Joshua Zhuang | October 19th, 2023 Following the success of last year’s production of Beauty and the Beast, the arts department will return this December with six showings of The Addams Family. Auditions were held earlier this September, just a few days after the start of the school, and with the cast selected, rehearsals are already underway. The Woodstock interviewed Grade 11 student Hanna Alaei, who will play Alice Beineke and previously starred as Belle, to learn more abo

By Ayush Kothari | May 25th, 2023 Spring has sprung, and with it comes a flurry of activity on the sports fields at The Woodlands. From the adrenaline-fueled sprints of track and field to the intense teamwork of soccer, from the perfect crack of a bat in baseball to the aggressive tackles of rugby, from an ultimate frisbee slicing through the air to the quick movements of badminton, there is a sport for everyone. So grab your bat and put on your cleats, because in this articl

By Aditya Balaram | May 19th, 2023 The sounding of the lunch bell marked the return of The Woodlands’ first International Bazaar event, the first since 2019. The event surpassed expectations and was a massive success. For just $5 a ticket, students immersed themselves in different cultures, learned about the respective countries, ate tasty food, and had a great experience. Run by Mr. Miller and Ms. Moniz, this was an important event for The Woodlands because it allowed stude

By Halyn Le | May 11th, 2023 With the start of the second semester, The Woodlands Secondary School’s DECA team participated in the 44th DECA Provincials. The competition took place in Toronto’s Sheraton Centre from February 12-15th. Competing against over 200 schools for three days, the team earned a total of 71 awards. The Woodlands Secondary School earned 37 Roleplay awards, 20 Multiple Choice (MC) awards, 12 Top 10 awards, two top three finalists and 18 Virtual Business Ch

By Sanay Sood | May 5th, 2023 Grade 9 student Sophie Wu stated that Minions: Rise of Gru is one of her favourite movies. She explained that the movie is a prequel to the Despicable Me series, showcasing the life of Gru before the events of the trilogy. Sophia also praised the humour in the film, detailing that “these movies always make me laugh!!" Sophia further explained, "I think it's one of my favourite recent movies because I always loved the Despicable Me trilogy when I

Joshua Zhuang | April 20th, 2023 Every year, high school students from across Peel vote for two student trustees – one for all schools north of the 401, and one for all schools south – to represent them at the board level. This year’s slate of candidates for our region includes The Woodlands’ very own 10th grader, Jacob Greene. With election day less than three weeks away, I interviewed Jacob with the hopes of giving readers a better understanding of his goals as trustee. The

By Kian Davarmanesh Recently, I received the opportunity to interview the Grade Nine Representative, Isaac Chu, with questions about his campaign, promises, and challenges. Readers should note that this interview was done over private messages and not in person. As such, everything stated here was directly copied from Isaac’s responses, save for a few spelling errors and changes to increase formality. Any changes will be outlined in square brackets. The Woodstock: What are yo

By Alice Liu | March 23rd, 2023 When discussing the importance of seeking gender equity, Woodlands social science teacher Ms. Martin says: “I have two young girls and I want them to grow up in a world where [gender-based violence] doesn't exist.” If you’ve seen The Prefects and The Reconciliation Club handing out red and white ribbons in past years and wanted to learn more about this event’s symbolism, how pertinent it is to our school environment today, or how to promote gen

By Sanay Sood | March 9th 2023 SHSM, which stands for “Specialist High Skills Major,” is a program in Ontario that allows high school students to specialize in a particular area of study while they complete their high school diploma. The main goal is to enable students to focus their learning on a certain profession while earning credits toward their Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Grade 11 and 12 students earn certificates and gain experience as an employee at a job relati

By Joshua Zhuang | January 30th, 2023 Friday, December 9th, marked The Woodlands’ final performance of Beauty and the Beast, capping off nearly three months of round-the-clock rehearsals. But while Belle and the Beast graced the stage, we cannot forget the role of the orchestra, led by Mr. Mootrey, in bringing the magic of Broadway to our very own school. I interviewed tenth-grader Christal Xing, who played the keyboard, to better understand what the orchestra experience was

By Mayukha Pelluri | January 26th, 2023 The Woodlands drama club had been planning and rehearsing intensely for their upcoming play, a production of Beauty and the Beast. Many students were looking forward to seeing the final product. But what was the process like for the cast? For many students involved, it was their first time being cast in a live show. Many students played a part in the show, and even more auditioned. Auditions lasted for three days, and the cast was chose

By Josh Zhuang and Adi Balaram | January 18th, 2023 Monday, October 31st, marked yet another Halloween at the Woodlands, and as always, the various clubs of the school hosted their own themed events. The Drama Club’s haunted house, hosted in the dance studio, was the school’s obvious first choice. Long lines were seen stretching down the hall on all three of their open days, and for just $2 a person, visitors were able to immerse themselves in a delightfully scary and atmosph

By Katarina D'Souza | January 16th, 2023 You may have heard rumours going around about Francois Salvatore’s Circus of Curiosities and Travelling Carnival. This fantastical tale was brought to life by the drama club in this year’s haunted house. Visitors followed a guide, claiming to be a fellow student, through darkened hallways and into the depths of the school’s basement. Along the way, the guide recounted the tragic tale of Salvatore’s Circus. The cast of the Haunted House

By: Aamna F, Marya D, and Jojo S Are you interested in learning more about the Muslim community? Would you like to create a positive and welcoming environment for yourself and others? If you said “yes'' to the above questions, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) is the club for you! Right to Left: Mobeen Tariq, Ayyan Umer, Adyan Hossain, Yusuf Tazkarji, Sara Jawarneh, Zuha Islam, Tamanaa Hotaki, Sanya Zaman, Talisa Huynh. The Woodlands’ MSA is a club that focuses on creatin

Analysis of the motions that were debated at British Parliamentary Provincials By: Kevin Chen On October 29th and October 30th, 2022, the British Parliamentary Provincial Debate Tournament took place online. The Woodstock interviewed Woodlands debaters about their thoughts on the motions. In Round One, the motion was: This House regrets the rise of the social media influencer. Sophie Zhang and Suri Sun were Closing Government. They ran “the idea that social media companies ar

An interview with the attendees of the British Parliamentary Provincials Tournament By: Kevin Chen On October 29th and October 30th, 2022, the British Parliamentary Provincial Debate Tournament took place online. 52 teams from schools in Ontario went to the tournament, competing in five rounds of debate. British Parliamentary is a debate format in which there are four teams, with two debaters on each team. Each debate features a topic, also known as a motion. Two teams on th

By Krit Subash | December 1st, 2022 The Woodlands Art Club’s current project is a collaboration with the Woodlands Drama Club. They’ve been given a big challenge, as they have been asked to prepare the sets for The Drama Club’s production of Beauty and The Beast. Art Club sets a high standard, making this production look absolutely stunning, above and beyond all expectations. While set creation is more than just fancy backdrops, those that Art Club is making are incredibly i

By Lucas Szeto | November 29th, 2022 The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30th, is a day for Canadians to come together to honour residential school survivors, their families, and Indigenous communities. This day is a public commemoration of the history of Residential Schools and their impact on Indigenous peoples. This historic event originated from an investigation conducted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) between 2008 and 2015. Their fi

By Halyn Le and Anwesha Kaushal | November 19th, 2022 With the beginning of a new school year, the Student Activity Council (SAC) set up an election for students to choose a grade representative from a small group of candidates. The responsibilities of the grade representatives are to communicate with other students in their grade, gain feedback, and create events for the student body. For the 2022-2023 school year, the representative chosen for Grade 11 is Edward Liu. We had

By Charlotte Wilson & Aarian Bhakoo | June 2nd, 2022 For the second entry in our Grade Rep Interview series, we turned to Grade 11 and spoke with Grant Ren, The Woodlands School’s elected Grade 11 Student Representative. The Grade 11 Student Representative is an elected role within The Woodlands School’s Student Activity Council (SAC). Each year, students of all grades vote in an election with a shortlisted pool of student candidates to determine who will be their Grade Repre