Burnaby North Secondary School

Burnaby North Secondary School is one of the largest secondary schools in British Columbia, Canada. It encompasses two buildings at 751 Hammarskjold Drive in Burnaby. Students from grade eight to twelve attend the school. A statue of a Viking, the mascot of the school's sports teams, stands in front of the buildings. Burnaby North sits in Kensington Park, so physical education classes have easy access to an ice rink, golf pitch and putt, outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, golf driving range, and numerous outdoor fields.

History

Burnaby North's buildings used to be seperate schools, Kensington Junior Secondary School and Burnaby North Senior Secondary School, before both buildings were merged.

Academic Information

Burnaby North enrolls a very diverse population of approximately 2200 students in grades 8 through grade 12. Traditionally, the graduating class consists of 450 students many of whom are offered scholarships to attend the local universities. Burnaby North has one of the largest Advanced Placement programs in Canada. In May 2005, it had 209 students write a total of 431 exams in 17 subject areas and a score of 3 or higher was earned on 87% of those exams. The past four years it has had an average of 47 students named as AP scholars(65 were named in 2005). This indicates quite early that the program is not only large but of very high quality with many teachers having taught their AP course for as many as 12 years.

Burnaby North also offers a very large Career Preparation program whereby students go out on work experience for as many as 100 hours in their grade 11 and 12 years to experience potential work environment to help them determine their future career plan. Students generally have a very good idea if their chosen career is really suited to them after they have completed this component of their education. (Peggy Robinson)

General information

While Burnaby North is considered a highly academic school, it also offers a wide variety of clubs, extramural and intramural sports programs, and many leadership activities. Burnaby North has well surpassed other schools with a total of more than 200 clubs, tons of activities such as dances and lunch time events throughout the school year, and a composition of excellent teachers, as well as unique programs. The school motto is "excellence, discovery, and charity." Many of the students are the epitome of that motto in that they contribute a considerable amount of time to both the school and the community at large.

Viking Statue

Burnaby North's Viking Statue was established in 1994. The statue was built by the school's Technology Education wing's welding staff and students.

Filming

Burnaby North was used for the public service announcement-style commercial of Metroid: Zero Mission that was shown in North America.

Distinguished students and teachers

Students:

• Joe Sakic - NHL Player
• Cliff Ronning - NHL Player
• Dave Nonis - NHL General Manager
• Stanley Chow - Co-founder of EA Games
• Enoch Weng - Founder of the T&T Dating Service
• Brandon Sawa

Teachers:

• Ingrid Balchen - Former jazz performer. Currently teaches three jazz bands, one concert band and three choirs at Burnaby North Secondary. Has won countless awards. Performed in many bands, and is a great Saxophone player.
• John Pankratz - Former B.C. Lions Player
• Paul Batten - Actor
• Phillip Byrne - Former Film Sound Editor
• Peter Wenzek - The Lesser Music Teacher

Composition

Burnaby North has a large percentage of ethnic Asian students (around 80%), followed by Indians and Italians.

External links

• Burnaby North Secondary School