Bulletin, Cultural, Eco-Schools

Respect The Spekboom!

The members of Union High School’s Eco Club recently made great strides in neutralizing their carbon footprint, by assisting SANParks in establishing a Spekboom nursery.

This incredible plant with its bright green, circular leaves is a miracle worker when it comes to fighting air pollution. It has the ability to ‘sequester’ or capture four to ten tons of carbon per hectare!

Essentially, it acts as a carbon sponge, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and turning it into plant matter. Excess carbon in the atmosphere is responsible for global warming, so the more carbon we can remove from the air and return to the ground, the better. Spekboom is also known as Pork Bush or Elephant’s Food.

In an initiative to propagate new Spekboom plants, the Eco Club learners, accompanied by SANParks personnel, visited Mountain Drive, where they gathered Spekboom cuttings and then later transferred them to seedling trays in the Park’s nursery.

SANParks will sell these new Spekboom plants to generate an income for their nursery and simultaneously reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.

Bulletin

Union Farmers Market

The cut-off date is looming for the ‘Union Farmers Market’ meat pre-orders.

If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to get right on it!

[The organisers are offering parents, Old Unionites and friends of Union the option of pre-ordering Karoo lamb – cut and packed for your convenience – as well as pre-packed biltong, droëwors and venison. They’ll then have your order ready for you to pick up at the m…arket on Friday afternoon, 9 August!]

Orders, as well as inquiries, can be e-mailed to unionschools.market@gmail.com.

Check out the prices or place your order by clicking on the following link: http://bit.ly/2LMHBHa

 

Bulletin, Cultural

All The Right Moves…

A number of Union High School chess players were invited to participate in the closed chess tournament that serves as the final round of trials to select the Chris Hani Chess Team.  If they are selected, they will represent the Chris Hani district at the South African Junior Chess Championship in Johannesburg in January 2020.

They are: Camran Swartz, Josh Arends, Erin Gedult, Naeem Mahomed, Neelon Fourie, Cassidy Goliad, Mihan Campbell, Matthew McNaughton, Tracy Petitt, James Rose-Innes, Hagen Muller-Brunke, Harun Wajid and Liano Naidoo.

We wish them the best of luck for the tournament that will take place on 17 August in Graaff-Reinet.

Bulletin, Student Life

Union Welcomes Visitor From Denmark

Grade 12 learner Noah Ackerman arrived in Graaff-Reinet today, Friday, 26 July, to spend a couple of weeks at Union High School.

Noah is the son of Wayne Ackerman who attended Union as a youngster and now resides in Denmark.Noah and his siblings Silas and Esther, spent a year at Union as exchange students when Noah was in Grade 10.  During this time they developed an absolute passion for Union – so much so, that Noah travels to South Africa every year at Interschools to join his old classmates and support the school during this annual clash.

Noah will reside in Arthur Kingwill House for the next couple of weeks and will return to Denmark on Monday, 12 August.

Union is glad to welcome him back to campus and hopes he enjoys his time here.

Bulletin, Cultural

Annual Senior (gr 10 – 12) Speech Competition

Learners shine at speech contest

The power of words, intonation and body language was unleashed during Union High School’s annual Senior Speech Competition, held on Thursday evening, 18 July.

The evening was themed, ‘The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes’.

Participants were each given a particular nursery rhyme and instructed to prepare a speech pertaining to the central message contained in the nursery rhyme.  Sixteen speakers participated and “wowed” the audience with witty speeches, serious speeches and even some way-out speeches.  Mandilakhe Matotie served as the evening’s MC and did a wonderful job of keeping the evening full of energy and running smoothly.

At the end of a very entertaining night, first place was awarded to Meghan Basson for her speech entitled ‘Jack Sprat Could Eat No Fat – Diet Edition’.  Second place went to Taylyn Miller for ‘Jack and Jill Went Up A Hill – When Things Go Wrong’.  Peter Watermeyer claimed third place for ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb – Role Models and Conformity’.

The evening was concluded with the guests and participants enjoying some delicious refreshments.

Thanks are extended to all those who were brave enough to deliver these exceptional speeches in front of a crowded room – you did yourselves and the school proud!

Bulletin

60 Years Later

Hundreds of Old Unionites and their families are planning on visiting their Alma Mater in August for the annual Interschools weekend.  The reunions associated with this event offers all alumni an opportunity to renew acquaintances with old friends, reminisce and learn about the post-matric lives of classmates.

One such Old Unionite, Dick Williams, Class of ’59, will also be making the trek to Graaff-Reinet to attend Interschools and to share in the school’s Centenary celebrations.  When asked why – a full 60 years after having matriculated at Union High School – he plans on attending this year’s Interschools, Williams simply said, “the school has an undeniable pull on me”.  According to Williams, he was but a “scared Karoo dorp boytjie” when he started his Standard 5 and high school career as a boarder in Union’s Arthur Kingwill House.  “Opposite the school in Caledon Street, the then Mayor had a big cage behind his house for his lion. At night its roaring could be heard across Graaff-Reinet!” Williams fondly reminisces.

The year after he finished his schooling at Union, Williams moved to the then Rhodesia with his family, completed military training and served off and on in the army while living there.  He then enjoyed a fascinating career in accounting, both in the profession and in commerce.  In 1980, Williams, his wife – with whom he has just celebrated his 54th wedding anniversary – and his two children moved back to South Africa for Williams to work at a Chamber of Mines company.  He was put on early retirement 20 years ago and according to Williams, “have never worked so hard in all my life since. In these times one just has to adapt – become portable.”

This will be the first time since his 25th reunion that Williams will be making the trip to Graaff-Reinet.  “Time is passing by so quickly and if I don’t take some action now, more of my class will have passed on.”  Williams says that he is especially looking forward to cheering on the Union teams in their respective encounters against Volkskool and to interact with as many people as possible in whatever walks of life they might be in.

“Life is great and God is good. I am blessed with energy and good health and look forward to catching up with old acquaintances and meeting new members of the Union community.”

According to Williams, there were several things he learned while at Union that has served him well in life.  The first being a steadfast faith in Jesus Christ.  “I found my faith while on a school camp. It was this faith that saw me through a nearly impossible time when my 21-year-old son died in a car accident.”

The second being good manners.  “Manners and respect were drummed into us in the boarding house’s dining hall. These qualities are sadly lacking in society today and are tremendously sought after.”

Lastly, the importance of giving in life.  “I’ll never forget the day Mr. Herby Arnott (our then headmaster) called us matrics into the hall and emphasized the importance of giving in life when we left school.

In conclusion, Williams, as a fellow Unionite, had the following advice to share with the Union learners of today: “Remember that you have tremendous potential – the world is at your feet. Be teachable, never stop learning, keep reading good books – they will open up your world. Take responsibility for what happens in your life and don’t play the blame game. It is not so important what happens to you in life, but how you respond to it.”

Academic, Bulletin

A World of Opportunity Awaits

On Wednesday morning, 17 July, Ebben Hufkie, Priscilla Booysen and Leilani Brinkhuis, representatives of the Johann & Gaynor Rupert Foundation, paid a visit to Union High School.

The purpose of their visit was to address the school’s Grade 12 learners regarding the world of educational opportunities that await them after high school. To start, they gave a brief presentation in respect of university acceptance and fee structures. They also discussed possible career options to consider and encouraged learners to work hard towards achieving their most ambitious goals and dreams. They then broached the subject of the Johann and Gaynor Rupert Foundation Bursary Programme and explained to learners who would qualify for this programme.

They made it clear that the submission of bursary application forms must be accompanied by an acknowledgment from a tertiary institution that an application has been submitted and is being processed.

Union’s Grade 12s are urged to apply for this bursary before 30 September 2019.

The school extends its thanks to the Foundation for its investment in the education of our youth.

Bulletin

Union Farmers Market

The ‘Union Farmers Market’, being hosted by Union’s three boarding houses on Friday, the 9th of August, is a definite must-visit at this year’s Interschools!

To make it easier for shoppers, the organisers are offering parents, Old Unionites and friends of Union the option of pre-ordering Karoo lamb – cut and packed for your convenience – as well as pre-packed biltong, droëwors and venison. They’ll then have your order ready for you to pick up!

 

 

To find out more, or to complete the order form, click on the following link: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLScYK1nBT7GV22r_4…/viewform…

Orders can also be e-mailed to unionschools.market@gmail.com.