John Oliver Secondary School
John Oliver Secondary School is a school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street (between the Vancouver neighborhoods of Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Riley Park-Little Mountain and Sunset). It is named for John Oliver, the Premier of British Columbia from 1918-1927. Composed of a central building where most students will attend their studies, there is also a second building nicknamed "the barn" across a grass field where mini school sessions occur.
Current
John Oliver is a school of approximately 1114 students attending grades eight to 12 with nearly 70 teachers. The students participate in many extracurricular activities including sports and clubs.
John Oliver Secondary school has a multicultural student population, with a large number of bilingual students. Although the predominant population is reflective of the Indo-Canadian neighborhood it resides in, many other ethnic backgrounds are represented in the school's population.
History
The original school building was built in 1920, and opened on January 21, 1921 by the Honourable John Oliver, then Premier of BC. By 1926, the enrollment of the school was over 900, and a second building with an additional 8 rooms was built to the west of the main building, on 43rd Ave. This new building, now called "The Barn", is still in existence today. The main part of the current school building was erected in 1950 on 41st Avenue, with the subsequent addition and expansion of technical studies shops, cafeteria and music wing during the following years. The original building burnt down on December 9, 1959.
Course Offerings
- John Oliver is home to a Mini-School for gifted children from grades 8-12. The goal of the Mini program is to enrich students in academics (through acceleration), as well as to take education outside the classroom on three trips per year.
- In addition to regular academic courses, John Oliver offers courses in Home Economics, Textiles, Typing, Auto Mechanics, Electronics, Woodworking, Metalworking, Arts, Drama, Choir, Web-Design, Digital Imagery and Photography, Digital Media Literacy, Fitness, Weight Training, and Media Arts. This list is not exclusive.
- It is also one of few schools in Vancouver that offer Automotive technology courses, having full and well equipped shops as a part of its learning facility.
Events and Performances
- John Oliver has many events hosted yearly. On May 27, 2009 John Oliver was chosen to host the 2009 Passport to Play as well the 2010 Passport to Play, a one day event that offers students with disabilities the opportunity to learn about organizations which provide them with sports and recreational activities and at the same time engage them in a fun and exciting action-packed day. A yearly theatre production also takes place, sponsored by the Fine Arts/Drama department. Through these productions, students (voluntarily) get the opportunity to perform in front of an audience, and if desired gain experience in stagecraft, lighting, and other technical work.
Clubs
John Oliver has a very strong student community. Part of this student community are the extra-curricular clubs and their teacher sponsors.
- Students' Council - The head club of the school, which organizes many school events.
- Bhangra Club - The Bhangra Club practices year-round and performs at school events.
- Dance Squad - The Dance Squad practices year-round and performs at school events.
- Destination ImagiNation - Destination ImagiNation is an educational program hosted by Destination ImaginNation Inc. in which student teams solve open-ended Challenges and present their solutions at Tournaments.
- Rainbow Diversity Club - The JO-Rainbows strive to create a school environment free of homophobia. Every year the they hold a "Day of Silence" event, in which participating students remain verbally silent throughout the entire school day and participate in the nation wide Anti-Bullying Day, also known as Pink Day.
- Grad Committee - The Graduation Committee is in-charge of arranging all grad related activities including the prom, Dry Grad, and the School Leaving Ceremony.
- Lighting and Sound Crew (Tech Crew) - The John Oliver Lighting and Sound Crew facilitates all audio/visual activities at events including assemblies, theater productions, and the Multicultural Show.
- Multicultural Club - The Multicultural Club encourages multiculturalism by hosting year-round multicultural events including the John Oliver Annual Multicultural Show.
- Eyes of Hope - A club that focuses on spreading awareness about the world's critical issues and crises. In addition, they also conduct many fundraising campaigns throughout the course of the year.
- JO Ambassador's - Being a community service club, JO Ambassadors plays an important role in the major events that take place in the school. Most members volunteer to help out in many public events.
- JO Presidents Club - Founded by Gavin Randhawa, Amit Anand and Steven Rai in 2009. The club was responsible for organization of school-wide events and foreseeing administrative behaviours, for all students. The club was dismantled in 2010 when it was discovered that the members of the presidents club were laundering money to the Cubans.
Notable Grads
- Eileen Elizabeth Dailly, former BC MLA and Minister of Education, notable for abolishing corporal punishment in BC schools.
- Herb Dhaliwal, First Indo-Canadian person to become a member of federal cabinet.
- Walter Gage, University of British Columbia professor and administrator. Order of Canada recipient (1971).
- John Pankratz, former British Columbia Lions football player
- Jim Pattison, billionaire businessman and Order of Canada recipient.
- Ray Perrault, former Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament and Senator.
- Gordon 'Gogie' Stewart, member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
- William "Willie" Loftus, former Canadian Football League player
- Evander Kane, NHL hockey player currently playing for the Winnipeg Jets. (2011)
- Mozhdah Jamalzadah, Afghan singer, model and TV show host. (2000)
- Keith Christie, Canada's Ambassador to Cuba 1997-2000, Canada's Ambassador to Mexico 2000-2003
- Steven Rai, Future Multi-Billionaire playboy.
- Gavin Randhawa, Killed a man.
- Amit Anand, First man to get lucky on Mars.
Media
American comedy-drama film, What Goes Up starring Hilary Duff, Josh Peck and Steve Coogan was filmed in John Oliver.
2009 website implementation
In the Fall of 2009, the school's main website was re-designed using the Open-source Content Management System, Joomla. The new website includes an often updated Photojournalistic photo gallery which displays photos of current and past events. The new website also contains "Teacher Blogs", Individual WordPress Blogs that teachers can collaborate and post assignments for students and parents to access. Starting in 2010, the Open-source digital learning environment Moodle and an in-school email system utilizing Google Apps were also implemented. Mr. Zhi Su, a teacher and the technology department head, has led the implementation and training process.
References
External links
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