Farewell

“Give, and it shall be given to you. For whatever measure you deal out to others, it will be dealt to you in return.” Matthew 7:2

I would like to inform you that I have been honoured and blessed with a promotion to Acting Assistant Superintendent of Education of Student Success.  My tenure at Christ the King C.S.S. will be coming to an end in the near future.  We do not know who my successor will be at the present time.  I will continue in the role of Principal until otherwise notified by the board.

It has been an honour and privilege to lead such a wonderful Catholic Learning Community for more than four and a half years.  I have been blessed with an outstanding team of educators and students that are simply second to none in our board.

Outside of the wonderful staff that we have been able to recruit during my time at Christ the King, I would hope that I will be remembered for embracing the notion that since we were created in the image of God, every student under our charge is afforded the inalienable right to human dignity; one that guarantees the understanding that every student can learn, progress and achieve.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog over the last three years.  It was intended to share my perspective and to engage the CtK parental community.  I hope that my successor will continue this tradition.

Take care and god bless.

Captain America

At our first staff meeting this year, I shared my reading list with our staff.  Most of the books in some way, shape or form related to education, leadership and theology.  However, for some reason, I did not mention that I have delved back into a childhood hobby of reading comic books again.

My wife and I love to see movies.  If it is "worth its salt", we have probably seen it.  One of these movies was the summer hit, Captain America: The First Avenger.  After watching it, I was inspired to start reading the ultimate collection versions of Captain America by Ed Brubaker.

Why would a patriotic Canadian develop a voracious reading appetite for Captain America comic books?  I am not sure.

Maybe I am struck by Captain America's commitment to a cause and in protecting those that can't protect themselves? Maybe it is his commitment to a moral and ethical manner in which he goes about his role?  Maybe it is his unwavering belief in WHY he does what he does?

Perhaps it is the combination of the above that I relate to as a Catholic Secondary School Administrator?  My role is to lead, mentor, coach and nurture an environment that believes in the dignity of the human person; one which is founded on the belief that everyone has the right to a learning environment in which students can learn, progress and achieve; one that supports the poor and vulnerable; one that is committed to the common good.

The common good....perhaps this is the connection with the shield, red, white and blue.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Student Success

Father Ray Modeski's homily at mass rang true for me this past Saturday.  It hit me as a Catholic educator and as a Catholic Principal at Christ the King C.S.S.

He was recounting a mass he had presided over recently for teacher retirees of the Halton Catholic District School Board.  To wit, he reiterated the words of a long-retired Superintendent in our board.  This gentleman stated that "good students earn our reputation; average students earn our salary; and difficult students earn our salvation."
As you take a moment to re-read this statement,  it sums up what our exceptional teachers do on a daily basis; teachers that embrace, understand and appreciate the complexities of their role and of the students they welcome through their classroom doors everyday that class is in session.  We are very blessed to have a Catholic Learning Environment filled with such teachers.

The Catholic Principal's role is to provide the instructional leadership, resources and job-embedded professional learning opportunities for their teaching staff which in turn will benefit all of our students in terms of meeting their diverse needs in the way curriculum is delivered and assessed. 

It is the Catholic Principal's role to communicate a message and put into practice a vision of discipleship for the entire Catholic Learning Community which directly impacts how we engage and support those students that are vulnerable, poor and/or disenfranchised.  Specifically, each learning environment should layer student success, mental health and co-curricular supports over the academic pieces mentioned earlier.

The Ministry of Education launched phase one of the their student success strategy called "Student Success/Learning to 18" in three phases commencing in 2003.  The goals are:

1. Increase the graduation rate and decrease the drop-out rate;
2. Support a good outcome for all students;
3. Provide students with new and relevant learning opportunities;
4. Build on students' strengths and interests; and
5. Provide students with an effective elementary to secondary school transition.

As you can see in the graphic, graduation rates have been increasing.  We are close to the goal of 85% as a province.

It has been through this strategy that students now have more supports from an intervention standpoint, more cooperative education opportunities that would go toward their Ontario Secondary School Diploma, access to a growing list of Specialist High Skills Major Programs (CtK has three: Arts & Culture, Information & Communication Technology, & a Sports Performance Specialist High Skills Major)

In the end, it is the one-on-one bond that a teacher makes with his/her students.  It is their efforts in opening up their hearts and in looking for Christ in the faces of each student they teach.  This approach will only spirit cooperation, a commitment to excellence and in the end....student success.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

McKinsey and Company Report

I was re-reading the executive summary of the McKinsey Report for reference.  This study was done to find out why some schools succeed where others do not.  Specifically, they studied 20 of the world’s school systems, including ten of the top performers on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which tests student’s in math, reading and science aptitudes.

I mentioned some of the findings at our first staff meeting.  I would like to share some of their findings for your digestion.

FINDINGS

The experiences of these top school systems suggests three things that matter most: 1) getting the right people to become teachers, 2) developing them into effective instructors, 3) ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child.  This is irrespective of the culture in which they are applied as well.

Ontario and Alberta (Canada) students were in the top 10 with Australia, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.

·        Reducing class size from 23 to 15 students improves the performance of an average student by 8 percentile points at best

·        A study in Dallas shows that the performance gap between students assigned three effective teachers in a row, and those assigned three ineffective teachers in a row was 49 percentile points

·        The only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction through professional development

·        High performing school systems help teachers improve instruction, create awareness of weaknesses in their practice, provide them with a precise knowledge of best practice, and motivate them to make the necessary improvements i.e. mentoring, coaching, collaboration, principal’s as instructional leaders  

·        Being a teacher is about helping children to learn; being a principal is about helping adults to learn

·        The PISA scores of the top performing systems show a low correlation between outcomes and the home background of the individual student

·        All of the top-performing and rapidly improving systems have curriculum standards which set clear and high expectations for what students should achieve

·        All of the top-performing systems recognize that they cannot improve what they do not measure

Our school and system are in the intervention stage called great to excellent.

Great to excellent: the interventions of this stage move the locus of improvement from the center to the schools themselves; the focus is on introducing peer-based learning through schoolbased and system-wide interaction, as well as supporting system-sponsored innovation and experimentation

The McKinsey Report has been downloaded below for your reference.

http://ssomckinsey.darbyfilms.com/reports/schools/How-the-Worlds-Most-Improved-School-Systems-Keep-Getting-Better_Download-version_Final.pdf

Thank you for reading.  I am looking forward to your comments.

9/11 - 10th Anniversary

"Fear is the cheapest room in the house.  I would like to see you living in better living conditions."

Words from a 14th Century, Sufi Teacher that I reiterated at our Grade Assemblies last week.  My theme revolved around how fear disables our efforts in walking as a disciple of Jesus and staying true to a course of discipline that would precipitate a commitment to excellence.

I challenged our students to take that step to freedom by staying true to themselves and to be courageous when confronting such obstacles.

Using the American monuments and rebuilding efforts in response to the unspeakable horror that befell New York City, I reminded our students in the Friday morning announcements to pray for the souls of the departed; in particular the first responders who risked and in many cases lost their lives attempting to help those who needed it desperately in conditions replete with fear and gloom.

Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Welcome back!

I hope that your family had a wonderful summer full of rest, relaxation and enjoyment!

Another dynamic year of education is slated to take place at CtK for the 2011-2012 school year. One that is holistic in fashion, with our faith woven into everything that we do in our Catholic Learning Community.

Our Grade 9 Kick Start and Orientation the last week of August was a great success. Our Prefects did a great job acclimatizing our incoming Grade 9 students into the culture of our school.

Grade Assemblies will follow this upcoming week. We will review our eight governing values which are adorned on the beautiful banners in our atrium.

They are as follows:

Sincerity

Integrity

Honesty

Commitment to Excellence

Continuous Improvement

Passion for Learning

Compassion for Life &

Equity/Dignity/Respect.

Our staff selected these values over four years ago as a testament to what they would model and expect from our students.

Our school priorities of Discipline, Discipleship and Discernment will be the fulcrum point for our 2011-2012 School Improvement Plan.

Our CtK family is inclusive, embraces the poor, helps those with mental, social and/or emotional issues and truly endeavours to treat everyone with equity, dignity and respect.

In the end, the message that students will clearly receive from our administration is that they will be loved and cared for. However, expectations will be high in terms of their commitment to excellence in the classroom and co-curriculars. They will also be expected to work on their resiliency in solving problems with our staff and students in a ethical and faith-oriented fashion.

Please remember to visit our website at http://www.ctk.ca/ for school updates. You will also receive updates through our phone and email systems. If you have not submitted your email address to us and wish to receive notifications from our school through this medium, please come to the main office to express your interest.

New blogs will be posted at the beginning of every week until the end of the 2011-2012 school year. My blogs will range from commentary to school news regarding our academic and co-curricular pursuits. Please feel free to post your own comments/questions about this topic or anything else concerning our Catholic Learning Community at CtK.

Thank you for being a part of our family.

Graduation 2011

Below is an excerpt of my address to our 2011 Graduating Class.  There are three themes that have been implicitly and explicitly woven into it.  My explanation alluded to DeSantis' "3 Ds" of Discipline, Discernment and Discipleship.

"How will the value of our days be measured?
What will matter is not what we have, but what we give.
What will matter is not what we have achieved, but your significance.
What will matter is how long we will be remembered, by whom, and for what."
A life of meaning, discipleship, happiness and purpose.

After four or more years of walking with our Catholic Learning Community,
we are comforted by the fact that it has espoused discipleship,
added meaning, purpose, and happiness to all of our lives.

Jesus stated "follow me" 15 times in the Gospels.
We are all followers, learners or Disciples of Christ.
The question is how will we continue to live our faith
as a disciple of Christ in the 21st Century?

It may mean that we will have to look for Christ being present in our world.

It may mean visiting, noticing and listening
to the kinds of people with which Jesus spent time.

Jesus became friends with the nameless,
disenfranchised, poor and the downtrodden.
Jesus stopped to listen to people
and asked questions like
"What can I do for you?"
"What do you want from me?"

Who gets our attention
and who is easily overlooked
in your everyday life?

How often do we recognize Christ in the flesh?
Disciples in the 21st Century
have their eyes wide open.

They notice the Christ standing
in front of them at the bus stop,
in their workplace,
college or university classroom.

And so to the class of 2011,
disciples of the 21st Century,
in the presence of Ms. MacDonald
& Ms. Doyle our Chaplaincy Leader,
our teaching and support staff,
Father Dave,  Father Bob,
Mrs. Alice Anne Lemay – Chair of the Board,
Mr. Mark Rowe - Halton Hills Trustee,
Mrs. Jacqueline Herman, Superintendent of Education,
Mrs. Val Slater, Our Chair of Catholic School Council,
& Award Donors.

I urge you to continue to follow Jesus
by experiencing life in many destinations.

I urge you to practice being a disciple
by noticing Christ in the people you encounter.

I urge you to become a friend by listening,
asking how you can help
and reaching out to those who need you.

May God bless you on your journey in providing hope for tomorrow.

Thank you.


This will be my last blog for the school year.  Thank you for reading and for the occasional comments.  I hope my blog has provided some insight, information and perspective into our Catholic Learning Community.

Baptism

My family attended the baptism of a relative today.

The priest was invitational, calm and very open to the families baptizing their children.

He did not mind the noise made by the children nor by the families in attendance while he was anointing the beautiful children.

As a Catholic educator, it was a refreshing sight to behold. 

The most poignant part of the liturgy was his homily.  The priest related the watering of the plants that were before him on the alter to what we should do as Catholics in nurturing our children's faith. 

He pointed out that we should be careful not to water the plants too much that they become saturated.  In the same vein, he cautioned the audience not to bring their children to every mass on the church schedule as they would become saturated and stray.  Conversely, not watering the plants enough would result in wilting or a disinterest in our faith.

An excellent point that life is a careful medley of checks and balances and the pursuit of our faith should be part of this process for it to grow in a healthy manner.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Clarence Clemons - January 11, 1942 - June 18, 2011

You either love Bruce Springsteen or are indifferent towards him and his music.  I have loved Bruce for over 25 years.  I have all of his music and a bevy of magazines and books dedicated to him and his talented band mates.  I am the fan that would have collected outtakes of his music going back 40 years.  I have a thorough knowledge of all of Springsteen's band mates.....most notably Clarence Clemons.

Why Clarence?  I have seen Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live in concert on several occasions. His concerts are simply second to none in my opinion. Bruce's interplay with Clarence in concert has been legendary.

Despite Clarence's tremendous talent and his seminal contributions to Bruce's music throughout the years, I have always been most touched by the trust, loyalty, compassion, care and camaraderie between Clarence and Bruce: A friendship that exceeded 40 years.

I am unable to think of a better example of a true kinship between two human beings.

You can imagine how I felt when I noticed this message on CNN this past Saturday evening.

Legendary rock saxophonist Clarence Clemons died Saturday of complications from a stroke, band mate Bruce Springsteen said. He was 69.

Clemons had played sax in Springsteen's E Street Band off and on since 1972.

"Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage," Springsteen said in a statement.

"His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly 40 years. He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band."

So....on this day...Father's Day.....Clarence has  left behind four children.  I have been examining my own mortality, my friendships and the love for my wife and children. 

While I never met Clarence, I felt that I really knew him through Bruce's music, his part in it, and the love he and Bruce had for one another.

May God bless his soul.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments

Equity and Inclusive Education

Our secondary schools have always been inclusive simply by virtue of open access.  Also, we have always  ensured that staff and students are able to thrive in a safe, equitable and inclusive learning environment.  This has been nurtured with the advent of Safe Schools and Progressive Discipline legislation.  To wit, CtK's implementation of restorative justice practices in the classroom and in the way our administration deals with conflict has added an extra layer of security and equity for students.

Our board has been mired in the news with respect to the Equity and Inclusive Education Policy.  Below are excerpts from our board website speaking to the action  steps in this regard.

On May 3, 2011, the Halton Catholic District School Board passed its new Equity and Inclusive Education Policy (#II-45) . In compliance with the Ministry of Education’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy, this policy provides a comprehensive framework that ensures equity and inclusive practices in all aspects of Board and school operations, including: Board policies, programs, procedures and practices, leadership, school/community relationships, religious accommodation, school climate and prevention of discrimination and harassment, professional learning, accountability and transparency; while remaining entirely consistent with Catholic teaching.
As a Catholic school system that teaches the respect, dignity and love of all people, our Board is committed to providing safe, equitable and inclusive school environments. Our schools encourage acceptance and understanding of all students through initiatives intended to provide supports to any student who may feel marginalized or isolated for any reason. Ultimately, it remains our priority to ensure safe and inclusive environments for everyone in all of our Catholic school communities.

Within the parameters established by this policy, the following action steps will be put in place to ensure that every student is free from harassment, violence, or malice in speech or in action:

•By Your SIDE (Safety, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity) Secondary School Student Focus Groups
•Student Senate and Student Trustee dialogue
•SIDE Spaces programs
•Establishing Networks with Catholic School Boards and Community Agencies to determine best practices in creating equity, inclusivity and safety in schools

Below is the Ontario's Equity and Inclusivity Education Strategy which precipitated boards across the province to take substantial action.

http://cal2.edu.gov.on.ca/april2009/EquityEducationStrategy.pdf

Parents will receive an email which will include comments from the Ontario Catholic Trustees Association and the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario in the following days.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Summer Blast Carnival 2011

“When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.”

This type of passion was exemplified at our 3rd Annual Summer Blast Carnival last Thursday, June 2 from 11 am to 8 pm at CtK.

Thanks to the support of our student body and our community, we easily eclipsed the funds raised at last year's event for our CtK Cares Foundation.

What was most impressive was the synergy that developed between key staff members and our student leaders in the planning, organizing and implementation of this initiative.

Once again, when given the opportunity, our staff outperformed last year's efforts.

Our student leaders from Student Council, Student Athletic Association and the Prefects in particular proved that they could excel at a level that exceeded our school's high expectations. This came to fruition not just in the evolution of the planning but in the way they deported themselves with the many families that attended Summer Blast between 4 pm and 8 pm. They were respectful, helpful and very interactive with the children which to me was more impactful than any amount of money we raised.

Our students were excellent role models and ambassadors for our Catholic Learning Community. Their efforts undoubtedly left indelible positive memories in the minds of the children of which they engaged.

I can't think of a better way to inspire our future CtK students.

On behalf of CtK, I would like to thank everyone that supported Summer Blast!

See you again next year.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments.

The Purpose of Life is a Life with Purpose

Our Grade 12 students celebrated with their Graduation Dance this past Friday night.

For all intents and purposes, their behaviour was outstanding!  They were respectful, composed, elegant and had a great time! 

I mentioned to our students before the night began that they should be proud of their achievements thus far.  Their upcoming graduation is the culmination of hard work, commitment and continuous improvement.  In addition, they should feel successful that they are celebrating such a fact as they take one more step in their journey towards adulthood.

Our staff is very proud of you and took the time to learn what for many of us (myself included) was a complicated dance routine.  I hope that you enjoyed our flash dance as it was in your honour.

You are the essence of God's spirit and our Catholic Learning Community hopes that you continue to shine his light as you continue to build a life with purpose.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Graduation Dance - May 27, 2011

Last year at around this time I posted a rather controversial blog regarding my thoughts on the unruly behaviour of our students at the Graduation Dance.

I received more comments to that blog than any other post before or since.  I had just as many supporters as detractors for the record.

Time and consideration has had our Graduation planning committee hire a security company in addition to the usual duo of police officers. 

The security company will be checking every student seeking admission to our dance for alcohol, drugs and/or weapons.  They will be making the determination to deny admittance to students that appear to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.  

Please understand that the staff at CtK will not be making this decision.  Students attending the Graduation Dance have already received this important message from our Vice-Principals. 

Our role will be to supervise the students granted admittance to celebrate what for all intents and purposes is the culmination of four years of hard work and dedication to reach the goal of graduation. 

We would kindly ask parents/guardians to ensure that their children refrain from consuming any alcohol prior to this event.  Your partnership in  this regard is appreciated.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

The Fraser Report

The 2009-2010 Fraser Report for Secondary Schools was released a week ago. It is a “report card” on Ontario schools. The report collects a variety of data of relevant objective indicators of school performance. Specifically, the Fraser Report isolates the results of each school's Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) and Grade 9 Math EQAO Assessment.

We are now ranked at the top of our board and sixth in all of Halton.

CtK achieved a score of 7.8/10. Overall, in the Province of Ontario, we ranked 79/727 Secondary Schools.

In the area of Grade 9 Academic Math, CtK's average level was 3.0 on a scale of 1-4.  In the area of Grade 9 Applied Math, our average level was 2.6 on a scale of 1-4.

With respect to the OSSLT, we had a 94.1% success rate.

Last but not least is an indicator that speaks volumes in terms of how close the rest of our students achieved on the OSSLT and the Math EQAO.  Specifically, the percentage of students that were not successful on the literacy test and did not achieve the standard of at least a level 3 on the Math Assessment. Our percentage has fallen every year and is now at 15.5%.  This indicates that more and more of our students are meeting the standard in the OSSLT and EQAO Math Assessment.

http://ontario.compareschoolrankings.org/secondary/Christ_the_King_Catholic_Secondary_School/Georgetown/Report_Card.aspx

As a Commerce graduate, the analysis of data and the use of it to drive our school improvement planning is something of which I spend a great deal of time.  Some of my colleagues and staff would concur.  Our board and even the Ministry of Education stresses the importance of "data-driven" decision-making.

I am the first to acknowledge that the Fraser Report doesn't provide the entire picture of what many would deem a successful school.  While it may provide a piece of the very complicated puzzle that defines a school's success, it doesn't measure credit accumulation, graduation, retention and pass rates for example.  These are key data pieces that schools use to monitor success.

However, what about the intangibles?  How do you effectively measure the success of a school in nurturing variables such as compassion, resiliency, creativity, critical thinking, happiness, self-esteem, school spirit, and equity?  I suppose data can help you gleam suppositions of these variables and surveys may provide some insight but there is always a certain probability of error and bias.  In many cases, these pieces can only be ascertained through anecdotal evidence and through relationship building.

How does one truly measure our cultural monolith...Catholic Leadership Conference... held every year during Catholic Education Week?  Our Catholic Learning Community just knows that it is a very important and famously successful initiative because of what we see, hear and feel during this event.

How does one truly measure the success of our inaugural Grade 8 Sleepover this past weekend?  How will we be able to ascertain what impact this will have on these incoming Grade 9 students with respect to their success in our school over the next four or five years?

Maybe the email from a parent the night of this event thanking me for allowing the sleepover to occur and citing what a wonderful impact it had on her son is all we need to measure our success?

Below is an article from the NY Times that addresses the obsession with data.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/your-money/23shortcuts.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=alina%20tugend&st=cse

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Happy Mother's Day!

The beauty of the Lord abides in a mother’s love.

Mothers are often the back bone and essence of every family.

Mothers nurture, protect, instill confidence, love and provide guidance and direction.

Mothers tend to be the primary caregiver and as such often further entrench the inherent bond with their children. 

Where there is a happy father, I can assure you that the odds are very good that there is a mother that has profoundly had a hand in this happiness.

Mothers are so significant to families that their loss is felt deeply regardless of our age.  To these families, my prayers and thoughts go out to you on this day in particular.

Let me sign off with acknowledging Mary, Jesus' mother.  We should keep in mind that when we pray the Rosary, we are praying WITH Mary to Jesus.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments.

Virtual Voting

I was listening to the Mike Stafford morning show on AM 640.  His topic addressed whether or not we should be given the opportunity to vote online for the federal election.  This service was available for the first time in Burlington, Ontario for our 2010 Municipal Elections.  Did I vote online?  Not this time.

What about you?  Would you vote online?

Stafford had a flurry of listeners call in to give their opinions.  With no surprise, the feedback flipped back and forth in favour or not in favour of being able to vote online.

Proponents argued that due to our fast pace, facebook, twitter, "bbm" ing, texting society, such a service would be well received and dramatically increase the participation rate of voting by Canadians.

Opponents argued that has society decayed that much that we were unable to personally go to a voting station and place our vote?  This would allow for intensive reflection regarding the merits of the candidates and who would inevitably be their choice.  These people cited that online voters would not give the time required to make conscientious decisions.  In fact, they worried that the fringe groups like the Rhinoceros Party (still hovering in Quebec according to Stafford) would get a ton of votes due to the ease of pointing and clicking online.

Below is a link to the podcast of this show if you are interested.

http://www.640toronto.com/HostsandShows/MikeStafford/Audio.aspx

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

"21 Things That Will Be Obsolete by 2020"

No desks?  No Homework?  Differentiated Instruction As A Sign of A Distinguished Teacher?

These are some of the twenty one predictions in a recent Mind/Shift online article by Shelly Blake-Plock that was inspired by Sandy Speicher's vision of the designed school day of the future. 

What about no computers?  I do agree with the author that mobile computing will exponentially grow over the decade in terms of use and technological enhancements which will render the demand for the computer desktop to fall appreciably....to the point of total elimination....I doubt it.  One could argue that geo-socio-economic variables will still create "have and have not" school communities.  Also, there are huge network and security issues with students getting access to and sharing school information and data online with their own personal devices. 

This is a great article because there are posted comments for which the author has responded.  The article is on the link below.

http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/03/21-things-that-will-be-obsolete-by-2020/

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

"Inside the Sin Bin"....there is an app for that!

This Sunday's edition of the Toronto Star had a very interesting article on how Catholics rush to confession to cleanse their souls.

The feature writer, Mary Ormsby, goes into great detail regarding the origins, history, sequence and purpose of confession.

Catholics are expected to make a confession at least once a year.  The practice has dropped off dramatically as many priests would concede.  However, Easter represents a time for renewal and brings with it many Catholics who have the need to participate in the sacrament of reconciliation.

I do get a sense of relief and re-birth after going to confession.  I am not sure if that is a result of meeting the standards of the Catholic Church, my Italian mother, or coming to terms with my own conscience.

What caught my eye in this article is that there is an app for helping one prepare for confessions!  For some reason I was not surprised.  I downloaded it for $1.99 onto my iPad. 

The app allows me to customize the examination of my conscience by adding sins, traking time of my last confession and choosing from seven different Acts of Contrition.

Here is the article if you are interested.

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/975909--confession-the-inside-view

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.  As an aside, mid-term reports will be distributed this Thursday, April 21, 2011.

School Field Trips

One of the things that I am most proud of is our staff’s compassion and caring for our students. The evidence …. our very successful student success and mental health strategies….our credit accumulation and pass rates….and more importantly…the student testimonials and many unadvertised cases of how we have truly made a difference in our students’ lives.

Many of our students come to CtK for a home…for attention….for care….for compassion…for direction…for mentorship…and most importantly and based on why we do what we do…for a holistic education as Christ in the nucleus.

We need to keep in mind that every staff member in our building is part of a complex system that implicitly and explicitly prepares the students under our care for their journey beyond CtK.

Experiential learning through school sanctioned field trips are part of this educational process.

The purpose of this blog is to address a concern from staff that some of our students seem to think that they are not responsible for the work that they miss and consequently should not be assessed on this material as a result.

As parents/guardians, please make every effort to remind your children that they are responsible for the work that they miss as a result of a school field trip in another class. 

Be assured that our staff will work with students to make alternate arrangements to complete the missed assessment or work as a result of going on a sanctioned field trip.  It is our hope that your children will understand their partnership in this process.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your thoughts and comments.

Goldfish

School Generated Funds, school buses, board policy, teachers, suspension appeals, curriculum, assessment and evaluation practices, gay/straight alliances, school closures on a snow day, the parking position of the school buses overnight in our parking lot ..........and now goldfish!

I received an email from a student this weekend that questioned if our school will be more responsible with the care of goldfish at this year's Summer Blast Carnival in June.

We gave out goldfish to children at last year's Carnival as prizes. Apparently, this concerned student thought that it was a cruel and inhumane way to treat goldfish. Specifically, she cited that "fish are living, sentient creatures....and that it has been scientifically proven that they can feel pain in the same ways as humans. I see absolutely no reason that our students would need to be given a living creature in order to have fun. The thought that students take them home, put them in a lake or a river, flush them down the toilet, of put them in a bowl until they die makes me sick."

I shared her thoughts with some of my staff whose children received goldfish last year. Surprisingly, the fish are still alive on all counts!

I appreciate the young lady's concerns as our family has a horrible record of keeping our goldfish alive for any decent period of time.

That said....I will bring up this worry to our team as I do the majority of questions that I get from students, parents and/or community stakeholders.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your thoughts....How are your goldfish doing???

Catholics Come Home

It is approximately 8:30 am Sunday Morning and my wife and I are enjoying coffee and breakfast in front of our TV.  I usually watch NHL on the Fly in an attempt to catch up on what transpired in the National Hockey League the night previous.  Of course, at 9 am we focus our attention on the Sunday Morning Show on CBS. I would miss this week's version as I had to take one of my daughters to her basketball tournament.

Back to 8:30 am.  Just as I was about to go upstairs to wake up my daughter, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a commercial that came on the TV.  It was from an organization called Catholics Come Home. 

It was a commercial promoting our faith! It was riveting and, quite frankly, made me proud to be Catholic.  In a world filled with chaos, hardship and pain......the commercial invites us back to the Church. 

In the face of the controversial issues regarding our clergy and the diminishing participants in church every Sunday, this organization is making a concerted effort to herald the inherent beauty and significant positive impact that the Catholic Church has had on the the evolution of our civilization.

I invite you to visit the site below to view the commercial (click on "Epic Commercial" when you get to the home page) and its contents.  Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

http://www.catholicscomehome.org/index.php

"New Moon Rising"

On March 19, 2011 the Moon passed by Earth at a distance of 356,577 kilometers (221,567 miles) – the closest pass in 18 years. 

Our family pulled over on Lakeshore Blvd in Burlington on our way back from South Carolina to take a quick look at this magnificent site.

This beautiful act of nature is in direct opposition to the  unmitigated disaster that has taken place in Japan due to a natural disaster.

The environment is to be respected, nurtured and loved.  To that end, please join us at Christ the King to celebrate Earth Hour March 26th for our "Star Gazing" Event hosted by Halton Hills Hydro and the Town of Halton Hills.  Please view the website below for details.

http://www.haltonhills.ca/coe/eventdetail.php?id=1592

Thank you for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

I am thankful!

Lent is the 40 day period of fasting and prayer from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday before Easter. The 40 days represents the time Jesus spent in the desert overcoming temptation by Satan. The period of Lent is preparation for the annual commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, celebrated during Holy Week. Lent is a Teutonic word , meaning spring season.

Lent is also a time for reflection.  A time to be thankful for the goodness that the Lord has bestowed upon us.  Life is temporal and I think that we tend to take it for granted as we concern ourselves with needs and wants in one of the most economically and politically stable countries in the world.

There has been great tragedy and turmoil in other parts of the world.  You have the recent earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan; the uprisings for democratic governments in Tunisia and Egypt; and the current revolutions against autocratic governments in Yemen and Bahrain.

While we are sympathetic, torn and compassionate for the losses of life and assets in these countries, we are still sheltered from the true grief that has befallen these people.

This past Friday, I articulated how thankful I am as a husband, father, friend and Principal of Christ the King C.S.S. 

As Lent prepares us for a new beginning, we will pray for those people who have suffered unspeakable calamities and it is my hope that this period of time brings forward a spirit of hope and rejuvenation for them.

Critical Thinking in the Classroom

Critical Thinking has been cited by many pundits in education as one of the key 21st Century Learning Skills that must be instilled in our students in preparation for what will unfold in the years to come.

The quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought.  Poor thinking costs our society financially and in our quality of life.

Are we doing enough to foster Critical Thinking in our students?

The Foundation for Critical Thinking (http://www.criticalthinking.org/) defines critical thinking as "the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it."

This organization states that a well cultivated thinker:

• raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
• comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
• thinks openmindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
• communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.

Our Catholic Learning Community is blessed with many excellent teachers that have embraced critical thinking as a piece in their instructional and assessment practices.  We are definitely "out of the harbour" in this process in most of our departments. 

Specifically, our Department Heads were in-serviced in Critical Literacy and subsequently their staff members have discussed or will discuss plans for the consistent application of critical literacy in all of their subject areas as we move forward.  This is a SMART goal in our 2010-2011 School Improvement Plan. 

We have focused on "Critical Reading" questions which are cited not only on the Foundation's website but the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat's website (Capacity Building Series) as well.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/capacityBuilding.html

1. What is the author's purpose.
2. What key questions or problems does the author raise?
3. What information, data, and evidence does the author present?
4. What key concepts does the author use to organize this information, this evidence?
5. What key conclusions is the author coming to?  Are those conclusions justified?
6. What are the author's primary assumptions?
7. What viewpoints is the author writing from?
8. What are the implications of the author's reasoning?

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments and thoughts.

Educational Assistant Appreciation Day

We do make a difference!

Monday, February 28, 2011 is Educational Assistant Appreciation Day.  The theme of the day is cited above.

We have ten wonderful Educational Assistants (EAs).  These "unsung" heroes are deployed through our Department Head of Special Education.  Educational practice cites that EAs are assigned to the needs of our developmentally delayed students first and foremost in conjunction with teaching staff.  That said, there are many occasions where our EAs are working with other at risk students within the classrooms of our school in association with our teachers.

What does an EA do with these students?

They care for them physically, psychologically, emotionally and academically.  Our EAs do this through love, compassion, care and dignity.  EAs coach, are members of our Catholic School Council and have a voice in the direction of the needs of our special education students.

In short...they "do make a difference" in the lives of our most exceptional students in the school.  Their contributions to our Catholic Learning Community are invaluable.

On behalf of the staff, support staff, students and parents of Christ the King Catholic Secondary School, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to our Educational Assistants for all of the work that you do in relative anonymity.

iPad Pilot Study at CtK

Our school has been approved through 21st Century Learning funding to run a pilot study with a class set of iPads!

In a nutshell, a cohort of students taking Grade 9 Applied Math and English, of which some have exceptionalities, will be given the opportunity to use iPads in a cross-curricular effort.  The students' attendance and achievement will be measured before, during and after the use of the iPads.

So the question is....does technology make learning easier, more efficient or more motivating?

There have been widespread claims to this effect.

We will find out with our pilot study.  Our students and staff will complete a survey that addresses the ease, efficiency and motivation issues.

Either way, it is my opinion that ease and efficiency should not be the leading criteria for advocating and implementing computer technology in schools. I assert that to produce more meaningful learning, computer technologies need to be designed according to sound learning theories and pedagogy.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.  Happy Family Day tomorrow!

Christ the King C.S.S. to be honoured with the Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) will be honouring Christ the King Catholic Secondary School on February 22, 2011, with the Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement.

This honour will be presented in recognition of the school community’s dedication to student achievement and use of provincial assessment results to improve student learning, as well as the school’s leadership, positive attitude and sincere effort to help every student succeed.

As the Principal of Christ the King, I am very fortunate to have such an exemplary array of shared leadership, teaching and support staff that not only  believe in our vision but model it in every aspect within our Catholic Learning Community.

A special thank you is extended to our wonderful students and parents who without their dedication, prepartion and support, this special recognition of our collective efforts would not be possible.

Please refer to the link below for more details regarding our literacy, numeracy and data-driven instructional, assessment and evaluation strategies.

http://www.hcdsb.org/News/Pages/2011-02-07-Christ-the-King-Catholic-Secondary-School-in-Georgetown-to-be-Honoured-by-EQAO.aspx

Thank you for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Shepherd Leadership

Isn't this photo from LIFE worth a thousand words?!  It inspired me to mention a book that I have recently read.
 
Specifically, our board has embraced a book called Shepherd Leadership that gleams the wisdom for leaders from King David's Psalm 23. 

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

The authors, Blaine McCormick and David Davenport parse each verse and draw leadership analogies to how a shepherd tends to its flock and how a leader interacts with those that are under his/her charge.

I will refrain from citing all the key messages from this book because I hope that you will read it.  However, I will touch upon one key message which alludes to the picture and to the most important function that we have as educators for our children.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me."

We are behooved to lead and protect our disenfranchised and/or wayward students with courage and compassion so that we not only role model for them but nurture the resiliency required to effectively meet life's challenges.

Thank you for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Thank You Notes

When was the last time you sent someone a hand written thank you note?

Has social networking on Facebook, texting, instant messaging and email all but eradicated this act of sentimentality?

Sending hand written thank you notes was covered on my favourite TV show, CBS Sunday Morning.  They interviewed a man that wrote a book about the 365 thank you notes that he sent last year; called "365 Thank You Notes."  He cited that the hand written thank you notes literally made him feel better and brought better relationships into his life.

I think it still holds tremendous value in sending someone a personal hand written note acknowledging a good deed, a job well done, or a friendship for example.

Our staff sends out "Good News Postcards" to students.  This Postcard was the brain child of our wonderful Student Success Teacher, Mrs. Patterson.  These cards acknowledge any positive behaviour one could imagine. 

From my perspective, I have sent out notes to students for high achievement levels or for something as simple as achieving all of their credits in a school year or for just doing a good deed.  Each student has a different story which would dictate the message on the card.  I have received positive feedback from the students that received the cards and even more feedback from their parents.  Why? 

People still have a true appreciation for the time and effort that it takes to write a note to someone else.  This is why I have sent hand written notes to staff in the past.  As well, I hand sign report cards and often add notes on them......all 1600 or so in the first semester.

People like to feel and touch the hand written word and just get more sentiment out of this mode of communication than a Facebook message or a Tweet.  At least...this is my opinion.

Go ahead....send someone your best wishes.....you will both benefit.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to you thoughts and comments.  As an aside, Semester I Report Cards will be distributed to students on the 4th of February.

Childhood Obesity

Over the last 25 years, there has been an alarming rise in the proportion of overweight and obese children.  Obesity rates among children and youth have nearly tripled during this period.  It is an issue that affects children everywhere in Canada.  Like tobacco use, obesity substantially increases the risk of developing some of the most debilitating chronic diseases; obesity contributes to type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

The Government of Canada has taken to help Canadian children live healthy lifestyles including:

• The Children's Fitness Tax Credit
• Eat Well and Be Active Toolkit &
• The Nutrition Facts Education Campaign

The Ontario Ministry of Education has created a Healthy Schools Recognition Program where schools can apply for a Healthy Schools Recognition Certificate.  Schools are required to submit an acceptance form whereby they pledge to undertake at least one healthy school initiative.

Our school will be applying this year as we have always implemented a myriad of initiatives that speak to the physical fitness and well being of our students.  Most notably, our breakfast program in partnership with Halton Food For Thought and our Inside Ride Campaign.  The former provides a healthy breakfast of raw cut oatmeal and fruit and the latter includes a large population of our Catholic Learning Community that spins for over an hour in teams in an effort to fundraise for cancer research.  (Please note that our school has just been approved to deliver a Health and Physical Education Specialist High Skills Major for the 2011-2012 school year.  See Guidance for details.)

We are also applying for a special grant that will allow at-risk students to spin for an hour first thing in the morning while monitoring their heart rates in an effort to improve their physical well being.  This class will allow them to exercise and achieve a Health and Physical Education credit.  We will also ensure that key courses such as English, Math and/or Science directly follow this first period class.  Research findings cited from a wonderful book called "Spark" by Dr. Ratey, indicate that they will fare better in such courses right after exercise as opposed to any other time in the day.

He chronicles the positive effects that aerobic exercise has on the brain which in turn positively impacts, stress, depression, dementia, hormones and ADD/ADHD.  Since more difficult classes such as math and science take place right after the aerobic exercise, there will be enough time to take advantage of the benefits of this exercise before it dissipates.

Dr. Ratey states scientific research indicates that aerobic exercise improves an individual's mental ccognition, takes the edge off by balancing the key attention, behavioural and motivational neurotransmitters of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.  This will in turn improve academic success in courses such as English, Math and/or Science as the brain is in its optimum mode to receive and synthesis information.

Oh an by the way, have you heard about the soon to be implemented Policy/Program Memorandum No. 150?  This is a beauty!  It is the new School Food and Beverage Policy for September 2011.  It will directly impact what schools in elementary and secondary sell to our children.  Schools will need to account for what they sell by following a stringent formula that includes essential nutrients and lower amounts of fat, sugar and/or sodium.  More to come on this topic.  Just to leave you with the type of impact this may have on school commissions derived from cafeteria and school store sales that go directly back into the educational needs of our students...the following list are some of the products no longer allowed for sale in schools....

• all soft drinks diet or otherwise
• all sports drinks
• french fries
• cream cheese
• bagels
• chocolate bars and all candy
• chips
• anything that is fried

Our fear is that students will just leave the building in droves during lunch to go to nearby fast food franchises to indulge despite the Ministry of Education's efforts to instill environments promoting healthy lifestyles.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.

Principal Opposes Academic and Co-curricular Awards

I was listening to a Toronto talk show on the way home from one of my daughter's basketball games.  I caught the end of the show which was debating the merits of recognizing students for academic and co-curricular awards.  The talk show host was interviewing a Principal and had a panel discussing the merits of such a system in our schools.

In a nutshell, the Principal opposed awarding students at the end of a school year as it "alienates and adversely affects the self-esteem of the students who did not receive awards."

As I mulled over the opinions tossed around on the show, it did not change my opinion. 

I believe in a system of awards as long as it embraces student success.

Two of our governing values revolves around continuous improvement and a commitment to excellence.  We articulate that this may differ between students.  Our expectation is that everyone  (staff, support staff and students) gives their very best everyday. 

Success is relative and can materialize in different forms depending on the student.

For example, student A could be an honour roll student who culminates his academic career with the Governor's General Award.  Student B could be a great athlete who ends up winning Athlete of the Year.  Student C could be a student who came from difficult personal circumstances.  With the help of a caring teaching staff, interventions from the student success team, hard work from the student and financial help from the school, Student C achieves enough credits to graduate.  A goal that seemed like an impossibility two years ago. 

The key is to create an environment that celebrates its student achievements in different ways.  Students in our Catholic Learning Environment understand that such recognition takes place in many different forms.

Thanks for reading.  Looking forward to your comments.



A Going Concern at CtK: The Inappropriate Use of Technology

Dear Parents:

I am concerned. 

For the last three years, our school has initiated the following to deal with an increasing and disturbing trend that combines bullying, harassment, and intimidation with cell phone technology and Facebook. 

We have:

1. Updated the student's knowledge on how to safeguard themselves from vulnerable and predatory situations on Facebook and Twitter through presentations from Chris Vollum.  Mr. Vollum is provincially renowned for his work in elementary and secondary schools in this field.
2. Spoken to our students at every grade assembly at the start of every semester regarding such issues.  In addition, we outline the possible disciplinary consequences from the school and the police.
3. Constantly reminded students on the morning announcements about their moral and ethical responsibilities regarding the proper  use of technology in our Catholic Learning Community.
4. Blocked access to Facebook and virtually all sites that would be in breach of our Catholic values on school property (e.g. pornographic sites, violent games etc).
5. Implemented an array of anti-bullying strategies that involve guest speakers, chaplaincy initiatives, teacher/student interactive activities, student led activities and of course our curriculum.

Moreover, a large component of our School Improvement Plan (http://www.ctk.ca/) is dedicated to the mental and emotional well being of our students. 

This area of student  need is not going away and students will continue to make very poor choices in how they treat one another using social network sites and cell phone technology. 

I chat with my colleagues regarding the pros/cons of technology and what is imperative to be instilled in our students for the opportunities in the 21st Century.  Cell phone technology and its use in the classroom is a controversial topic.  While I am on the fence, many people that I have spoken to regarding this topic are vehemently opposed.  "Teenagers just can't be trusted with their cell phones in a learning environment"  is the common retort.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is hard to argue with such a response in light of what has been happening at our school and those across the province.  Below is an article regarding cell phones in the classroom.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754972

Thank you for reading.  Looking forward to your thoughts and comments.