Student Vote

Ms. Haigh

In conjunction with the Federal Election which took place last week, students were given the opportunity to have their political voices heard in our Student Election facilitated by Student Vote Canada.

At Alpha we had 4 polling stations for classes to use to vote. The stations were run by volunteers from our own Student Government. Voting took place all day on Friday April 25th with students selecting from the four candidates in the Burnaby North- Seymour Electoral District.

 

 

The Candidates:

  • Terry Beech (Liberal)
  • Michael Charrois (NDP)
  • Mauro Francis (Conservative)
  • Jesse Fulton (PPC)

In total 644 of our students cast their vote, which is almost 50% of our student population. The breakdown locally was as follows:

  • 319 Liberal
  • 131 NDP
  • 150 Conservative
  • 28 PPC
  • 16 Rejected

While the clear winner at Alpha was Terry Beech of the Liberal Party, Federally, the student vote went Conservative. Further information about the results can be found on the Student Vote website here.

Human Library

Ms. Haigh

Alpha Secondary School held its first Human Library event, in over 10 years, on April 24th. The Human Library is a project created by the Danish youth organization Stop the Violence, in 2000. It is now operational in more than 60 countries. It’s purpose its to ​challenge societal prejudices and to help people form a better understanding of those who are different from them through conversation.

 

How it works is that members of the community with interesting life stories and intersectional identities volunteer to act as ‘books’. Our grade 11 and 12 students were then given the opportunity to sit down with the books and  ask them questions about their lives and identities. The group of books was varied in terms of age, race and sexual orientations. We had 14 books volunteer in total, with their identities ranging from an Indigenous Olympian, to a Queer Urban Planner to a retired Funeral Home Director who was also a Steampunk Professor.

 

 

 

In total 15 classes attend the all-day event, meaning over 300 students participated. Feedback from students was very positive, with most wishing they had more time so that they could have chatted with more of the books. One student even wrote,

“It was interesting to hear the perspectives and life experiences of people coming from unique environments. Their outlook showed me that everyone has their own book…humanity is a library and to discriminate would be simply missing out on some good stories.”

We thank all the students who participated and the teachers who signed their classes up for the event. We were pleased to see such a wonderful community building event take place in the library again, after such a long hiatus.

 

Black History Month

Ms. Haigh

As we enter our final week of Black History Month, now is the time to make sure you check out The Periodic Table of Canadian Black History, on display in the library window. This display comes from the work of Parents for Diversity and can be found in digital copy here.

The table highlights the significant contributions of Black Canadians in many areas, including athletics, government and theatre. This resource focuses on the Canadian Context and allows Black Canadians to be brought to the forefront during this important month.

For further reading about some of the people mentioned in the table, and other significant Black people from a more global context, come see the Black History Month book display inside the library as well.

Alpha’s Book Club 2025

Ms. Haigh

This year Alpha is running its very own book club on Tuesdays at lunch in the library.

There are 2-3 books being read each month, and students can choose to read as many as they’d like.

The schedule of when books will be discussed is below. Please attend the meeting date(s) for the book(s) you want to chat about with your fellow bookworms. We can’t wait to chat about these books in the new year!

***Copies of the books can be found in the library. See Ms. Haigh to sign them out.

Nov 20th – Transgender Day of Remembrance

Ms. Haigh

The International Trans Day of Remembrance is next week, on November 20th. It is an annual observance that honors the memory of Trans, Two-Spirit, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming community members whose lives were taken from acts of violence.

As you may know, the Trans community has been put under a microscope by many government administrations across the world, including Canada. Because of this, many members of the Canadian Trans community have felt an increase in pressure, oppression, and violence.

  • Transgender communities, and in particular Trans People of Colour, face some of the highest rates of violent crime – with 70% of Trans Youth in Canada experiencing some form of sexual harassment or violence.
  • Transgender and Non-Binary Youth are more than twice as likely to have thought of self-harm in their lifetime compared to those who are cisgender (a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex registered for them at birth)
  • Stats recently released from Vancouver show an increase of 83 per cent in hate incidents targeting those who are Trans, Non-Binary, Agender or Intersex between December 2022 & December 2023.

Some things that you can do include:

 

 

 

 

Library Murder Mystery

Ms. Haigh

Last week week, for Halloween, the Library Learning Commons held its annual murder mystery event. Classes were invited to try to solve the whodunnit, with students reading the clues, looking at the crime scene and analyzing evidence to determine which of the eight suspects did it. This year was the biggest turnout yet, with 18 classes (more than 400 students) participating. Many students were able to deduce that the killer was the character Peter and more than thirty were awarded prizes for giving a complete and complex motive and means. The grand prize winner for her excellent detective skills was grade 9 student Rhianne Li.

Truth and Reconciliation Day 2024

Ms. Haigh

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Vancouver Ultimate League

September 30th is right around the corners, and with it comes The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

“This day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process”.

On the 30th you are encouraged to wear orange and to take some time to learn from and listen to the Indigenous people of the lands where you live. If you need some ideas on where/how to do that, attached is a list of resources created by Leanne Ellis, one of SD41’s Indigenous Youth Engagement Support Workers.

Orange Shirt Resources.docx

Library Volunteers Wanted

Ms. Haigh

If you are interested in being a library volunteer this year, come by the library to fill out an application form. Volunteers help with keeping the space neat and tidy, and work hard to shelve Alpha’s library books in their correct spots. Volunteer positions are available at select lunch hours, after school and even some flex times.

Unfortunately, we always have more interest than space, so applying doesn’t mean that you automatically get a spot. The schedule of those who get “a spot” will be posted by 3pm on Wednesday September 18th.

Application forms are due to the library by 3pm on Friday September 13th!