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40 Years and Counting…We Are Remembering Our Past & Looking Towards Our Future94615-405765December 19th, 2014Quick HitsSchool reopens on Monday, January 5th (Day 6)Athletic DepartmentBottle Drive – January 2ndPlease check out the noted website below Random Island Academy Senior Boys Volleyball Team win the 2014-2015 School Sport 2A ProvincialsTeam members include:? Coach – Jordan Marsh, Tim Stone, Brandon Wiseman, Ethan Blundell, Aidan Collins, Coach – Matthew Cook,? Justin Palmer, Gregory Hoskins, Lucas Marsh, Curtis Vardy, and? Kyle BlundellRandom Island Academy won the School Sport 2A Volleyball Provincials which were hosted by Smallwood Academy in Gambo this past weekend. The Crusaders had a rough match to start the tournament losing to Cloud River Academy (Roddickton) 26-24, 25-11, but they re-grouped after that match and never lost another set in the tournament. They beat Cape John Collegiate (La Scie) 25 – 9, 25 – 9 and then defeated the host Smallwood Academy 25-22, 25-12 to secure a spot in the semi finals. In the Semi final match the Crusaders came out hitting and did a great job of shutting down a potent offense; they overpowered the first place team in Division B, Phoenix Academy (Carmenville) 25 – 13, 25 – 21, to earn a berth in the final. The gold medal game saw a re-match against Cloud River but it was a different Crusaders team this time; Our Boys played fantastic all of Saturday but they saved their best for the playoffs.The Crusaders put up steady blocks and consistently ran 5 hitters to overcome the team from Roddickton.? Our Boys won 25-18, 25-23 to capture the gold medals and the 2A Provincial banner.? This is only the second School Sport Provincial MALE Volleyball Championship for Random Island Academy since the school open in 1973.? Our boys represented us very well indeed.JINGLE BELL WALK TO BREAKFASTRandom Island Academy had a Jingle Bell Walk to Breakfast in aid of the Kids Eat Smart Breakfast Program.? Students could purchase jingle bells for 50 cents and wear them during the walk and the Kids Eat Smart Foundation agreed to match any donations made on this day. We raised $285 along with 20 bottles/2 10 pack of tetra of juice and the money and the value of the juice will be matched by Kids Eat Smart.? Students had a few laps around our school and then went into the gym for a pancake breakfast that was prepared by some fantastic parent volunteers.? We can’t say enough about our volunteers after a great turkey dinner on Monday and now this nice treat this morning; we can’t do it without you!Thank you to Nickie Sparks, a representative from Kids Eat Smart, for visiting our school this morning for our walk.? We hope you enjoyed your visit to RIA!RANDOM ISLAND CHRISTMAS PARADEIt was a very festive Saturday afternoon on Random Island as the Annual Santa Clause parade made its way from the school and ended up at the Britannia Community Center.? It was great to see so many floats and community members get involved; it was also nice to see so many of our students involved in the parade.? Our Student Council put in a float full of mummers and had great participation and spirit!A BIG THANK YOU to the organizers for bringing some Christmas spirit to our school community!? Your hard work was greatly appreciated by our students and the whole community!!!CHRISTMAS DINNER AT RIAThanks to all the volunteers for preparing a delicious turkey dinner for our students, staff, and bus drivers today.? The staff, parents, and the Nutrition class prepared all the vegetables and cooked the turkeys and we had some great parents and volunteers come in to cook and serve the meal.? This is one of the events that make this such a great school community!!!? We would also like to thank Sandy (who dodged photos all morning) for organizing this big event….couldn’t have done it without you! We also have to thank all of our students who move our tables and chairs in and out of the gymnasium for every event; you guys move a lot of tables and chairs in the run of a year and we would like to thank you for it!!!“We’re Dreaming of a Green Christmas...”Pretty much everybody enjoys having a white Christmas, snow covered trees and hilltops, but if we don’t go green this Christmas we just might have to say goodbye to our white ones. The effects of climate change are becoming more and more prominent each year with no signs of slowing down. Each Christmas, torn and tattered wrapping papers and plastics are thrown into landfills all over the world. Christmas cards are read, and wasted, never to be seen again. We are the environmental science class of Random Island Academy and with Christmas typically being the most wasteful time of the year, we’ve come up with some tips and tricks to make this year’s Christmas, a greener one!John BoweringTag it!Approximately 2.6 billion Christmas cards are sold each year in America. Instead of throwing out those cards that you receive, you could reuse them by cutting them into any size or shape for your Christmas gift tags. By doing this you are saving trees, saving money, making your Christmas tags more unique, and producing less waste over the Christmas holidays!Amanda Antle and Heather PateyGet a Live Tree!Have you ever wondered whether to get a live or an artificial tree for Christmas? There has been some great debate on this topic but research shows that a live tree is best for the environment. Crowds of people will argue this point because if everyone had to cut a tree this would be bad for the environment, which is true. But did you ever think how negative an artificial tree was for the environment? They are made out of plastic, packaged in paper (which kills trees), and they pollute the air since fossil fuels are used in their manufacturing and transport. Even though you can reuse an artificial Christmas tree each year a real one is more viable. When you are done with an artificial tree the tree goes to the landfills where it will sit for thousands of years leaching harmful chemicals into our soil and water supply. If you had a real tree you can burn it making the tree a source of heat or compost it so it doesn’t go to waste. If you choose to get a real Christmas tree it is best to get it from a local tree farm. These farms replant the trees once they are cut and are a sustainable practice. Many of these “plastic” artificial trees are made in China and in a matter of eight months in 2011 there was about 79.7 million dollars worth of trees shipped to the United States alone. Even though a real Christmas tree may be messy, I challenge you to get a real tree for Christmas. You need to spread the word, tell people your knowledge of why a real tree is better and maybe you will change some people’s mindsets.Leslie Ann Vardy Reusable and Upcycled DecorationsCanadians spend about $4 billion on wrapping, decorations and gifts, most of which is tossed away into the trash. Christmas decorations are made with a wide range of materials, such as glass, plastic, foil, tin, and fabric. This reeks havoc on the environment during manufacturing and shipping, and again when it is sitting in landfills for hundreds of years. Instead of wasting money every single year, why not just go green! Purchase handmade, durable, and reusable decorations or instead of spending money on decorations, create them yourself! You can string popcorn and dried cranberries, or old Christmas cards to use as garland. You can use pine cones and twigs to create your own ornaments. Images from old Christmas cards or dried flowers make great Christmas decorations. While decorating your tree instead of putting fake ornaments why not go all out and make edible decorations such as gingerbread cookies and candy canes! Robin BakerEat Local, Eat OrganicThis Christmas instead of having a store bought Christmas dinner that is loaded down with pesticides and food additives, why not try having locally grown or organic chickens, turkeys, vegetables, fruits, and other foods. Many farms in Newfoundland grow the vegetables you normally eat at Christmas. This cuts down on emissions from transporting goods long distances. Many home grown chickens and produce are also organic. Wild game, such as duck or turr, is also a good option. Locally grown or home grown food is generally better for you for many reasons. It is usually not genetically modified, nor is it full of pesticides and herbicides that are both dangerous to humans and the environment. Pesticide use in the North America has contributed to the large number of dead zones along our coastlines. Think about it...would you rather eat an apple that is sprayed with chemicals or one that isn’t? If you do not grow your own veggies, maybe now’s the time to start making plans for next year’s Christmas dinner!Lucas Kelly Paper or Plastic?Around this time of year people worldwide will be running in and out of stores buying billions of dollars worth of gifts, but have you ever thought of how many plastic shopping bags this will use? Why not get ecobags? Did you know that in Canada each year, about 9 billion plastic bags end up in landfills and that it takes a plastic bag 1000 years to break down. Many of these bags can also harm animals or end up in our oceans where they accumulate. Currently, there is about 17 pieces of plastic for every square km of ocean. We are creating a sort of plastic soup. We depend on oceans for our survival and so next time you get asked, paper or plastic, please say...No thanks, I brought my own! Amanda ChipmanManpower Nearly every toy you get nowadays requires batteries. It`s to the point that every time a child opens a gift such as a stuffed bear or doll, they immediately ask what it does. But where do these batteries that are filled with battery acid end up? The answer is landfills for most where they can leach into the soil and water supply. Why not try to purchase toys that don`t require the use of batteries. Some examples of naturally powered toys are Windpower Renewable Energy Science Kit, Whitewings Gliders, Wooden Push Toys and Kites. And what about old fashioned toys such as balls, frisbees, skipping ropes, and dinkies? All these are perfect gifts to give to kids. Naturally powered toys help the environment by not using battery acid and/ or electricity. We could also use rechargeable batteries and that wouldn’t be so much of a waste. You can buy recharge kits that will save you money in the long run. This is a couple ways to save money, electricity, and the environment this Christmas.Jordan PateyRecycled ChristmasMany items we buy and use at Christmas time does not need to end up in the landfill. When unwrapping gifts save paper for reuse. Ribbons and bows are easy to save and reuse. New electronic items are common holiday gifts while older models are being discarded to a landfill still in working order. You can donate these to the less fortunate or take them to a place that recycles them. Marcus WhalenLED lights LED lights use less energy than conventional lights. Because they’re so energy efficiency, LED lights have very little effect on your electricity bill. Over ten days of the holiday season you will spend approximately $122.19 with conventional lights but with LED you will spend approximately $17.99. From an environmental point of view, this is good news: When less energy is used, less carbon dioxide is put into the air. With over 4,000 hours of life, LED bulbs are also longer lasting than the average conventional light bulb. Conventional lights burn up faster. You will need to replace the light bulbs more often over the holidays so even though it may seem like you have saved money on conventional lights because they are cheaper to buy, over the long run you are actually turning around your savings by purchasing replacements. Johnathen KellyReal DishesChristmas is a time of year when people like to get together over mealtime to celebrate. Many people shiver at the thought of cleaning all those dishes. More and more people are opting for paper or styrofoam dishes for larger meals. Each year Americans dispose of 870 000 tons of plates and cups. There are 25 billion styrofoam cups thrown away each year. This is enough to circle the globe 436 times!! Next time you plan a meal, leave the disposable dishes on the shelf in the store! Marcus BoweringBuy lessChristmas is getting more and more expensive each year. This is not only hurting the pocket book but also the environment. Every time we purchase an item we are harming the environment in some way since emissions were created in the manufacturing and shipping and most of what we buy will inevitably end up in landfills. Here`s an idea...we could buy less. We could cut down on buying for so many people who already seem to have everything anyway and opt for a gift of spending time doing things together such as having a meal or watching a movie. Baked goods are also a nice gift option. Another idea is for adult members of the family, friend circle, or workplace to participate in a secret Santa activity, whereby each person draws one name. You are then responsible for shopping for only one person. This saves time and money, everyone still gets a gift, and it cuts down on consumer waste in landfills! Katelyn Butt E-GreetingsPeople spend thousands of dollars at Christmas time on greeting cards. Approximately 2.6 billion Christmas cards are sold in America each year. These greeting cards are harmful to our environment because they destroy forests and are shipped great distances. Rather than sending the cards to our family and friends we can send emails or other messages through social media wishing them a Merry Christmas. If you really like sending cards, you could use cards that are made from recycled paper. Devon BoweringLet’s wrap it up!There are 30 million trees cut down to wrap our Christmas gifts every year. Sure it looks pretty under the tree, but within an hour everything is unwrapped and all that paper is gone to waste along with 30 million trees. Some alternatives to using Christmas wrapping paper are using out-dated maps, out-dated newspapers or flyers, material, reusable bags, or packaging paper from previous purchases. You can even personalize it by having your kids decorate it! Instead of using tape, for a much nicer finish you could piece it together by using ribbon or string. This also allows you to leave the wrapping paper salvageable for reuse the following Christmas, which will save money and trees. Amanda Antle and Heather PateyHave a safe and environmentally friendly Christmas from the Environmental Science class of Random Island Academy!Random Island Academy Tree LightingA Big thank you to everyone who showed up for the inaugural tree lighting ceremony and Christmas movie night for the Wish Tree.? It was fantastic to see such a great response from our school community!? With cups full of hot chocolate we lit the community tree, a great symbol of our Christmas spirit here at RIA.? We also saw a nice example of Christmas spirit at our movie night as we had free admission but collected $206 in donations for our Wish Tree.A special thank you goes out to Mrs. Smith and her student Council for such a great effort put into BOTH events this evening.? And, thank you to Mr. Cook and Mrs. Prince on organizing the movie night.On a different note, Thank you to Mrs Smith, Mrs. Burke and the Student Council on hosting such a beautiful Christmas Ball Thursday night.? This semi-formal event saw a large number of students dress up and dance the night away (and eat lots of food of course).? Thank you to our teacher chaperones, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Burke, Mr. Blackmore, Mr. Mulrooney; it wouldn’t have happened without you! ................
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