Argyle Secondary School

Argyle Secondary School is a high school in the Upper Lynn Valley school district of North Vancouver (District), Canada. In the 2011–2012 school year, enrollment was 1,445.^[1]

Argyle Secondary School participates in special programs, including Apprentice Training, Hockey Skills Academy, Artists for Kids Studio Art Academy, Digital Media Academy, Distributed Learning, and French Immersion.

Argyle sports include field hockey, soccer, rugby, volleyball, cross-country, basketball, track and field, football, cheer, curling, gymnastics, wrestling, tennis, and Ultimate Frisbee. Student athletics focus on Piper POWER, signifying Pride, Open-Mindedness, Wisdom, Excellence, and Respect.^[2]

Parents can become involved in the Argyle Parent Advisory Council by joining the Drama or Music Associations, Canadian Parents for French, Enrichment Opportunities, Vancouver Coastal Health, and workshops and resources.^[3]

Notable Teachers

In the spring of 2016 Kathy Mulder, an English 12/Social Studies 8 teacher, was presented with the prestigious Loran Teachers Building Leaders Award by the Governor General of Canada, Right Honourable David Johnston. She was nominated for this award by a previous student, Laura Thorne, who won the Loran Award in 2015, one of thirty of the secondary students selected across Canada for exemplary character, commitment to service in the community, and leadership potential.^[4]

Starting in 2014, Steve Bruno implemented a new type of teaching in his Spanish classes called T.P.R.S.(Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), invented by Blaine Ray, a Spanish teacher in California in the 1990s.^[5] This new teaching style involves students practicing the language out loud instead of studying out of a textbook. Though it had previously been experimented with at a few other schools across BC, Bruno decided to adopt this still embryonic concept. This has allowed his previously brilliant enthusiasm to shine through more forcefully.^[6]

Academics

Argyle offers a variety of courses in the humanities, sciences, language arts, business, fine and performing arts, and computer technology. They also offer French Immersion, the Digital Media Academy, a Co-)p Program, and a Music Program from grade 8 to grade 12, in which senior students embark on trips to the Banff Musical festival and tours to foreign countries. In past years they have toured Europe, Asia and South America.

Athletics

The Argyle Piper's athletic department is proud of their programs, which are rich in tradition, providing a strong foundation to students of participation and excellence. The school has teams in field hockey, basket ball, soccer, track and field, football, rugby, cheer, cross-country, curling, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, ultimate frisbee, and wrestling.

History

A teacher strike took over B.C. in June 2014, when 26,051 teachers out of 29,301 voted for job action. The B.C. Teacher's Federation President, Jim Iker, refused to act immediately because “We do not consider job action unless it is absolutely necessary. We called this vote because after a year of bargaining, the table needed pressure.”^[7] The teachers are demanding smaller classes, more one-on-one time with the students, supplementary support for those who require it, and a wage increase (B.C has one of the lowest salary for teachers in Canada).

In April, with still no changes issued by the government, the teachers entered phase one of the strike in which they will not meet with any administrators, though they will continue to teach. When that didn't prove to have any results, they entered phase two; they began a series of rotating strikes. This was only supposed to last four days but turned into a few weeks. At the same time, the government reached out and offered $1,200 signing bonus. But the B.C.T.F. were unsatisfied and pushed their luck by demanding $450 million a year, which includes retroactive pay and for class size and composition changes along with increased medical benefits. As well as an 8% wage increase over five years and a $5,000 signing bonus.

By June, with still no agreement in sight, they brought in a mediator, Vince Ready, who refused the job due to a "busy schedule". On June 11, the teachers finally executed a full scale strike, during which the teachers were only paid $50 a day from the union. Though classes and teaching broke down, the ministry of education in B.C. deemed provincial exams as essential services so they continued on. A number of school districts were even forced to cancel summer classes. The government assured parents by saying that in September, any child under 13 years of age will be given $50 a day for daycare, from money that the government has been saving with the teachers on strike.

In early August the two sides began to negotiate after Iker challenged the government to begin mediation. But over the weekend before the start of school, Ready, who had come back to mediate, declared an impasse because the two sides were too far apart. Iker offers to hold a vote for teachers, who can decide whether they will go back to school if the government will succumb to binding arbitration. The government refuses to consider this idea. With the union's funds running dry, the teachers are in luck when unions from across B.C. offer $8 million in interest-free loans and the teachers from Ontario donates $100,000.

They finally manage a tentative deal on September 16, and the teachers return to schools.^[8]

In the fall of 2014, Argyle succumbed to a small flood due to heavy rainfall overnight. The flash flood, 100 millimeters in 24 hours, caused families to evacuate their homes. They traced the source back to a plug in one of the many creeks in the area, which then found another path to flow down which turned out to be Kilmer (where flooding was the worst) and then Fromme. The extent of the damage on the school was the inundation of nine classrooms and the drama department's prop room. The following morning school was canceled as professionals and families alike attempted to reduce the damage to the school.^[9]

Argyle Secondary School was built in 1960, though it has undergone renovations in 1966, 1969, and 2000. But in June 2016 it has been confirmed that the school will receive $47.5 million for seismic upgrades, $37.6 million from the province and $8.1 million from the school district. The construction is set to start in 2017 so that it may be finished in the fall of 2019 for the predicted 1200 students from grade 8-12.^[10]

Notable alumni

• Jason Priestley (of Beverly Hills 90210),^[11]
• Bryan Adams (rock singer-songwriter/photographer) has won Grammies, Junos, AMAs, Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
• Paul Kariya (of the St. Louis Blues)^[12] has won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy multiple times. He has played in the NHL all star game seven times, during two of those games he played on the same line as fellow Argyle alumni Brett Hull
• Jessica Smith, track and field athlete, olympian. Eliminated from the 800m track event at the 2012 summer Olympics at the semi-final stage
• Trevor Guthrie (singer/songwriter) - former lead-singer of R&B/boyband group soulDecision. He is the writer and singer of Grammy-nominated and Juno-winning song This Is What It Feels Like. He is the singer and writer of Juno-Nominated song "Soundwave".
• Godfrey Gao (actor)
• Brett Hull (NHL hall-of-famer) also son of NHL player Bobby Hull. Brett has won two Stanley cups(in 1999 and 2002), one of which he scored a controversial game-winning goal in overtime which won his team the Stanley cup.
• Soska sisters (directors and producers)

References

External links

• Argyle Secondary