Author Archives: Mentor College / TEAM School

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About Mentor College / TEAM School

Tutorial and Educational Assistance in Mississauga, or TEAM School, was established in 1981 to strengthen the learning skills of students. Located in the heart of Mississauga, TEAM School is a non-denominational private school recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Founded in 1982, Mentor College educates children from junior kindergarten through to the university entrance level. Children at Mentor College are grouped by age and experience in three levels of study: Untitled-1primary, intermediate, and high school. These groupings follow the curriculum set out by the Ontario Ministry of Education for all schools in the province.

Mentor/TEAM to Welcome Rick Hansen

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It is with great excitement that we announce our guest for the 2013 Speaker Series, Rick Hansen. After being in a truck accident at the age of 15 that paralyzed him from the waist down, Hansen dedicated his life first to sports (he was a Paralympian) and then for the awareness of spinal cord injuries. Parents will remember his “Man In Motion” tour when he travelled under his own power by wheelchair around the world to raise funds for spinal cord research.

All of our Grade 8 to 12 students and faculty will get the chance to hear Hansen on November 21st and we invite everyone in the Mentor/TEAM community to come join us. Parents, relatives and friends are invited and tickets will be available from your campus office starting next week. Tickets are free but you will be asked to make a donation to a charity of Mr. Hansen’s choice.

Hansen is the latest in a long line of outstanding Canadians that our students have had the privilege to hear over the years. Stephen Lewis, Romeo Dallaire, Roberta Bondar, Craig Kielburger, Peter Mansbridge, Michaëlle Jean, David Suzuki…pretty soon we will be out of famous Canadians! I continue to be impressed by the calibre of the speakers; I know that it is not matched by any other school and even rivals the events that most universities put on every year. Kudos go to Mr. Cowle for putting together such a great series (and to Mr. Philbrook for making this ongoing investment in our students).

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

How Do You Measure Advantage?

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I had the opportunity to speak with a mom who has two children in university (3rd year and 2nd year) this past week. When I asked her about the kids, she of course bragged about how well they were doing but then she went on to do some bragging about the school as well.

She told me that her son (who is in bio-medical sciences) has noticed a number of things in the past two years. He says that he cannot believe the number of classmates who have never really written a proper essay. He has no issue with a 20-page lab report assignment but says that other students are overwhelmed at the prospect. He finds presentations and other speaking occasions comfortable while friends have become physically ill when speaking in front of the class (“thank you, Speech Night!” Most interestingly, it seems that his Grade 12 class (on the whole) is more mature that his current 2nd-year university class, particularly when it comes to basic social skills.

Mr. Cowle warned everyone going into university that their marks would go down (and his did…about 5%) but he was shocked at classmates who were looking at 20% to 30% drops in marks during first year. I told Mom what we say at every Open House for prospective families…the marks to get INTO university and college are not as important as the skills to get THROUGH those years. Over the next few months, our Mentor/TSS Class of 2014 will be going through the research and application processes of post-secondary university and a year from now, they too will see the advantages that their schools (and you, as parents, for sending them to us each day) have given them.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Technology? Sure, But Traditional Touch Is Still Best!

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One of the fun parts of my job is to interact with our alumni via a Facebook page and last night, I saw the power of social media. One of our former students is now a landlord and his tenant left in the middle of the night with two month’s rent owing. After repeated attempts to contact the tenant, the alumnus simply posted the situation (with names) as his Facebook status and within 10 minutes he had the tenant phoning him asking him to meet. It seems that the tenant’s NEW landlord saw the post and told the tenant he had 24 hours to rectify the previous accommodations (and to deposit 2 months rent on the new place)!

The school’s Facebook page might not be this powerful but over the summer, Mr. Petrosian did a great job of keeping something “new” there each week. I encourage you to go there and “like” it so you can get some expanded school news (more than can appear here in the update).

We do not consider ourselves a school that is dependent on technology but we do think that there is a place in education for it. This is why Mentor and TEAM teachers use Edline as a means of communication and why we purchased another set of classroom iPads for the coming school year. We still maintain our “traditional” touches like a personal phone call every month and the fact that when you call the school, you don’t get voicemail…you get a real person who can take the message for you! We think that this blend of new and old technology works and hopefully you do, too!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School