Welcome to the first issue of the Stang of the 2023-2024 semester! As a newspaper club, we’re dedicated to spreading awareness on local school and city happenings as well as showcasing the works of your peers. Enjoy!
Table of Contents:
- Massey Night Social
- Humanoid
- Model United Nations
- Seasons and Roses
- Artists of Massey
- Grim Reaper Café
- Credits
1. Massey Night Social
Massey Night Social 2023: a resurgence of our school’s signature tradition
This year, the over twenty-year-old beloved community tradition is reunited with its joint event, the Children’s Holiday Party, following a four-year pandemic hiatus.
As autumn begins to settle into Massey’s intricate neighbourhood, it marks the transition into the season’s festivities, beginning the onset of the quintessential Massey events; the Massey Night Social and Children’s Holiday Party – formerly named the All-Night Social and Children’s Christmas Party.
The current year comes from a culmination of the past decades of hosting these annual events. These efforts have earned them an iconic status within the halls of Massey. The void left behind from the pandemic forces student executives, who aim to navigate professional undertakings to revive these events for the junior Massey students with limited experience. Fortunately for senior students, whose high school memories are limited by the lost opportunities, reinstating these events comes just in time for the graduating grade twelve students to finally take lead and promote the events they once idolized during their grade school years.
The paired Massey Night Social and Children’s Holiday Party events are inextricable, serving as the comeback of Massey’s prior traditions in its post-pandemic environment. November’s Massey Night Social ignites the season with a neon night of feverish fundraising, featuring active sports tournaments, creative student vendors, interactive gaming, and a fluorescent dance only visible by the mesmerizing movements of multi-coloured glow sticks in the dark, rousing the nightlife.
While students are given the freedom to participate in a nighttime rave, the Massey Night Social serves primarily to fundraise for the Children’s Holiday Party. The Children’s Holiday Party encourages displays of leadership from Massey students as they help organize activities for some of the community’s underprivileged children in the public school system. In classrooms, yearly celebrations can be inaccessible to students whose family structure, income level, or identity is excluded from mainstream holidays. The Children’s Holiday Party invites students to an inclusive celebration beyond social labels.
The 2023 Massey Night Social and Children’s Holiday Party act as a unifying and strengthening force in the Massey community due to their inspiring purpose and outreach. By participating in the revival of Massey Night Social – where teachers and students can engage in activities like volleyball and student dances well into the midnight hours with their friends – we bridge the gap between pre- and post-pandemic conditions and once again unite our student body.
The financial and generational success of Massey’s iconic events are only attainable with your support. The continuity of these events for years to come depends on the ongoing dedication of Massey students. The executives behind the event hope that students in grades nine and ten can grasp the larger significance of the Massey Night Social while having a fun night with their peers.
Massey Night Social and Children’s Holiday Party are only made possible because of YOU – because of us. See you November 10th!
Written By:
Ava Cooksley, Grade 12 Student
2. Humanoid
Eileen peered through the panoramic window, pressing her hands up against the piercing cold of the standard aluminum silicate glass. She gazed at the cosmos, eyes darting from one gleaming star to the next, looking past the refracted green hue on the glass’s surface.
Finally, her eyes fixed on Earth with its brilliant royal blue colour along with green and brown, swirling with white blotches. It hung in the vast void; an extraordinary lone jewel left to be drifting among the dim light of the stars. The moon peeked from behind the Earth, as if shying away from the girl’s view. The sun’s blinding light beamed onto the surface of the planet, bringing daylight to the Earthlings.
Eileen had once loved peering down at the beauty of Earth, hoping to visit humanity’s home one day. She would seek out the first generation of children that would arrive at the Odessey via spacecraft sent by the multitude of international space stations from Earth. Not anymore.
She had once considered herself an equivalent of humanity, speaking openly to them as a child even if she was born on the Odessey. When she began her schooling, however, she noticed how the other children glared at her as if she were a diseased, hybrid creature. They had gestured at her mechanical proportions and whispered vile, horrid words between themselves.
Eileen had been furious at this noticeable yet ignored social injustice. It was not her fault for falling into an unfortunate accident caused by a hydrogen leak in the southwest airlocks of the Odessey, inevitably leading to an immense explosion. Eileen relived the incident for a moment and winced at the dreadful memory. The abrupt release of energy, chaos, pain, and especially the aftermath.
She had received a fractured skull, a loss of an arm, third-degree burns, and permanent nerve damage in parts of her brain. The doctors had said she had been a victim of Tertiary Blast injuries, and she was ‘lucky to survive.’ Then, that dreadful surgery came, replacing her crippled body with metallic robot parts.
In her history class, they had learned about racial, gender, and religious discrimination and how humanity was moving past those horrid times. That couldn’t be further from the truth – they had never moved past those times and history seemed to repeat itself once more.
Written By:
Viyae, Grade 11 Student
3. Model United Nations
Massey Model United Nations: A School Club
Many clubs lie inside the walls of Vincent Massey Secondary School. They come to life after the dismissal bell rings in the afternoon and many student members bustle down the hallways into their respective classrooms.
The one I am affiliated with is Model United Nations, a reenactment of the United Nations – an international institution that deals with geopolitical concerns.
While I had to hunt down the president of the club to become a member just two years ago, this last Thursday, I, as a co-president, had people seeking me out. It’s crazy how this club has grown. We saw many new and old faces at our first meeting, seeking to better understand the world around them. In a school like Vincent Massey, brimming with diversity in nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, we have members from all over, curious about the geopolitical aspects of their world.
At our first meeting, we covered the basics and delivered impromptu speeches in hopes of gaining interest in our club and new members to stay with us for the semester. In a club like Model UN, we get to talk about subjects that we might not get the chance to discuss in a classroom but are on the minds of many students.
We vow to offer an open space while remaining respectful and curious. Through our club practices, we create new ways to satisfy our thirst for knowledge every year. To remain up to date on geopolitics, we present a news reel featuring updated news stemming from every corner of the world. Located at a school filled with many avenues of learning, Model UN merely hopes to facilitate a process of adventurous knowledge seeking in the realm of geopolitics. Well, as long as you know where to find it…
Join Massey’s Model UN Club with this discord link:
Written By:
Iman Ahmer, Grade 12 Student
Senior Co-President/ Exec Model UN
4. Seasons and Roses
My mother’s rose garden always bloomed during the spring. All the beautiful flowers in colours of reds, pinks, whites, and more. When I was little, I enjoyed running through the garden searching for different types of bugs, my favourite being caterpillars. When summer arrived, my mother and I would have picnics in the garden. She would bring out an old tea set and have tea parties with me in fancy dress. Sometimes, we would spread out all our art supplies and my mother would draw the roses she grew in the garden, while I drew the pretty butterflies. When fall rolled around, I would help my mother prepare the garden for winter, de-weeding any stray weeds that popped up and ensuring the flowers wouldn’t uproot during the colder months. When winter came around, I would build snowmen in the garden. I would dig for fallen rose petals to use as faces of my new snow friends and grab my winter clothing – which I’d long outgrown – to accessorize them. When spring came again the cycle would repeat, now I follow the routine on my own. I don’t look for bugs anymore and I don’t want to draw them. I don’t have tea parties anymore and I don’t have picnics. But all that will change once the new flower is born and can enjoy my mother’s rose garden again.
Written By:
Liam Riberdy, Grade 11 student
5. Artists of Massey
Artists of Massey – an Interview of an Artist at Massey
At Massey, a variety of students are talented in art. Some of their artworks are displayed in the hallways at school, while others are posted on social media. Some students even start small businesses by selling their creations. Among those remarkable individuals, Linda Huang, a grade 12 student at Massey, is a Massey artist. Her skills resonate through her pieces. On her social media, Linda posts short comic strips and drawings for her followers to enjoy. In a more professional sense, Linda posts her Webtoons on (webtoons.com) and has been doing so since 2021. Through this interview, Linda introduces her artworks and herself to the Stang readers.
When did you start doing art? How have you gotten close with art?
I’ve been drawing since I was very young, for nothing other than having fun. I fondly remember gleefully showing my parents my crayon doodles on a scrap piece of paper as they picked me up from preschool. As I grew older, I fell in love with digital art, which allowed for endless possibilities from the tap of a finger. I started off by literally drawing with my index finger for years, until I finally got a stylus for my 13th birthday. That was when I started to take art seriously, watching video after video, applying newfound techniques day after day. The more I delved into the rabbit hole, the more I grasped the endless complexities of this craft.
Artistry is everywhere, from the paintings in the Louvre, to the intricacies of a human hand. To practice art is simply to express ourselves, whatever that looks like. Ultimately, our relation with art is a lifelong journey, not a destination to be reached.
You work as a Webtoon creator on webtoons.com. Can you briefly introduce your comics?
I have a few webtoons, and they all capture ‘me’ and my creative approaches during specific periods of time. Notably, my dearest webtoon is Yellow Blue Red, a coming of age story about Mei, a shy Chinese girl trying to navigate the messy world of human relationships. This webtoon captured my angst at the time pretty well (lol). And to be honest, when I look back at my old work, I can’t help but cringe… but that’s what it means to be an artist I suppose.
What has inspired you to become a Webtoon creator? Is there a specific Webtoon that has affected you?
Although I’ve been reading webtoons since 2017-2018, I was fully convinced to start a webtoon in 2021 after watching a youtube video by the webtoon creator of Bad Prince Charming. If you didn’t know, there are two sections on Webtoons: originals—creators paid by Webtoons, and canvas—creators who publish their work on the platform. Fellow canvas creators inspire me endlessly through their creativity and dedication to the craft. I especially adore Misguidance Counselor and He Would Never Notice Me!. I love how these stories tackle difficult issues and place emphasis on healthy communication 🙂 .
What are your future plans?
Currently, I am a busy grade 12 student aiming to get into university. It makes me really sad, but I don’t have the time nor motivation to explore art much this semester. Since my second semester has a lighter course load, I hope to get back into drawing and painting regularly. For now though, I want to focus on my academic progress as well as maintain (the remains of) my social life and mental health.
Find Linda’s works on her Instagram and Webtoon account!
Instagram: linda456h
Webtoon (webtoons.com): Linda456h
Written By:
Bora Jung, Grade 10 Student
6. Grim Reaper Café
The Grimm Reaper was just a simple man with a simple life. By nighttime, he was out collecting the souls of the deceased, but during the day, he ran his own café.
The Soul Café: a simple café hidden away at the end of life, only accessible to supernatural creatures and those who have passed away. For example, angels and demons could come to the café, skeletons and souls too. The most popular customers were people who recently passed who wanted to learn more about the afterlife they now inhabited.
Grimm looked up, watching an older lady approach the counter. She was pale skinned and had a soft smile, her oval face framed by long silvery hair. She spoke in a soft, breathy tone , “Hello there… could I bother you for tea?”
Grimm offered the sweet lady a smile and took the gold coins she was holding out in her hand. “Of course, may I get your name?”.
“Dorothy, dearie.” She smiled at him as he began making her tea. “Has it been that long since I’ve visited? I used to come here every day for a millennium!” She let out a laugh, while Grimm shook his head in enjoyment.
“Ah, you’re right! I apologize Dorothy, how have you been?” He smiled at her. “I’ve been quite well; I met a very interesting man! He was a gangster in the 1950s, and a handsome one at that!” Dorothy excitedly told Grimm, causing him to laugh at the look in her eyes.
“Ah yes, Clyde. He’s been here a few times, more often than not as of late. It’s almost like he’s coming here for you”. Grimm smiled as he watched Dorothy’s cheeks blush a soft red, flustered by the idea of the handsome man being interested in her too. Grimm handed the tea over to her and pointed to a corner, where a handsome looking man wearing a fedora waited.
With a gasp and a giggle, he watched as Dorothy headed over to him and sat down across from him, the two long-dead people starting up a conversation. Allowing people to meet in death was one of the reasons Grimm opened his café. He loved seeing people bond and talk about their past experiences. Sometimes, life is just too short to meet everybody there is to meet.
Life is finite, we only have so many chances to build meaningful connections with people. Make the most of it.
Written By:
Brianna Myles, Grade 12 Student
7. Credits
Thank you to all of our remarkable club members who made this issue possible.
Writers
Ava Cooksley
Bora Jung
Brianna Myles
Faye Vuong
Iman Ahmer
Liam Riberdy
Nicole Tong
Norhan El-Gammal
Rielle Cruz
Viyae
Editors
Chloe Skaine
Davina Hali
Priya Dass
Samreen Mohamed Salim
Website Developers
Geneva Thapa
Tasnim S.
Vicky Ng
Editor in Chief
Madison Zhou
Teacher Sponsor
Mr. McKenzie
If you want a chance at joining the Stang club, please privately message Madison via Disord @sonz_07.
Thank you for reading!
The Stang 
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