School Culture
Student Leadership
We have implemented a new student leadership model this year and it is working really well. We started planning the new model over a year ago. Our Head Boy and Head Girl, Dan Martin and Maddie Dalkie, met with Jane and me on a number of occasions to figure out what the student leadership model might look like. Once we had some ideas, Dan and Maddie met with students in each grade and got input from them; Jane carried out a similar session with the staff. Eventually, a model that combined two student reps from each grade and one from each club was the agreed upon choice. We also created a teacher-adviser role to support the new leadership council initiative.
The full council meets once every two weeks. Jane and I meet with this year’s Head Boy and Girl, Dan Blumberg and Emily Jarrett meet every Friday. Dan and Emily provide us with an update from the council meeting and then we discuss any issues that have been raised by the council. Most recently, students have been working with our Cafe Manager, Julie Trudeau to better understand some of the changes that have taken place in the Cafe and to share suggestions as to how Cafe service could be improved. The council also takes a lead role on organizing our Spirit Days and community fundraisers.
Overall, the work of the student leadership council is helping ensure that Greenwood truly is a student-centered school.
Quite a Week…
We have just come to the end of a stimulating week for both students and staff. The week began with a compelling tribute in our weekly assembly to the victims of the Montreal Massacre, which I wrote about in an earlier blog entry.
On Tuesday evening, the students who went to Kenya in the summer (twenty-five in all) shared their experience with invited guests (mostly parents and siblings). Each student read an entry from his or her journal which when put together provided a chronicle of the 25-day trip. They also shared some stunning visual images. One of our Grade 12 students is in the process of creating a documentary about the trip, which she hopes to enter in a documentary film festival later this year. Celine provided us with an excerpt of this documentary–it promises to be an exceptional piece of work.
On Wednesday morning, George Brady came to Greenwood to speak to students in Grades 8 and 10. George is a Holocaust survivor and the brother of Hana Brady, whose story has been immortalized in the narrative “Hana’s Suitcase.” George’s grandchildren attend our school. Through the use of plain language and visual images, George recounted for the students the devastating impact the Nazi occupation of Europe had on his family and friends. George’s visit provided students in these grades who have been learning how to conduct historical inquiry the valuable opportunity to understand history using primary sources. More importantly, they heard a moving account about the ravages of racism and intolerance.
Thursday evening was the first of our three Arts Showcase events. Students in our music and drama classes staged a show for parents and friends. Art work and fashion displays were located throughout the hallways on the second and third floors of the building. All in all, it was a terrific display of creativity and original thinking.
It seemed appropriate on Friday to start the day with that old M.C. Hammer classic “U Can’t Touch This.”
Rally Days
At various points throughout a school year, staff and students need what some experts refer to as ‘rally days.’ Such days are referred to in this way as they enable members of the school community an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day routine and join together to have some fun and build school spirit. Like any effective rally, the hope is that these large-scale events will generate energy and enthusiasm. With the onset of shorter days and November looming, spirits sometimes need lifting. People who study these types of things suggest schools should hold a rally day about every six weeks.
Yesterday was a rally day here at Greenwood. Students in Grades 7 to 10 and their teachers took part in Arts Day, while our senior students spent the day visiting one of several universities and colleges. Students participated in several arts-related workshops which were led by guest instructors, with one exception. Two of our student Arts Leaders had to jump in at the last minute and lead a cartooning workshop. From what I saw, they did a great job. The day ended with a concert by a highly skilled and very engaging musical combo who played songs ranging from The Lion King to Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music.” Lots of audience participation on the latter number!
Even though six weeks won’t have elapsed, we will have a partial rally day again next Friday. It’s Halloween–always a big deal around these parts. Time to start planning my costume!
Greenwood Celebration Day Remarks
Good morning…
Seeing as this is our last Friday of the year, and we are in the theatre made famous by Canadian Idol, I thought we could have one last music quiz. Listen closely as there are some final house points on the line. Mr. Shorter, if you will…That’s right. The song was “Golden Years: by David Bowie…
I chose “Golden Years” as the first Friday Dance Party song for this year in the hope that our year together would bring out the best in all of us, both collectively and individually. Looking back on the past year, I do feel we have fulfilled my wish. It gives me great pride to share a few golden moments with you, moments that I believe capture the spirit and character of our unique Greenwood culture.
One of my favourite moments of this year came during our first fire drill in September. Rather than simply return to classes, I thought we might do something special to welcome our new Vice-Principal, Jane Audet. Some of you may know that Jane has a deep, dark secret…an addiction to ice cream. So, my plan was to serve students ice cream in the Lodge as they returned from outside the building. We assumed that the wooden sticks needed to eat the ice cream came with the ice cream cups. Wrong assumption. Not to worry—we ate the ice cream using coffee stir sticks. Initially, the students were puzzled by the whole affair. What did this have to do with a school fire drill? But as our students do on so many occasions, they rolled with it and enjoyed the moment. They found a space in the Lodge, chatted with friends and teachers and enjoyed their ice cream and the break from class. I can’t think of too many high school cultures that would tolerate this type of unscripted moment, especially in the first week of school.
I enjoyed their willingness to look on the lighter side on many other occasions as well. Our annual Halloween celebration was a good example of this. This year, every student and staff member, as well as our parent volunteers who judged the house costume competition, came in costume. And some pretty amazing costumes they were. This year’s Halloween festivities gave our Grade 12’s a chance to demonstrate their spirit of adventure. They transformed the Media Arts room into a haunted house. In what was the ultimate test of leadership this year, I crawled through the darkened maze hoping the Grade 12’s would go easy on their dear old principal. This same sense of joy and laughter echoed throughout our Winter Olympics and Spirit Day. It will be pretty hard to top this year’s tire roll, but I am sure Lub, Ms. Hall and the house leaders will come up with some new twist next year.
Some recollections are more sombre. For the first time in our school’s short history, we dealt with the death of a staff member. Gary Hood’s terminal illness in November took us all by surprise. Your cards, letters, e-mails, phone calls, and posters meant so much to Gary, Charlotte and their extended family. I will always remember Gary’s return to school at an assembly in December and your warm welcome for him, as well as the memorial assembly that took place after Gary’s death. Hearing staff and students share their recollections of Gary with us emphasized to me the quiet network that runs throughout our community and the impact we have on one another. Gary’s positive approach to life, encapsulated in his favourite saying, “always good,” is his lasting gift to us.
I believe the generosity of spirit we extend to one another enables us to reach out and offer a similar degree of support to others outside our community. As Lub often reminds us, this quality is one of Greenwood’s distinguishing characteristics. Aside from Lub, our teachers, and in particular, the Education Interns played an integral role in supporting our community service program. One memorable moment was hearing that some of our Grade 9 students who had volunteered at Claremont Retirement Residence when they were in Grade 8 continued to visit the seniors after school on a weekly basis. They decided to do this without any prompting from anyone here at the school. This empathetic response says a great deal about the resonance of the school’s community service program on our students.
Academically, there was much to celebrate. Today over 200 students will receive the Principal’s Award, which acknowledges a consistent application of effort and level of achievement throughout the year. Over 100 students received the designation of academic excellence throughout this year. What I love about this award is that it celebrates high levels of engagement and passion in a particular assignment or project. The range of projects that received this designation was commendable. Thanks to the persistence of Ms. Walcott, the range of published writers who came to inspire our students was as vast as it has ever been. The session with Meg Tilly was certainly one to remember. My most memorable learning moment would have to be this year’s co-operative education fair. Hearing our Grade 11 students speak so confidently and passionately about the many things they had learned through their job placements in construction or fashion or public relations firms, to name but a few, was a real testament to the value of authentic learning.
Two areas of school life where the desire to persevere was evident was in arts and athletics. Both programs made impressive strides forward this year. Teasing out one memorable moment from this year in the arts is not an easy task. I loved hearing the wide range of musical performers in our assemblies. Nick Toyne and Raleigh Seldon’s duet from the movie “Once” and the senior rock band’s note-perfect rendition of Lighthouse’s “One Fine Morning” were truly memorable. The lively multimedia adaption of James and the Giant Peach was also a treat, as was the buoyant energy displayed in our first-ever fashion show. Students and staff took to the runway this year to model original creations by students in our Fashion Design class. Clearly, some of our staff has doing some moonlighting! Walking into to Trinity College in February and seeing the degree of professionalism that surrounded our production of 7 Stories was a real thrill. Everything about the production, from the staging to the performances of our cast, was first-rate. This collaboration of staff and students was united by a common vision to take our drama program to a higher level of excellence. Solid gold!
The same spirit of collaboration and desire for excellence permeated our athletic program. 38 Greenwood teams competed in CIS this year. All told, we won six championships in five different sports, our best showing yet. We continued to produce one of the highest student participation rates in athletics of any CIS school. We also had more athletes representing Greenwood at OFSAA than in any previous year. Much of this success is due to the dedication of our coaches, who put in countless hours ensuring that our student athletes develop their individual skills and more importantly, learn to work as a team. One memorable extended moment in this year’s athletic program took place on March 7 and 8. Over this 24-hour period, we had 3 boys’ basketball teams and 2 girls’ volleyball teams in the championships. Both volleyball teams exhibited grace under pressure and emerged as champions. Though only one of the basketball teams won the championship—a three-peat no less, I marvelled at the way our U-14 and U-16 teams played hard against teams that were considerably bigger and more experienced. Unfazed, they supported one another, maintained their composure and gave it their best. This is the Greenwood character we are all so proud of. So much true learning happens outside the classroom—our arts and athletics program are evidence of this.
I could ramble on interminably about what a great year it has been, but I think we have a few more awards to hand out. In closing, I would like to extend a number of thank you’s:
Firstly, to the school’s Board of Directors, and in particular, Richard Wernham: Your direction, advice and support have been so important in my first year as Principal.
To our Vice-Principals, Jane Audet, Alison Holt and Kelly Giannoccaro: Your wise counsel and unwavering support throughout this year has been invaluable. The school is fortunate to have such a hard-working leadership team.
To the teachers and non-teaching staff: Your commitment to Greenwood’s mission is the core of the school’s success. Quite simply, you are the spinners of gold.
To the parents: Your ongoing support of your children and of our staff throughout the school year has been remarkable. We are fortunate to have such engaged partners in the education of your children.
To the students: I have been so impressed with the level of initiative you have taken throughout this year in creating projects that enrich the lives others. Art for Aids, a book drive for students in Regent Park, various Me to We fundraisers, backpacks for inner city kids attending Mooredale Summer Camp, and a clothing drive for Oasis. These are just a few of the beneficiaries of your efforts.
And finally, to the Class of 2009: Your leadership has pushed enthusiasm for our school’s house competition to new heights. You have also worked hard to achieve an impressive array of postsecondary destinations. On behalf of the school, we wish you all the best on the next leg of your journey and look forward to seeing you return next fall as Greenwood alumni.
I look forward to another golden year in what will be Year 8 of the Greenwood story. I hope that everyone has a wonderful summer.
Final Exams
Final exams–one of the long-standing school traditions. For those of us on the teaching side, exams are a sure sign that the year is almost over. More importantly, they are one way of seeing if students learned what we taught. I know from years of marking English exams, what a delight it is to read a student response that takes the exam question in a direction you hadn’t anticipated or to see a student do his or her best work on the final exam.
From the student perspective, exams can be a bit daunting. You see this on the faces of students as they study in the Lodge or in the Reading Room. It’s a bit quieter than usual in the morning. But then once the exam is over, there is this collective sigh throughout the building. It’s a bit like letting the air out of a balloon. I have been impressed by the way students have worked hard to prepare for exams. I am noticing more review sheets and study notes than I have seen in previous years, which is a good thing. Our students want to do their best, and their teachers want them to do their best as well. It has been immensely satisfying to see teachers and students working together on this shared goal. Now, on to the marking!
A Night at the Theatre
Watching “7 Stories” last night at the George Ignatieff Theatre, I couldn’t help but marvel at the wonderful journey our drama program has taken over the past seven years. This point became clear to me as I climbed the steps to the George Ignatieff Theatre and there in front of me in bright lights was the poster advertising “7 Stories.” Ellen Langille, one of our Grade 10 students, did a great job designing it. Everything else about the production of the play was first-rate, from the cast photos in the lobby and the impressive set, to the promotional campaign the students staged in an effort to drum up enthusiasm for “7 Stories.” I was blown away by Dan Blumberg’s video about the making of the production.
The play itself was superb. It always amazes me how some of our quieter students find their voices through participation in a dramatic production. To me, this is one of the key reasons for having a vital school drama program. Dramatic productions are also a great way to build community. The bond that the cast and crew (membership ranged from Grade 7 through 12) developed during the production was evident to all during the curtain call. I was really pleased to see the warm thank yous from the cast to the teachers who participated in the staging of “7 Stories.” We are fortunate at Greenwood to have a number of teachers with a strong background in the arts. It certainly was evident last night.
Friday Dance Party
One new item this year at Greenwood is the Friday morning dance party. It goes by a few other names as well–Freaky Friday, Party with Hardy, etc. Rather than playing “O’ Canada” to start the day on Friday, we instead begin with a pop tune. More often than not these songs are something you can move your feet to. Afterwards, I follow up with a little quiz for the students about the name of the song and the performing artist. Students e-mail their answers and the first ten correct answers receive house points. So far, students and teachers seem to like this diversion from the customary start to the school day.
I got the idea for the Friday Dance Party from a TV station in Cincinnati. The traffic guy from the station adds some dance moves to his broadcast–the novelty of it gained him some national media attention. I doubt Greenwood will receive the same kind of coverage, but starting one day a week in this manner says a great deal about the positive school climate in the school. Week after week of school can get a bit monotonous, so the dance party provides a bit of break. Some of the students and teachers have developed their own ritual around the dance party. Heather Rigby and her Grade 12 physics class like to go for a dance through the hallways. It is also a pretty good way to earn house points. It also gives me a good excuse to rummage through my old CD’s! So far, I have played selections from David Bowie, Chic, Madonna, Thomas Dolby, Prince, Crystal Waters, and so on. If you have any good selections, feel free to pass them along!