Welcome to Niagara District Secondary School

The Goals Of Niagara District Secondary school are:

To prepare students for post secondary studies and employment.

To assist students in developing a sense of self-worth and social responsibility.

To help students acquire the knowledge and skills needed for useful, satisfying lives.

To encourage the pursuit of excellence.    

 NDSS students take part in moving Remembrance Day service at Cenotaph

Taylor Poulin (left) and Lucy Campbell of NDSS recite a moving rendition of In Flanders Fields at the NOTL Cenotaph on Remembrance Day. The NDSS choir also took part, singing O Canada and Abide with Me.

Things have been crazy at Niagara District this past week with many different activities taking place.

Last Tuesday our school hosted a Holocaust Symposium.

The senior drama class performed skits and monologues at the symposium that raised awareness about past and present day discrimination.

Last Wednesday our whole school attended the Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Cenotaph hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion.

Our choir sang three songs, and Lucy Campbell and Taylor Poulin recited In Flanders Fields.

Our Eco Club was recently awarded for attaining silver status for our school being eco friendly. It was accepted by Corie Hordijk, the president of our eco club, along with staff representatives Mrs. Kozloski and Mrs. Telford.

Our science classes have been very busy with many field trips. Mr. Reidiger's animal science class went to the Royal Winter Fair last week, and coming up next week the biology class will be going to the Science Center to see the Body Worlds exibit.

Good news all around in the sports department this week, our football team hosted Ann Meyer on Saturday for a friendly scrimmage. It was the team's last game and they won. The score was 32 to 20.

A girls rowing team is being put together by Mr. Jones, and we would like to thank him for that.

Our music council will be hosting a coffee house on Nov. 24. It is an acoustic night with mellow music and poetry, and the parent council will be selling espressos and cappuccinos.

Tickets are $5 and doors open at 7 p.m.

By Lauren Howse

                                      ISTRICT'S

ight Room

        Lots of stories at NDSS grad ceremony

                      Nov 13, 2009

Students of Niagara District Secondary School were multiple award winners including, in back: Westen MacIntosh, Principal Mike Cockburn and BIlly Morrison. In front are Kelsey Adams, Kristina Wamboldt and Leanne Browning.

Everyone has a story at Niagara District Secondary School.
“I see artists, lawyers, physicians in the room,” said Westen MacIntosh about the 60 graduates before him at Niagara District Secondary School’s 2009 commencement Nov. 6. “We can base our future success by our experiences at Niagara District.                   ”

MacIntosh, the valedictorian for NDSS’ graduating class of 2009, said the experiences in the halls of the school have helped shape not only himself but every student that’s been through the doors.
“You go discover who yourself are as an individual,” MacIntosh said.
It was a bittersweet moment for the second-to-last graduating class of NDSS. Despite the future of the high school being up in the air, it wouldn’t prevent the spirit of being a student remain positive, said student council president Taylor Baum, for last Friday was all about the students and nothing more.

Normally, representatives from the District School Board of Niagara would be in attendance for the festivities, but a letter had been sent by NDSS student and parent councils requesting that they stay away.
Baum said nobody wanted the ceremony to be a negative affair.

“Today is all about them (the students),” Baum said. “The kids are still trying to make sense of everything at school. The Grade 11 students are angry because they don’t know where they’re going to go next year. We’re just trying to make the most of what we have now.”

For former students such as Billy Morrison, graduation was a nice way to see his friends. Morrison, who is in his first year of environmental governance at the University of Guelph, said university life is a big adjustment from high school.
“It was definitely an eye-opener. But it’s nice to take a break (from school) to see my old friends.”
Principal Mike Cockburn said he is proud of the graduating class, noting that the students experiences at NDSS have helped prepared them for the real world.

By Eddie Chau

Niagara-on-the-Lake