Dark Matter and The AP Community By Diego Rojas

SENATOR O’CONNOR COLLEGE SCHOOL GIFTED/AP NEWSLETTER Winter Snapshot

T C D S B

Volume 4, Issue 1

February 2016

Trip to Harvard Model UN

2

Not Afraid To Be Silly

5

Engineering Design Competition

6

Aga Khan Museum with Grade 9’s

7

OCS Robotics Team 8

Brownian Motion 9

AP Family Values 11

Inside this issue:

On Friday evening, December 11th, 2015, numerous

O’Connor students made the trek to the Toronto

Reference Library to attend a lecture by renowned

author and Harvard physicist Lisa Randall concerning

her latest book. The book and lecture shared the

intriguing title of Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The

Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe. Randall

spoke at length about the properties of dark matter,

explaining both the concept and her theories on the

matter. Her theoretical proposition suggests the large-

scale gravitational effects of dark matter could have

knocked an asteroid off course and towards the earth,

causing one of the most publicized extinctions in our

history. She also spoke of the ways we discovered the

substance dubbed “dark matter” due to our lack of

comprehension on the topic (although apparently “dark

matter” is definitely a misnomer, according to Lisa). This

nigh-intangible matter is also believed to play a large

part in the way our galaxies orbit, as the speed of rotation does not correspond with the

mass inside. While an article like this is not the place to delve into the matters of physics

too deeply, the panel discussion that ensued also featured some very interesting

questions. The three panelists were amicable in their responses, and it is fair to say that

everyone learned something that day. The AP/Gifted group that went to the lecture had

quite a lot of fun, connecting with some students from

other schools and each other. The lecture itself was

dynamic and intriguing, and the people were equally so.

Lisa Randall’s book presents an interesting read while

discussing some common questions from a new

perspective. All in all, yet another entertainingly

educational excursion for O’Connor.

Thank you Ms. Pavliv for

all your hard work

preparing for our NEW

AP Psychology course!

Follow our NEW Twitter

account to keep up with eve-

rything our family’s doing!

@ocs_ap

Thank you Patrick Stogianou for

managing the account.

On January 27th, 16 students flew to “Bahston”, Massachusetts,

USA, along with teacher supervisors Ms. McCarvell and Mrs. Devitt –

Tremblay for Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN). Once landing in

Bahston, the group arrived at the Sheraton Bahston Hotel and were

immediately greeted by the sight of many teens from around the

world mingling in the hotel lobby, so naturally we joined in. Our first

full day started with a trolley tour to MIT where we had a tour of ro-

botics labs, the world-renowned MIT media lab and the Infinite Corri-

dor. We were kindly shown around by Sepehr Eshani, a post-doctoral

fellow working in the field of Computational Biology at the Institute.

The tour was then followed by lunch at Quincy Market, where various

food stalls and shops were located. We then hopped on the trolley

tour again and returned to the hotel to get ready for opening ceremo-

nies and the first session of HMUN. Our group looked very dapper,

donning our Algerian Flag pins and waving our Algerian flags (we

formed the delegation of Algeria at this conference). The topics de-

bated in the various committee sessions were all interesting and very

serious. Finishing our first committee sessions at around 11pm, we all

headed up to our rooms and excitedly talked about our day; we made

so many new friends! Day Two brought us to “Hahvahd” University to

meet former OCS student and Harvard freshman, Lyndon Hanrahan,

who (with snow pants just picked up at the post office in hand) gave

us a detailed tour of the campus and school that he now attends. The

campus is absolutely beautiful. Many other MUN student-tourists

were clustered around a certain famous statue purported to be John

Harvard. We were warned not to touch this statue for biohazard rea-

sons (thanks Lyndon). On Saturday evening, HMUN put on an extraor-

dinary cultural extravaganza that showcased songs and dances that

blew us all away. The Delegate Dance followed, with the DJ playing

mostly American and Latin American dance music. We indulged at

the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and we could barely finish our

super large portions, but it was totally worth it. Roses were sent and

received, superlatives were voted on, international friendships were

forged, and memories were made. If only we could do it all over

again. Motion to repeat HMUN 2016?

OCS Delegation Off to Harvard

Personalized Tours of

MIT and Harvard

Page 2

Inside Story Headline Motion for a Moderated Caucus on HMUN 2016 By Gabriella Bunag

Left:

Cheesecake

Factory

take-out -

OCS family

meal al fres-

co!

Right: OCS

graduate

Lyndon

shows us his

new school.

In our

business

attire at

Opening

Ceremonies

at the Pru-

dential Cen-

ter

Sepehr

shows us

around

MIT

“Alright, for this part here, you’ve got to sell yourself to the best of your abilities.”

Though a helpful piece of advice for someone prior to a job interview, it may not be the best for a group of pre-teens in front

of their parents.

It was three years ago that Mrs. Devitt-Tremblay flagged me down in the hallway after school and tried to get me to help

her out with this thing she called an “AP Application Writing Workshop.” After a moment of clarification, it turned out that she

just wanted to stuff me in a room with a few prospective AP students and help them with their applications. Seemed simple

enough, and it was, at first. At most, we were expecting no more than a dozen students, amounting to about 3 or 4 kids per

volunteer, but suddenly, the number of students almost tripled. After an hour of struggling to keep my head above water

while helping nine kids, it was over.

Being the school we are, we made the workshop an annual event, with a bigger turnout every year. More than a hundred

enthusiastic parents and students turned out for this event in October of this year. Those who attended as guests in years prior

were suddenly in charge of the workshop, and those of us who helped since the beginning couldn’t help but stand in awe at

the event’s growth. The AP program at O’Connor had long been in place prior to my arrival and will hopefully remain long

after but, in the short time that I have been a part of this wonderful community, I can’t help but say that I am thrilled to have

watched it grow.

Annual AP Application Writing Workshop

By: Matthew Gene

An Evening at The Opera : La Traviata by Amanda Yokingco

Page 3 SENATOR O’CONNOR COLLEGE SCHOOL

Community Building Snapshot

The gowns! The romance! The tragedy! When everything is for sale, what would you

give for love? On the crisp autumn evening of October 5th, the entire AP/Gifted family

was invited to attend a BMO Financial Group Student Dress Rehearsal of Giuseppe Ver-

di’s La Traviata. We all dressed in our finest and gathered at the Four Seasons Centre:

home of the Canadian Opera Company. La Traviata is an opera filled with the passion

and pathos music theatre is famous for, as well as riveting drama, superb sets and

pretty props, stunning scores, mesmerizing music, and complex costumes. The play

also boasts an intricate heroine named Violetta who unequivocally emanates change

and growth in her time, making her not only one of the best-loved heroines of opera,

but one of the most real and complete as well. Though set in Paris during the 1850s, it

was sung entirely in Italian (except for SURTITLES™; they were in English). As always,

it was an amazing night of opera as well as an excellent opportunity to socialize that we

all enjoyed very much. We are certainly looking forward to attending the next opera

which will be April 25th for Gioachino Rossini’s Maometto II. Hope to see you all there!

Duke of Ed Silver Award By Patrick Stogianou

Duke of Ed Breakfast By Grace Lang

In October, a dozen OCS students attended a Duke of

Edinburgh's Award breakfast to support the Duke of Ed

program that involved almost 38,000 young people in 2015.

The objective of the internationally recognized Duke of

Edinburgh program is to challenge young people between

the ages of 14 to 25. Wide varieties of interests are em-

braced and provide for training, achieving, and recognition

in physical activities, skills, outdoor expeditions, and ser-

vice to the community. The award program is designed to

advance the physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritu-

al welfare of young people. Throughout the breakfast we

got to talk and listen to past and present Duke of Ed partici-

pants, and enjoy a delicious breakfast. At Senator O'Con-

nor, we hope to work toward achieving our bronze, silver

and gold levels of achievement in this program. This expe-

rience has motivated and fully informed us about the bene-

fits and amazing experiences that come from participating

in the Duke of Edinburgh Award program.

OCS Students out in the Community

Page 4 SENATOR O’CONNOR COLLEGE SCHOOL

I've always been someone with strong

opinions, so when Mrs. Parish kindly

forwarded an email from the Toronto City

Youth Council about an open position, I

eagerly jumped at the opportunity! The

process required me to apply for a vacant

post in my ward - Ward 32 - submit my

resume, and await an interview. After

successfully completing those stages, I was

selected on January 31st. Now for my role

In early December, five students from Senator O'Connor

received their Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards at Queen's

Park. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a self-guided award

with components of physical activity, skill development,

volunteer service and an adventurous journey. The Silver level

is the second of three stages, after Bronze and before Gold.

The five students, myself, Natalie Alvares, Kaitlin Wiens, Micah

de Lara and Christopher Knight received our Silver awards

from Heather Smith, the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of

Ontario, with our friends and family watching. Afterwards, we

were invited to the Lieutenant Governor's apartment for some

refreshments and picture taking. Overall, it was a long-

awaited fun day!

synopsis; I'm a volunteer Youth Councillor

chosen to represent the young people of my

community at City Hall. I will bring forth

innovative ideas and address local concerns

to the 43 other voting delegates. Another

interesting component of the job is to remain

in correspondence with my City Councillor,

meaning that I will shadow her at municipal

meetings. As the first member of government

in my family, this experience will be

phenomenal. I cannot wait to get started

and keep you all posted on all things

political!

Student Politician By Anna Khouzam

December 10th was an interesting day – to say the

least – for the AP/Gifted students at Senator O’Connor. The

first semester was past its mid-point and anxiety levels

caused by ISUs and major assignments started to increase.

However, it was this huge, loud, and incredibly over-

crowded moment for which Mrs. Devitt-Tremblay had

prepped us a week in advance that really acted as a de-

stressor in all of our academic lives: the AP dance to Hotline

Bling. Nicole Lorencez choreographed the routine and, with

the help of many willing Grade ten volunteers, Mrs. Devitt-

Tremblay sent out a video of the dance which she made sure

everyone not only saw, but practiced as well. When Decem-

ber 10th arrived, AP students in all grades came together in

the cafeteria to dance to Drake’s song. It was so hectic that it

took us 30 minutes to record 60 seconds of choreography!

However, it all paid off when Mrs. Devitt-Tremblay sent out

the final video because what we saw wasn’t a bunch of kids

dancing sloppily, we saw our AP family having fun and re-

lieving stress in our own O’Connor way!

Not Afraid To Be Silly

To see the video:

https://vimeo.com/150821700

Password: AP

Page 5

The “Hotline Bling” Dance By Ednah Negatu

3, 2, 1, Liftoff! by Alexa Bautista

On October 6, 2015, honour roll students gathered together

during first period to be rewarded with a wonderful breakfast for their

amazing accomplishments. The cafeteria was decorated with bright

decorations and filled with smiling students, happily eating their meals.

However, rather than actually eating their food, a few Grade eleven

students decided to experiment with it instead. Students Andrei

Andreica, Chris Gawrylczyk, Darie Roman and Patrick Stogianou worked

together in an effort to make a pancake float in the air. After many trials

resulting in broken pancakes and lost utensils, they managed to create a

contraption consisting of multiple plastic knives and colourful helium-

filled balloons in order to lift up one pancake - a special little pancake; a

pancake that will soon be an inspiration to all other members of the

breakfast-food family and AP community.

Excited students followed these four outside in order to witness

the first-ever AP Pancake Launch. While gathered around the pancake

contraption, the countdown begun, “3....2...1... LIFTOFF!” The

pancake was released and soared, slowly but surely, up into

the clouds to an estimated altitude of 10,000 feet. The crowd

stood in awe and watched the pancake disappear into the sky

- except for fellow creator Patrick, who stared at it with a

disgruntled look on his face. “That was my pancake.” he said,

slightly dejected. Well, it’s too late to get it back now.

This pancake now serves as a reminder for all AP

students to shoot for the stars and follow their dreams.

Pancake, you will never be forgotten.

attendees on a positive note, most of whom

were filled with the renewed desire to make

a difference within this world.As mentioned

in a speech given by Spencer Ki and Matthew

Gene:

“The only limitation upon humans that

really prevents the creation of a perfect and

harmonious world, are those we unnecessarily

impose upon ourselves.”

Later, we donned our metaphorical

aprons and made AP Pancakes for all during

both lunches.

There was no better way to top off the

2015 year than with a gathering amongst the

AP community.

On December 15th, many students (and

staff) gathered in the chapel to take part in

Senator O’Connor’s annual AP Christmas

Paraliturgy. The paraliturgy unified the AP

community –featuring various reflections,

which mainly focused on our purpose as

human beings, supporting one another, and

making a difference within our society –

leaving many with a sense of empowerment.

It is safe to say that the gathering left all

Winter Snapshot

Page 6 SENATOR O’CONNOR COLLEGE SCHOOL

Have you ever wondered if the students at Sena-

tor O'Connor are smarter than the American stu-

dents preparing for university? Well wonder no

more, as on the 14th of October 2015, many AP stu-

dents had the chance to test their skills against

American schools on the Preliminary SAT exam.

The PSAT is a two-hour test comprised of separate

math and verbal sections and a third section testing

English grammar. For many, this was the first time

they'd faced such a diabolical exam, but as for the

others, they'd already done this in their sophomore

years. It's really not THAT bad though, as more than

3.5 million high school students take this test each

year. It's not just a test. It's something that could

really benefit you both in high school and in univer-

sity/college, as there is a scholarship competition

(the National Merit Scholarship competition) which

awards approximately 8,200 scholarships annually.

Also, many take the PSAT exam as a great oppor-

tunity to receive feedback on their strengths and

weaknesses. So if you're ever in the mood for cruel

and unusual punishment, or as Ms. Devitt-Tremblay

likes to call it, "brain food", have a try at this excel-

lent and fun learning opportunity.

(Added note from Mrs. DT: FYI: Our O’Connor stu-

dents placed in the very highest percentiles in Lan-

guage and Mathematics categories. Needless to

say, we also sailed well above the newly designed

College Board benchmarks. )

A Sense Of Belonging by Ashley Rivera

PSAT by Kevin Maruthananth and Justin Pymento

In November 2015, four sophomores

assembled the first “Dream Team” at Senator

O’Connor and signed up for the University of

Toronto Engineering Competition, competing

against freshmen and sophomore teams from

other schools. The group consisted of: Miguel

Rosales the designer; Stephanie DeGuzman the

dreamer; Fynn Schmitt-Ulms the thinker, and

Andrea Bancod, the person who keeps track of

things.

The aim was to build a contraption

that could lift 200g off of the ground and reach

the top of two desks, one stacked on the other.

In a realistic scenario, the team would be deliv-

ering resources from the bottom of a cliff to a

Bolivian village above. Each team was assigned

one of the four categories: speed, affordability,

effectiveness, or assembly. Within each catego-

ry were three different awards: overall catego-

ry winner, environmental award, and innova-

tion award. The Dream Team was assigned

speed.

In a few days, the four gathered the

materials (going to different hardware stores at

untimely moments) and finished building the

prototype. By the end of the final preparation

night, they carefully took it apart.

Finally, it was November 28th – the day of

the competition. The device successfully lifted

just enough weight. The final timing for the

Dream Team was 2.5 seconds, beating another

group by 0.11 seconds and winning the speed

category!

The senior teams had fun too, creat-

ing well-thought out construction projects,

Spencer Ki, David Rolko, Thomas Rolko, Mat-

thew Gene, Chris Gusz , Nicole Lorencez and

Reshan Rex did a wonderful job as well!

THE UOFT ENGINEERING COMPETITION – We came home with a medal!

By: Andrea Bancod

Growing Our Hearts and Minds

On January 13th, Grade 9 AP/Gifted

students were invited to participate in a

trip to the Aga Khan Museum. Depart-

ing from school, the students traveled

to the museum in a group, and upon

arrival, spent some time admiring the

architectural design of the building.

The outer walls were built to be diago-

nal, and gave the museum the appear-

ance of a large ship. It had an open

space in the centre of the main hall,

which served as a garden in warmer

weather. The students took time to listen

to how this design element was incorpo-

rated in many homes in the Middle East,

where houses are often built around a

central garden. Students learned what an

important part geometry and symmetry

Advanced Placement News Page 7

Grade Nines Go to the Aga Khan Museum by Anikó Gruber

CSUNA by Jessica Mahadeo

The air was crisp at the Catholic Education Centre

on the mornings of November 26th and 27th as hun-

dreds of Toronto Catholic District School Board students

made their way inside the building. Many gathered to

participate in the 2015 Catholic Schools United Nations

Assembly, organized every year by St Joseph Morrow

Park Catholic School. O'Connor's AP community had the

chance to join in on this exciting event with twenty-five

students representing various countries in different

committees!

In the General Assembly, students dealt with issues

such as refugees, mental health, and women’s rights. In

the WHO organization, delegates discussed and passed

several resolutions regarding topics such as: mental

health, clean water, malnutrition, and whether or not

toilet paper is a necessity of life.

Aside from the resolutions, the delegates let loose

and participated in karaoke, dance competitions, and

rap battles. It was a great way to end the conference.

The Senator O'Connor students had a blast, making

new friends, arguing different topics and laughing with

their peers. A lot was learned from this event and it was

a great experience for all! The AP community cannot

wait to attend CSUNA next November to see what the

conference brings!

played in the decorations and pictures.

They saw multiple everyday objects

that were beautifully painted, such as

books and plates. A tapestry made with

gold pins, multiple pieces of jewelry,

and religious texts were all part of the

experience. The tour was both educa-

tional and interesting, and every stu-

dent left with a deeper understanding

of a culture.

Exploring The World

Ingenuity and Experimentation

Winter Snapshot

Page 8 SENATOR O’CONNOR COLLEGE SCHOOL

Robotics by Ben Creasy

This 2015-2016 school year marks the first time

that there has been a Robotics Club at Senator

O’Connor. The club has been meeting every day

after school since late October, completing plan-

ning, designing, and building tasks each day. The

group is currently building a robot that functions

like an excavator, meant to complete a variety of

tasks in a competition later this year. Our school’s

first robotics club has done an excellent job so far,

learning the ropes of what robot-building entails,

as they are the guinea pigs for this competition

preparation process. Along with the help of Mr.

Hill and Mr. Christian, the students involved have

designed, programmed, and built a functioning

robot (controlled with an Xbox controller and joy

stick)! It is under continuous development and im-

provement each day. The final product will have a

total of six functioning wheels, a metal frame, ply-

wood body, side bumpers, and plywood excavator

arm. All of these attributes are necessary to be suc-

cessful in competition. The goal of the club is to

complete and polish off the finished robot in time

for the first competition early in March. We wish

our team the best in the inter-school competition!

The Egg Bungee Jump by David and Thomas Rolko

The Grade 12 AP Physics class was split into

groups to take part in a challenge, using the con-

cepts learned in class from the amazing teacher

Mrs. Price. They took a long chain of elastics and

calculated the length required to extend it so that

an egg dropped would get as close to the floor as

possible without cracking. The teams dropped the

eggs from the second floor of the school and

watched, hoping their egg would not be the one

that would smash into a thousand pieces. Some

groups were successful, while others made scram-

bled eggs instead.

THANK YOU MR. HILL AND MR. CHRISTIAN FOR WIN-

NING THE $23,000 GRANT FROM FIRST ROBOTICS.

This past October, members of O’Connor’s AP-Gifted community had the enrich-

ing opportunity to attend a mathematical symposium presented by Dr. Stanislav

Smirnov at the University of Toronto. The brilliant Dr. Smirnov is one of the more

recent recipients of the prestigious Fields Medal, commonly called the mathemati-

cian’s Nobel Prize, and the symposium was held in honour of his award. One of his

many areas of expertise is that of dynamical systems, the mathematical modeling of

the movement of a point in geometric space as a function of time, and his lecture

was on exactly that, featuring an explanation of Brownian motion and answering the

question “what exactly is a random walk?” Brownian motion describes the seeming-

ly random path a particle takes in a suspension when acted upon by numerous

smaller particles.

Dr. Smirnov expounded upon his modeling of such scenarios using square and

hexagonal-based lattices, and went into further detail by describing his efforts at

calculating the probability of a particle traveling along each path; in effect his re-

search strove to order randomness.

The address took a captivating turn when Dr. Smirnov explained how he at-

tempted to apply his research to areas encompassing more than three-spatial di-

mensions, and one could tell that the audience was totally enraptured. Upon conclu-

sion, the professor was simply swamped by questions posed by the inquisitive

minds in the room, and O’Connor’s students were lucky enough to be able to take a

group photo with the genius at the end. We all left the lecture with our minds ex-

panded, fascinated by the mathematical possibilities presented that day.

Page 9

Ordering Randomness: The Fields Medal Symposium by Spencer Ki

Something Fishy at the ROM by Vlad Sandu

In November, our intrepid O’Connor histori-

ans boldly went where no student has gone before;

into the fiery depths of knowledge at the Royal Ontario

Museum’s Pompeii exhibit. There, they were treated

to an enlightening tour of Pompeii’s cultural exhibition

which featured many interesting artefacts and never

before seen information on Pompeii’s most revered

figure; the mighty fish. The people of Pompeii sure did

love their fish: big fish, small fish, all kinds of fish, end-

lessly devouring them meal after meal along with

some of their traditional black bread. Yum, just like

grandma used to make! After having been greatly illu-

minated by the sheer mind-blowing awe of the exhib-

it, O’Connor’s amazing students sat in on a relaxing,

yet enlightening historical lecture by award-winning

Professor Kenneth Bartlett at the University of Toronto,

concerning the scientific revolution of the 17th centu-

ry. Thank you Eryk Brol, OCS grad, for inviting us to

your U of T class! Our AP family finished the day in a

state of great elation looking forward to passing on

stories of Pompeii’s aquatic friends for generations to

come.

Out In The City

Fields Institute

ROM

University of Toronto

By Adenieke Lewis-Gibbs

Page 10 SENATOR O’CONNOR COLLEGE SCHOOL

The Fixings for a Hearty AP Soup In September, Senator O’Connor cordially

welcomed countless prospective Advanced

Placement students from across Toronto, along

with our own students and parents in the AP/

Gifted program to a special community even-

ing. The keenest of kids began filtering their

way in as early as 6:30 p.m. and by 7:00, the Pat

Gravelle Hallway was inundated with zealous,

challenge-seeking students and their parents.

Jason He added ambiance with piano playing.

For the Grade 8 students, that day marked the

first towards an enriching high school career.

For the O’Connor family, it was a chance to

boast and brag about how phenomenal the

school truly is.

In the time between entering the school and

opening the auditorium, students and parents

alike were able to socialize with multi-coloured

brochures in one hand, and cups of student-

made soup in the other. Mrs. Price, Ms. Kopria-

niuk and a dash of students worked together to

make enough soup for the 300-plus visitors that

night.

Once the anxious small talk ceased, the audi-

ence gathered in the auditorium. They were

greeted with AP student Natalia Santilli and her

rendition of Coldplay’s “Fix You.” Also O’Con-

nor alumnus and current University of Toronto

student Justin Wiens was presented with the AP

National Scholar award, a testament to his cog-

nitive caliber, hard work and the rigorous edu-

cation he received at Senator O’Connor.

Somewhere in the academic mix was AP

Chicken Soup, the underlying theme of that

night. A new addition to the Advanced Place-

ment mindset, the so-called ingredients for the

metaphorical soup boasted both witty and wise

words from students such as, “Per augusta ad

angusta," “everyone learns at a different pace,"

or Dawn's thoughtful input, “sleep.”

The night progressed in this fun and informa-

tive manner. Students were both enticed and

overwhelmed with the prospect of a new learn-

ing environment.

Mix a handful of education enthusiasts, pro-

spective parents, and academic aces and what

do you get? A warm, hearty bowl of AP chicken

soup.

Advanced Placement Values Page 11

Sentiments shared by OCS AP/Gifted students, parents and teachers

Slide Creation by Emily Panousis

Regional Congregated Advanced Placement Centre

Senator O’Connor College School

60 Rowena Dr.

Toronto, ON

M3A 3R2

GIFTED FACILITATOR/AP COORDINATOR:

Nan Devitt-Tremblay

Phone: 416 393 5505 Ext: 6009

Voicemail: 80025

Newsletter Editors:

Erin de Ridder/ Lily O’Connor Clarke

Editorial Team: Miguel Rosales, Ashley Rivera,

Christopher Knight, Samuel McGouran

Special Event Photography : Alexa Bautista

Audax et Fidelis

This fall, the OCS Debating Society

expanded yet again, gaining several

new members who all contributed in

their own unique way to the Society’s

success. Along with each team mem-

ber’s contributions at the monthly

debates and weekly meetings, eve-

ryone spoke with respect towards

their opponents - and acted like true

sportsmen. These last few months

alone, the Senior team placed Sec-

Debaters Off To A Great Start By Kayla Paciocco

More than a hundred students from Catholic, public, private

schools came to Senator O’Connor College School for an after-

school debating workshop in November.

O’Connor Hosts The Ontario Pro-Con Workshop

ond at the Agnes MacPhail Tournament while

Junior team member Mitchell MacDonald

earned an individual second place award at the

Sir John A. MacDonald Tournament. In addition

to a successful debate season, Senator O’Con-

nor was able to host “The Ontario Pro Con De-

bating Workshop” where various schools

across the TDSB and TCDSB gathered to hone

their debating skills. The student facilitators of

the workshop were able to show their strengths,

and share tips and techniques with other stu-

dents. They taught these tips through work-

shops that were hosted in designated

classrooms throughout the first floor. Not

only were they able to access workshops

in the classrooms, but students were also

able to attend a mock debate where they

observed experienced senior debaters

argue their resolution with skillful oration.

Overall, the members of the Debating

Society have had an eventful and reward-

ing year, and are now eager and ready to

start the new season.