A day for real-life princes and princesses

The second graders of the F. E. Sillanpää senior high school danced their prom last Friday, at Valentine’s Day. The prom for second graders is an old habit in Finland, and it usually takes place in February when the third graders have ended their school journey. That’s why the prom is called “Wanhojen tanssit”, in English “Prom for the old ones”.  “Wanhojen tanssit” is generally known for girls’ glamorous outfits, boys’ handsome looks and well-practiced dances.

The second graders’ day started at ten o’clock am, but of course most of the girls had woken up very early in the morning. Hairdos, make-ups and dresses had to be perfect. At the beginning of the day the second graders arrived at the school gym, which was beautifully decorated by the first graders. They toasted for the long-expected party, and then it was time to dance. The last graders of the junior high school and the first graders of the senior high school were there to watch the dances. The Old ones danced four dances, from which “Cicapo” with the junior high school students. There was also a surprise number, a dance that the Old ones had made themselves. Everything went very well, and after the dances in the high school the Old ones traveled to Kyröskoski primary school to perform some dances in there, too. They also danced there with the last grade pupils of the primary school. After that the job was done, and the Old ones had a little break before the Evening party at the high school. Some of the Old ones still had to head for other primary schools or nursing homes to share the joy of dancing to the students and the old persons.

The Evening party began at 6 o’clock pm at the high school. The Old ones took relatives and families with them to watch the dances, and there were a lot of viewers. First the Old ones and the relatives enjoyed good refreshments and relaxing music, which was played by the first grade music group students Kalle Koivisto and Olli Luomajärvi. At 6.30 it was time to move on to the gym to watch dance performances. First the speakers Helena Saarinen and Teemu Märri introduced the dance pairs for the audience, and then it was time to dance. The Old ones performed 11 dances and their own dance number. In the evening the family members and relatives also had a chance to dance the “Cicapo” with the Old ones. After these practiced dances it was time for photographing and free dancing while the first grade music group members played beautiful music.

When all dancing had ended, the Old ones headed for a restaurant to celebrate the memorable night. After good eating they left to continue the successful evening together. All in all,  “Wanhojen tanssit” was a day to remember.

Written by Sanni 1B 

Photos by Mari 3B and Annamari 2B

The school leaving party

Today, on 13^th of February, it was time to say goodbye to our senior high school´s third graders. It is every year`s tradition that the third graders organize this show and leave the school behind massively. 

This year the third graders had again organized a big party for their last school day before the final exams and graduation. This year`s theme was The Lord of the Rings, so I wasn´t really surprised when I came to school and saw everywhere elves, hobbits and orcs. I thought that the topic was an awesome idea and really looked forward to seeing the show.

The thing I was not so excited about was the mess that waited in school.  The third graders had made an awful mess in our school hall way. It is a tradition, so it was not really any surprise. So, why was not I so happy about this? Well that´s because we, the first graders had to clean the mess up after the show. However, I realized it was not so big a thing after all. I mean, we, first graders with a little bit help from the second grader´s, cleaned it pretty fast and it was not so awful a thing after all. Well that’s about it, I should probably tell something about the show and the rest of the day. You are probably more interested in that. Well I will start with the show.

All the students of our school, including the middle school pupils, were sitting in our school hall and waiting for the third graders. The hall was of course decorated according to the topic, for example there were Mordor and Shire. Then the lights went down and Gandalf (a third grader who was dressed like Gandalf) stepped inside and walked in front of us and welcomed us to the show. Then the rest of the third graders came inside and then they started to dance. 

 

After that started the teachers’ humiliation, the whole day was full of the teachers’ humiliation, but anyway let`s carry on. So the third graders had made some funny tasks for the senior high school teachers. For example the biology teacher had to mime animals and the English teacher was looking for hidden mobile phones while the Swedish teacher was jumping on them. Yes, sounds pretty crazy.

There were a lot of different kinds of tasks for other teachers too, for example cooking healthy snacks, rapping and recognizing students. All the other teachers except for our Swedish teacher Taina ended up in Mordor. Taina, on the other hand, was frolicking in Shire. This was the senior high school’s third graders’ decision. 

At the end of the show we saw some third graders´ baby pictures. That was a good ending for the amazing show.

Well, after the show, the first graders went to clean and the third graders went touring our school and throwing some sweets for the students. A tradition again, if you are wondering why.

Then all the senior high school students went to the auditorium to see a video made by the third graders. I think the video was hilarious and it must have taken a lot of time to make it. So it was really awesome that we had an opportunity to see that video. The video was full of teachers´ humiliation, with the third graders dressed like them, but it was also the third graders’ way to say thank you and a way to remember their past years in this school. The video really summed up all the years they spent in this school and it was funny to see how well the third graders performed high school teachers in that video.   

The day ended really wonderfully. The third graders were going to go a little ride with their truck around our little village. They were also going to primary schools throwing candy for the little ones. So the third graders left the building looking very happy and I just want to wish them good luck for the future and thank them for this day. 

Written by Miranda 1B

A Christmassy Day

It is finally Christmas holiday. High school students celebrated this holiday and Christmas itself on Friday 20^th of December. The student body had again arranged some things for students to do. We had an opportunity to dress in some costumes, of course in that kind of costumes which are related to Christmas. Then we had a bingo and the prizes were a Christmas ham, which was the first prize, two movie tickets and some chocolate Santa Clauses. All the high school students were playing bingo excitedly and hoping to win. But we can´t all win, but these students got some luck with them or was it even skill. Peetu Levänen won the ham, Annika Kaasalainen the movie tickets and Eetu Ihalainen won the big chocolate Santa Claus. Oh, and by the way the little chocolate Santa Claus was given to our teacher Asko Mielonen. So I assume that the winners were really happy of their prizes and we can move to the other prizes.

I mean the best costume prizes. There weren’t so much people who wore a costume so the competition was not tough, but still someone did and the prizes were given to two persons. The prizes were movie tickets again and the winners of this competition were Johanna Mäntylä and Eemil Linna, who were both wearing Santa Claus costumes. After the competition it was time for a movie.

We were in our school’s auditorium, so I don´t mean watching a movie from a small television. No, we have this big screen in our auditorium so it was like watching a movie in a real movie theater.
The movie was also a little bit Christmassy because it was Tim Burton´s movie Nightmare before Christmas. It was an animation, but I don´t think it mattered, because it was still a good movie and Tim Burton´s animated movies aren´t always that kind of kids´ movies, so it is a good movie for adults, too. I don´t think that all the students liked the movie, because you either like Tim Burton´s movies or you don´t, that’s my opinion. I certainly think that the movie split opinions, but the movie was still a great end for this day. The Christmassy day was a great idea and finished this year’s schoolwork perfectly and gave a nice start for this holiday. Now the high school students can finally forget work and school stuff and just relax and recharge their batteries. So, Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year for all !

Written by Miranda 1B    

Graduation Day in December

                                                         First year students performing.

 

Second year students serving.

 

The graduates of the day.

Trick or Treat

Trick or treat! 

It is the time of the year when it doesn`t matter if you look like a zombie in the morning or your make up is a little bit messed up. It is also the time of the year when pumpkin lanters are shining in the dark and when you can say Trick or Treat. 

Yes, it´s Halloween. Halloween has also come to our school here in Hämeenkyrö. Senior high school students celebrated Halloween wearing Halloween costumes and playing basketball and kinball on Friday 1^st of November, 2013.

 

 

We had Halloween and a sports day at the same time. The games, as I said before, were basketball and kinball. Our senior high school students had dressed in really amazing and scary costumes. It was so nice to see that so many wore some costume. Even some teachers were wearing costumes, which was really amazing, too. So thumbs up to all who had some costume. Those who weren´t wearing any can always invest in the next time we have this kind of day. 

We played the games in our gym hall, where we also had some Halloween music. Every grade had  a colour code:  the first graders were wearing green, the second graders red and the third graders blue. And I have to say the second graders looked really bloody. 

There was also some juice for us. The juices were the same colour as our colour codes. So the first graders had green juice, the second graders red juice and the third graders blue juice. That was a very funny detail.

 

Kinball was a funny game although it was a new game to me. It´s really hard to explain but I can try. There was this huge ball (it was really light) that we had to hit in the air and then somebody screamed some grade’s name or colour and the grade whose name was called had to catch the ball. The ball could not touch the floor, the ceiling or the walls. It sounds a little bit silly, like I said it´s really hard to explain. The second graders won that game. 

Then we moved to the next game, which was basketball. Well, I suppose everyone knows this game.  The second graders were really good at this game, too, but I think that the third graders and first graders tried their best and gave the hardest resistance they could.

The last game was the teachers’ and the third graders’ game. So the teachers were playing against the third graders. I had no idea what game they were going to play. There were six carpets on the floor. Three carpets opposite to the other three carpets. One person on each carpet. Behind the carpets were standing two persons. Then there was one blue ball. Now comes the funny part. Those persons who were sitting on the ground had to wear eye patches, so they didn´t see anything, they were like blind. The two persons behind them tried to give advice to the ”blind persons”. Now the blind persons rolled the ball to the opposite side and then the persons who saw the ball gave advice to the ”blind persons” who tried to protect their own side. If the ball passed your own side the other team got a point. It looked really funny and I think that those who were playing the game had fun, too. 

So this was F.E.Sillanpää Senior High School`s Halloween. I hope you all have a happy Halloween and that we are all coming to school next Monday not looking so zombie as we looked on this Friday. 

Written by Miranda 1B

The first exam week finally over

The first exam week ended on last Wednesday, 2nd October. The senior high school students had their last exam on that day. This exam week was the first for senior high school´s first graders. Did everything go well? In my class people were happy if they passed the exams and I think all passed them. Of course it was a happy surprise if you got a better grade than you could even imagine. If your test did not go so well, you can always raise your exam grade. So don´t worry!

The teachers returned the exams quite fast, which was a good thing. I think students wouldn´t be able to wait any longer. Everyone wanted to know how the exam went. Nervous students waited behind teachers' doors and came out holding their own exams in their hands. They looked happy or sad. 

 I think this exam week in high schools is a really good thing for students and also for teachers. All the exams come in the same week and you don´t have to do your homework in that week. So all you have to do is to focus on the exams and read. You have a lesson before the exam where you will revise all the learned things and maybe some teachers give some advice for the exam. Those lessons are very important and they prepare you for the exam. 

I think the important thing you must remember is that it isn't enough if you just read in last night before the exam. You have to prepare for the exam during the entire course. Do homework after lessons and listen in the lessons. If you do all that you don´t have to read so much. Plan your studying. It helps too. Then you have time to read for every exam.

Or what do I know? This was my first exam week and I have been in high school less than half a year. So I am not the best person to give advice. All students do things in their own way. So do it in your own way and try your best. If this exam week didn´t go so well, you can show your skills in the next one. Good luck for studying !

Written by Miranda 1B