An Exciting Start to a New School Year

The new school year is well underway at OJSH.  Sports, teams, and clubs in addition to a whole new set of classes are proving to be exciting for students as they meet old friends, make new friends, and get to know all of the OJSH staff.

Volleyball is always a popular sport at OJSH. Volleyball try-outs have been completed, teams have been chosen, and league and tournaments have started. This year we have Senior Boys, Senior Girls, JV Girls, Junior Boys and Junior Girls teams. So far, just a short time into the season, Mustangs Volleyball teams have shown that we have great student athletes, a winning attitude and great potential for the upcoming season. As an example, on the weekend of September 14^th and 15^th, the JV Girls team started the season off strong by bringing home a bronze medal from a tournament in Drayton Valley.  OJSH hosted a weekend tournament in Onoway from September 20^th to the 22^nd. Both OJSH and OES gyms were needed to host this tournament. Both OJSH teams came away with medals! The Senior Boys won silver and the Senior Girls won gold!

Another very popular sport this time of year is Junior High Co-ed Flag Football. A dedicated group of parents spearheaded the tryouts and coaching of this team sport. It is the second year in a row that OJSH has had Junior High Co-ed Flag Football teams. In addition to Volleyball and Flag Football, OJSH sent members of our Junior and Senior High Golf teams to a fall tournaments in Fox Creek and Slave Lake The Golf teams may be smaller than the Volleyball and Flag Football teams, but they are no less enthusiastic as they compete with other students across the area. The Senior High Golf team won the Zone banner at their tournament in Slave Lake. One of the most exciting adventures for senior high students was the Outdoor Ed trip to Black Cat Ranch in the Rockies from September 20^th to 23^rd. To prepare for this trip, students had to take and pass a first aid course that focused on hiking and mountain injuries.

In addition to sports, Student Council started up with a large and enthusiastic turn out of students for the first meeting of the year. The group has already made some decisions regarding activities for all students to enjoy: there will be school dance on November 1^st, while in October the Student Council will host a Crazy Sock Day, a Twin Day and a School Colours Day. The Grad 2020 student committee is also planning elections for their graduating class. When elected, the executive of the Grad 2020 will be responsible for putting the whole grad classes’ creative ideas into a workable reality whether it be their choice of theme, colours, slogan, music or fund raising. The executive will also be responsible for organizing class members to help with all of the exciting grad activities.

Former OJSH graduates Kallie MacKenzie and Amanda Durand are back to facilitate their female empowerment group, Generation Female. The group intends to provide a space and time for all females to come together to support one another and to grow in positive directions.  The first meeting was at lunch on September 23rd and the group will meet every second Monday at noon.

There are after-school clubs for students to participate in, too. On Wednesdays after school, the Tabletop Gaming club meets in the Learning Commons. Everything from role-playing games such as Dungeon and Dragons to old fashioned board games are played as decided by the students. This is proving to be a very popular group for a wide variety ages of students.