different programs range across the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board with specializations ranging from Business to Health and Wellness.
Nepean offers an Environmental SHSM program organized by Ms. Topping and Ms. Moons, with a student-run social media presence. Though the program’s ability to run field ...

Nepean Coffee House: a Great Success!
Ashley Sutherland and Leila Laaziz

On the evening of November 15th, 2022, the first Nepean Coffee house since 2019 was held. Those who attended walked into the cafeteria to behold a small, beautifully lit stage where the night's performances would take place. Rows and rows of students, family, and friends filled the room with warmth and joy. The sense of community was phenomenal.
Our cheerful host Mr. Boulerice started the night off with a speech about the coffee house and its importance. It's an incredible way to bond and share our talents amongst our peers!
The first act was a piano rendition of “Don't Stop Believing” by ...

Remembrance Day at NHS Red poppies Red poppy at afternoon sunlight remembrance day stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images
Ella Zubec

On Remembrance Day this year, NHS held its first in-person assembly in over two years. The school was split into two groups to accommodate how many students our auditorium held. Both assemblies were identical; one for ninth grade and eleventh grade students, and one for ten and twelfth grade.
The assembly consisted of readings from Ms. Tobin’s and Mr. Hoogenraad’s students, with performances from the chamber choir, and the vocal music class in between. The chamber choir is a small group of experienced singers; they performed “O Canada”, and a moving arrangement of “After the War”. This is the second ...

Treaty Awareness Workshop!
Ashley Sutherland and Leila Laaziz

The week of November 7th is Treaty Awareness week, so Mrs. McKechnie, the school librarian, organized a workshop for Grade 9 students. On November 10th, 2022, our class marched down to the library and got the chance to experience it for ourselves!
There were several tables, each containing a different activity pertaining to the Indigenous peoples of Canada. One of my personal favorites was station #2, where we read a picture book called Treaty Words by Aimee Craft!
The book contained beautiful illustrations and writing, describing the connection between people and their land. We definitely suggest it for readers of all ages!
Another ...

The Human Library: Nepean's Next Tradition
Yana Golic

On November 2nd, Nepean’s library was the location of a very exciting event, the first ever Nepean Human Library. The event was organized by our teacher librarian, Ms. Machecknie, and was made available to multiple Grade 12 social science classes. The human library is a concept that came from public libraries and has been around for a long time. Initially, it was set up to be very “provocative”; you would sign up for one-on-one sessions with people who you wouldn’t typically talk to, such as a past inmate. The goal for Nepean’s human library was not to be provocative but ...

Knightmare: NHS Music Department’s First Performance of the Year!
Ella Zubec

Jazz band!!! (Grades nine–twelve)
On October 28th, Nepean High School’s music department held their first performance of the year. “Knightmare on Broadview” featured a collection of Halloween themed music from almost all of our musical ensembles. Our Concert band (Grades 9-10), Wind Ensemble (Grades 11-12), Jazz Band, Saxophone Double Quartet, vocals music class, and ensembles from the Grade 12 music class all performed. We gave a glimpse of what our music program has to offer to six hundred Grade 8 students, and hosted three of our feeder schools: Broadview public school, Woodroffe Avenue Public School and Fisher Park PS/Summit Alternative PS. ...

Municipal Election: The Student Vote
Senuga

On Thursday October 20th, the student vote for the ongoing municipal election took place in Nepean high school’s cafeteria run by Ms. Sandapen and Ms. Mason and their students from 9.15 to 11.30 AM. Quoting Ms. Sandapen to explain what exactly the Student Vote is, “The Student Vote is an authentic learning program that provides students with the opportunity to experience the voting process firsthand. It is organized by a non-partisan, national registered charity known as CIVIX and it aims at building the skills and habits of active and informed citizenship among High School students and young Canadians. This year ...

Nepean’s Co-Presidents: building towards a big year
Nina Beck and Georgia Jones

In the time following the pandemic, Grade 12 students at Nepean High School have been working to make the most of their final year of high school. COVID-19 has erased most of the classic high school experience for the class of 2023, but this year’s seniors have now been given a chance for normalcy. For Student Council co-presidents Hattie Mccullough and Ella Durno, this comes with a newfound responsibility of rebuilding a school’s community as we emerge from the depths of the pandemic. Having spent much of the past two years online in altered schedules, most of Ontario’s schools, such ...

“Battle of the Grades” Spirit Week!
Leila Laaziz and Ella Zubec

From October third to sixth, Nepean High School’s student council hosted our first spirit week for our 2022-2023 school year! The idea behind this week’s spirit week was “Battle of the Grades”, where each grade had their own sub-theme which fell under a general idea for the whole school.
On Monday, our school spirit day was centered around colours, and each grade was expected to show up wearing their grade’s colours. Grade nine wore red, grade ten wore yellow, grade eleven wore green, and grade twelve wore blue!
Tuesday was a day for the four seasons! Students across all four ...

2022 Soccer Season Kickstarter
Senuga Ranmadugala

The first soccer game of the season for the Nepean Knights kicked off on September 27th, as the Nepean Knights won against the St. Paul Knights in the backfield of Nepean High School. The crowd contained seniors and juniors of Nepean High School, students from St. Paul, students from Broadview Public School and Nepean’s enthusiastic mascot, Knighty.
Knighty entertaining the crowd.
#9 scoring a goal.
Along with the superb performance in the game, the bake sale that was run as a prom fundraiser did great, selling snacks like brownies for spectators watching the game.
As for the season ahead, the team’s coach ...

Bake sale for the Assembly of Seven Generations
Allison, Hannah & Isabelle

October 1, 2022
“I walked out of the library and there were like a thousand people crowding around the tables, and I was so stressed, but also happy at the same time,” Moh, a co-president of DSU at Nepean High School, recounted.
DSU and Youth in Action collaborated to organize a bake sale on September 29th with 100% of the proceeds going towards the Assembly of Seven Generations (A7G).
$415 was raised, and all the money is going towards this empowering program. The A7G is a non-profit, Indigenous organization, centered around Indigenous youth. They are dedicated to encouraging cultural diversity within ...

Back to School With a Bang!
Yana Golic

On September 9, the first Friday of the school year, StudCo hosted a “Welcome Back Friday Fun!” event. The event was filled with freezies, music and lots of chalk drawings! It also served as a chance for students to get to know some of their StudCo representatives. Overall, the event was a huge success. Lots of students showed up just to hang out and to write lots of encouraging messages on the sidewalk along with various drawings. This event is just the beginning of StudCo’s plans for exciting events in the upcoming school year. This is the first year we’ve ...

Multicultural Night At Nepean
Natasha Mazerolle

On June 18, 2022, tables were arranged and doors were opened in the Nepean High School cafeteria. From 3:30 to 6pm, the school partook in its multicultural night event, run by the Diverse Student Union (DSU). Upon entering, visitors were instantly presented with the grand layout of stands; many bearing flags of their culture’s respective nations, with an assortment of cultural items and articles bestrewed across their surfaces. Balloons of all colours lined the walls too, making the sight a truly vibrant one.
The multicultural night was an event that the DSU would run annually each May, but due to the ...

Nepean High School Gets a 3D Printer
Finn Bainbridge

3D printers are machines that, as the name suggests, make plastic, real life objects based on 3D models that are created on a computer. Being able to make almost any shape relatively quickly has many applications. It has quite a lot of practical uses, such as making an object of a very specific size to fill a hole, making clips to seal bags, making a case for something (assuming it's small enough to fit in the printer), or even 3D printing a piece of a washing machine that's no longer being made! Due to how quickly you can make precise ...