Shown above are VE students Kane Egan and Matthew Lesperence receiving on behalf of the school, the award for Entrepreneurial Initiative during the May Council meeting. Behind from left to right are: LBPSB Chairman Marcus Tabachnik, teacher Jennifer Hayden and Verdun Commissioner Doug Flook,
School’s out for summer
Good morning / good afternoon. Alice Cooper sang the hit song in 1972, but it still rings true, as school’s out became another annual reality as thousands of students across Quebec began another trek into the summer by hitting the US coastal beaches with the high Canadian dollar with their parents, taking in the batch of blockbuster movies, or maybe doing the camp thing.
Whatever it is you will be doing, do it safely, and wear lots of protective suntan lotion, and with the school year having just ended, it’s time for your local reporter to take a break as well, and this was another fantastic year.
We had a new Principal at Beurling Academy, BA getting their Peaceful School designation, and winning 6 City Sports Championships along with student Shauna Agard giving us a highlight year by leading three of those teams, and we ran some special features on BA students and will continue that next year, and we already have a few in mind. We also sent a few people to the Bell Centre this year to take in Rod Stewart and Christina Aguilera as winners of BA raffles, and, who knows, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney are planning major world tours. You just might get lucky
At Verdun Elementary, the VE music program continued their high profile having been honored to open up the Hard Rock Café media event for schools that got the Band Aid grant the last two years and VE renamed their gym the “Remembrance Gym”
At Riverview, the very popular Lunchtime Book Club unveiled their long awaited book on multiculturalism entitled “Friends Like Me”, and the Breakfast Club was paid a visit by a few members of the Alouettes.
COUNCIL NEWS
The May Council meeting also approved various capital projects, which some of them will be taking place in our local schools this summer. At Beurling Academy, a roofing project will be done at a cost of about $60k, and the Cycle 2 science labs project to adapt to the requirements of the new educational programs at a cost of about 135k will also be done, and at VE a major window replacement will be completed at a cost of close to 210k.
QUESTION: can the much needed replacement of the original 1961 windows of the BA building and the urgently needed repair or repaving of the BA driveway be far behind?
There will also be some security upgrades to our local schools, some of which of you will notice, and some of which you won’t, and, of course, we can’t mention what they are.
SPECIAL THANKS
Now, it is that time of the year, when I would like to publicly acknowledge those who cooperated this year in the producing of this column. From the Messenger: News Director Mathieu Robert-Perron and Editor-in-chief Pierre Lussier. From the School Board: Commissioner Doug Flook, Sector Directors Carol Gray and Chuck Merilees, and Secretary-General Bill Stockwell.
From Beurling Academy, Administrators Chris Cyr, Dona Bianchi, Dean Graddon, and Andrew Henry, teachers Lisa Baylis, Tamara Beach, Sarah Legacy, Debi Dixon, Sandra Reynard, and Gary Lindner,and the Home and School.
From Riverview: Myriam Rabbat, Jennifer Holmes-Paxton, Diane Lussier and the Home and School, and from Verdun elementary: Joanne Brady-Merola, Jennifer Hayden, Mary-Anne Fyckes, and Helena Lui.
Special thanks also to students Britany Ardelli, Kayla Vardon, and Shauna Agard for their great interviews, and a happy retirement to Mr. Morris.
Most of all, we thank you the students and parents and all the readers for your usual wonderful comments. It makes it all worthwhile. HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY SUMMER and a reminder that the first day back at school is on Thursday, August 30th.
Météo: Montréal, 21 mai 2008 / 10°C
/ Couvert
/ Vents: 26 Km/h / Humidité relative: 66 % 
Steven Guilbeault - 
