Pereyma Press Featured Articles:
Climate Change
July 6, 2021 By: Cheryl Bennett
The Issues Climate Change Creates
Climate change has been an ongoing issue throughout the past couple of decades, in 1988 climate change was marked a national issue. Climate change causes more frequent and severe droughts, heat waves, rising sea levels, storms and can harm many animals by changing the temperature of their habitats, (warming oceans, melting glaciers). Some of the species effected are African elephants, dolphins, giant pandas, polar bears, monarch butterflies, sea turtles and many more. Polar bears specifically are very vulnerable to climate change since they depend on ice for travelling, hunting and resting. Polar bears do almost everything on sea ice, so the loss of the ice heavily impacts them. There are many factors for climate change, but the main factor contributing is burning fossils fuels such as coal and oils. Climate change will keep progressing and becoming more and more severe if we do not take action.
How Quarantine Impacted Climate Change
The Covid-19 pandemic caused a lockdown starting in March 2020. Since this lockdown carbon emissions had dropped drastically. The reason for that was due to the lockdown, travelling was cancelled. The fossil fuels burning in planes, boats, trains and road vehicles cause much of the carbon emissions, so when transportation was limited due to the lockdown, those carbon emissions dropped. Over 90% of the fuel used for transportation purposes is petroleum, which is gasoline and diesel. Although diesel is a more efficient fuel it still emits CO2 and greenhouse gases, it was not efficient enough to completely solve the issue because there is so many other contributing factors to climate change. Human activities like raising cows and drilling for oil and gas still emits methane, and there are many other human activities occurring for a lockdown to solve the problem.
What Can You Do to Limit Your Contribution to Climate Change?
The following is a list of simple things you can do to help your environment:
- Drinking out of reusable cups or mugs. Stop drinking out of plastic water bottles.
- Limit your gasoline usage. Take a nice walk or bike ride to location instead of driving.
- Start a garden or simply just plant something.
- Use a compost bin.
- Always look for alternatives to plastic.
- Turn off lights or any other electronics when not being used.
- Learn. Understanding what is going on in our environment will help you contribute positively.
We still have time to prevent and avoid some extreme effects of climate change, I hope whoever is reading this adjusts to use more environment friendly methods and objects.
5 Tips That Can Help Improve Your Mental Health During the Pandemic
June 24, 2021 By: Faith Farayibi
During times like these, it is important to not only be physically healthy and safe but mentally and emotionally as well. Here as some tips to help you take care of your mental health and trying these can help keep you from getting frustrated.
1. Get help when you need it
The most important thing to remember is that seeking help isn’t a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. As we are on lockdown in Ontario right now, most people are alone or away from family and close friends and they may not have the strength to go through difficult times on their own so you can talk to a close friend or an anonymous crisis line if that is available where you live.
2. Have a personal self-care day!
A lot of people have so many things going on that they don’t remember to take care of themselves or treat themselves. Here are some examples of things to do during a self-care day:
- Take a relaxing bath- bonus if you have candles and relaxing music :)
- Have a spa day.
- Dance around to your favorite songs.
- Watch the sunset (My personal favorite)
- Bake a favorite dessert and eat it.
3. Edit who you follow on social media.
During this time, we are so bored that we repeatedly scroll on social media, and we could end up comparing ourselves to others who are living the “ideal” life you want to live. It is best that you unfollow them if they don’t bring you joy or you don’t feel content as you are viewing their posts.
4. Take care of your body
Taking care of yourself physically can also improve your mental health. Make sure to:
- Eat some nutritious meals.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Exercise (doesn’t have to be anything strenuous, maybe just a walk around your neighborhood)
- Get enough sleep. This is very important, especially now that we have returned to online school.
5. Learn a new skill
Research shows that learning new skills can also improve your mental wellbeing by boosting self-confidence, raising self-esteem and helping you to build a sense of purpose. Some of the things you could try are:
- Try learning to cook something new. There are thousands of easy recipes online.
- Work on a DIY project or whatever interests you, there are free tutorials on YouTube.
- Try new hobbies that challenge you such as painting, drawing, starting a small business writing a blog etc.
If you need ever feel that you need to talk to someone but don’t feel comfortable enough to give your information, here are some anonymous crisis lines:
Kids Help Phone- Call: 1-800-668-6868 to speak with a professional counsellor or text CONNECT to 686868 to connect with a trained, volunteer Crisis Responder.
Mental Health Helpline- Call: 1-866-531-2600 to find information about counselling services and supports in your community.
Good2Talk Call: 1-866-925-5454 to speak with a professional counsellor or text: GOOD2TALKON to 686868 with a trained, volunteer Crisis Responder.
Coming to the End of the Path
June 14, 2021 By: Paige Ker
With the end of the school year coming soon there are many things we start to think about instead of our studies. Now being in a pandemic, the positive ideas are hard to come by but the staff at Monsignor John Pereyma want to show their appreciation for the efforts given by the students throughout an incredibly challenging year. No one has been faced with obstacles like this before, so a few events have been organized for the graduates of 2021.
For the grade eights saying goodbye to the elementary hallways and being welcomed into high school a Virtual Graduation via YouTube will be premiered on June 24th at 7pm. There will be no change to these plans unless further information/ planning is given from the Durham Catholic District School Board. On June 25th, the office is asking for all tech to be dropped off and any needed to be dropped off will be done so at that time.
As the grade 12s say goodbye to their chapter at Monsignor John Pereyma C.S.S a graduation will be held via YouTube at 7pm on June 28th (there will be a link shared to those at a later date). On the next day, June 29th, there will be a scheduled day for grade 12s to receive awards earned as well as their diploma and drop off any required items. Due to the pandemic the expectations of graduation are not as many hoped/ viewed, in best attempts to still offer graduations memories the office/ staff are inviting all grade 12 students to wear their graduation outfits to collect their diplomas and use this time to say goodbye to Monsignor John Pereyma and staff. There will be a photographer for any students wanting pictures in their cap and gown, a cap will be given to every student but there is a $15 charge for the gown (gown will be taken home with student), the pictures will be taken in the courtyard and pictures are to be purchased from photographer.
The office is asking all graduates to please bring their (nice conditioned) uniforms to donate to current students who are in need (laundry will be done after, please just bring in a bag). All grade 12s who bring a uniform will be entered into a draw for 3, $50 gift cards. For all other students, time slots on June 28th have been given per class for tech to be returned as well final report cards to be handed out. A schedule will be sent out in the coming days regarding the exact time classes will be expected to show up.
The office staff, teachers, educational assistants, and custodians at Pereyma send their wishes of having a safe and fun summer for all and cannot wait to see everyone in the fall.
Pereyma Press Introduction
The Pereyma Press is a student run newspaper/website that will run stories about our community written by Pereyma students. We started as an edsby group but with some work have developed a section of the MJP website as the Pereyma Press main site. We hope to produce content that will give you a small piece of what is happening in our community. Thanks for reading.
Pereyma Press Archive: (Click title for full article.)
Mental Health in Today's Climate and Society
Feb. 7, 2021 By: Paige Ker
Today mental illnesses are quite common. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) every 1 in 5 people living in Canada experience a personal mental health problem or illness. When having to live with a disorder many can experience anxiety, extreme mood changes, social withdrawal, changes in sleep, and/or eating patterns. As well, feeling worry and paranoia. Some may feel all, these and some may only feel a few. By having these feelings, it can be hard to live a typical life.
Adjusting to Life During COVID-19: Virtual Schooling
December 22, 2020 By: Cheryl Bennett
2020 was a difficult year for everybody, the year came with many new challenges, especially related to learning. Due to the COVID lock downs, we were switched to full online school at the beginning of 2020. There are many struggles that come with virtual school but for everybody's safety we needed to learn to adapt to the learning style.
Student Leadership Council Plans to Continue Christmas Traditions Despite Pandemic
Dec 10, 2020 By: Faith Farayibi
Members of the student leadership council along with teacher coordinators plan to make it a memorable Christmas at Pereyma despite the coronavirus which is stopping people from gathering in large groups. At Pereyma, it has been a yearly tradition that the week before Christmas break, to have events and activities that share the joy of the season such as the talent show, and Christmas cheer week.
