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Documentary Competition- Winners- View
These will be posted on this site as well in the near future
Song Writing Workshops- Listen to songs created in the classroom
Tours-  Photos and Quotes- View Students' pictures and comments on touring an organic farm and alternative energy sites

Discover the spirit and value of our community, the environment and local heroes.

Competitions were explorations of this theme. Students entered from grades 7-12 in Perth County.

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Song Writing Competition

The Judges included

David Prosser, Director of Communications for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival; Rick Fox, Director of Music for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival; Barbara Dunn-Prosser, performer and professor of voice at University of Western Ontario; and Barry Payne, Stratford, Ontario songwriter, whose band String Bone, is receiving international, critical acclaim for its latest CD, nadir

Six winners were chosen from entries received from students from across the county.

Winners received a cash prize of $200 and an extended learning opportunity.

They have worked with a professional composer/arranger, Paul Shilton, on their pieces and then taken that developed work into Owlsville Recording Studios. Jim Neil, the recording engineer, has decades of recording experience, is the sound designer for this season's Peter Pan, at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and is the head of sound for the Grand Theatre in London. George Meanwell, Dave Campion, Scott Matthews, and Kevin Ramessar, heard regularly at the Festival, are some of the wonderful musicians that performed the students' material in the studio.  All the artists that worked on this project have donated many hours to its completion. Final mixing was done at Parkvilla Studios with students engaging in the process, setting levels and learning more of the professional skills necessary to function in the modern world of music production.

Musicians

Dave Campion- percussion
Barbara Fulton- vocals
Aidan Keeley- bass guitar 
Scott Matthews- bass
George Meanwell- guitar
Kevin Ramessar- guitar
Lindsay Schindler- violin

Paul Shilton- arranger, musical director,
       piano, accordian, organ, percussion

Student Musicians-

Lead vocals were sung by the composer entrants,

Except trio entry One More Time, with lead vocal sung by Amy Schell, guitar solo by Tyler Zybura.

perthsong@hermione-presents.com

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Workshops, tours, song and documentary competitions supported by

 

All songs created during this competition process are licensed under Creative Commons

 

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Magic of Youth  Sam Kochany | Grade 12, Central Secondary School

It’s a season of colours hear our song in bloom
And we’ll give to each other and the throngs of youth.
The gift of growth and the chance to live in our home.
Feel your freedom take you high
Earn your wings and learn to fly.
Now we’re beginning this future style.
Come and linger it’s all worth the while. 

We’ve come of age to step ahead
To a thriving culture of young lives.
But it’s not a question of how!
Bring the face to the frontlines
And know where we stand. 

This place is a grail for the cultures anew
We will soon set sail for the magic of youth.
So let’s raise our hands and welcome you to our plan.  

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Havin' an Avon Kinda Day  Abigail Winter-Culliford, Sadie Culliford , Gary Winter (family entry)| Grade 8, Downie Public School

 

Fifty seven hundred clicks from Stratford England,
Near farm country
The Avon river a vein of the heartbeat of Perth County. 

Havin’ an Avon kind of day,
Everything’s going to be okay
On this Avon kind of day.

On and about the banks of the river so much to do,
Dragon boating, fishing, a stroll with a picnic and skating too!
To be or not to be which play shall we see?
At the Festival stage beside the Avon is where I’ll be.  

Havin’ an Avon kind of day,
Everything’s going to be okay
On this Avon kind of day.  

Hey Bibbity Boppin’ while we’re walkin’ with a beat in our feet
To the Avon river to make our day complete. 

From the scenic boardwalk and Upper Queens
Where the swans do nest
Flowing down past the cemetery where history rests. 

Havin’ an Avon kind of day,
Everything’s going to be okay
On this Avon kind of day.

On this Avon kind of day.

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Back Home - Jennifer Oesch| Grade 11, Northwestern Secondary School

Trying to catch a taxi in the middle of downtown
She thought she’d be much further by now.
She wonders how she got here so far away from home.
She thought running was the answer but now she’s all alone.

And nobody knows her name.
And she’s got no-one left to blame.
She thought what she was looking for
Was somewhere far away.

But back home, you hear neighbourhood kids playing hockey in the street.
There’s a smile on the face of everyone you meet.
There’s bowling Monday nights and late night pillow fights
And everything’s alright.
'Cause everybody loves you as you are.
You don’t have to go that far
You tried so hard to get away
You know you’ll always have a place back home.

There was always something missing and now she knew just what.
Sixteen years of lies were just too much.
She left the only family that she had ever known.
To find a Dad and Mother that she could call her own.

But what she thought she’d find was just a dream.
All her plans came bursting at the seams.
She thought what she was looking for
Was somewhere far away.

But back home, there’s a hot meal waiting for you every night
And someone always making sure your day went right.
There’s dinner conversations and family vacations
And everything’s alright!
Cause everybody loves you as you are.
You don’t have to go that far
You tried so hard to get away
You know you’ll always have a place back home.
You tried so hard to get away
You know you’ll always have a place back home.
You don’t need to try and get away
“Cause all you’ll ever need is home!

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Home on Your Side   Kirstie Carter| Grade 10, Central Secondary School

No big malls
Two food joints
A few little corner shops
It may not have those city lights
But the spirit never stops.
Legacies piling up high.
Left by those with the will to try.

Chorus

When you’ve had someone there a block away,
For your whole life, it’s tough to change
To counting up a thousand miles a way.
Giving all you’ve got to lose
Is better when you’re not stuck with the blues,
From the still frame fading away.
You’ll be alright, I know you’ll be fine
As long as you’ve got home on your side. 

Racing cars that sing me to sleep
Always wave when running by our little beige houses.
Today, tomorrow again and again
Late four o’clock bus never been so early
And it’s telling you:

Chorus 

You wan-na get out and leave it all behind
But home it haunts you with peace of mind. 

 Chorus

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Remember Me Forever, now titled One More time- Luc Fisher, Tyler Zybura, Amy Schell  | Grade 11, Northwestern Secondary School

Seventeen years spent in this one horse town
You were the only thing that kept me around
But I had to move on to find who
I’m meant to be.

This place is different than what it seems
Still you’re the one that fills my dreams
I know now you’re the only one for me.

I watch I see you walking by
I smile and wave and pretend I’m fine
I spent so many nights with tear dropped eyes.
You said you wanted nothing else
Than to hold me closer to yourself
And that’s when you;

Turn around and our eyes collide
The heat of love still burns inside
We walk until it’s dark outside
Until it’s time to say goodbye.   

It’s been so long since I’ve seen you now
When I come back home will you remember how
We would stay up late and forget about it all.
It feels so right to be back in town
I’m caught up wondering if you’re still around
My heart screams loud and I need you now
But you’re nowhere to be found. 

I watch I see you walking by
I smile and wave and pretend I’m fine
I spent so many nights with tear dropped eyes.
You said you wanted nothing else
Than to hold me closer to yourself
And that’s when you;  

Turn around and our eyes collide
The heat of love still burns inside
We walk until it’s dark outside
Until it’s time to say goodbye.  

It’s almost like we went back in time
To the place when I knew you were mine.
You hold me close and tell me
You love me
One more time!  

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A Place Called Home -Poppy Kipfer | Grade 8 Montessori

In my little village where community was bornbr /> People lived together ‘cause there wasn’t any scorn.
In my little village I lived inside a home
Not much larger than a room with no place inside to roam. 

Chorus

I thought I wanted bigger things, to be rich and get out of town,
To buy a hundred diamond rings and wear a golden crown.
What I wanted was just greed and the need to freely roam
I crossed the world, sailed the seven seas to find myself back home.
To find myself back home, just to find myself back home.

I left my little village, left without looking back.
I felt as if I’d won a race on a long and complex track.
I left my little village, freedom in my heart
Ignoring my families pleading eyes, to the bull’s eye came the dart.  

Chorus 

The dart reached the bull’s eye as I was soon to find.
Icy looks and being ignored wasn’t what I had in mind.
I bought a house a huge house in the middle of all the lights,
But it felt so cold and empty: Those were long nights!

After years of traveling round the world, years of wasted time.
I found myself back home again to me it looked just fine.
It had taken half my lifetime to finally realize
The place where I belong was right before my eyes. 

Chorus

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