JULY AT KING GEORGE

by Henry MacDougall and Archie Moses
(click images to enlarge)

Archie, preparing to take over The Dragon’s Pen as Henry graduates, starts this month’s column …

The school year is finally over! At King George, the end of another school year means KG Rocks, the student council’s annual carnival, as well as graduation ceremonies for the Grade 12 class.

KG ROCKS VII

This year’s school-led concert “KG Rocks” was amazing. Held in the KG gymnasium on June 10 and 11, this was the show’s seventh year. Student musicians in KG’s music programs from many grades, taught by Ms.Pearce, performed a wide range of songs in many genres.

**KG students performing at KG Rocks!**
*(Archie Moses PHOTOS)*

All the money raised from KG rocks goes right back into the music program. Tickets cost five dollars for students, and fifteen dollars for adults. This money is used for a variety of things like guitar picks, tuners, and drumsticks. However, despite the terrific show, some of the musicians said that this year, they are in dire need of new strings.

One highlight of the concerts was when fifty or more audience members, including students, parents, and teachers joined together in a mosh pit like group and danced the evening long.

In related news, this year, two excellent student photographers are graduating from KG: brothers Albert and Eric Stoynov. These two have been taking photos for KG Rocks since Grade 9. They always managed to capture fun and exciting moments and generously shared their talents with the school. KG wishes them the best in their future endeavours.

THE FISH IS GONE?

The pet in the French classroom, Matthieu, seems to have disappeared and has been replaced with some sort of a — decoy? Some students are calling it a great escape and say that Matthieu has been plotting his jailbreak since his one-year anniversary party (which took place on April Fools Day, also known as Poisson D'avril).

If you see a black, blue, and mischievous Betta fish with abnormal intelligence swimming in the waters around Vancouver this summer, make sure to say, "Bonjour!”

INTERACT BEACH CLEANUP

**Interact members with all of their cleaned up trash!**
*(Ron Suzuki Photo)*

During the last week of school, KG’s Interact club worked together to clean up our West End beaches.

The eight students who participated in the three-hour tidy up said they felt happy and proud of their hard work and were thanked by many people in the community as they gathered garbage. This was an excellent time to do a beach cleanup, as the waste from FIFA fans was definitely noticeable.

Big thank you to the ever-cheerful Rotarian, Ron Suzuki, who brought the equipment, and great attitude to the team during the hot summer sun.

KG YEARBOOK 2025-26

This year, the yearbook club, sponsored by Ms. Cain, produced a wonderful yearbook. Students paid $40 for the 80-page, full-colour hardcover volume.

The Theme was “Flashback to the 2000s” where the Yearbook Club showed us some important events that happened during graduating students’ birth years. These events ranged from the global stock market crash to the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. These events seemed to be specially chosen to reflect the values of the current graduating students.

The yearbook also includes a salute to Ms. Carole Birks, and Ms. Sylvia Pagdin who are retiring this year after many decades at KG.

As the yearbook noted, these staff members were dedicated, passionate, and wise. Ms. Birks was a teacher who inspired many ELL students, was remarkably funny, and who had genuinely cared for her students. Ms. Pagdin was a deeply comforting staff member who was warm and had a laugh that gave joy to those around her. KG wishes them both the best in their retirement.

FINAL WORDS

Having been with us since July, 2022, this Henry’s final contribution to The Dragon’s Pen as he passes the pen to Archie and moves on to his next adventure. Thank you for some great stories Henry!

SCHOOL CARNIVAL

This year’s school year-end carnival was similar to those hosted in previous years, only with the addition of more snack options and games. The funding for these new attractions was likely allocated from the spring dance, which did not happen this year.

Students had a great time at this year’s carnival.

**A KG student aiming at an inflatable Angry Birds target**.

“They have something that a man can only dream of!” said Logan Timmermann, a Grade 12 student. “Angry Birds in real life.”

“It does give me hope for the future of the school” continued Logan. “The future kids who are coming here will probably have a more... pristine experience than I did.”

“Is it the Angry Birds game itself, or is the inflatable really a symbol for something greater?” I asked Logan.

“It’s what it represents, which is an acknowledgement of what the people need.”

**Blue sky, green grass, (hot)dogs, and some tug of war.**

Other students had similar opinions, if a bit less enthusiastic.

“I would say it’s about the same as last year... It’s always the same. It’s really never something different”, said 12th grader Nevaeh Lopez. “I mean this year we got a cotton candy machine, which was cool.”

“It’s pretty good. I can’t play basketball, but the [hot]dogs were alright, not much condiments”, remarked Nick Kaufman.

“Are you making memories today?”

“I am making a couple.”

GRADUATION

This year’s graduating class celebrated their milestone with a fun prom night at the Pinnacle Hotel ballroom on Friday, June 5. This included a buffet-style dinner, followed by a night of dancing.

The grad ceremony happened later in the month, on Tuesday, June 16. Grads walked across the stage and received diplomas, scholarships, and applause from family and friends in the community. Congrats grads of 2026!

AND THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

So this is my last column for “The Dragon’s Pen”, since I’ll be going to University in the fall after graduating last month. I am very grateful for this opportunity to learn about journalism and serve the KG community. Thanks again, and have a great summer, KG! -Henry