Slhs_09-15

Jeff Green | Apr 16, 2009

Mandy Wilson, Ashley White and Liz Marshall

There are two big events in the SLHS school year: one is the climactic Winter Carnival that takes place in February, and the other is the 30-hour Famine. Every year students from grades 9-12 spend 30 hours in school after school hours, without food. It sounds more like a teenager’s nightmare; nevertheless, the weekend of April 3 & 4, 87 students volunteered to fast after receiving pledges from family and friends to help raise $5200 for World Vision’s projects worldwide, especially in third world countries.

“The Famine rocked my starving socks”, said committee volunteer Lucy Keller, and other students around her agreed. The word “awesome” was thrown around a lot. Students helped create a banner, participated in gym sports such as basketball and floor hockey, played computer games and movies, and of course danced away their hunger pains Friday night at the dance.

This year students could nominate each other for good citizenship awards. Students who helped keep the school clean, and helped to run events were nominated and three winners were Ray Ranger, CJ Turkenkopf and 30-hour Famine committee co-chair Kara Irwin. Along with Kara, Candace Granlund and 13 staff members helped run the event, including asking for, and retrieving donations from countless organizations in Perth, Kingston and from all over Frontenac County.

Dave Gervais, one of the staff volunteers, said that he was most impressed with how the students left the school, “In the past students have done a pretty good job of tidying up but this year the school was sparkling clean”.