Tigers—I can’t believe I’m saying this—but at the time this article is being written, Semester 2 has been going for over a month and a half! And what an eventful 7 weeks it has been! From new courses to OFSAA to the Black History Month assembly, there is so much to cover! Let’s dive into the happenings of Harbord this semester. Tigers, get ready for another trip down memory lane!

Writing this article, I wanted to find out which new Semester 2 courses were the favourites of Harbord students. While I wasn’t able to do a full census (like I just learned about in math), I was able to gather a sample from my grade 9 math class. According to my results, the top 3 courses of my classmates were phys. ed, math, and BTT, respectively. I also asked a couple of other students about their favourite courses—Sean Chen (Gr. 12) asks, “Can I say spare?”; Nico Cassar (Gr. 10) says, “French drama”; and Norah Steacy (Gr. 9) says, “Geography.” I also wanted to find out whether Tigers thought the Semester 2 vibes were better on Day 1s or Day 2s. According to my survey, the majority of Tigers preferred the order of their classes on Day 2s—which I personally agree with!

Next, let’s touch on Harbord’s athletic achievements in Semester 2 so far! With OFSAA coming up in just a couple days, Harbord Tigers made significant strides in their respective sports. The Swim Team and Wrestling Team both competed in multiple meets and were very successful! We’d like to congratulate the swimmers bound for OFSAA, Chiara D’Antonio, Sienna Earley, Kylie Lai, Viggo Lindenbergs, Illia Lysenko, Emily Paguirigan, Elliott Shnier, and Clark Tunis, and the wrestlers bound for OFSAA, Alden Kibbe-Resch, Cooper Dilella, Charlie Zilcosky, and Lennon Leyland-Pang. We wish all of you the best of luck! Another shout-out to Harbord’s February Athletes of the Month, Chiara D’Antonio, Illia Lysenko, Cooper Dilella, and Charlie Zilcosky. 

Semester 2 is also the time students think about next year’s courses, and we recently had our wonderful Course Fair! By the time you are reading this, you will have already submitted your courses for next year. However, if you’re like me, you spent lots of time deliberating and going back and forth about which ones to take. Luckily, the process became much easier after the Harbord Course Fair. The Course Fair was an opportunity for students to go around from class to class, meeting teachers and asking questions about courses they were interested in. I found the fair extremely helpful in deciding which classes to take. I really got a feel for what they would be like! A huge thank you to the Guidance Team and all staff for putting on this educational and helpful event!

We also had our amazing Winter Activity Day (WAD)! If you’d like to hear more about WAD, you can find my other article dedicated to it on the Tigertalk website!

Now for a little bit of TDSB-wide news! This month, two new Student Trustees—Angelika Bell and Jenny Xing—were both elected to the TDSB Student Senate. They will have the responsibility of advocating for student issues in TDSB Board Meetings. I have had the pleasure of working with both Angelika and Jenny, and I believe they will make wonderful contributions to the Board! If you have any questions or would like to voice your input on TDSB topics, make sure to check out the monthly Student Voice Meetings held by the TDSB Student Senate. Hope to see you there!

On February 21st and 28th, Harbord students in Grades 9–11 wrote the University of Waterloo’s Pascal, Cayley, Fermat, and CCC math/computer science contests. I was excited to be able to take part in this—and I want to congratulate all the fellow test-writers for their hard work!

Also on February 28th, the Harbord Theatre Collective had the privilege of performing our newest production, The Terrible Infants, for the NTS Drama Festival. As Mr. Yee and the Admin Team put it in their March 4th newsletter, the play was a “fantastic spectacle [that] blended physical theatre, live music and story-telling into a highly sensory theatrical feast suitable for big kids and small grown-ups alike.” Harbord was also able to host performances from three other schools in the district and help them stage their productions in the auditorium! As a member of the cast, I had an amazing time putting on this production which wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of the cast, crew, and especially Ms. Johnston. 

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The day after the play, Harbord students were able to watch the amazing Black History Month: Black is Beautiful assembly presented by WACC (Whole of Africa and Caribbean Culture Club)! Members of WACC showed off their amazing talent through singing, dancing, poetry, interviews, and other forms of media. Harbord students learned about alumni who broke societal barriers such as Leonard Braithwaite and Zanana Akande and were able to hear from special guests Shand Licorish and Tesfa Mattis who talked about their experiences in social work in the TDSB. A huge congratulations and thank you to all the staff and students involved in planning this assembly—it was truly one to remember!

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Finally Tigers, I want to mention a few other student-led events and projects as well as upcoming events to look forward to!

This semester we have already been treated to multiple bake sales led by the Business Club, Cheer Team, and Muslim Student Association as well as some uplifting Popcorn Fridays run by SAC! The Grade 12 Leadership Class has also hosted more exciting drop-in recreational sports at lunch! By the time this article is published, Semi-Formal: A Night in Paris, will have happened at the Nest! A huge thank you to the Semi Formal Committee and all volunteers who helped organize and sell tickets—we are sure the event will have been a smashing success! Furthermore, a Spirit Week planned by SAC is in the works for the week of March 25th-28th, capped by the International Women’s Day Assembly on the 28th. Get ready to dress up and show your Harbord Spirit!

Wow—that was quite the month, Tigers! I look forward to the rest of Semester 2 and all it has in store for us! 

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