P1

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March 2014 VOL. 2 NO. 5

A Look into Literacy

Improving literacy is a complex issue without a cut and dry solution. Photo: Vasili Manikas

In MGCI’s latest Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) scores, 71% of fully participating, first time stu-dents passed the test. This might not sound that bad, but when compared to 81% or 82%, the scores of the board and province respectively, it seems bleak. There are several initiatives taking place at Garneau to combat this, the latest be-ing cross-curricular assignments. Students are supposed to receive one

news report and one opinion paragraph every month in each class. At the teach-er’s discretion, these assignments may be factored into a student’s communi-cation grade. Students who choose not to complete these assignments, or com-plete them poorly, will be placed on a referral list and recommended to take remedial courses. While the adminis-tration has encouraged teachers to in-corporate these assignments with their

curriculum, it is ultimately the teacher’s responsibility to do so. In the past, Garneau has offered after-school literacy classes and literacy de-velopment courses, but still our OSSLT scores are their lowest in the past five years. There is a bigger problem here than poor OSSLT scores.

See LITERACY on P3

by SABRINA BERTSCH

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri Visits Garneau

Toronto Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri shakes hands with members of the senior boys’ basketball team. Photo: Jackie Ho

by SUSIE LIU

On 28 February, the Toronto Raptors’ General Manager Masai Ujiri paid a spe-cial visit to Marc Garneau CI as part of the Black History Month celebrations. Mr. Ujiri delivered a talk on his personal experiences as a student, basketball player, scout, and manager, and spoke to students about empowerment, perse-verance, and respecting others. Approx-imately six classes attended, as well as the junior and senior basketball teams. Teachers signed up their classes for the event ahead of time with Mr. Alexander, who arranged the visit, and classes who were not signed up prior to the event were not admitted, though there was available space. The event began with an introduction by SAC President Nabeel Ahsen, a video on Masai Ujiri’s Nigeria-based basket-ball program named Giants of Africa, and an introduction of the members of the school basketball teams to Mr. Ujiri. Mr. Ujiri stated that his intent in coming to the school was not to talk about basketball but about overcom-ing challenges and pursuing goals. Of his own experiences moving from Ni-geria to US college basketball to Euro-pean professional basketball and then to management in the NBA, he related his struggles both in making ends meet financially initially and establishing himself later in his career. He began at

the NBA as a part time scout for the Or-lando Magic and made barely 2000 dol-lars in his first year. “I had to fight hard to travel, to go to all these tournaments, and come up with these results, with-out the resources, because they couldn’t hire a scout, I was only doing this part time. But I wanted to prove myself, so I took all the savings I had and I used them to travel around the world.” Mr. Ujiri would move up very quickly after that from part-time scout to director of scouting, director of player personnel, and finally to assistant GM of the To-ronto Raptors in his first several years at the NBA. He then became the General Manager of the Denver Nuggets, where he encountered a new struggle: criti-cism from the media. “When I became GM in Denver, there was a player by the name of Carmelo Anthony who wanted to leave Denver, and this was my first time on the job dealing with anything like this. It was a trying time for me, be-cause every day in the newspaper, every day on the radio, on ESPN, everybody’s killing you, everybody’s saying you’re inexperienced, this kid from Africa who wants to come and run a team. I had to overcome all these boundaries.” Following Mr. Ujiri’s talk, the floor was opened up to questions.

See UJIRI on P4 for the Q & A

Garneau’s Ultimate Spirit

On 28 February, MGCI participated in Toronto Ultimate Club’s (TUC) annual “Catch the Spirit” tournament at Mon-arch Park Stadium. All in all, Garneau placed sixth out of the sixteen schools that participated. These included North-ern Secondary School, Earl Haig Sec-

ondary School, and Bowmanville High School. Each school played five games in order to determine the rankings. The group of students who partici-pated in the tournament primarily consisted of the team from last season. Vicky Xu, an athlete who competed at

the tournament and a Grade 10 stu-dent, commented that “the team was awesome today. For a team who hasn’t played together since last season, we did really well!”

See ULTIMATE on P4

A member of MGCI’s team competes with an opponent for possession of the frisbee. Photo: Deifilia To

by DEIFILIA TO

SAC Semester Two Election Results on P4

Relay for Life

Several Marc Garneau students along with Mr. Persaud began their day early on 25 February, as they took a school bus to attend a Relay For Life Confer-ence in Cobourg, Ontario. The Relay For Life Conference, hosted by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), was held for the dual purposes of pro-moting Relay For Life and raising can-cer awareness. The Relay for Life event, held annually in over twenty countries and over five hundred communities in Canada alone, initially began in 1999 and raised $85 000. Since then, Relay has managed to raise over $496.5 mil-lion across Canada. Though the CCS has managed to raise such a large amount, many people are still unaware of how widespread of an effect cancer can have and how even a small donation could potentially save a life. It may not be a well-known fact that cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada. Despite the CCS in-vesting $46 million in the past year for cancer research, it is expected that the

number of cancer cases will increase by around 60% over the next twenty years. It is important for people to under-stand cancer to fight it and to under-stand Relay for Life to participate in it. So the question remains: What is it? Relay For Life is a 12-hour fundrais-ing event organized by students and vol-unteers within a community to support initiatives towards conquering cancer. Fun yet inspirational, it exemplifies the life that is so precious and yet so vulner-able. Essentially, people of all ages - rang-ing from children to the elderly - can participate in groups of at least ten and are expected to take turns walking laps to symbolize the determination to de-feat cancer. Team members not walking a lap can participate in other events that are being held simultaneously, such as games.

See RELAY FOR LIFE on P4

by TAKHLIQ AMIR

University of Toronto Challenge Cup

On 20 February, the MGCI girls’ indoor soccer team took a trip to Varsity Cen-tre to participate in the University of Toronto Challenge Cup. It was a very competitive tournament, with sixteen schools from all over Toronto taking part. Games were played with six mem-bers a side, with 20 minute halves. The Cougars’ first round-robin game was played against University of To-ronto Schools. An early goal by Shela Qiu, followed by two more goals by Mi-chelle Nyamekye served to bring MGCI its first win of 3-0. The second game was played against Richview CI. After a hard battle, the Cougars came out on top with a 1-0 win, again scored by Nyamekye. The last round-robin game was tied at 0-0, with goalie Tania Nadruth making several crucial saves. The girls’ team then moved onto the

quarter-final match against Senator O’Connor College School. A tie of 0-0 led the teams to Penalty Kicks. Out of the six players who represented each team, Re-becca Wong scored the only goal, thus allowing the Cougars to advance to the semi-finals with a win of 1-0. The Cougars then played Leaside High School, with halves shortened to 15 min-utes due to time constraints. Although the girls played hard, they were unable to keep up their undefeated streak, with their first 0-3 loss of the day. Their final standing was third place out of sixteen teams. Mr. Graham, the coach who organized the team for a previous indoor tourna-ment in December, was happy with the way the girls played. “During the round-robin games, we were very strong defen-sively, had nice goal-keeping, and scored when we had to score,” he commented.

“But mostly, I thought we played very well as a team, since everyone was able to contribute to our final result.” This tournament marks the end of the unofficial indoor soccer season, and girls interested in playing soccer in the future can look forward to the outdoor team coming up in the spring. ■

The MGCI girls’ indoor soccer team with coach Mr. Graham. Photo courtesy

of Shela Qiu

by SHELA QIU

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March 2014P2 VOL. 2 NO. 5

LIFEASK THE RECKONER

I’m scared about going to University next year. What can I do to feel better?-The New Supreme

Humans can be pretty afraid of change. But if you recognize that this coming change will expand your horizons and help you grow personally, socially, academically, and professionally, it might help you feel a bit better. Or at least it’ll help you remem-ber why you’re doing this in the first place. You should also remember that you’re not alone. You’re in a very stressful and precarious position, so it’s pretty natu-ral to have some fear. The transition into adulthood isn’t an easy one. But many oth-ers have done this before, so you can rest assured that it’s not impossibly difficult. One other thing you might want to think about is why you’re afraid. Are you scared about managing the increased workload? Adjusting to living in a dorm with a room-mate? Being in a new environment and making new friends? Every one of these combined? Try to break down your fear and address it bit by bit. If you’re worried about academics, it’s never too late to start studying and preparing for the heavier workload. If you’re worried about the new environment, you might be able book a campus tour to familiarize yourself with the environment. Above all, speak to an adult in your life, be it a parent, teacher, guidance coun-sellor, or a friend who has gone through this before you. Simply talking about your fears can help, and the listener may also give you some helpful advice specific to your circumstances.

All my friends are getting dates to prom, and I have no one to go with.-Proma Queen

You shouldn’t have to rely on a date to make your prom special. Prom is meant to be a night of celebration, and having a date can just stress you out even more: pinning corsages and boutonnieres, attempting to match dress colour with tie colour, and en-suring your promposal is the perfect com-bination of original, public, and sweet. Go-ing alone, on the other hand, places your undivided attention on who matters most: you. Without a date, you don’t have to worry about getting punch for your date, or danc-ing only with them. Focus on celebrating the end of your high school career. Spend the night enjoying yourself, and you won’t even notice that you came alone. But if you’re really worried about go-ing alone, there are always people outside of MGCI or maybe try calling your second cousin once removed.

Hello, there! I was wondering if students who are not part of The Reckoner’s staff are allowed to submit an article or two for the newspaper? Thank you :)-Anakov

Hello to you, too, Anakov! The Reckoner generally publishes only staff content, but that’s not to say that we won’t consider guest submissions. If you feel like you have something worth shar-ing, feel free to contact us via our contact form or by emailing us at editor@thereck-oner.ca. Also, keep an eye out for opportu-nities to contribute to the paper in upcom-ing school wide contests! Don’t forget that Letters to the Editor are always welcome, and even encouraged.

If you seek counsel from The Reckoner like the individuals above, send us a ques-tion at www.thereckoner.ca/ask-thereck-oner

I fear silence. Do not mistake me. I am not a lover of noise, especially inane chatter that is simultaneously too loud, too fast, and too, well, inane. Yet I still fear the silence. Not because of the unending tranquility, and definitely not because of the restful quiet. No, dear readers, it is because of the lack of those heavenly feelings that I am afraid. For silence, to me, is quite often anything but silent. For when it becomes quiet, I become trapped. Trapped by the web that builds, wraps around me tightly, choking, suffocating, as thoughts, one af-ter another, collide in my mind at a pace far faster than the inane chatter - that is just as cumbersome. The problem with silence, however, is that one cannot block it out. Silence is when the introspective persona from within me emerges, hurling fireballs of words and phrases at me that eventually blur my vision and create an incessant pounding in my head. It is when all my inner demons are exposed to my-self, when I reflect, cringing and wincing on those

words and phrases that are perpetually reverberat-ing in my mind. It is when the tiredness envelops me, darkening my vision to the rest of the world and allowing me to dwell on griefs that only seem to enlarge when thought over in the quiet. It is when inconsequential ideas and problems seem to become significant, when carelessly said words come to hold too much meaning, when past ac-tions seem to paint the future. Yet in a way, in a strange way, I also love the silence. For though this silence is quite often forebod-ing, menacing, and frightening, it can surprise you sometimes, provide you with a sliver of hope. It ex-poses you to your faults, but rarely does it expose you to them without providing the way to change. It holds answers, allowing you to reflect upon words and phrases and actions again and again until slowly, very slowly, the answers creep up on you, the way out. And sometimes, it opens your eyes to your own epiphanies. For now, that is enough. ■

A Loud Silence

by TAKHLIQ AMIR

Now I see you.

Shivering in plain sight;Yet basked in the sunlight.Fragile and elegant,Like my mother’s best satin dress.

You are beautiful. Inexplicably, I am drawn to you.You smell wonderful,Like sweet rainfall and endless summers.Gingerly, I reach out slowly and touch your soft skin.

A smile spreads across my face.

That is when I make up my mind—I want you. I need you.But you are so delicate and so perfect…Do I really deserve you?

Without thinking,I bend down and pick you up.Gently, I hold you in my hands,Entranced by your charm.

But my delight quickly turns into horror,As I realize what I have done;I have uprooted you from your home,And slit the veins which keep you alive.

The water which once rushed through your body like blood,Has now gone still. Loving you, I have killed you.

My dear rose, I am so incredibly sorry.

My Beautiful

Roseby PARNIKA GODKHINDIillustration by JOY WANG

Sarah lost her best friend Nikki yesterday. The fight began weeks ago. They started arguing about the smallest details of the day. Then personal re-marks, Sarah called Nikki cold and indifferent and Nikki called Sarah selfish. The final blow came and the five-year friendship was over. Despite Sarah’s best efforts to make Nikki’s ex-istence insignificant, everything reminds Sarah of her. The brightly lit halls where they walked side-by-side to class, the stairwell where they used to sit at lunch and the cafeteria table where they played cards and compared answers to assignments. Even the lack of spam messages were signs of her new-found loneliness. Today, Sarah sits at the cafeteria table with her usual circle of friends, all but one. Her friends talk about the same things that they’ve always talked about, but their voices are different, muffled and distant, like the whispers of strangers. Sarah has news to share. She just received an

offer from her first-choice university. Her friends cheer and congratulate her. However, the joy of sharing isn’t the same. Sarah keeps thinking that if Nikki were here, she would squeak and react in the exact way Sarah wants to be reacted to, appre-ciate Sarah’s news in the exact way she hopes to be appreciated in. Sarah shifts her gaze. The empty feeling inside makes her feel like she lost something that can never be found again. Teenage friendship is so in-explicably powerful that its intimacy can exceed event he romance of later life. It is a bond formed when everyone is still finding themselves, lost on along the way. A mutual acknowledgement of each other’s identity as special and irreplaceable. But her pride stops her from giving in, apologizing, and admitting how important the other person is. Instead she bites her lip and fights the urge to cry. ■

Something Lostby EVA LIU

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Wish You Were HereBY SUSIE LIU

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EDITORIAL

March 2014 P3VOL. 2 NO. 5

Do you have a response to an article in this issue? Make your voice heard! Contact us at editor@thereckoner.ca.

This isn’t a problem that begins in Grade 10 with students failing the OSSLT. It starts earlier in elementary schools when students are transferred into the next grade without acquiring the necessary knowledge or skills they need to succeed. They reach high school with poor habits and are unprepared for what comes next. In 2013, 71% of the students at MGCI who wrote the OSSLT indicated that they learned English as a second language. In addition to that, only 28% said that they spoke only or mostly English at home. The reality is, the only opportunity many

Garneau students have to practice these skills is at school. Combine this with staff who don’t fully incorporate these prac-tices into their teachings and our literacy scores seem less surprising. Several strategies have been imple-mented at MGCI in an attempt to com-bat low literacy scores. One year, af-ter-school literacy classes were offered as half credits. And as recently as last semester, administration attempted to implement more literacy exercises for Grade 9s and 10s, only to find that many classes weren’t completing them.

The effectiveness of the cross-curricular assignments currently being assigned across all grades and courses has yet to be seen. However, several questions about its implementation come to mind immediately. As important as it is to practice and develop literacy skills, is this current solution equitable? Should all students across the board receive the same treatment regardless of their status with respect to the literacy exam? In my classes with students who have passed both the literacy exam and Grade 12 En-glish, cross-curricular assignments are

not being taken seriously. This strategy is not only wasting time for students who have already proven their ability by pass-ing the OSSLT, but also the teachers of these students. However, my perspective as an indi-vidual does not consider this issue as a whole. MGCI is a school with many stu-dents who learned English as second lan-guage and who don’t speak English reg-ularly at home. As important as practice is, many of these students may not even possess the necessary skills to start prac-ticing. Having math, science, and busi-

ness teachers give out these assignments and mark according to template isn’t going to create the impact that we need. In order to overcome this literacy issue, MGCI has to seriously examine itself. We have to analyze our students’ abilities, our teachers’ methods, and the current curriculum. These topics will be consid-ered in greater depth on The Reckoner’s website in two weeks’ time. ■

No Quick FixLITERACY

Continnued from P1

Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute is many things. It is diverse and filled with opportunities, and it is the reason I force myself out of bed at 6 AM every morn-ing. Our school is also crowded -- ex-tremely, extremely crowded. In fact, MGCI is approximately 450 students over capacity and is notorious for be-ing one of the most densely populated schools in the Toronto District School Board. We are at the point that more stu-dents eat lunch on the floors and in the stairwells than in the cafeteria. I am short, and this means that walking to class during the five precious minutes in between periods is comparable to walk-ing across a battlefield, praying that I won’t get caught in the crossfire. I’m just a small girl in Grade 9 trying to get to class without being squashed like a bug. Is that too much to ask for? This issue is something that has be-come accepted within the school, “oh, that’s just Garneau.” I feel that it is im-portant that students new to the school understand how they are receiving the short end of the stick. The main problem is that being over-crowded, our school is not properly equipped to meet the needs of the entire student population. Our school gymna-sium was remodelled in 1987 to properly service approximately 1430 students. Yet today, our school is bursting at the seams, meaning the gym facilities are in-sufficient to be used by everyone. In fact, our athletic field is filled with portables, meaning that students must walk to a nearby community field for gym classes. A working group was established to discuss possible solutions to the over-population problem. They proposed the current time table model in favour of the four period model that was being fol-lowed at the time. The time table change is the reason that every single student

at our school has a spare period; how-ever, in most high schools, students do not have a spare period until Grade 12. The spare periods mean that a certain percentage of the student population is out of the classrooms during any given period, ensuring that enough science classrooms will be available to support the number of sections being run. If you’re in Grade 9, like me, and are won-dering why our school starts at the un-godly hour of 8:15 AM, thank overpop-ulation--the new five period schedule extended the old school day by a total of 75 minutes. A large contributing factor to Gar-neau being over capacity is the TOPS program to which it is host. TOPS draws in approximately 250 students from all across the GTA, a significant addition to the population. Indeed, efforts to move TOPS were made in 2011 to no avail. Students protested outside the Toronto District School Board head offices, de-manding the relocation of the TOPS pro-gram to another school. The motion for a Program Area Review Team (PART) was

put forward in order to address over-crowding issues locally, but due to resis-tance from the TDSB it was not formed, and TOPS was left to be hosted at MGCI. This lead to many deserving applicants being rejected from the TOPS program due to lack of space. In response to this, another TOPS program was opened up at Bloor Collegiate Institute in 2009. However, the new program did nothing to alleviate over crowding at MGCI. Students, parents and teachers have been forced to accept overpopulation as a daily part of life, and the issue has been abandoned. However, overcrowding at MGCI is a serious problem which must be addressed in order to better facilitate the learning of every one of its students. Marc Garneau is many things, but over-crowded should not be one of them. Until the issue is revisited--if it is at all--I guess we’re all just stuck being packed like a sad, forgotten bunch of sardines. ■

Packed Like SardinesOP-ED by PARNIKA GODKHINDI

A few weeks ago, Forbes published an article entitled ”Why Biotech Whiz Kid Jack Andraka is Not on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List”, which highlighted some interesting claims of the top project at 2012’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Mr. Andraka’s award-winning proj-ect was presented by the media as an “earthshaking breakthrough” from a “Teen Prodigy of Pancreatic Cancer”. The camera flashes and glitzy spotlights turned a much respected science fair into the set of just another reality show. Excellence and innovation in research, especially in young students, should be recognized. Broadcasting one student’s story can inspire countless others to pursue their passions, and the mone-tary incentives like scholarships and travel awards to attend international conferences create more opportunities for already-motivated students. The problem is the image of real science that this presents. Real science does not occur in the twelve-month span of time allotted to national and international competitors. Science fairs do not involve the very real world scientific activity of writing and submitting proposals for grants. Gener-ally, science fair projects do not include the skill of working cooperatively. But most importantly, real science does not end with a gold medal. Science evolves. One of the most phe-nomenal aspects of this field is how re-lentlessly it poses questions and tests its theories. But you’d be hard pressed to find this at science fairs. After the distri-bution of appropriate medals, trophies, and cheques, there are media inter-views to attend, follow-up “thank you” e-mails to write, and public showcases to present at. Never in my four years of involvement have I (or any of my co-ex-

hibitors) been required, asked, or spo-ken to about publishing my work. There are no opportunities for peer-review, and no other ways for the young scien-tists to validate their results. It’s shock-ing how self-contained these weeklong fairs can be. For something so heralded as an “opportunity to foster a lifelong love of science”, you’d be surprised at how many students leave the field en-tirely, sometimes even after receiving recognition three or four years in a row. I think that alone creates a strong case for the awards presented at these fairs to never be cash in hand, but more like grants for further research, in-ternship opportunities, or even travel awards for relevant conferences. Be-cause, really, giving a $5 000 award to a medallist at the national science fair is pretty redundant, let alone the $75 000 awarded to the grand prize winner ISEF. Because let’s face it, these titles themselves are enough to make ad-missions officers and scholarship com-mittees pay attention to a student, and given the fact that this money might not even be used as intended (as an invest-ment into a promising young Scientist) the dollars really could be put to better use. For what they’re worth, science fairs do pretty well at their goal of advancing youth involvement in research and in-novation. It isn’t fair to expect a novice to push the envelope, and the skills re-quired to follow through with a project does encourage academic growth. And I’d be lying if I said that the fairs don’t inspire. But I think the way they’re run should be reconsidered and, ideally, re-designed. Anything that furthers the de-velopment of young scientists is valid. Five minutes on CNN, or even TED turns science into something it was never meant to be. ■

Prize FairOP - ED by TIANYI MA

I remember writing tests in elementary school. My teacher would often step out for a moment to run errands or chat in the hall. The second we were alone every student’s head would pop up in unison, looking around to make sure we were in the clear. Then the first voice would chime in a stage whisper, “What’s num-ber three?” Answers would follow from around the class. Certainly we knew that what we were doing wasn’t allowed. But it wasn’t shame or guilt that kept us quiet, rather a collective exhilaration of getting away with something against the rules. And after all, what we were doing wasn’t bad, like cheating, we were just helping each other out. As the years advanced, my teachers became more and more vigilant and vo-cal about the perils of plagiarism. I was

delivered the same speech routinely: if I were to be caught cheating I would receive an automatic mark of zero, and if I thought that was bad I should see what they would do to me at university. I was forced to submit assignments using Turnitin.com, an online plagiarism de-tection service. I wrote tests surrounded on all sides by giant corrugated dividers so that any way I looked all I could see was grey plastic. When compared to the ease with which I traded answers in the fourth grade, I should think the risk of cheating long ago outweighed the re-wards. I would assume that anything but the utmost academic integrity in my peers would be shocking. This is far from the case. Cheating is commonplace – even routine for many students. Up until this point I haven’t felt com-pelled to speak publicly on the matter,

but as I approach the end of my high school career the issue has started to feel more personal. I, along with many other grade twelve students, have applied to university. I have done so knowing that my acceptance will be based largely on the average of my top six 4U marks. With this knowledge comes a pressure to perform at a higher level than in any past years, every percentage point on my grade feels as if it could be the difference between my first choice school and the back-up to my back-up. So now when I hear about students selling tests, or even giving them away for free I get a little antsy. It is not unheard of for entire albums of test solutions to be posted on Facebook. This angers me on a couple of levels. First of all, this gives a certain group of students a leg up over those without ac-

cess to, or who choose not to take advan-tage of the extra resource. And secondly, in posting on a public platform you are making the statement that you believe what you are doing to be acceptable -- perhaps even noble or admirable. It’s been a while since we’ve sat in a circle on the carpet and read the code of conduct as a class, maybe it’s time for a refresher. My message here is two-fold: I would like to address both the teachers and the students of MGCI. Teachers, it is never safe to assume that your students will not cheat if given the opportunity. Per-haps this is cynical, but in this case it is your responsibility to be a cynic. Change your tests from semester to semester and make full use of technologies such as Turnitin. It is your job to ensure that no student has an unfair advantage, like their older sibling’s tests or their friend’s

summative report from last semester. Take a proactive role in creating a learn-ing environment that requires learning rather than memorizing answer sheets off of a Facebook post. And students, have some self respect. Take pride in your education. Earn every mark through your own efforts rather than the work of those before you. And never assume that your actions are ac-ceptable just because no one is calling you out. In case you’re unclear: sharing tests, answers, or essays is still cheating even if you don’t get caught. It is our col-lective responsibility to preserve the in-tegrity of our education, and it concerns me that many seem to have lost track of what that even means. ■

It’s Not Cheatingby ALIE TEACHMAN

Photo: Cindy Cui

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EDITOR IN CHIEFKASRA KOUSHAN

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“Go with your gut.”

STUDENT: Where do you see the To-ronto Raptors in the playoffs? Ah, I promised I’d never say the P-word, I promised I’d never talk about it. I can tell you guys one thing, it will take patience, it will take growth, but we will win as a basketball team and I prom-ise that.I was wondering, I'll give you my num-ber, and can you draft me in ten years? I’ll draft you now. Wanna come in my car with me and go? Maybe you can make the shot we missed last night.

What advice would you give to some-one who wants to get into basketball but they're not in places where they can get noticed? Well I think when you want that, you have to pursue it. If you think you’re tal-ented, then find a way to do it. If you can get into school in the States, any way you can get exposure - talking to coaches, writing letters. You have to keep grind-ing, and grinding, and grinding.

What's one of the most dangerous things you've seen going on back home? I’ve seen Muslims and Christians fight in Northern Nigeria, where you don’t leave your house for three or four days. You see stuff that you can’t believe is happening. It’s hard, it makes you who you are, and you build courage, and in-stead of participating in that, I want to participate in things that will make that not happen anymore. In closing, Mr. Ujiri said: “What I want you to do is when you ask those ques-

tions, I want you to stand up with con-fidence, keep your shoulders broad, and speak so people can hear you. Because we’re going to be confident, and we’re going to be successful. I’m so proud, I’m so honoured, to be talking to you guys, and we are all family now.” The presentation concluded with sev-eral students and a representative from each of the basketball teams thanking Mr. Ujiri. One student thanked him on behalf of Toronto Raptors fans for trad-ing Andrea Bargnani, and sportingly, he

responded by thanking the fans for put-ting up with Bargnani for seven years. This was followed by the presentation of a group of portraits of MGCI students photographed by Garneau student Idris Ali to Mr. Ujiri. After the presentation, many students gathered onto the stage to take photos with Mr. Ujiri. For a more complete Q&A, visit this article on our website at http://www.thereckoner.ca. ■

Q&A with Raptors GM Masai UjiriUJIRI

Continued from P1

The five games were against Harbord Collegiate Institute, Don Bosco Second-ary School, Northern Secondary School, Agincourt Collegiate Institute, and Bar-rie North Collegiate. The games against Harbord Colle-giate Institute and Don Bosco Second-ary School were the highlights of the day. The players performed with excep-tional teamwork and a high level of skill. The final score against Harbord was 13 – 6, and the score against Don Bosco was 17 – 5. Next, the Cougars played Northern Secondary School, which was unde-feated in the south region last season. The game was tough, and Garneau lost the game 4 – 13. The next game was exceptionally close, and the scores of the teams were never more than two points apart. Af-ter Agincourt scored a tying point one

minute before the end of the game, Gar-neau’s Raheel Mirza caught the winning disc with only 0.2 seconds to spare. The final game against Barrie North Colle-giate had a score of 3 – 11 at halftime, with Barrie leading, but by the end of the game, Garneau had lessened the gap with a final score of 10 – 15. Iftikhar Shaikh, one of the team’s coaches and a former Marc Garneau student, said that the tournament was an extremely good learning experience for the team, and that MGCI could look forward to a successful season. For anyone interested in joining the team, open tryouts will be held later on in the semester. Until then, there are ul-timate training workouts on Mondays and Wednesdays after school in the weight room. ■

Relay for Life is a symbol of the journey of one dealing with cancer. It represents their hardships, their long nights, and their lengthy fight. As the CCS says, “Cancer never sleeps, so neither do we.”1 It allows people to show that those fighting cancer are not alone. It embodies the spirit of humanity. It embodies our willpower and our determination. It embodies our fight. Mary Getachew, an MGCI senior who attended the Con-ference, said: “I believe this event is how we can remind ev-eryone, and tell those who maybe weren’t aware, that this is our world, our time, and most definitely, our opportunity as the people of tomorrow to stand and fight. Relay for Life re-ally does bring out the fighters in all of us.” The Relay For Life Conference is the first step. Attended by students from eleven schools around Ontario, the Cobourg Conference was inspiring for many. Dorothy Qian, a Grade 10 MGCI student, said that “the speakers were all really inspirational, and we all came back more motivated to help an amazing cause. It inspired me to know that so many students gathered to help one cause – to fight cancer – that affects the lives of so many.” The inspiration was in part due to the mini luminary ceremony held at the Conference that is usually a major com-ponent of Relay For Life. “The depth of raw emotion in the luminary ceremony was something else. There’s something about feeling so vulnerable in a room full of strangers, each as vulnerable as you, that brings a sense of incredible unity,” said Mary. The luminary ceremony, in which a candle is placed in-side each personalized luminary bag, is intense, emotional, and moving. It is not only meant to commemorate lost loved ones, but is also used to ignite hope – light – in the hearts of the defeated. Burt Munro, who has been a part of Relay For Life since 2005, has single-handedly raised over $162 000. Having had

cancer himself, his inspiration was not his own vulnerability but the fact that while receiving treatment he had seen an eight year old boy – who was weak from receiving chemo-therapy – offer an older woman his chair. While cancer will always be a possibility, it is not inde-structible. Henry He, the president of the MGCI Cancer Soci-ety, had a lot to say. “This all comes down to saving lives for me. If the work we do can educate and help people, then it’s more than worth it. The money we raise goes into treatment transportation, information services, and a peer mentor net-work, which directly help people and save lives. If you think about it like that, it has the most meaning,” he said. Marc Garneau CI will be hosting its own Relay for Life. Currently, the event is expected to be held on 25 April 2014, organized by a small group of students from the MGCI Can-cer Society. Dorothy said, “everyone, in one way or another, is affected by cancer. So organizing these events creates a support system and unifies those living in our neighbour-hood. Also, it raises awareness about cancer and motivates everyone to fight back.” Kainat Amir, a senior student who attended the Con-ference, said that “Relay for Life inspires people in endless ways. It makes us realize not to take good health for granted. Not to take life for granted. Cancer can happen to anyone, anytime – like it was said at the conference, ‘Cancer doesn’t discriminate.’ Relay also brings together like-minded people who are passionate about making a change. They stand to-gether to remember those they’ve lost, to celebrate the survi-vors, and to fight cancer.” This is our chance to make a difference. Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.1 ■ Visit www.relayforlife.ca for more information. 1 www.cancer.ca

Students attend Cancer ConferenceRELAY FOR LIFEContinued from P1

Catch the Spirit

ULTIMATEContinued from P1

Grade 9 Representative ---------------------------------------------- Khalida ElsadatiGrade 10 Representative --------------------------------------------------- Helen FengGrade 11 Representative ------------------------------------------------- Dhiya JagotaGrade 12 Representative ----------------------------------------------- Barkhaa TalatJunior Representative ----------------------------------------------------------- Eric SuSenior Representative ------------------------------------------------- Mary GetachewSecretary ----------------------------------------------------------------- Summiya AsifAdvertising Coordinator --------------------------------------------------- Mara Gagiu

SAC Semester 2 Positions

MGCI’s ultimate frisbee team. Photo courtesy of Deifilia To

“I want to be a paramedic and go to college or uni-versity. Or a policeman. I’m still at a point where I don’t know what I want to do with my life. Both fields are interesting, and they help a lot of people. I didn’t want to go into the police force, but I did an internship with them and I understood they were just everyday, outgoing, friendly people.”

“I want to be an event planner for all sorts of things: weddings, birthday parties, every-thing. Something about it just motivates me. I like finding out what people’s likes and dis-likes are, planning it out, and seeing it hap-pen. It’s fun!”

“I want to be a social worker for women. In this generation, I see women downgraded a lot. Like in songs or rap, the b-word is often used to name women.”