Category Archives: Extracurriculars

A Time For Endings And Beginnings

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June is a time of both endings and beginnings.

I was at my oldest daughter’s convocation in Halifax on the weekend; having your first child graduate from university makes you very sentimental. Even though she has been on her own for the better part of four years, I finally saw that she was an adult. She showed us the place where she got her entry-level job and talked about the pros and cons of the non-student apartment she is getting in September. Despite all of this mature conversation, however, I still saw my little girl from Mentor. The same four-year-old who hid under one of Miss Kane’s tables in JK (and wouldn’t even come out when Mrs. Philbrook was called in for the extraction!) still likes her alone time. The Grade 4 student who beamed for two months straight while she was playing “Wendy” in the Primary Campus production of “Peter Pan” had that same smile as she strode across the Dalhousie stage to receive her diploma. The Grade 7 student whose poems were kept by her teacher as samples for future classes to read was the editor/publisher of the arts journal this past year and the HS student who was asked to compose some songs for the spring play still takes out her guitar and uploads originals and covers to her YouTube channel (not to be “discovered”…just because her friends and family love to hear her). In her Grade 12 yearbook (photo above), she wrote

It’s odd to think that next year will be the first year of my life that I cannot call myself a Mentor student. I’ve been through a lot in these buildings and I know in some way it will always be a part of my story. Thank you to all my teachers and friends; even when I’m not walking down these halls every day, these years will always be with me. I love you all! DFTBA

She has gone through a number of endings already and is starting another one of her beginnings.

Just as she is still going through endings and beginnings, so too do our students still here at the school. The ending part is pretty obvious as young students go on their last field trip, elementary students have their final rotary class, and high school students have their last day of classes. These next two weeks are particularly meaningful to the “graduates” (Mentor Grade 4s and the Grade 8 and 12 students of Mentor/TEAM/TSS) as they spend their last few days as the senior students of the division. The year is capped off with a diploma and/or report card. In that report card, it says that a year of academic accomplishment has been completed and that the student is ready for the beginning of the next year of their academic life. For most students, it is simply moving up one grade but for others (like the Grade 12s heading to post-secondary education) it means a new school entirely. No matter what the situation, each student has a great set of academic tools and a wonderful year of memories to equip them for whatever the future holds.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Taking On The World

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The one thing that has been a constant from when I was a student, a teacher, and an administrator is my involvement in athletics. As a student, I played hockey and t-ball in Woodstock, soccer in Windsor, and every sport available in Goderich. When I was hired as a supply teacher at Mentor/TEAM, I wasn’t expecting to have much contact with sports but fate placed me in a PE class on the first day of school in September 1990 and I ended up coaching 10 different sports. Even when I moved to administration and traded my t-shirt and shorts for a blazer and tie, I continued to coach and I still play volleyball and softball throughout the year.

While I have nothing but fond memories in sports, the one thing I would tell my 13-year-old self (if I would have listened to an old guy like me!) would be to get involved in the arts. In high school, I never set foot in a music room, an art studio, or on the stage. I got so focused on everything to do with sports that it was only later in life that I found out how much I enjoyed performing. In my opinion, one of the big selling points of our school is that our students have a wide variety of choice when it comes to activities. Starting with the “Memories to Music” concert this past week and continuing next week with the “Festival of the Arts” (and even on through to the year-end musicals), I see students with a wide range of interests taking part in arts-related activities. Yes, some students get involved exclusively with arts but I see way more students on our stages who are just as actively involved in athletic and academic competitions. To be sure, these students are learning time management skills as they juggle their school activities, homework/studying, and (as I sometimes forget) their life outside of TEAM/Mentor.

Public education is becoming increasingly focused on specialized and regional learning as the Catholic and public school try to out-do each other with arts schools, IBT (International Business and Technology) programs, and SHSM (specialized high skills majors) streams but our students get the benefit of having a broad base of knowledge and activities. This really hit home with me during the Intermediate Division morning announcements this week when principal Ms. Findlay boasted about the fact that one-quarter of the Peel Region Science Fair team going to the Canadian finals this year will come from Mentor! The same thing happens with our HS students (like Sagar Kothari, who last week represented Ontario at the world championships for the business competition DECA) and younger students when they take part in the choral division of the Peel Music Festival. When we go head-to-head with students in regional programs designed for success in a specialized area (like Science and Technology), our students not only compete, they excel.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

A Phoneless India

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The moment I tell people I travelled halfway across the world to Udaipur, India, the first question I get asked is “So, did you have WiFi?” – to which I shortly respond with “No.” And yet, this answer so dry and simple always shocks them. “What did you do? How did you text people?” Well, that one is easy. I didn’t text people, nor did I have the burning urge to all day long. I was 11,462 km away from home, surrounded by an entirely new culture, with nothing but my camera, best friends, and curiosity by my side. Why would I need my phone?

Not being able to use my phone for two weeks turned out to be a much easier task than I had previously expected. Before going to India, I was petrified of not having my phone. I mean, my parents couldn’t call me on my birthday, I couldn’t text all of my teammates and friends with the latest gossip, and I couldn’t fall asleep scrolling through the Instagram explore page. Going on my phone turned into part of my daily routine, and I honestly thought that I needed my phone to survive, but I was very wrong. I can truly say that I didn’t miss my phone at all, and even when I was granted certain opportunities to use it, I opted not to.

There were so many wonderful experiences in India that I feel like I would have missed out on if I had my phone. For example, every day we would have some down time to do whatever we wanted before dinner, whether it was playing cricket, showering, or talking with friends. I always took this opportunity to lie in the grass, write in my journal, and have some great laughs with my friends. I know for a fact that if phones were to be introduced into that scenario, that free time probably would have been much different. With that being said, however, I honestly don’t think any of us missed our phones all that much. Yash Pujari, another student on the trip, even said “I didn’t really notice that [my phone] was gone.” And that was the truth. Once the surrounding culture, unique people and breathtaking scenery engulfed you, there was no need to be on your phone. I feel as if I can speak on behalf of the entire group when I say this, but because we were in India for such a short period of time, any time on our phones would have been a wasted opportunity.

Even after coming home from India, I noticed a huge change in regards to my dependency on my cell phone. I mean, sure, I still use it to text my friends, but I do not need it like I did in the past. I feel as if now it is much easier to put my phone away for long periods of time, as I don’t have the urge to check up on what has happened in the past two minutes of someone’s life. It is almost as if I can see the futility in cell phones now, as there is so much of the world that I can finally see now that I moved my iPhone screen out of the way. Thus, as my time in India was probably two of the happiest weeks of my life, it also taught me an important lesson to experience the world more and be engulfed in technology less. So, I guess I will leave you with a challenge. I challenge you to put your phone away for two weeks, and see what happens as a result. Did you notice things you never have before? Did you find yourself talking to more people? Did you finish your work faster? Did you realize that you are not as dependent on your phone as you thought you were?

Sierra LeBlanc
Grade 11 Student

Support Is A Parent

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img_1345It is no secret that everyone wins when parents are engaged in their child’s education. Students with active parental support have greater academic success, stay in school longer, and also become supportive parents for THEIR child’s education later in life.

Parental support comes in many different forms. When I was a student, my parents were always interested in how I was doing at school. I only remember two times when they visited the principal because of me (not counting the time my Mom was the supply teacher for my class and she sent her only son to the principals’ office for being sassy!) but I do remember the support they gave me for my extra-curricular activities. Volleyball started in the first week of high school and because I lived in the country, this meant arranging for after-practice transportation. Volleyball season melded into basketball season (followed by badminton and track and field without a break in between) so I was constantly in their debt for a ride home. Even when I got my drivers’ licence, I know that having the car meant that one of them was going without a vehicle for the day.

At the HS Athletic Banquet each year, the student-athletes get the opportunity to acknowledge their coaches but I always remind them to go home and thank their parents for giving them the opportunity to play because coaches and players are not the only ones who sacrifice some sleep for a 7:00am practice! It is not just our sports programme that requires this form of parental support; many of our clubs, arts groups, and academic competitors have meetings outside regular school hours that require an adjustment to your day as parents as well. I am sure your kids thank you on a regular basis for this extra effort but I would also like to thank you from the school’s perspective. Without “Mom/Dad’s Taxi”, we can’t provide the same quality or quantity of programming. We are highly-regarded for our academics of course but we know from our results in sports tournaments, academic competitions and arts’ performances that we are well-known for our extra-curricular programmes as well. So when you see your child’s name in a drama playbill or a certificate from an academic competition or get the chance to see them win a sports championship, please know that you had a part to play in that success!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

One World, One Gym!

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_rt_2137For those of you who have been born and raised in the GTA, cultural diversity has been part of your life. For people like me who were raised in small town Ontario, it was not…in fact, I was thinking this week that if they held a Celebration of Cultural Diversity at my high school, they could have held it in a classroom! I had no friends who were of a different culture, skin colour or religion and even if I counted in the entire high school, there would have been 3 students in one of those categories. It wasn’t until I got to university (and even more so once I started working at TEAM/Mentor), that I realized what a vacuum I had lived in all those years!

At the conclusion of the Culture Show concert last Thursday, Mentor high school principal Mr. Whyte noted that it was one of his “favourite nights of the year” because it involved every student of the school. All JK to Grade 8 students had the opportunity to tour the pavilions during the day where they were guided around the world by what ended up being almost 1/3 of the high school student body! The concerts included dance, vocal and instrumental performances by students from all four divisions of the school. Mr. Whyte then also pointed out that this was an event where PARENTS also play an active role; whether they are sewing costumes, coaching dances, cooking desserts, or delivering toothpick-pierced treats, they are proud of their heritage (or in the case of some students, an “inherited” one as they represent a country of which they simply have an interest).

The biggest takeaway for me (and hopefully for the hundreds of volunteers, performers, and guests) at the Culture Show is that our school is like Canada in miniature. Almost 40 countries were not simply represented but they were celebrated. The ability to celebrate everything that makes us different is what makes us the same.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School