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| Northern Secondary School | |
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| Address | |
| 851 Mount Pleasant Road Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2L5, Canada |
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| Information | |
| School board | Toronto District School Board |
| Superintendent | Rauda Dickinson |
| Area trustee | Josh Matlow |
| Principal | Varla Abrams |
| Vice Principals | Sima Naymark Ken Do Lillian Perivolaris |
| School type | Public high school |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Mascot | Red Knight |
| Team name | Red Knights |
| Colours | Red, Blue, and Gold |
| Founded | September 1930 |
| Enrollment | 1,857 (Spring 20051) |
| Homepage | http://www.northern-secondary.com/ |
Northern Secondary School is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12.
Northern's football team, the Red Knights, has won numerous titles in Toronto's high school league (including two Metro Bowls, and the first Toronto Bowl). As well, a number of top players have gone on to join the Canadian Football League.2
Northern was the first Ontario school to have a student council.3
Northern's gifted program and Deaf and Hard of Hearing departments and its comprehensive range of elective courses, including a diverse art department, bring students in from across the city, although in recent years it has become harder to get in via optional attendance lotteries.
Northern has long-standing rivalries with neighbouring high-school North Toronto Collegiate Institute and also with Central Technical School, and Leaside High School.
The films Billy Madison and Resident Evil: Apocalypse were filmed inside the school.
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New field controversy
In the 2005 school year, the student body and the North Toronto Soccer Club (NTSC) began a fund raising effort to put in a new Astroturf field, and track.4 The plan included an inflatable dome to cover approximately a third of the new field during winter months. This drew a lot of criticism from the surrounding neighbourhood, fearing that they would lose their on-street parking due to increased use of the field. This resulted in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) withdrawing their financial support from the plan, and with the NTSC refusing to fund a plan that didn't include a dome, the student body was left without a field, and with almost $100,000 raised for it. At the beginning of the 2007 school year, a succession of notices pieced together the story. The TDSB is willing to commit half of the necessary funds, approx. $800 000, 5 needed for a field but no dome, leaving the rest to be raised by students, parents and local residents. By the end of the 2008 school year the NSS students, parents and local residents were only able to raise less than half of the needed funds, pushing back the projected breaking ground date to June 2009. There is currently a stakeholder workgroup made up of students, parents, residents school foundation and administration working on fundraising for a new field.
Student awards
- NASA Space Settlement competition (1997) 1st Place: Jeremy Burman, James Crawford, Justine Dembo, Margarita Marinova, Rachel Nordstrom and Silas Wang 6
- NASA Space Settlement competition (1998) 1st Place: Jeremy Burman, James Crawford, Justine Dembo, Margarita Marinova and Rachel Nordstrom.7
- DECA(2008) Gold medalist Daniel Mandelman
Notable alumni
This is a selective listing of notable alumni. There was also a larger list at NSS.
TV and movies
- Marco Brambilla8 - Director of Demolition Man
- Susan Clark8 - Played Katherine on Webster TV series.
- Jayne Eastwood8 (also credited as Jayne Easton or Jane Eastwood) - Actress in several TV shows such as King of Kensington and many films, such as Dawn of the Dead (2004).
- Heather Graham8 - Played Mary in Swiss Family Robinson TV series based on the book of the same name (no relation to the American Heather Graham).
- Sally Gifford9 - Host on CBC's national children's show, The-X
- Kelly Rowan8 - Plays Kirsten Cohen, a leading character, on the popular TV show, The O.C.
- Ali Velshi8 - Journalist with CNN.
- Richard Williams8 - Won two Oscars as director of animation for Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- Ted Nasmith8 - Canadian Illustrator, well known particulary for his renditions of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Silmarillion.
Professional sports
- Tom Europe8 - Played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League (CFL)
- Bob Goldham8 - Won two Stanley Cup championships with the Toronto Maple Leafs and three with the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League (NHL). He also acted as an analyst on Hockey Night in Canada with the CBC.
- Leif Pettersen8 - Played for Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL
- Neil Lumsden8 - As a player he helped win three CFL Grey Cup titles with the Edmonton Eskimos, and as the General Manager he helped the Tiger-Cats win the Grey Cup in 1999.
Arts and literature
- Herbert H. Carnegie8 - Became a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003. He was a top hockey player in the country, but at the time (1940s and 1950s) blacks, including him, were unofficially rarely able to enter the top professional level. He became an author and also created the Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces which awards scholarships.10
- Jean Johnson8 - Member of the Order of Canada (1993) - Artist. 11
Music
- Bruce Palmer Bass Guitarist for 60's American rock group Buffalo Springfield, Member of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Video Tribute to Bruce Palmer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz3c_DcZv7g
School song
The first verse of the school song is as follows:
- Hail Dear Old Northern
- School of Fame and Learning
- Thy praise we’re singing
- Hear our voices ringing
- Through the years to follow
- Always we’ll be true to
- Thy colours flying
- Red, Gold and Blue
- Rah Rah Rah Rah Rah Rah Rah
References
- ^ "Northern's TDSB Profile"
- ^ Northern Secondary School Back on Track (March 10, 2004) - Article in CANadian Online Explorer (CANOE) about the Red Knights football team.
- ^ "Northern Secondary School History", Northern Secondary School; URL last accessed July 11, 2006.
- ^ http://www.michaelwalker.ca/files/FrontPage/FieldOfDreams-CoverLetter.pdf
- ^ Town Crier Online - Your source for local Toronto news and community information
- ^ Space Settlement competition (1997); URL last accessed April 12, 2006
- ^ Space Settlement competition (1998); URL last accessed April 12, 2006
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Northern Alumni Members in the Community" (2006-04-24). Retrieved on 2006-04-24.
- ^ "Profile of Sally Gifford by the CBC"; URL last accessed December 12, 2004.
- ^ "Herbert H. Carnegie, C.M., O.Ont.: Member of the Order of Canada – 2003", Northern Secondary School; URL last accessed May 24, 2006.
- ^ "Jean Johnson: Order of Canada Member 1993. Former Student Northern Secondary School 1942", Northern Secondary School; URL last accessed Dec 9, 2004.
External links
- Northern Secondary School Website
- School Anniversary and Alumni Site - Operated by alumni and designed to keep former students in touch with one another.
- School's History and Geography Department's Website
- Northern Athletics Department Website
- Northern's Boys Ice Hockey Team Website
- Northern Photography Website
- Toronto District School Board - Profile of school with related links.
- fixthefield.com
- NTSC Field Of Dreams
- Archived StopDome.com site
