As the school year started to come to an end the grade 11/12 photography classes had the challenge of creating a project for the Chester Fields Project. Although they complet-ed it as a task for Ms. VanBaalen once the classes submitted the work they were handed over to the Chester Fields proj-ect. After the submissions a group of jurors look at all of our work, and the chosen work gets displayed in an exhibition. The theme this year was SNAP: making the digital image real again. Established in 2008, Chester Fields is a juried photogra-phy competition that challenges youth to create original works of art around a given theme. “This year, we wanted the students to consider the ways that images circulate online. Because of social media and advancing technology, people are able to capture and share high-quality images like never before. But what happens to these images once they’re posted and shared? Who owns them? Can they be appropriated, or ever truly deleted?

In lights of these questions, we asked youth from the Lower Mainland to choose an image that they posted on social media, and to create an original work of photographic art in re-sponse to it. “Snapping” out of the digital realm and back into the real world, students were encouraged to take ownership of their creative work, and to think about the photography not as a digital file, but as a material object. “ - http://presentation-housegallery.org/exhibitions/next/

Interview with Principal Hachlaf

THE TALON

Carson Photography students shines in Chesterfield Photo Contest

by: Jessica Pegram

The opening reception was held on Saturday, May 27th at 1:00pm. The gallery was only going to select 25 from all of the schools on the North Shore. Out of the 25 this year Carson Graham had 6 students chosen: Jess Pegram, Luca Papini, Adrian Segur, Mark MacKay, Ivan Pasco and Feng Qian.

Everyone spent countless hours working on their proj-ect. Congratulations are in order for these six who got through the elimination process. (con’t page 6)

OneofthethefinalistinChesterfieldPhotoConntest,byLucaPapini,Grade11fromCarsonGrahamSecondarySchool.

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF CARSON GRAHAM SECONDARY SCHOOLVOL. 1

Why you should join air cadets by: Andrew Roper

Hello Carson Graham my name is Andrew roper. Today I will be writing about why you should join air cadets. In air cadets you will learn many life skills such as citizenship, public speaking, lead-ership, survival skills, drill and flying. In the experience I have had in cadets in the past 2 years have been second to none. And I believe that I have improved a lot with my personal life ever since I joined wether it’s my public speaking or leadership I have improved a lot even with my knowledge in cadets. Such aviation, citizenship and even Canadian military history I have improved even with my fitness I remember an activity we did on a camping exercise. Where we had to climb up a 10 foot wall the first time I tried it took me ten minutes but on a recent camping exercise where we climbed up the same wall it took me 20 seconds! Air cadets will even help you make more friends in different age groups and cultures. Because of making friends in different age groups it has helped in high school and in cadets and making friends with different cultures has let me learn more about different cultures. Even if you don’t like cadets when you join you should stick with it because I remember when I first joined I didn’t like air cadets when I joined but by the end of my first year I loved cadets and I was improving. Now I am a flight Cpl which is the 5th highest rank and recently got best cadets in my level.

PhotoCourtesy:103ThunderbirdSquad-ronRoyalCanadianAirCadets

TALON MANIFESTO We are the Talon. We are one part of a larger being, a larger whole, a larger community. We are class-mates and friends of yours or strang-ers perhaps, individuals with a shared passion. Our name, though decidedly pretty cool, may not fully convey our motivation, which is: to lend to you a voice. We are the Talon, our wings are readied, our eyes are keen, but our goal is more. Our goal is to bring to-gether those elements of our school which are disparate, to give a plat-form to your stories, so they may be shared with others. We hope that you will share our dream. In our dream there exist no arbitrary boundaries of clique and label. All stories, all peo-ple, all individuals are welcomed here. More than the Talon what we aim to be is the Heart. And so in this, the first chapter, the first turn of the page in our story, we hope you will join in and fol-low along, and lend us your heart beats so we may face each dawn together.

Sincerely, Us.

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2017 has been a very eventful year for stu-dent initiatives and projects from the many athlet-ic successes to the impactful club contributions. In this article I would like to highlight a completely student-lead play and production, Palingenesis, by Selena Smith-La Rochelle. Selena is a grade 10 stu-dent who started writing this play for her personal project last summer. She got the idea after being in-spired by another student production called “Altar and Vega”, which she was in as a part of set change.

With the script revised and complete in Sep-tember, she assembled her cast of 6 students from grades 10, 11 and 12. I was lucky enough to be offered the female lead back in October of 2016. I have wit-nessed this play develop from small table readings of the script to filmed scenes with costuming and block-ing, and then finally to an entertaining and inspiring live performance. Even after single-handedly writing and directing the play for her personal project, Selena didn’t think it would be possible to fulfill her seemingly unrealistic hope of taking the play to live performances. Her dream and what were just words on a page finally came to life on stage with the help student stage man-agers, tech crew, set change, and cast. (con’t page 3)

Pride: Do you know what it means? By Emma Mendez

It’s June, and to many this means the end of the seeming-ly never-ending school year and the beginning of a hopefully bliss-ful summer. To many others this month means so much more. June is a symbol of how far we have come as a community and as a society, a hope for further understanding, peace, and acceptance all over because June is Pride month. To those not familiar with it, Pride month, like Black history month, is when the LGBT+ commu-nity and allies globally unite to celebrate the diversity as well as progress made in LGBT+ issues, celebrate and remember LGBT+ history, and overall spread love and acceptance. June was chosen in commemoration to the Stonewall Riots, which occurred at the end of the month in 1969. But what does “pride” mean? For me, being able to be proud of who I am hasn’t been easy and is still sometimes a struggle. I, often times felt left out of all the celebrat-ing. But overtime I came to learn that there is no right way to show your pride; one can be as loud or as low-key as one wants. Just because you’re not covered in head-to-toe rainbow doesn’t mean you are any less a part of the community and the walk towards global LGBT+ equality. Just by being you, and accepting yourself for who you are is already a huge step by itself. What really helped me personally, was joining the Carson Graham GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance). A club that strives to raise awareness about the LGBT+ community and the many forms of diversity that exists all around us. Joining GSA really gave me a personal meaning for pride. Through meeting other people who understood my difficul-ties and who were sympathetic, I came to realize that what pride really meant was being there for each other and accepting that al-though we are all different and may not always have the same views, we all have one thing in common. We are all human. That labels really shouldn’t change the way we view someone, because labels are just words. They don’t make up a whole person; they don’t define you. Sometimes it isn’t always the easiest thing to do,as we have become so accustomed to living by labels and boxes, but we can try to change. Pride is being united in the fight for a better tomorrow, a world where love can just be love. One day, right?

Student-lead Project Highlight of 2017

Interview with Principal Hachlaf By: Elise Saatchi

As his final year at Carson Graham comes to an end, I would like to thank Mr. Hachlaf for all that he’s done for our school over the years. He played a vital role in shaping the school community and getting to know him and his story was a truly rewarding experi-ence. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

What are some memorable moments you’ve had here at Carson Graham?

- “Opening the new Carson building 5 years ago and welcoming back Grade 8-12 students.”

- “School wide assembly with Wab Kinew reminding us the important steps to recon-ciliation and what that means for all of us.”

- “Staff Blanket Exercise which was one of the most powerful staff development events I have taken part in my career.

- “Day to day at Carson Graham and talking to students in the hallways and class-rooms – love the energy at Carson!”

What would you say is your legacy? How do you want people to remember you?

- “I hope people will consider me as a caring, principled, reflective and hardworking principal. Yes, I am using IB learner profile traits and that is because I believe they are foundational to character development.”

- “Alongside the staff of Carson Graham, I believe we have transformed and continue to transform Carson Graham as one of the best schools in the province and I take great pride in being part of that journey.”

- “Proud to have been an “EAGLE” and before moving on to a district leadership role, I am glad Carson Graham will be my last school.”

Do you have any words of advice for students (students interested in becoming teachers)?

- “Continue to take risks and challenge yourself and the status quo; education is changing as it should to meet the needs of our youth.”

- “To any students wanting to enter the teaching profession – there has truly been no better time with lots of job opportunity to enter the profession along with being a part of the changing educational landscape while taking part in one of the most rewarding career pathways.”

How has the school changed since you first came to Carson?

- “I first need to acknowledge I came into the school community with a lot of change already taking place. For example, two campuses merging into one with the opening of the new school.”

- “I do believe the school culture has shifted over the last five years to both acknowl-edge the great history of this school and re-define ourselves where attending Carson Graham is in high demand – and for good reason.”

- “Expanding on above, school culture is about the way we do things and at Carson Graham, we embrace our diversity and offer quality programs to accommodate a range of student interests. In doing so, we have also sustained an ethic of care and excellence which has translated into an awesome energy that will continue to propel the school community forward.”

In your experience, how does an IB school differ from a regular one?

“The level of instruction and assessment is consistent throughout the school and the way of reporting out student achievement is also unique. We’ve moved away from letter grades/percentages and towards inquiry based teaching practices.”

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CARSON GRAHAM GRAD ‘77 GIVES BACK TO ALMA MATTER

Over the past several months, we have been in contact with Lori Harman, on behalf of the Carson Grad 1977 class, interested in raising funds to provide a donation back to the school. After much discussion, the graduating class, celebrating their 40th anniversa-ry, has donated a beautiful bench that has now been placed outside our learning commons. The photo on our web banner (left to right) includes Al Saunders (Grad ’77), Principal Karim Hachlaf (middle) and Ross Bonetti (Grad ’77). The bench is by Studio Brovhm called “Pla-nar” and is the same bench installed at the San Fran-cisco Museum of Modern Art (http://www.azuremag-azine.com/article/sitting-at-the- sfmoma/). On behalf of the Carson Graham community, thank you to the Carson Grad Class of 1977 for their generous gift back to the school. (http://www.sd44.ca/school/carson/Pages/default.aspx)

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It Can’t Happen Here - Why Canada is Immune to Fascismby: Liam Olsen

I will never forget the night of November 8, 2016. It began at 5pm. I was sitting in band practice. We were playing my favorite piece, a soaring Japanese tune about childhood innocence in rural, postwar Japan. It’s a moving work to say the least, yet somehow I paid it no heed. A nervous chatter seemed to fill the room as the first US election results trickled in. A gaggle of kids gathered around someone’s phone that was displaying results.

At this point, the readings were yawn-inducing at best. Vermont flickered Democrat blue. Kentucky flared Republican red. Half an hour passed. By then the whole eastern seaboard was crackling with elec-toral energy. Still, it was too early to make out anything meaningful. Then I clicked on the Commonwealth of Virginia. Dead stop. Virginia was the home state of Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate. The polls had predicted Clinton would take it by 6 points. Now she was barely ahead by 2, in the city. God knows how she would fare in the counties. Minutes later, a large red square appeared slightly to the left. Michigan, another state Clinton was projected to win by 6 points and that Obama had won by 10 in 2012, now showed Trump solidly ahead in Detroit. And then it hit me with the force of a fire hose. Donald Trump, champion of the bigot and cheerleader of the predator, would, in a few short hours, emerge on top of the world.

A second thought followed, more disturbing than the first: Could Donald Trump happen here? In Canada?Before answering that question, we need to understand what Donald Trump is. It is too easy to simply dismiss Donald Trump’s win as the victory of White Nationalism. Indeed, Donald Trump represents merely the latest incarnation of a far deeper, far darker tradi-tion of American Populism, which we might call ‘Small-f Fascism’. In 1934, a Canadian-born radio commentator by the name of Charles Coughlin founded a party called the Na-tional Union for Social Justice. Fuelled by Anti-Semitic commentary and praise of the Axis Powers, “Father Charles” was pulling in some 30 million

listeners a week within a year, 7.5 million of which were members of his party. At about this time, Huey Long, populist strongman of Louisiana and leader of the 7.5 mil-lion-strong “Share our Wealth Society” fa-mously proclaimed, “When Fascism comes to America, it will be called Anti-Fascism.” Curiously, neither figure came anything close to White-Supremacist. Both enjoyed the support of millions of African-Amer-icans, to whom many of the benefits of a guaranteed minimum income and free universal education would flow. Similarly, neither was anything close to Conservative. Long even went so far as to propose cap-ping personal wealth: income at $1 million and wealth at $5 million, a policy that would make Bernie Sanders blush.

From this we can learn two things. First, racist scapegoating is never the cause of populist uproar. Economic agony is. Secondly, American Populism, (that is, the kind that beats Hillary Clinton) needs the excuse of racist scapegoating. Why? Because they are a conspiracy against the rightful prosperity of the commons. They are what prevents America from being “great again.”

Good luck with that in Canada. For one, it’s hard to get nationalistic about a country that defines itself by its inclusiv-ity. After all, ‘state multicult¬¬uralism’ is no stand-in for a national identity. It is an umbrella that shelters multiple identities. And this, my friends, is where Canada dif-fers most from America. For centuries now, American society has steeped itself in a fierce nostalgia for its revolutionary origins and role as the universal herald of freedom. Canada knows no nostalgia, as Canada has never had a society, at least not in the normal sense of the word. This country’s duality of French and English Canada, a separation legally enforced in the form of Provinces, only reinforce this tradition. Even today, Francophones comprise some 25% of Canada’s total population. Any efforts to rob them of their regional identities would be futile: their culture predates Anglophone Canada’s by some 200 years. Moreover, they have in spades something the rest of Canada will never know: a well-defined sense of the other.

So, without a cohesive sense of Nationalism and no way of ignoring Quebec, Canadian Fascism is out. Regional Fascism may not be.In addition to Quebec Nationalism there are a host of other op-tions: Prairie Populism, Maritime Mercantil

ism, Newfoundland Colonialism, Cascadian Counterculturalism. But since all such asso-ciations would be inter-provincial at most, none would stand a chance of realizing anything close to a Fascist state without the consent of the federal government and its armed forces.

And what of Kevin O’Leary, you ask? He is simply Fiscal Conservatism in new clothes. Marijuana-legalizing clothes. Only Kelly Leitch dares rear her head at immigration, and look at how well she’s doing: the latest polls put her at 11%, com-parable to Lisa Raitt, the candidate whose campaign took off by criticizing her.

So, as Western Europe and America are hammered by a Tsunami of Populism, Canada is high and dry. It will stay that way as long as we stay multicultural – which is to say, for the foreseeable ever.

And with that, I think I’ll go play O Canada.

This reincarnation love story set in the 1950s drew crowds in to see the show night after night. Intertwined with the cheesy sayings and comical tensions in the play, Selena showed the social system and standards of the lower and upper class during that time. Much like Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet, the teenage lovers, Renee and Phoenix, do not care about the labels or roles their parents have given them and love each other despite their fami-lies’ financial differences. After the final show night Selena said in a social media post that, “This has been one long ride, but I wouldn’t take it back for the world.”

It is student projects like this that gives inspiration for other students to fol-low their creative ambitions and gives Carson something to be truly proud of.

by: Angelina Sommer

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