Verdun School News

It was eyes wide open and a few gasps of air as Pat Benattar, not the rock singer, of Fine Line Serpents, brought a part of his collection of exotic creatures to the students of Verdun E. last Friday in what always makes for a great educational experience.

Pat brought along some new specimens from last year such as a: gecko, a neat furry tarantula, and a cool rat snake which was held up next to one of the students to show its height. Next came a nice-sized red-foot tortoise, who’s 14 years old, and who we were told has a girlfriend. Nice! Second to last, was also a fair-sized lizard called Bubba, from the African continent.

The finale is always a winner, and this year failed to disappoint with a humungous Burmese python, which, we were relieved to learn, was well fed before coming to the school. This snake eats about 12 times a year, and has been known to eat pigs, monkeys, and deer, hopefully with veggies. The students got to touch most of the animals which is always a treat, and ask lots of questions. One of the highlights had to be at the end of the first session when the retiring Vice-Principal Greta Govan managed to put the python around her neck, and made for a fantastic photo op. One again, another great event from Fine Line Serpents.

In upcoming events, the annual field day will be taking place this Monday, and the variety show is also coming up on Tuesday the 19th. Like most schools, June is always filled with end-of year activities.

The Annual Jazz concert, under the astute direction of music teacher Gary Lindner, was, once again, another success, and made for a great start to the summer months, and at the same time, BA was treated to its newest showstopper in the person of the one and only Susan Young.

As part of the opening section with the Sec. 4 band, Susan sang like a veteran on the jazzy Norah Jones song, “I Don’t Know Why”, and then moved us with a scorching “Have Mercy on Me”, an Aguilera song with guest musician Roger Walls and a soulful solo on the trumpet. It was singing that made us take notice.

Kayla Vardon, the original showstopper, was also in top form also singing a few Aguilera songs, and later came back to do that Etta James classic, “At Last”. This was the song that got the BA Community and yours truly, listening during her BA first concert a few years ago.

Also during the first section, the Sec. 4 band also jazzed it up with the River Rat Shuffle, which featured Roger Walls on the trumpet and a searing sax solo by everybody’s favorite, teacher Phil Dixon.

The Secondary 1 bands, in their first June concert, showed that they will be forces to reckon with for the next few years as they played with great poise tunes such as: La Cucaracha, Star Trek theme, and American Patrol.

The Sec. 2 and 3 bands also played with like they’ve been there before, playing classics like, Mission Impossible, Smoke on the Water, Beauty and the Beast, and that early blues song , “Mercy Mercy” , which was a pop hit for the Buckinghams in 1967. Do you remember Kind of a Drag? Once again, it was another relaxing evening of musical entertainment. HAVE AGREAT WEEK.