Burnaby North Secondary School

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Burnaby North Secondary School
Address
751 Hammarskjold Drive Burnaby, British Columbia, V5B 4A1, Canada
Website
Burnaby North Secondary School
Information
Principal	Dave Mickie
Vice principals	Parm Hari Paul Fester Horst Brunsch
Motto	Excellence, Discovery and Charity
Mascot	Viking
Established	1922
Enrollment	ca. 2300

Burnaby North Secondary School is one of the largest secondary schools in British Columbia, Canada. It encompasses two buildings at 751 Hammarskjold Drive in Burnaby. Students from grade 8 to 12 attend the school. A statue of a Viking, the mascot of the school's sports teams, stands in front of the buildings. Burnaby North sits in Kensington Park, so physical education classes have easy access to an ice rink, golf pitch and putt, outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, golf driving range, baseball diamonds and numerous outdoor fields.

Contents 1 History 2 Academics 3 General information 4 Viking Head 5 Filming 6 Distinguished students and teachers 7 Composition 8 External links

[edit] History

Burnaby North was established in 1922 with around 50 students. Its original location was in a small building on Gilmore Avenue. The following year, a large increase in the student body caused the school to be relocated at a new building on Rosser Avenue. At the time, the school was known as Rosser Elementary School. The two current buildings were completed in 1946 and were separate schools, Kensington Junior Secondary School and Burnaby North Senior Secondary School, before both buildings were merged as one.

[edit] Academics

Burnaby North enrolls a population of approximately 2200 students in grades 8 through grade 12. The student body is comprised of students from many ethnic backgrounds, though the majority (80%) are of Chinese ethnicity. The graduating class consists of approximately 450 students many of whom are offered scholarships to attend the local universities. For the past 2 years, Burnaby North graduates have won over a million dollars in scholarship money. Burnaby North has one of the largest Advanced Placement (AP) programs in Canada. In May 2005, it had 209 students write a total of 431 exams in 17 subject areas and a score of 3 or higher was earned on 87% of those exams. The past four years it has had an average of 47 students named as AP scholars (65 were named in 2005). This indicates quite early that the program is not only large but of very high quality with many teachers having taught their AP course for as many as 12 years.

Burnaby North also offers a very well established Career Preparation program whereby students go out on work experience for between 30-90 hours. The goal is to introduce students to the world of work and to enable students to explore a career area that is of interest to them. Burnaby North is at the leading edge of the latest industry training programs (ACE-IT) that enable students to complete the first year theory exams and a portion of the on-the-job training requirements of an apprenticeship program.

[edit] General information

While Burnaby North is considered a highly academic school, it also offers a wide variety of clubs, extramural and intramural sports programs, and many leadership activities. The marching band that successfully performs at the Downtown Santa Claus Parade in Vancouver makes its presence known throughout the surrounding neighbourhood whenever the weather allows for outside rehearsals. Burnaby North has well surpassed other schools with a total of more than 200 clubs, tons of activities such as dances and lunch time events throughout the school year, and a composition of excellent teachers, as well as unique programs. The school motto is "excellence, discovery, and charity." Many of the students are the epitome of that motto in that they contribute a considerable amount of time to both the school and the community at large.

[edit] Viking Head

Burnaby North's Viking Head was established in 1994. The enormous black head wearing a two-horned helmet and facing Union Street was built by the school's Technology Education wing's welding staff and students. Traditionally, it gets decorated with a red-and-white Santa hat every Christmas season and bunny ears each year around Easter. [[1]]

[edit] Filming

Burnaby North was used for the public service announcement-style commercial of Metroid: Zero Mission that was shown in North America.

[edit] Distinguished students and teachers

Students:

• Joe Sakic - NHL Player
• Cliff Ronning - former NHL Player
• Dave Nonis - NHL General Manager
• Don Mattrick - Former President of World Studios of Electronic Arts
• Vince Murdocco - Lead Actor in Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders and Kickboxer
• Svend Robinson - former NDP Member of Parliament

Teachers:

• Paul Batten - Actor
• Phillip Byrne - Former Film Sound Editor
• Ingrid Balchen - The band teacher mainly focused on jazz. The alto saxophone is her main instrument. At Burnaby North, she teaches three jazz bands, three choirs and half a concert band (Junior Band) shared with Peter Wenzek. Winner of a TV-Series called Star Search (1983-2004).
• Peter Wenzek - The band teacher mainly focused on concert band. The clarinet is his main instrument. Teaches four concert bands, the school orchestra and teaches the after school award-winning marching band. Often referred to as "The Lesser Music Teacher" by his students and himself. After school on Tuesdays and Fridays, he comes afterschool after his workhours to run and conduct the Marching Band of his own free will.
• Richard Oliver - The biology teacher who has been primarily responsible for Burnaby North's excellent record in AP Biology examination for the last decade.
• Manny Sobral - former Spanish and phsical education teacher. Known for athletic achievements in boxing. Now retired from the sport, Sobral was a Light Heavyweight with a professional record of W 24 (13 ko's) | L 2 | D 0 and was the Former Canadian and IBO Light Middleweight champ. Sobral competed internationally for Canada in the 1988 summer Olympic is Seoul Korea.
• John Pankratz - former British Columbia Lions football player (Retired 2005)

[edit] Composition

Burnaby North has a large percentage of Asian students, especially Chinese (around 80%), followed by East Indians, Italians and Serbs/Croats.

[edit] External links

• Burnaby North Secondary School