writer/editor
It’s not what you have. It’s what you do with what you’ve got. I was asked recently by an editor for Toronto Life about what kind of technology resources Rosseau Lake College offers students. In the popular imagination STEM is about stuff, which is why every media presentation of it shows 3D printers, snap circuits,Continue reading “What makes a great STEM school?”
“My dad showed me a map of where it was,” says Martin Birthelmer ’87. “I was ‘What’s all that stuff around it?’ And he says, ‘The woods.’” “It’s a lifestyle,” says Graeme Smith. “Outdoor education isn’t separate from education or environmental education. It’s all interwoven.” Smith is the Outdoor Education Lead at Rosseau Lake College,Continue reading “Taking learning outside”
A graduating student reflects on why she came to RLC, and what she’s taking with her A sign of spring at Rosseau Lake College are the community talks given by the Grade 12s. Each has a chance to speak to the whole school, and the talks tend to be very personal, thoughtful. During a recentContinue reading “” … all of us are given a chance to have our own magic.””
RLC students have partnered with the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed to address a decades-long problem. And it’s working. First the bad news: the forests and lakes in Muskoka are in decline due to the leaching of calcium, the result of decades of acid rain. Now the good news: researchers at Trent University, in partnershipContinue reading “Reversing the effects of acid rain”
Glenlyon Norfolk School (GNS) is an independent, coed day and boarding school offering Grades JK through Grade 12. The Beach Drive campus—the only Junior School with an oceanfront campus in the country, as far as we know—houses JK through Grade 5. The Pemberton Woods campus houses the Grade 6 through 12 program. The first thingContinue reading “Review of Glenlyon Norfolk School”
After a year in the role of principal of The Linden School—and what a year it’s been—we spoke with Tara Silver about what girls need, how girls learn, and how the Linden School has pioneered in all of that. In 2014 Tara joined The Linden School in a senior student advising and teaching role beforeContinue reading “Teaching girls to change the world”
For any school, gathering over food is key to student life. At Columbia International College, with students arriving from all corners of the globe, that’s true in ways, and at level that is unmatched in the world of private and independent schooling. Partnering with Chartwells has helped CIC students access healthy options and new experiences,Continue reading “Food is home “
An interview with Marc Seaman, VP, Education Segment, Microsoft Canada Since Marc Seaman started as the lead of the Microsoft education team 8 years ago, a lot has changed, particularly in the past year in response to the demands of the pandemic. But even before that, he wanted to shift the focus away from things—devices,Continue reading “Microsoft needs you”
They can read, but when it comes to functional literacy—expressing ideas, crafting arguments—some feel that students could, and should, be doing better. “I saw the need,” says Hafsa Esmail, founder of Power of Words Academy, “and I wanted to fill it.” At the time she was working as a team manager of Investigations Services at theContinue reading “How literate are Canadian students?”
Sonya Scodellaro, marketing manager with Geox Canada, admits that it’s been an interesting year, particularly around order fulfillment and the growth in online sales. “We’ve really seen the demographic come down in age,” she says. “We’re seeing those young moms and dads—from that 25 to 34 age-range—as the largest share of our audience online, andContinue reading “Everything starts with a breath”
A survey of the programs, traditions and culture at Branksome Hall.
A survey of the programs, traditions and culture at The York School.
An interview with Sir James Mitchell on his thoughts on life in the pandemic, and the need to make a change. • Born and raised in Bequia, Sir James Mitchell served as the second Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 1984 to 2000 and as Premier of Saint Vincent from 1972 to 1974. He founded the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1975,Continue reading ““COVID is not going away””
“What I love most about the space,” says Valerie Turner, “is that I can open my window and I hear the children playing.” Turner is principal of the Junior School at Toronto’s York School and her office is a crisp, welcoming environment in keeping with the overall aesthetic of the school. The windows in herContinue reading “A place for children”
Character education is learning to live through a set of core values, including good citizenship and responsibility for ourselves and others. Which is exactly what camp was created to do. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, spent eight weeks at camp each summer from 1937 to 1951,Continue reading “The value of camp”
by Glen Herbert “This is a long haul,” Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of SVG, said recently. “Covid is going to be with us for the foreseeable future, maybe for the rest of our lives, and therefore we have to get into the habit of taking the vaccine and then taking boosters for us to getContinue reading “Fighting back”
It’s hard to be new, which is why people so often are new in all the old ways. The three musicians here are being new in the way that Pete Seeger’s folk process describes: taking what you have and doing something of your own with it. Admittedly there are more paints in the box theseContinue reading “3hattrio, “Lord of the Dance””
This live set was recorded in 1963, and while Doc turned 40 that year, he was still growing into his solo career. Club 47 was in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, a club that Ralph Rinzler was associated with. Watson went there at his urging, as did so many of the greats that Rinzler broughtContinue reading “Doc Watson, “Live at Club 47””
For many educators it’s been a struggle to meet the requirements of the new Ontario coding curriculum. What if you didn’t have to? In June 2020 coding was introduced into the Ontario math curriculum for the first time. For a range of reasons, it understandably caused more than a few ripples in the educational community.Continue reading “Why your school needs Zebra Robotics “
A guest post for Chandler Coaches. For a number of years, I taught group guitar lessons at a seniors’ centre in Burlington, where I live. Each session—they typically ran 10 weeks—there would be between 20 and 30 people around the circle. If you asked why they signed up, they’d say “I’ve always wanted to playContinue reading “Life is a song. Really.”
When Glarea first opened its doors, the intention was to be different. It is. “I really need to share this, because I think it’s a fantastic story.” That’s Rita Rai, the founding head of Glarea Elevated Learning in Surry, BC. The school is new, and the first full academic year was also the one in which COVIDContinue reading “Learning in the spaces in between”
Each year since it opened, Banff Ave Brewing Co. has given back. Including this very unique year. “It’s Reading Week,” says Meesh Souliere. “So we’ve had a pretty awesome week.” As with everything this year, that ‘awesome’ comes with a few qualifications. She admits that “this time last year, I remember running around the restaurant. It was just packed all the time. And now, youContinue reading “Better Together at Banff Ave Brewing Co.”
All camps have a device policy, and some are stricter than others. At Nominingue it’s as strict as they come: no devices. Director Grant McKenna feels it wouldn’t be camp any other way. “I leave it at home,” says David Laeer. “I don’t really miss it. I guess that’s one of the things that NominingueContinue reading “Going offline”
With 160 courses, a faculty of 70, and 5,000 students, Blyth Academy Online is demonstrating what online learning can be. When I reached James Newton recently he was working through a chemistry lab. “I’m doing the combustion of methane,” he said. He had all the materials and diagnostic tools at hand, including a calorimeter, orContinue reading “A better way to learn”
From chemistry lab to student council, Blyth Academy Orbit brings the high school experience online. “He’s a great teacher,” says Lauren Enright of her chemistry instructor, Mr. Kearney. “He makes jokes to keep the class interested and engaged. A lot of the concepts in chemistry can be a little bit tricky to wrap your mindContinue reading “Finding an academic home in the online world”
For American Songcatcher episode #7: She’s Gone With The Gypsy Davy Merle Robert Travis was born in Rosewood, Kentucky, on November 17, 1917, a year his father invariably referred to as “the year of the bad winter.” The house Travis grew up in was owned by the Beech Creek coal mining company, which employed hisContinue reading “Merle Travis”
“The year didn’t happen how we thought it would,” says Andrew Laite. While that’s the case for all of us, it’s particularly true for him and Josh Sandu, who perform as Rube & Rake. They began the year with a new album, “Leaving with Nothing,” intending to tour it for five weeks in the west,Continue reading “Rube and Rake”
It’s a good question. The answer? Different. And in some ways, more important than ever before. Camp is known for the personal challenges it can offer, the activities that build grit, resilience, and character. That said, I’ve been speaking with camp directors about what they expect for the year ahead, and one commented that thisContinue reading “What will camp look like in 2021?”
For American Songcatcher episode #6: I’ll Die With That Hammer In My Hand Tyler Childers was born in 1991 in Lawrence County Kentucky, an area of the state that in many ways typifies rural Appalachia in the national imagination. He’s lived all of his life just down the road from Butcher Hollow, the home ofContinue reading “Tyler Childers”
The answer can be expressed in a single word: choice. “While education in public schools is still the dominant form of education in Canada,” says Deani Van Pelt, “the data indicates parents are increasingly looking to independent schools for more choice in how their children are educated.” Van Pelt is director of the Fraser Institute’sContinue reading “Why do parents go private?”
For architect Elie Newman, it begins with a community, a sense of possibility, and a master plan “As they’ve grown they’ve filled out the spaces and changed their uses,” says Elie Newman about Northmount School. “And now they’re busting at the seams.” That’s true in more ways than one. Northmount is an independent Catholic schoolContinue reading “How to grow a school”
After a few years, and lots of adventures, I began to think of Billy as a close friend, or at least as close a friend as a retired pirate who lives alone in a ship can be. I was making up a guest list for one of my birthday parties and I thought that, well,Continue reading “Captain Billy’s First Birthday”
Who we learn from can, sometimes, make all the difference We spend a lot of time talking about curricula, though when we ask people, later in life, about their education, we typically don’t ask “what curriculum did you learn through.” Rather we ask, who was the teacher that had the biggest impact on who you were,Continue reading “The power of mentorship”
For a quarter century, Kirstin Broatch has been dressing students for learning and for life We know intuitively that companies are made up of people, not buildings and banks, though we may be prone to forget that sometimes. Should you ever need one, Kirstin Broatch is a particularly good reminder. Owner and CEO of InSchoolwear,Continue reading “Dressing the future”
This isn’t a perfect album, and one of the problems with it is that it’s too short. We’re used to albums being a certain length, and while shorter collections are fine, they’re not optimal. There’s not enough time or breadth to really settle in, assuming that you still listen to recordings as albums rather thanContinue reading “Corn Nut Creek, “Feels Like Travelling Home””
Will Carter, the founder of Clifftop, perhaps the premiere old-time festival in the world, has said that old-time music is about “that tradition of participating in the art. It’s not about a stage.” Of course, there is a stage at Clifftop, though, true to the concept, it’s the participation that people go for—dozens of circlesContinue reading “Erynn Marhshall and Carl Jones, “Old Tin””
For Laurie Edward, newly appointed the executive director of the Banff Canmore Community Foundation, the strength of community can be expressed in a single word: belonging. “It’s my second day on the job,” says Laurie Edward when I reach her by phone at her home in Canmore. She’s in the midst of what’s been aContinue reading “You are here”
“Not Our First Goat Rodeo” is a follow up to 2011’s “Goat Rodeo Sessions,” which won a Grammy Award for best folk album in 2013. Which seems a bit unfair to all those folk musicians out there, because I’m not sure it’s really folk music, exceptional as it is, but also because all the playersContinue reading “Not Our First Goat Rodeo”
Twenty-five men, 350 pounds of supplies, and a chance to change the world. “This was not simply some new Arctic expedition,” says historian Michael Robinson, “this was really an attempt at a new science of the world.” It was the international polar year, and fourteen expeditions set off to collect data about the world. Together,Continue reading “Living in the moment with Adolphous Greely”
There has always been a streak of rebellion running through the musical world, with artists seeking to be new and different. Bill Monroe was one of those, and frankly, so was Mozart, though it’s perhaps hard to see from our vantage point. Some are angry different, like Jimi Hendrix shredding the US national anthem atContinue reading “If you haven’t heard Twisted Pine’s “Right Now,” here’s why you need to”
Parents want clear plans, strong leadership, and options. And that’s exactly what Blyth Academy is delivering. “We’ve learned a lot,” says Kathy Young of the experience of educating through a pandemic. “I think some of it is what good educators have always known,” such as the value of personalised instruction, the need to be responsiveContinue reading “A multi-faceted approach to learning at a distance”
While it’s easy to recognize character—we know it when we see it—it’s famously more difficult to define. Harder still is to describe how character arises. In his recent book, The Second Mountain, David Brooks struggles with the concept, something that he’s been doing since he wrote, The Road to Character in 2015. There he describedContinue reading “Bringing character forward”
“This is obviously a difficult day for all of us who love camps,” wrote the Ontario Camps Association in a note to its members on May 19. The government of Ontario announced in a press conference that overnight camps will not be allowed to operate for the duration of the 2020 season, with further decisionsContinue reading “A summer without camp”
A few years ago, when Dori Freeman released her debut, self-titled album, it seemed that she had sprung, fully formed, from the head of Zeus. Well, this album, on which she participates, fills in the blanks. Willard Gayheart is her grandfather. As the titled of the album suggests, they’re at home, just hanging and picking.Continue reading “Willard Gayheart and Friends, “At Home in the Blue Ridge””
Throughout her career Caroline Herring has regularly looked to literary sources for her writing. Her companion discs of 2010, “Silver Apples of the Moon” and “Golden Apples of the Sun,” gain their titles from a Yeats poem, “The Song of Wandering Aengus.” In 2011 she released an album of songs retelling a children’s story, “TheContinue reading “Caroline Herring, “Verse by Verse””
Joe Troop was born and raised in North Carolina, where he learned bluegrass; he later moved to Argentina, where he taught it. With three of his students he formed Che Apalache: Pau Barjau (banjo), Franco Martino (guitar) and Martin Bobrik (mandolin). They play bluegrass spectacularly, and clearly know the traditions backward and forward and backContinue reading “Che Apalache’s, “Rearrange My Heart””
The Foghorn Stringband was founded more than 15 years ago, and their origin story is as charming and unexpected as the music that they play. Sammy Lind is from Minnesota, and Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms are from Washington state, one from the farmland in the east, the other from the coast. They started playing AppalachianContinue reading “Checking in with the Foghorn Stringband”
Bill Fisher, outgoing executive director of the Banff Canmore Community Foundation, reflects on what community means to him for the Banff Canmore Community Foundation “It was pretty tenuous, I think,” says Bill Fisher of the earliest days of the Banff Canmore Community Foundation, which he has lead as executive director since 2018. That may haveContinue reading “A sense of place”
While there have been other recordings that document Doc Watson’s early years as a performing musician, they tend to shine a light more directly on him as a stage performer, which of course is what he became. This recording, Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton, distinguishes itself in some key ways. It’s earlier, for one—it’s Watson’sContinue reading “Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton”
Glen Herbert 