By Emily Wei, Columnist
Time is strange. The two months since 2022 started have come and gone with the blink of an eye yet we still find it hard to wait 5 minutes for water to boil. Specifically at Halifax West High School, February has flown by. Whether it’s because of the 2 fewer days in the month or because of all the hustle and bustle of a new semester, there is no doubt that a lot has happened. Students came back after the exam week to a new set of classes, teachers, and classmates but this did not delay any plans we had to make everyone’s, and some people’s last semesters of high school, memorable.
After a shaky few weeks in January with online school, we were able to host something that hasn’t been done for a few years, the Olympics! Although we don’t have high ski hills and huge skating rinks at the West, we have school spirit! For a week starting on February. 4th, Halifax West hosted an Olympics Spirit Week. It started off by “repping the torch” and letting our school mascot, Weston, make an appearance in everyone’s school clothing. The next few days’ attire involved jerseys, olympic ring colours, and Canadian companies such as Lululemon and Roots. It wouldn’t be a Halifax West Spirit Week without some trivia, so we hosted a virtual trivia game for any class that wanted to join in order to win some fun prizes! Not only this, but there was also a virtual presentation from 2 real olympians, Natalie Wideman and Sarah Wells! This presentation was brought to us by the “Believe Initiative” and was definitely eye-opening and inspiring to many students and staff. Speaking of the Olympics, many of our sports teams added to the Halifax West history books. The boys basketball team won their first game back as well as the boys hockey having a 2-1 record! With the snow starting to melt, our girls rugby tryouts have begun and the girls hockey tied against Citadel High School!
What would February be without Valentine’s day! Although we really love a world that is filled with love, wouldn’t we love a world without cancer as well? This is why our Volunteerism Committee organized candy bags to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation! Obviously sports are a big part of our Halifax West identity so this month the Sports Promotions Committee will be hosting another 3 vs. 3 sports event to raise money for Head for a Cure! Head for a Cure is an annual huge school wide event that will happen on April 20th this year to raise money for cancer research! Another thing that we should be seeing soon is our next West Wear order! This order will be specifically for the 2022 graduates and lots of feedback and recommendations have been collected from the first West Wear order that went very well!
Second of all, spring is finally in sight after a long and cold winter, but before we finish the chapter on winter, it’s important to recognize February as African Heritage Month. Halifax West is home to many students from countless backgrounds and ethnicities and we are always striving for an inclusive environment for everyone. This is why, for every day in February, we had morning announcements from our students and staff to educate people on Black history. These announcements were compiled each week into a mini quiz that students could fill out in order to be put into a draw to win some prizes! In addition to this, we swapped out Oh Canada each morning for the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson.
It only gets busier from here so make sure to stay tuned for our following months columns to stay up to date with your local high school!
Photo credits to https://www.narcity.com/
