Magazine 2019

112 CLUBS A very special part of Col- lege life is the various clubs and societies flourishing on our campus. There is a designated session in the school day for groups to meet, plan and enjoy the activities associated with their field of interest. Animation Chaise Frederick This year Animation received an influx of eager and highly creative participants.As a result, the Animation classes have enjoyed a fun atmosphere and high levels of pro- ductivity. Lessons are based on strength- ening the learners’ animation skills through the creation of physical and digital portfolios. Should the learners continue with animation at a tertiary level they can use these portfolios to support their ap- plications. Some of the themes we have explored are: Space, Ocean life, gesture drawing, character creation and motion. Chemistry Club Franklin Human The Chemistry Club continues to be a home for young scientists to explore questions that may not come up in the course of a school curriculum Science lesson.We have access to high quality resources that allows us to investi- gate these questions.This year we are continuing with our goal to find al - ternative and mainly environmentally friendlier options to products sold in the mass market. These products range from detergents to toothpaste. We are also looking at developing bioplastics that can be used for water bottles.We have developed a test for BPAs to check the content of these carcinogens in single use plastic bottles. This can be further developed into a home test kit and remains a work in progress. Application Development Marcèl Erasmus Application Development has undergone a name change in the past year to MAD (Mo- bile Application Development) Studios. We currently have a number of projects in devel- opment - keep an eye on the App Store. We have released the following apps and up- dates in the past year: Iso2Ortho (update); A.VOID (a 2D arcade-style game by Keagan Strydom); SaferWeb; Safer Britannica. The club focuses on the iOS environment. The building of apps entails working in teams, building working programs and developing communication and problem-solving skills. Learners study Swift programming, while building small and simple programs to get used to algorithmic thinking and coding con- ventions.The club strives to act as a conduit for the development of apps that are relevant and make a difference in society, so that “real- world” experience is accumulated. Culinary Club Lucette Torbet Culinary Club is a very popular club and we meet once a week on a Thursday, when the learners have the opportunity to cook some- thing delicious to eat. We alternate between sweet and savoury dishes, developing practi- cal skills, knowledge and culinary confidence. Thursday is always the highlight of the week as the learners have that satisfaction of having created something perfectly yummy and knowing that they can make it again for their families at home. Learners know that by join- ing this club they are learning valuable life skills while having fun. Debating Louis Pieanaar The debating club keeps building on a legacy of top debating teams at Parklands College over the years. Many of our young learners starting out in Grade 7 have gone on to rep- resent South Africa at the World Champion- ships. We are proud of both our junior (Gr 7 – 9) and senior (Gr 10 – 12) teams this year. They have consistently done well in the Rotary Debating League with many individu- als winning Best Speaker Award on the night. Parklands debaters pride themselves on good preparation and firm, but polite competing. Exclamation Michelle Mackrell Exclamation is the Secondary Faculty Christian group. Under the leadership of Michelle Mackrell and Jessica Herbert, learners are invited to join the weekly meetings to take part in Bible studies and connect with other Christian learners. The weekly meetings are also attended by various youth pastors from neighbour- ing churches and other influential Chris - tian leaders in the community. In recent times, it has been a great pleasure to welcome past learners, Sija Maqeda and Christine Luke, who volunteered at the View Church for one year after finishing school, to share at some of our Exclama - tion meetings. Outside of school, learners also have the opportunity to connect with other Christian youth from neighbouring schools for camps and other fun events. & SOCIETIES