Excitement has been building throughout the week for the Peacock Collegiate Boys Track team as they are headed East to Toronto this weekend.  Their one of two Saskatchewan schools invited to compete in the Nike High School Grand Prix.

“As the week's been going on, there's lots of just fine details to put together, but definitely the coaches and athletes are very excited to make the trip and see what the event is all about,” said Peacock Track head coach Reene Verge.

The Nike Grand Prix is heading into its second year this year after a very successful inaugural year.   The event is Canada's first invitational high school track meet with each school having to submit an application to be selected to take part.  Peacock was one of two Saskatchewan schools, Prince Albert St Mary being the other, that were selected to take part.

There will be over 300 athletes from 23 schools across the country taking part.

“We really have no expectations going in, it's such a new event and no school from Saskatchewan has ever been before,” said Verge.  “All our athletes are multi-sport athletes, we're going to go there, compete as hard as we can and whatever we get, we get.  Our goal is just to go, compete and enjoy the whole experience.”

It will be quite the experience for the 12 local athletes as they will be going toe-to-toe with no doubt some of the top track athletes in the country.  They will also be provided with compete track uniforms from jerseys, shorts and cleats as well as track suits for the event by Nike.

“It's a cultural and educational trip as well, but of course the highlight of the whole event is the track meet and that's slated for all day Saturday and the forecast is for a good day, so we're looking for a great day,” said Verge.

The Peacock athletes were lucky that the weather cleared up here at home before the event as well and they were able to get into action at the Moose Jaw Invitational and Wednesday's mini-meet at Gutheridge Field.

“We were worried that we could be heading in with no track meets under our belt, so it was huge,” added Verge.  “Having the Invitational and then the mini-meet is very significant because we're going to the competition knowing that we've done the events once, if not twice for some of the kids, so that's great.”

Everything is being held at the 4,000-seat Varsity Centre, which is located on the University of Toronto campus in the heart of Toronto.  The track centre features an eight-lane 400 metre track and a state-of-the-art turf field.

Story courtesy www.discovermoosejaw.com

Congratulations to all the competitors in the regional one act festival last weekend. Peacock had two plays in competition with both plays coming away with many awards.  Below is a list of the winners:

Runner Up Best Visual Production - Check Please
Best Visual - Check Please
Runner Up Best Technical Crew - Us and Them
Technical Award - Olivia Erback
Acting Merit Awards - Austin Lagasse, Lyndsay Sheepwash, Jessica Huang, Miranda Sheepwash, Devin Arams, Sasha Valgardson
Technical Merit - Shaelyn Day, Kyanna Park, Hudson Taylor
CHEER Awards - Rebecca Davies, Samara Stearns

Congratulations to all involved!

Watch the Daily PlaneT: Where THEY take a look inside the eye of a tornado:

AEP is at the forefront

Daily Planet Video

The Annual General Meeting for the Peacock School Community Council takes place on Monday, April 22nd at 7:00pm in the library. The meeting is open to all parents and the council is always open for new parents to join. If you are interested in becoming a member at large or an executive member please contact the school.

"You guys are going to really enjoy Seyi's talk to you this morning," said Cal Carter, a settlement worker with the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council who organized Smith's visit. "For those of you who are athletes in this room who understand high-level competition, it may even bring you to tears."

As a member of the 2012 Canadian 4x100-metre men's relay team, Smith came within a step — literally — of the Bronze Medal, before his team was disqualified after one of his teammates stepped on the lane line.

"Saying despair or sadness doesn't really explain the amount of pain we went through in those minutes," he told the Times-Herald. "When you've achieved your dream for ten minutes and are making plans and on top of the world and then have that taken away ... it's emptiness, despair, a feeling of disappointment."

Smith told students about his experiences, first as an immigrant from Senegal and then as a track and field athlete.

He emphasized the importance of getting involved in the school community — Smith, himself, moved several times in his life and became "a professional at assimilating and integrating into a new culture" — and working hard to achieve one's ambitions.

"Whatever you want to be, don't lie to yourself. Don't rationalize. Don't say, 'I'll do it tomorrow.' You have to be honest. There has to be a progression," Smith told the audience.

As an example, Smith told the audience about fellow track athlete Sally Pearson, who won a Gold Medal for her native Australia in 2012.

Courtesy Moose Jaw Times Herald, April 9 , 2013

Practical and Applied Arts students at Peacock Collegiate are playing a role in how we track tornados.  The group of 20 students are working with Saskatchewan "Tornado Hunter" Greg Johnson to create camera probles that will be used to study the science behind tornados.

Last year Johnson had hoped to get a camera inside a tornado and, despite two attempts, the probe was never picked up.  The whole purpose behind the project with Peacock is to brainstorm, design and build both probes and the deployment mechanism for the upcoming storm season.

"I had a vision of what these camera probes would look like and how they were going to work," Johnson said.  "By getting students together that are interested and passionate about it like I am, they were able to come up with plans... way better than anything I could have done on my own."

The idea is to see the camera probes deployed into the ground, through the floor of a truck, in the hopes that as a tornado passes by, the cameras will be able to send back information.

"We'll be live-streaming this project as we go through tornado alley in the spring and summer months and then up into Canada later in June and July," Johnson explained.  "People can follow along (www.tornadohunter.com) and see if we're actually successful getting these inside a tornado."

The project, which got underway with a brainstorming and planning session with students and staff last month, picked up where they left off on Friday.  Discovery Canada was on hand filming as students worked alongside Johnson, designing the special camera rigs that will eventually be used out in the field.  Johnson is pretty pleased with the partnership and the outcome so far.

A camera crew was also part of the experience as students were filmed for a special episode of "Forces of Nature" on Daily Planet.  Johnson says that the episode will air as early as next week.  You can follow the Tornado Hunter on Twitter @canadogreg or online at TornadoHunter.com.

Courtesy Discover Moose Jaw, April 12, 2013