Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School
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| Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School | |
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| Address | |
| 90 Bur Oak Avenue Markham, Ontario, L6C 2E6, Canada |
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| Website | |
| http://www.trudeau.hs.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ | |
| Information | |
| School board | York Region District School Board |
| Superintendent | John Havercroft |
| Area trustee | Gary Unitas |
| Principal | Linda Balaishis |
| Vice principal | Annette Oliver, Joe Mancuso |
| School type | High School |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Mascot | The Blazer |
| Team name | The Trudeau Trailblazers |
| Colours | Black, white, red, and yellow |
| Founded | September 2002 |
| Enrollment | 1100 |
Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School (commonly known as PETHS, PET, or simply Trudeau) is a public, bilingual English and French-immersion secondary school in Markham, Ontario, Canada, named after the former Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It became the first secondary school in Ontario to be named after Trudeau. The school officially opened in September 2002. The architecture of the building is exactly the same as Maple High School in Maple, Ontario.
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[edit] History
Trudeau was built in the Berzcy Village subdivision on Bur Oak Avenue by Kennedy Road, and was open to students in Grades 9 and 10 (most of which were transferred from nearby Markville Secondary School) in the fall of 2002. The school's first principal was Cheryl Dubeau. The school's first vice-principal was Debra Conrad-Knight.
[edit] Growth
Trudeau boasted an enrollment of approximately 500 students and had about 50 staff members in its inaugural year. In the subsequent school year (2003-2004), Trudeau's enrollment grew to over 730 students due to the addition of Grade 11. Its staff members grew to over 60.
In its third functioning year, Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School grew to over 1000 students in Grades 9 to 12, and having over 100 staff members. Robert Hart became an additional vice-principal at PETHS. This was also the year that saw Trudeau's first graduating class in the spring.
[edit] Demographics
The student body of Trudeau High reflects the multicultural legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau himself. The majority of students at PETHS are of Chinese background. There is also a large group of students of South Asian ethnicity (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, etc). Other ethnic groups in the student body include Middle Eastern/Persian, Indo-Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean(Guyanese, Jamaican, Bajan, etc) Black/African, European, other Asian (Japanese, Korean, Filipino, etc) and students of mixed heritage.
English is the common language of the school, whereas Canada's other official language, French, is mostly spoken in French-immersion classes. Because of the school's multicultural population, many students are bilingual or multilingual (non-official languages spoken include Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Urdu, Tamil, Italian, Russian, Patois/Créole and Afrikaans just to name a few).
[edit] Identity
The students of Trudeau High are collectively known by their team name The Trudeau Trailblazers. This name was voted by the student body in the spring of 2003. The name trailblazers is an homage to Pierre Elliott Trudeau himself and how he had a "trailblazing" attitude in his political life.
In the fall of 2003, students submitted designs for a mascot design competition using the team name of The Trudeau Trailblazers. Three final designs were shown to the student body and were voted upon during the Grade Representative elections. The winner was The Blazer, designed by then-Grade 11 student Ritchie Li (who has now graduated with the Class of 2006).
In the spring of 2005, the Trudeau Identity Committee was formed to help the school develop its visual identity. The motto Strive Higher, Soar Further was one of three choices in a school-wide election for a school motto. Subsequently, a crest design followed. Again, three finalists were chosen, but The Spark was chosen as the winner. The Spark was designed by then-Grade 12 student Sammy Fung (who has since graduated from PETHS with the Class of 2005).
[edit] School Events
Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School takes great pride in hosting and/or organizing several school and community events. The most notable ones are: Blazers' Bash, Cabaret, Trudeaumania (aka Spirit Day) and the Sears Ontario Drama Festival . Other events include Spirit Week (Changed in the 2006-2007 year to Spirit Day Fridays), Winter and Spring Music Nights, Pierre Elliott Trudeau's birthday celebration, Drama Mosiacs and Battle of the Bands.
Blazers' Bash is Trudeau's annual spirit day which is held around May and is organized by the Student Council (SAC). The entire bash involves inflatable attractions, food & beverage and the famous dunk tank where students are able to dunk voluntary teachers and student council members in water.
Cabaret is the school's annual talent show, where students and staff alike are able to showcase their many talents. The event is organized by the Drama Council (also known as Trudeau Theatrics) and is held around early December.
Trudeaumania is the school's annual spirit day for grade 9 students, where they head to Green Acres to participate in several events rallying on teamwork, initiative and participation.
The Sears Ontario Drama Festival is an annual event held around many schools all over Ontario, however Trudeau has a reputation for hosting in 3/4 years that it has participated. The school has had relatively good success at the festival, advancing to the Regional Showcase at Hart House theatre at the University of Toronto in 2003 (The Great Theatre of the World) 2005 (The Arabian Nights) and 2006 (Dragon of the Winds). The school's only play not to advance to the Regionals was The Calendar Effect in 2004. The play for the 2007 Festival has yet to be announced.
The Battle of the Bands (Bob) for Trudeau Student-Made bands and its later event invitational battle of the bands (iBob)for student bands from high schools across the area are both hosted at Trudeau and organized by music council. Bands duke it out for prizes, usually involving free recording time at a local studio.
