The Voice: Brittany Kennell - Lester B. Pearson School Board

The Pearson News
DRAFT
Volume XVIII No. 8
Avril/April 2016
GRATUIT/FREE
Director
General’s
Report to
Council
Mission: Possible
DU DIRECTEUR
FROM THE
by Michael Chechile
This month I had the opportunity to visit Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School where
the students showcased their
end-of-year IB projects in the
newly-renovated 21c library.
They also showed off their relaxation room, a project started
by their spiritual animator Sheila
Southon. The room was opened
to allow students to have a safe,
calm space for peaceful reflection during their busy days.
I visited the Pearson Adult and
Career Centre to get a glimpse of
their impressive programs, from
butchery to dental hygiene. I
was impressed with their professional environment, passionate
staff and engaged students.
On March 29th, the Communications & Innovations team visited Riverdale High School’s grade
9 “Coding” class taught by Mike
Gabe. A Q&A session was held
where the team and students
shared their thoughts about the
future, the educational path towards a career in coding and
the potential throughout many
industries where coding is required.We hope to visit other
schools.
Next I visited Allancroft and
Place Cartier. The students
were incredibly inspiring; they
showed me their motivational
board where they had written
about what drives them to go to
school every day, who inspires
them and motivational comments for other students and
a class gave me homework on
my stance over banning plastic
bags. At Sunshine, the grade 5
and 6 showed off their amazing
claymation videos.
I was also able to attend the
FIRST robotics competition at
the beginning of the month,
where two of our schools – Lakeside Academy and LaSalle Community Comprehensive – participated. The competition was
held at Uniprix Stadium and was
broadcasted online for public
viewing. Over 2000 people participate in the challenge and it
truly was a sight to see. Congratulations to the two teams!
I was able to do a Google
Hangout with the grade seven
quantum students at Lindsay
Place High School. They had a
lot of questions about technology and how we can use it to
better our schools and our classrooms. Needless to say, they all
have very bright futures ahead
of them!
I was given the honour of participating in this year’s Battle of
the Books. Students from five
of our high schools – Riverdale,
St. Thomas, LaSalle Community
Comprehensive,
Pierrefonds
See CHECHILE page A2
“I want the kids’ first memories here to be fun,” says Douglas
Stewart, the principal of St. Lawrence Academy Senior, as he walks
through the extensively decorated halls of his school.
The school will be home to a lot
more students in the next school
year. In December it was announced that St. Lawrence Academy Senior and Junior schools as
well as Orchard Elementary would
be merging. The senior building
will remain open to accommodate all of the students, so Stewart knew he needed to invite the
students of the junior school and
Orchard to their new school soon
enough.
GÉNÉRAL ET DE LA PRÉSIDENTE
DIRECTOR GENERAL & CHAIRMAN
“This day was put together by
my staff completely. I can’t take
credit for anything, these guys are
amazing.”
The theme of the day was ‘Mission: Possible’, a cutesy play-onwords with an important underlying meaning; it will be possible to
bring these three schools together
to live in harmony.
The school was decorated impeccably; there were different
stations set up and the students
would rotate stations, all of them
spy-themed. Crepe paper strung
across hallways was actually a laser
obstacle course, a colouring page
was transformed into personalized spy medallions and crumbs
of food were actually tiny pieces
of evidence leading to pieces of a
lost map. After each mission, the
groups would unveil a clue leading them to the “lost rubies” they
needed to find in order to win.
As students from St. Lawrence
Academy Junior and Orchard Elementary filed in, their eyes were
filled with wonder. Cries of “That
looks so cool!” and “I wonder what
that’s for!” filled the hallways. One
student even said, “I can’t wait to
go to this school because this is
where my big brother goes. I’m excited to be in the same school as
him!”
Stewart and his superstar staff
also invited popular party-plan-
DU CONSEIL
OF THE BOARD
Chairman’s
Report
to Council
ning agency Dynamix to the
school to set up blow-up obstacle
courses and fun games for the students. The gym was buzzing with
students who couldn’t wait to
complete their “mission” by jumping over and dodging obstacles
inside a monstrous inflatable dinosaur.
Everywhere you looked, it was
nothing but smiles and giggles.
by Suanne Stein Day
The students also took great pleasure in seeing their principals and
teachers dressed like spies.
It was clear, from the looks of
pure joy on faces of students, staff
and administration, that Stewart
Spring has finally sprung!
has nothing to worry about – this
Oh wait, I think I said that last
mission is clearly possible.
month…
well, maybe this
time…
A sure sign of Spring though
is the TOPS Show and, as you’ve
already heard, this year’s show
was exceptional. TOPS is a
very real example of education
in action. TOPS is not a talent
show, it’s not a variety show.
It’s a learning experience – it’s
an education in the arts. Our
students don’t just come on
stage and sing or dance. They
have worked for months, giving
up their Saturdays (“thanks for
making early Saturday mornings fun”, said one student to
Director Ashley Daniel Foot),
practicing and rehearsing, understanding how their piece of
the bigger puzzle fits in, learning teamwork, show production, choreography, singing
techniques. They all got the
chance to move out of their
comfort zone and I think all
the audiences appreciated the
result. One more time for the
cameras, Ashley, thank you so
much for the efforts put in this
year and thank you to your
wonderful team of volunteers,
coaches, production assistants
and students.
The Voice:
Brittany Kennell
Brittany Kennell started out
like a lot of students in our
board. A student growing up in
the West Island, coming to St.
Thomas every day to enrich and
educate herself, maybe a bit unsure of what her path would look
like once she left high school.
However, she was sure of one
thing – she wanted to sing.
There was one teacher at St.
Thomas who encouraged her
to follow her dreams of being a
singer-songwriter. His name was
Mr. Frank Nash; he was a science
teacher but also organized the
school’s annual variety show. Mr. Nash’s encouragement
helped her stay focused on her
dream. Her first time performing
in the variety show, she sang No
One by Alicia Keys with her best
friend. She has come a very long
way since her first variety show
performance at St. Thomas –
she is now the only Canadian
contestant to ever make it onto
the popular American television
singing competition The Voice.
On April 1, Brittany dropped
by her old high school and performed for current staff and students. She was able to spend
time afterwards answering
questions and offering advice to
students who used to be in her
shoes – unsure of their future,
but sure of their passion and
creativity.
“You need to follow your
dreams,” she said. “You need to
find that thing in your life that
makes you happy and hold onto
it.”
To learn more about the Lester B. Pearson School Board’s
Autism Spectrum Disorders Centre of Excellence, visit:
http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/asdn/index.asp
This month we also celebrated Adult Learner’s Week at the
board. Several events were
planned to highlight the successful pathways available to
learners. From the Continuing
Education Roadshow that presents the options to our high
school students, to the celebration here in the boardroom,
where students share with us
their stories and their pride in
their education. Those stories
are all highly moving, motivating and encouraging. They tell
of struggle, strength and success. Adult and Vocational studies are wonderful options for so
many people for a wide variety
of reasons. We are proud to offer a full range of offerings giving adults, young and old, another opportunity to live, work
and succeed in Quebec.
Schools are already planning
their end of year celebrations
and the invitations to graduation exercises have started to
arrive. It’s truly a great honour
for us here on council to celebrate and acknowledge the
success of our students. That
is, after all, what it’s all about.
It’s why the commissioners and
administrators, teachers and
support staff, in fact all employSee STEIN page A2
A2Pearson News
Chechile,
from page A1
Comprehensive and Macdonald – participated in the annual
challenge. Many thanks to the
librarians and educators that
brought these amazing students
together to celebrate literacy in
our schools!
I had the pleasure of meeting
David Johnston, our Governorgeneral, at MacDonald High
School. He spoke to the students
about the importance of volunteerism. The school has been
involved with Live for the Cause
- a Montreal-based organization
that links volunteerism and philanthropy to help raise money
for a medley of causes close to
our hearts. He said, “A kind act
not only affects you, but affects
everyone around you.”
I attended the 13th annual
TOPS. TOPS is a true manifestation of the talent and passion we
see in our students. Congratulations to the staff and students
involved!
Beacon Hill Elementary School
will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and - in celebration of this - the students
have come together to create a
mural to put up in their school.
I attended the unveiling of the
mural at a school-wide assembly
and was in awe of the collaboration of all the students involved
in the project.
On Friday we will be hosting
the first Future Ready Student
Summit. There will be 160 students representing ten of our
schools as well as 30 guests from
New Frontiers participating in
hands on sessions such as lego
robotics, Break Out EDU, building your digital footprint and so
much more!
Saturday and Sunday we will
be hosting the first Canadian
Future Ready Summit. Educators from Quebec, Ontario and
northern US will be engaged in
two days of hands on professional development. Sessions
include robotics, makerspaces,
Break-out Edu, Making Thinking
Visible with iPads and so much
more.
The administrative staffing
Resolution that will be dealt
with later on the Agenda reflects
long and serious evaluation and
discussion of the needs of our
schools and centers matched
with the abilities and leadership
skills of the nominees. I extend
congratulations and best wishes
to those assuming new roles
and those that informed us of
their approaching retirement. I
feel assured that our schools will
continue to be well-served by
the dedication and care of our
administrative staff.
The Pearson Educational Foundation Family Fun Run will be
taking place at Centennial Park
in Dollard Des Ormeaux on Sunday May 1. This is a major fundraising event for the Foundation,
enabling it to provide generous
support to school projects. Enrolment must be completed on
the PEF website by Friday April
29.
In April we celebrate Administrative Professionals Day.
Without our amazing team of
administrative
professionals
and secretaries, we would be
nowhere. Thank you so much to
those of you across our board
who contribute immensely to
the productivity and growth
of our schools and continue to
brighten our days.
I look forward to another
month of meeting staff and
students across our wonderful
board!
Avril/April 2016
Westwood Students Travel to Mexico to Build a Medical Center
by Matthew Jackson
It’s not often that we get to
make a tangible difference in
the world and see our hard work
have a lasting impact. This year,
18 students from Westwood
were presented with a once-ina-lifetime opportunity to change
the lives of the families in a small
village named La Concepcìon in
Oaxaca, Mexico.
Over 10 days on the trip, we
took on the ambitious and
rewarding task of building a
medical center, which would
replace the former wooden one
that had been rotting for some
time. With the extra fundraising
we did, we were able to build a
cement square for the children
to play sports on.
The trip consisted of two
main aspects: the humanitarian
project, or International Development Project (from which
IDP is abbreviated), and the
cultural immersion. The project
was the main focus of the trip,
and another 5 days were spent
exploring
and learning
about Mexican culture
and history through
sightseeing
and touring.
For all of us,
the trip started far before
we actually
left Montreal.
Over the
course of
a year we
organized
fundraisers,
participated
in various
training
workshops
and learned
very rudimentary Spanish.
We spent a lot of time on team
building and cooperating; skills
that definitely proved useful
over the course of the trip.
I distinctly remember the bus
ride to San Jose Del Pacifico, the
stopover between Oaxaca and
the community we were going
to. I was frantically searching
for words in my dictionary so I
could speak to my family when
we arrived. As I found out, no
amount of training or planning
can prepare you for this unique
and wonderful experience.
It was surreal to finally arrive
in the community and meet
our families. We all knew their
names, but meeting them and
sharing the first night together
brought me back to the reason
why I chose to go on the trip: to
help out those in need.
The maestros of the project
had planned for us to only build
the medical center, but the community was so excited by the
project that they all helped out
and the project was going to
finish earlier than scheduled. We
decided to put the extra funds
toward an another project, and
completed both through much
hard work within the 10 days we
were there.
The project may have been the
reason for the trip, but the most
enjoyable part of each day for
me was coming home to warm
dinner and small conversations.
My project partner and I always
kept a dictionary close by. No
matter how little we understood,
we still enjoyed our shared conversations and learning about
their way of life.
Every night, after dinner, we
would spend a few hours bonding, playing cards or soccer
(which the young boy especially
enjoyed), or I would play a few
tunes for them on my ukulele.
They are the most memorable
parts of the trip, and moments
that I will cherish forever.
I learned so much about the
families of the community, their
lives and their cultures. Beyond
that, though, I learned about
myself, my strengths and weak-
nesses and all the little aspects
of life we take for granted back
home. The half-hour walks to
and from my place never bothered me because there was
nowhere to be; time was not an
issue. And there wasn’t a need
for electronics.We spent time together as a family, talked to one
another and shared small moments like gazing at the starry
sky or watching a sunset over
the mountains.
We left two wonderful gifts to
the community: the medical center and cement square, but also
the cultural exchange. We, 18
students, with the help of everyone involved in the project, were
able to make a lasting impact on
a small slice of the world. We are
forever grateful to the community for accommodating us and for
sharing this unique experience.
Thanks to the Lester B. Pearson
School Board, the wonderful
teachers and organizers, the
students who participated and
all the others who contributed
in some small way, we were able
to do what
we advocate
for at Westwood: make
a difference
in the world.
Not only did
we change
the lives of
the families
in La Concepcìon,
but we also
changed
from all that
we lived and
learned. If
you’d ask
any of us if
we would do
it again, we
would all say
“in a heartbeat!”
ees, do what they do.
Congratulations to Beacon
Hill Elementary who celebrated
their 50th anniversary on Saturday night. While I couldn’t be
there because of Passover, I’ve
seen some of the pictures and
it looks like it was a wonderful
event.
In a few minutes, we will present a resolution to name a number of administrators to new
posts. This internal career path
allows administrators to follow
their passions, grow and learn,
and continue to contribute to
their communities. We wish
them all great success in their
new positions.
On a political front, we are
absolutely delighted that the
Minister of Education, Sebastien Proulx, backed by the Premier, has decided to adopt an
attitude of working with school
boards rather than against
them. While we do not know
the extent of change that will
be implemented in Bill 86, we
do know that several meetings
have taken place and more are
to come. We hope the result
will be improvements to education that are focused on student success.
To all of our community that is
celebrating Passover this week,
we wish you a happy, fruitful
holiday. Happy Greek or Orthodox Easter next week to those
who celebrate. Remember, as
the weather warms up and the
children spend more time outside, to drive extra carefully and
watch out for our little people.
Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books took place
on April 17, with five Lester B.
Pearson schools in attendance,
at Riverdale High School. Students from Riverdale, St. Thomas, Beurling, LaSalle Community
Comprehensive,
Pierrefonds
Comprehensive and MacDonald High School battled it out in
RHS’s newly renovated library.
Each team included six students, one of whom acted as
the spokesperson for the group.
The groups were quizzed on
ten titles that they have been
re-reading and studying during
the school year. The books were
Steve Jobs by Hartland, Legend
by Lu, Don’t Turn Around by
Gagnon, Colin Fischer by Miller
and Stentz, Whole Story by Hiranandani, Across the Universe
by Revis, Earl by Andrews, Nix
Minus One by MacLean, Graffiti Knight by Bass and Schooled
by Korman. The students were
sent over 300 practice questions
to prepare for the battle and
ranged from questions about literary themes to questions about
the colour of the main character’s shoes. Many guests were
brought in to help ask the questions, including Director General
Michael Chechile, Director of Educational Services Tom Rhymes,
Assistant Director of Educational Services Marie Wahba as well
as Montreal-based young adult
author Monique Polak.
“The Montréal area Battle of
the Books was started 4 years
ago by Kathy Conroy, a LBPSB
librarian,” said Carolyn Pye, St.
Thomas High School librarian.
“The aim of the competition was
to provide a ‘sporting event’ for
readers. Teams read ten pre-selected books and are quizzed on
minute details of these books.”
Ultimately, St. Thomas High
School came out victorious with
over 100 points.
“These students are all voracious readers anyways, and
to be given an opportunity
to add a competitive flavor to
something our school places so
much importance on is really a
wonderful initiative,” said David
Abracen, principal at St. Thomas.
Their team was made up of
six students - William Pugsley,
Fatma El Geneidy, Madeline Mugridge, Emilia Silvestre, Anglea
Engson and Kiara Lancing – who
met during lunch hours with
Pye to discuss their books.
Not only did the team win the
Lester B. Pearson Battle of the
Books, but the Ultimate Battle of
the Books. After winning against
the LBPSB schools, St. Thomas
moved onto the Ultimate Battle
against Lower Canada College –
representing the Quebec Association of Independent Schools
– and Lauren Hill Academy –
representing the English Montreal School Board.
“My son, in grade 8, took part
in the Battle of the Books for the
first time this year,” said Wanda
Riordon, mother to a participant
in this year’s school battle.
“I was actually a little surprised, as he hadn’t been much
of a reader thus far. Then, I was
further surprised that he opted
to read the two thickest books
from the reading list. And then,
he found the confidence to be
the spokesperson for his team. This team of fidgety boys,
who somewhat reluctantly
gave up their computer games
to attend lunchtime meetings,
stuck with it and did themselves proud. My son is now
never without a book (and a
flashlight) under his pillow, and
he is looking forward to next
year’s BoB.”
Excellence
in Vocational
Training
and
Adult
Education
This could be your
opportunity to:
• Master a vocational
program
• Complete a high school
diploma
• Obtain pre-requisite courses for
CEGEP or vocational
education
• Improve your language
skills
• Upgrade your
employability skills to
become more competitive
in today’s workforce
• Receive free counseling,
support, and referral
services
visit our website at:
Photo submitted by Carolyn Pye
www.
pearsonskills.
com
Pearson NewsA3
Avril/April 2016
Robotics at Lakeside Academy:The Bigger Picture of the Learning Rewards
by Sevy Goulielmos
If you expect that Robotics at
Lakeside Academy is all about
building robots, the students
of Lakeside’s Robotics team - LA
TECH - would be all too happy
to let you know that there is an
even bigger picture with depth
and dimension of the rewarding
experience behind the scenes. They each confidently take
with them valuable life skills to
serve them well beyond high
school.
The obvious end result is that
the Robotics team learns to
build a sophisticated electronic
device - the Robot, and then
they test themselves and their
masterpiece in a distinguished
regional competition that attracts international competitors
as well. There is, of course, more
to the story.
The process to bring Robotics
to Lakeside began 5 years ago.
The structure of the program
was defined and set to be offered for Grades 9 to 11 students
as a committed, high-tech extracurricular activity. When critical
funding was officially secured
three years ago through a grant
by the Argosy Foundation and
by Youth Fusion, Robotics was
officially introduced at Lakeside
Academy.
The Mentors
Working alongside the talented volunteer mentors and
teachers, the students are learning not only how to design,
sketch, build, wire and program
an industrial-size robot, but are
also developing important life
skills such as leading and working in teams, cooperation, time
management, problem solving,
critical thinking, marketing and
application of creativity.
The role of each mentor is a
special one. Teachers, parents,
alumni and experts in the community work together to teach,
guide and encourage, and have
a clear vision of what Robotics
could offer their students. David
Preston, Lakeside’s respected
Science teacher and mentor is
most pleased to see how students gain confidence and surprise themselves with their capabilities.
Lakeside’s principal, Kathleen
O’Reilly, sees first-hand how the
students take ownership of their
efforts. There is a remarkable
connection between students
and their mentors. And what
impresses the principal most is
to see the respectful interaction
between the students and their
mentors. The students value
their experience and guidance,
“They look up to them.”
The inclusiveness of the IB
philosophy built into Lakeside’s
entire academic and extracurricular approach to learning
complements the mentoring
relationship. It becomes a significant advantage providing
customized attention for each
student guiding them to their
best individual potential. Robotics gains an added edge at Lakeside.
FIRST Robotics Competition
In its rookie year, LA TECH entered the FIRST Inspires Robotics Competition season, which
culminates in a regional competition held in the spring at the
Stade Uniprix in Montreal. This
adds immensely to the exceptional learning experience. Lakeside students were encouraged
that some of their ideas were
part of the procedures used by
the more established teams.
LA TECH participated in the
FIRST Robotics Competition
each subsequent year, learning
and growing with the highs and
lows of each edition. Their 3rd
annual participation took place
on March 31st - April 2nd, 2016. The competition comes at the
end of an intense seven and a
half week period under strict
rules and with limited resources,
in which competing teams design, build and program a robot once the challenging field
game is revealed with its unique
theme and parameters for that
year. “Sir Lancerbot” #4955 took
on the field for LA TECH this
year in an entertaining medieval
theme.
The Girls and Boys of LA TECH
The girls in LA TECH are a solid
and active presence and just as
fierce and focused as their dedicated male teammates. In a sea
of boys leading the drive teams
at this year’s prestigious FIRST
Robotics Competition, Lakeside
had a formidable girl in their LA
TECH Drive Team. Shameka Vernon (Grade 11) formed a solid
collaboration with her talented
Drive Teammates, Seth Nadeau
(Grade 11) and Zachary Vincelli (Grade 10). They showed all
competitors and spectators that
an equal playing field is a natural fit for anyone willing to take
up the high-energy challenge.
For girls who may be hesitant
to join Robotics, consider that
Cassidy McLernon (Grade 10),
chose LA TECH’s Business/Marketing team as her entry point.
That may initially have been sufficient but good mentoring encouraged her to challenge herself, and she can now proudly
say that she has achieved technical robotics skills with a passion to learn more.
The key detail is that the girls,
boys and mentors of LA TECH
Robotics enjoy a dynamic synergy. They are a Team. It is as
close to real-world engineering
as can be and students develop life skills they can take with
them for success in their future
endeavours.
RAZMATAZZ - the Business of
Robotics
LA TECH’s Razmatazz Business
/ Marketing Team is another integral learning component of
Robotics at Lakeside. It teaches
students about branding for
their team and creating a marketing strategy that also helps
with their fundraising goals. LA
TECH’s goals on this front include raising the $5000 entry
fee for the annual FIRST Robotics Competition, and to raising
additional funds to purchase
needed robotics kits and mate-
rial.
Razmatazz addresses the financial challenges with enthusiasm and takes initiative to develop solutions. Merchandising
is well underway. A sponsorship
plan is in place for cash sponsorship or in-kind support (machining, materials, parts, etc.). They
are inspired with inventive strategies and resourcefulness, and
are building on new ideas and
community support for even
greater financial strength for
2016-2017.
2016 - 2017 Introduces Lego
Robotics in Grade 7 & 8 curriculum
Thanks to the generosity and
support of the Pearson Educational Foundation, Lakeside
Academy was able to purchase
nine Lego Mindstorm kits and 3
small laptops for programming
purposes. An additional award
from the Optimist Club in Lachine has added one more kit
to the arsenal. FRC Lego Robotics will be introduced as an option to the Grade 7 and Grade 8
curriculum in the next academic
year.
The evolution of Robotics at
Lakeside will see a junior partnership with neighbouring elementary schools. Lakeside’s students would serve as mentors to
the younger students, introducing them to robotics. A natural
vertical growth would develop
encouraging students entering
high school to continue with
their robotics academic adventure in Grade 7 and 8, training
them to be ready and eager for
more as members of LA TECH’s
Robotics team when they reach
Grade 9.
The Complete Robotics Story
Robotics at Lakeside Academy
is quite clearly a rewarding experience for each of its students.
And how gratifying it must be
for the teachers and mentors,
who dedicate their expertise
and time to teach and guide the
students, to see them expand
their horizons through Robotics.
http://www.frc4955.com/
A4Pearson News
Avril/April 2016
Chris Koch: If I Can...
Newsletter: April, 2016
IT’S TIME TO SPRING INTO SPRING!
Here we are with only a week left before the PEF Family Fun
Run/Walk on May 1st. We are so grateful to our sponsors and the
energetic Fun Run Committee for pulling everything together.
Lots of snacks and refreshments will be given away, and there are
goodie bags full of valuable gifts for each participant. Information and
registration can be found at http://pef.lbpsb.qc.ca/run.htm and for any
questions, call the PEF office anytime 514-422-3000 ext 37000.
All the Way with the Impact 2016
Thank you to the 1,547 people who bought
tickets in March to witness a great winning
match by our Montreal Impact team.
You helped raise needed funding for PEF, and, through the Impact
partnership with LBPSB Community Services, many children will
get to meet these great athletes in their schools as well.
Picture from Chris Koch - ifican.ca
On April 4,
Riverdale High School hosted
motivational speaker and travel
junkie Chris Koch.
Koch grew up like any regular
Canadian kid – he played hockey, helped out on his family’s
farm, wrote essays for school
and got in trouble with his parents if his grades weren’t high
enough. He learned how to
drive, got up to some mischief
in high school and went to
prom. Koch lived a very normal
life – except for one small detail.
Koch is missing both arms
and both legs. He was born
that way, but says he has lived
a relatively normal life and can
do anything he wants in terms
of mobility. He credits a lot of
that to his family, who never
once pitied him or made him
feel as though he was limited
because of his circumstances.
His family pushed him to do
more, to learn how to do things
differently, to find other ways to
accomplish tasks that people
with limbs take for granted.
Koch started touring as a motivational speaker after attending university to study History
and Psychology. His message,
titled ‘If I Can…’ is one of unbelievable hope and determination. It originally started as an
idea for a television show. Combining his insatiable need to
travel the world and meet new
people with his penchant for
doing things completely out of
the ordinary, Koch knew he had
just the right mix for a great
travel show. He started touring around schools in Southern
Alberta, perfecting his motivational speech and passing
along his message to others.
Sue Hamblin-Brayne, viceprincipal at Riverdale, thought
it would be a great message to
pass on to her students. “He’s a
very positive person, he’s amazing,” she said.
The students seemed enthralled with Koch’s story, from
modifying a car so he could
reach the pedals to pushing
himself around on a longboard,
they were hanging on to every
last word. He told stories about
learning how to ski, snowboard,
surf, play golf and work on a
farm. He told the story of how
he met his girlfriend. He told a
story from a week earlier, when
he met with executives at the
Oprah television network to
hopefully get to work on his TV
show.
“The problem is that we tell
ourselves, ‘my life would be easier if I had this or that,’” he said.
“We need to learn to work with
what we have. You get out of
life what you put into it.”
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection shares their expertise
on Self/Peer Exploitation with LBPSB
by Mireille Abadie
In April, the LBPSB FLASH
(Friendship, Love, and Sexual
Health) team, coordinated by
the Student Services Department, hosted a training on the
complex and growing phenomenon of self/peer exploitation
(sexting). The training was provided by The Canadian Centre
for Child Protection (CCCP), and
offered to all LBPSB elementary schools (cycle 3) and high
schools, as well as their health
and law enforcement partners.
The CCCP defines sexting as
youth creating, sending or sharing sexual images and/or videos
with peers via the Internet and/
or electronic devices.
The 120 participants gained
a greater understanding of the
phenomenon, how to prevent
it, and how to intervene when
incidents occur. There are three
main dimensions that schools
need to consider when faced
with a self/peer exploitation in-
cident.
The first is to determine the
nature of the image/video: this
involves information-gathering
as well as evaluating if the affected youth is at risk or not and
how to best support her/him. It
is strongly recommended that
educators and parents not actually view the image/video but to
rather ask questions on the image/video.
The second dimension is to
determine the intent behind
the creation and distribution of
the image/video: this involves
identifying if the intent was impulsive (immaturity, poor emotional regulation, etc.) or malicious (coercion, bullying, etc.).
The third consideration is to
determine the extent to which
the image/video has spread:
this involves evaluating to what
extent the image/video has
been circulating online. Another message the CCCP reiterated is that it is important to
be compassionate with youths
involved in a “sexting” incident
because we can’t underestimate the emotional, social and
sometimes criminal impacts it
can have on them. Participants’
evaluations of the presentation
revealed that 100% of participants felt that the training was
informative and 94% said it increased their awareness about
the topic.
A reference guide as well as
activity guides and student
booklets (grades 7/8 & grades
9/10) were given to participants.
For more information, you may
visit the website Cybertip.ca.
A session, also offered by the
CCCP, was organized for the LBPSB parents’ community on parenting in the digital world. 93%
of participants said the presentation met their needs. The 100
parents who participated left
with brochures on parenting in
the digital world as well as on
smartphone safety. For more information, visit the website The
Door That’s Not Locked.
Below is a list of Commissioners along with their school board locals.
Ward Communities Commissioner
(514) 422-3000
Local
Chairman
All
Suanne Stein Day
30101
1
Lasalle/Verdun
Mary Ann Davis
30121
2
Lasalle/Lachine
Frank Di Bello
30122
3
Lachine/Dorval
Joshua Arless
30123
4
Pointe-Claire
Noel Burke
30102
5
Pierrefonds-Roxboro
Nan Beaton
30125
6
Dollard-des-Ormeaux
Craig Berger
30126
7
Pierrefonds/DDO/Kirkland
Laura Derry
30127
8
Beaconsfield
Martin Sherman
30128
9 Pointe-Claire/Beaconsfield/Baie d’Urfé/Ste. Anne Eric Bender
30129
10
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue/Île-Perrot
Domenic Pavone
30130
11
Off-Island North
Daniel Olivenstein
30131
12
Off Island South
Wayne Clifford
30132
Parent
Sharad Bhargava
30164
Parent
Sandra Buckingham
30163
Parent
Frank Clarke
30161
Parent
Michael Nalecz
30162
Student
Student
Executive Committee
Council of Commissioners
Tuesday, May 24
Monday, May 30
Cierra Leitman
Tyler Nacke
5:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m. Board Room
Board Room