Students Raise $1100 for Josie Foundation

Blackville School Student Council Representatives present a
cheque for $1100.00 on June 4 to local MLA and Josie
Foundation Founder Jake Stewart. Members of the Student
Council (l-r): Brooke Underhill, Robyn Stewart, Gina Keenan,
Jade Underhill and also grade 10 student Jules Keenan. 

Blackville School students recently raised a total of $1100.00 through various fundraising initiatives for the Josie Foundation.

The fundraising campaign was organized by the High School Student Council.

According to its website, the Josie Foundation "is a non-profit incorporated Foundation whose aim is to establish, receive and maintain a fund for the relief of economic hardship for individuals (families) within the Miramichi area who may be encountering financial difficulty as a result of a life threatening illness."

For more information on the Josie Foundation, click here.

Drinking and Driving Awareness Video Awarded $1300

A video submitted in April by Blackville School grade 12 students for this year's Safe Grad Initiative students was recently awarded just over $1300.00.

The Safe Grad Initiative is sponsored by Alcool NB Liquor (ANBL) in cooperative with the New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

A total of $20, 000 is offered to winning submissions to help fund safe grad activities. The value of the awards are dependent upon the quality of the submissions.

The objective of the Safe Grad Initiative is to promote responsible choices among teenagers when celebrating high school graduations.

The video created by the four students at Blackville School provides some statistical information as it recounts a tragedy that occurred due to drinking and driving.

The students who produced the video are Calvin Furlong, Bailey Coughlan, Michael Waugh and Brooke Underhill. It also features a Blackville School teacher, Mr. Aaron Johnston.

Josie Foundation Week at Blackville School

Jake Stewart and Andy Hawkes with members
of the High School Student Council

Local MLA Jake Stewart, who is also the founder of the Josie Foundation, and Andy Hawks, the Mayor of Blackville and a Foundation Board member, visited Blackville School on Thursday, April 14.

They were at Blackville School to speak to the high school students about the Josie Foundation and to thank the school community for its help in raising money for the Foundation.

This year, the school's goal is to raise a $1000 for the Josie Foundation. So far $400 has been raised by having various events like bake sales and a coin sabotage. The Student Council is also planning a dance next Thursday, April 21 and all proceeds will be for the Josie Foundation.

The Josie Foundation is a non-profit foundation that provides assistance to individuals and families in the Miramichi area who are experiencing financial difficulty due to a fatal illness.

To find out more about the Josie Foundation click here.

Article by Abby Hennessy
Photos by Jules Keenan

Soup's On at Blackville School

Local community members attended Soup's On
at Blackville School on Tuesday

The Blackville High School culinary class took part in a community outreach program called Soup's On this Tuesday, April 12.

Soup's On offers members of the community free home-cooked meals at various churches and community centres throughout Blackville. It was started by the Greater Blackville Resource Centre (GBRC).

The culinary class served hamburger soup, freshly made biscuits and carrot cake for dessert. In all, the class served around 80 people.

To learn more about the Greater Blackville Resource Centre, click here. For more photos from the event, click here.

Article by Abby Hennessy
Photos by Jules Keenan

Grade Two Students Participate in Roots of Empathy Program

The grade two students at Blackville School are participating in the Roots of Empathy program. With this program, the students are able to interact with a baby from the local area.

This year, the baby is a little boy named Hudson, born on July 30, 2015. He is visiting the students every few weeks. His first visit was on Tuesday, February 23.

The students are able to watch him grow and see how he changed and developed between each visit.

The students look forward to seeing baby Hudson and enjoy each visit. To find out more about the program, click here.

Article by Abby Hennessy
Photo by Jules Keenan 

Anti-Bullying Art Contest Winners

Lydia Sullivan, DeAnna Nordin and Micah Lynch

Three students from Blackville school developed some creative ideas for Anti-Bullying Week.

Student of all ages were asked to draw a picture about how to stop bullying in Blackville School or the community.

Winner were selected from Elementary, Middle and High School. The winners were Grade 5 student Lydia Sullivan, Grade 8 student Deanna Nordin and Grade 9 student Micah Lynch.

This contest was sponsored by the High School Student Council during Anti-Bullying week in December.

Article and photo by Calvin Furlong

High School Students Attend MADD Presentation

High School students with MADD guest speaker (centre)

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a gut wrenching presentation with three real life stories told by family members and survivors who were affected by impaired driving.

MADD presenter Martin Savoie came to Blackville School on Thursday, November 19 to speak to the high school students about impaired driving and how people should never drive while under the influence and to always have a safe drive home.

This presentation was meant to give awareness to teenagers about driving impaired. Martin Savoie said that MADD is not only about alcohol intake while driving, but it is about drugs and how they also affect your driving ability too.

The students watched three real life stories about people who were affected by impaired driving and family members who talk about losing someone special to them. The first story was about a teenage boy and his friend who went driving and got hit by an oncoming vehicle who was driving impaired.

The second story was about a woman who was walking home and was hit by a vehicle who was impaired. She was hospitalized and cannot walk for more that a few minutes.

The third story was about a young man who was only the age of 19 and died after hitting a parked car. He was in a vehicle with someone he thought was a sober person and acting as the designated driver.

Students commented that the presentation was very moving and emotional. For more photos from this event, click here.

Article by DeAnna Donovan
Photos by Calvin Furlong

Students Participate in Anti-Bullying Activities

(L-R) Shelby Furlong, Chloe Curtis, Chloe Donovan and Piper Duffy

This week at Blackville School many students showed their support during anti-bullying week by wearing pink on Wednesday.

The students also participated in many anti-bullying week themed events.

Middle and High school students started off the week with showing up to kind notes posted on everybody's locker, with saying such as "You're loving" and "You are kind".

They also had events such as the K-12 drawing contest where students were asked to design a poster showing their support against bullying. The posters were to have an inspiring message about bullying.

They also had Thank You-Thursday, where high school students were asked to make a new friend at lunch and bring their new friend to get pink lemonade. For more photos from this week's activities, click here.

Article by Amelia Underhill
Photos by Laura Jardine and Cassidy Jay

Students participate in Terry Fox 35th Annual Run

Denver Hogan (yellow shirt in center)
 with some other elementary students

The Blackville Elementary and Middle school classes participated in the 35th annual Terry Fox run on September 29. 

Just as they started walking it began to rain and some of the students started to complain and figured they should stop walking. As they were complaining, one student from Mrs. Manderville's grade 4 class, Denver Hogan, spoke up and said, "Terry didn't stop walking in the rain."

Denver was asked about the comment he made to some of the other students. "I just said it because I knew it was true." "I know that Terry tried to run across Canada and never gave up and he was very brave."

The Terry Fox run is something that the Blackville students participate annually to remember Terry Fox, his journey and his bravery. For more information about the Terry Fox Foundation, click here.

Article by: DeAnna Donovan and Amelia Underhill
Photo by: Calvin Furlong

The Buddy Bench

Hetherington to attend International Camp in Washington D.C.

Darian Hetherington

Darian Hetherington, a grade nine student at Blackville School, has been selected to represent his regional burn camp at the International Association of Fire Fighters Charitable Foundation's International Burn Camp.

The event will be held September 26 - October 3 in Washington, DC. The program that he has been selected to represent recognizes both fire fighters and burn-injured youth who made many contributions to their local burn camp program.

This foundation helps young burn survivors overcome problems related to the trauma and physical disability associated with a burn injury.


Darian got involved with the burn camp association after a fire-related accident. When Darian was five years old, he and his cousin were playing and he fell into a fire pit. Because of the accident, Darian had to repeat kindergarten because he missed so much school time.

Darian is very excited to travel to Washington, D.C. because he has not travelled to many other places. He will be going with other people from around the world who are also burn victims and will be doing activities and getting to know each other and talking about their stories.

Darian will be travelling with a firefighter from New Brunswick. He is so interested in being a part of the burn camp association because he gets to talk to others who have gone through the same things he has.

The Blackville School community wishes Darian all the best on his trip to Washington D.C.

Photo and article by Amelia Underhill and Deanna Donovan

Mitch Dorge Visits Blackville School

(Left to right) Ashlyn Moody, Laura Jardine, Mitch Dorge,
Brooke Underhill

Mitch Dorge made an appearance at Blackville School on Tuesday, September 22.

He is a drummer for the band Crash Test Dummies.  He also travels and spreads the word on drug addiction and the effects it can have on your life.

He has a unique way of connecting to crowds with his hilarious stories and hyper personality.

Mitch has a very positive effect on crowds. Students commented that the energy he brings to his performance is amazing.

Both the middle and high school students attended the event. To find out more about his appearances in schools, click here.

Article by Calvin Furlong

Blackville School Students Raise $700 for Local Charity

Blackville High School Student Council members present a
cheque to Southwest Miramichi MLA Jake Stewart. Stewart is
the Josie Foundation Founder and Board of Directors Member.

Blackville School students raised $700.00 through various fundraising initiatives for the Josie Foundation. The fundraising campaign was organized by the High School Student Council.

According to its website, the Josie Foundation "is a non-profit incorporated Foundation whose aim is to establish, receive and maintain a fund for the relief of economic hardship for individuals (families) within the Miramichi area who may be encountering financial difficulty as a result of a life threatening illness."

For more information on the Josie Foundation, click here.

What's Cooking at Blackville School?

A student prepares food at the Blackville School
After School Cooking Program

A seven week after school cooking program is being offered to students at Blackville School as an extracurricular activity.

The program is designed to help teach high school students about healthy eating, meal preparation, food safety and budgeting. Students will be better prepared when they are out on their own and have to cook their own meals.

“It’s a really fun and good program,” said Grade 11 student Kolby Harris. “It’s a good experience, and you get to learn lots of new and interesting things, ” he added.

The group meets every Wednesday night in the Home Ec room where they stay for about two and a half to three hours. They have snacks, play games, participate in discussions and even get to cook a new recipe each week. Each student also gets a copy of the recipe. This is their third week into the program, and so far it has been well received.

Dr. Tiffany Keenan and NBCC-Miramichi students Jenna Colford and Marcey Jardine are coordinating the program as part of the Community and School Wellness Initiative.

Students in the Cooking Program: Back (l-r): Ashton O'Donnell,
Kaelyn Hallihan, Camryn Donovan, Aimee Sturgeon,
Kali Nicholson, Colby Harris
Front (l-r): Samantha Stockless, Heidi Storey,
Payten Jardine

The program is open to grade 10-12 students. The current student had to fill out a multiple choice questionnaire about their eating and cooking lifestyle and fill out a registration form. 

The program is only designed for 12-14 students, so if interest grows there may be an application letter that will need to be written if students are interested in joining next year. There is also some discussion on recognizing the extra-curricular activity as a credit for graduation.

This cooking program is a highly entertaining and educational way of teaching students how to fend for themselves without the need to head out for fast food. 

In only three weeks the students have learned about food safety, healthy eating, how to cook in bulk, and how long to leave food in the fridge. Registration forms will be made available to students who are interested in the next school year's program.

For more photos from the program, click here. 

Article and photos by Jules Keenan

Drinking and Driving Victim Shares Emotional Story

Grade 12 students Ashley Vickers (l)
and Moranda Frenette (r)  with Guest
Speaker Charline Manuel

Charline Manuel of Baie-Sainte-Anne was a guest speaker at Blackville School on April 28. Manuel spoke to the high school students about her traumatic experience that resulted from drinking and driving.

Manuel told the students that in 2002 she was hit and then dragged by a drunk driver's truck while out walking one evening.

She showed pictures of the injuries she sustained, and she explained how she went through 31 surgeries and the recovery process. She told the students that she still has constant pain as a result of the injuries, but she is grateful to be alive.

Manuel told the students she hoped her story will make them think twice and that they will never drink and drive.

Students try out the Vision Impairment
Goggles to experience how alcohol
affects vision and eye coordination.

As Manuel shared her story with the students, they were very quiet and attentive. Many students commented that they found Manuel's story very powerful and emotional.

Manuel speaks to many different groups and schools and has made it her mission to share her story with as many young people as she can.

She was recognized by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) in 2010 when she received their John G. BatesVolunteer Award.

by Riley Sherrard

Photos by Jules Keenan

Students View MADD Video

The Middle School Student Council with MADD Presenter
 Josée Levesque
(l-r): Cole Merrit, Tori Lee Sullivan, Marlee
Kingston,  Josée Levesque and Jules Keenan

According to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Presenter Josée Levesque, an average of four Canadians are killed each day because of drunk drivers.

She urged students at Blackville School to be the generation that lowers those statistics.

Levesque was at Blackville School on Thursday, December 18. Both middle and high school students had the opportunity to view a video followed by a discussion with Levesque.

The video portrayed a story about young people who were affected by drinking and driving. This was followed by testimonials from individuals who were victims or lost loved ones in drinking and driving vehicle crashes.

For more information about MADD, check out their website.

$1000 Raised for the Josie Foundation

In late November of this year, the students of Blackville School had rallied together in an attempt to raise both awareness and funding for the Josie Foundation. The Josie Foundation is a local, non-profit organization that provides financial relief to those who are battling a chronic illness.

Through a number of fundraisers, such as bake sales, money drives and contests, a total of $1000.00 was raised. This money will go towards helping families who are in a difficult financial state due to having to deal with the stresses associated with having a chronic disease.

Jake Stewart, the local MLA and founder of the Josie Foundation, is scheduled to make an appearance at the school and accept the donation.

Mr. Johnston has Beard Dyed for Josie Foundation Fundraising Efforts

Abby Donovan applies colour to Mr. Johnston's eyebrows
 as other middle school students watch excitedly.

A teacher at Blackville School got a makeover in recognition of the school's fundraising campaign for the Josie Foundation.

Mr. Johnston pledged to have his beard (and eyebrows) dyed if the students and staff could raise $500 for the Josie Foundation. Almost $500 was raised at the middle school dance on Thursday evening, November 28, and other fundraising efforts are continuing into next week.

The Josie Foundation is a non-profit organization whose aim is to establish, receive and maintain a fund for the relief of economic hardship for individuals (families) within the Miramichi area who may be encountering financial difficulty as a result of chronic illness.

The Josie Foundation's colour is a dark maroon, however purple was used to make his beard colour even more dramatic.

For more information on the foundation, visit www.josiefoundation.ca. 

Mr. Johnston's new look

MLA Jake Stewart Speaks to Students at Blackville School

MLA Jake Stewart with Student Council members
Whitney Tucker, Cassandra Waugh, Candace Purcell
and Graham Manderville

On Monday, November 25, MLA Southwest Miramichi Jake Stewart visited Blackville School to speak to middle and high school students about the importance of community leadership, giving back, and the Josie Foundation.

During the presentation, Jake Stewart, local MLA, founder of the Josie Foundation and an active community member, recalled times in his life when he felt he was not doing enough to help others.

While on a Thailand vacation in 2004, he had been present for the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which was the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph, and killed approximately 275 000 people. Fear stricken, he, his now wife, and two friends were stranded in the plane to their destination, all of them were unaware of the disaster unfolding below.

Eight hours after landing, they finally made it from the airport to their hotel, which was miraculously saved. Panicked, they arrived at the hotel and realized the magnitude of the natural disaster. The next day, when asked to help collect dead bodies and search for survivors, he had declined out of fear of catching fatal diseases such as malaria. He went on to say that this decision is one that he will forever regret, but insisted that he may not be the person he is today if he had not have said no.

After this experience, he had realized the importance of giving back. A few years later, he had founded the Josie Foundation; a local, nonprofit organization aimed to financially help and support people dealing with a chronic illness. Jake Stewart had stressed the importance of helping others, and encouraged the student at Blackville School to look out for one another, and help the community in any way possible. For more information on the Josie Foundation, visit www.josiefoundation.ca.

Article by Cassandra Waugh

Photo by Taylor Gillespie

Movember at Blackville School