Category Archives: Extracurriculars

They Must Really Love Their School!

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I know that I have said this in the past but I do not think that there is a school anywhere that is as busy as ours.

There may be schools who can claim to be busy as we are in a typical 8:45 to 3:15 school day but I don’t know if they could match our commitment in non-school hours. Examples from this week alone include:

– HS Fashion Show practice on the holiday Monday
– 7:00am practices for HS archery, cricket, tabata and next week, the TEAM track and field athletes start morning practices
– After-school practices for TEAM/Mentor floor hockey and HS badminton
– 6 after-school HS cricket, soccer and rugby games
– HS Outreach Club out late on Wednesday evening and HS Theatregoers out late Friday night
– 5:30am meeting at the school for 4 of our HS wrestlers to catch their flight to Fredericton for the national championships
– Grade 7/8 Peel Science Fair on Saturday and Sunday

Despite a week like this, I know that some of the same teachers and students involved in the events listed above will be energetic and enthusiastic ambassadors of our school at this Saturday’s Mentor and TEAM Open Houses. And to top that off, there will be 80 staff and HS students coming Saturday afternoon to put the final touches on Vissi D’Arte, this year’s charity fashion show. Those same staff and students (along with dozens of students from the TEAM, Primary and Intermediate divisions) will be back again next Saturday night for the show itself and then, just to top things off, the HS students and staff will be back again on Sunday morning for the cleanup. That’s 13 out of 14 days at school for this group of teenagers and teachers! No wonder so many new families are referred to us from current students and parents…they must really love their school to spend so much time here!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Get Involved…You Only Live Once

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There was a fad a year or two ago where people were encouraged to write a letter to “16-Year-Old Me”. I am not sure what the purpose of this was but the positive spin from it was that young people had the chance to see what older people (eg: over 20!) would have changed about their teenage years.

For me, I would have gone back further and written a letter to the 14-year-old me. At 14 and in Grade 8, sports was everything. My life revolved around the community sports seasons (hockey, fastball, soccer) but once I hit high school, I moved from volleyball to basketball to badminton to track without a day off between. I was so focussed on athletics that I did not give myself the chance to get involved in anything else. I would have told the 14-year-old me to take courses in music and drama, to play in the school ensembles and audition for a role on stage. Now that I am over 20(!!), I wish I had taken advantage of those opportunities.

So whenever I have the chance to speak with students about their future years in education, I always tell them to add one new extra-curricular activity each year (even if it means they need to drop one). Every year, I see students who play on a sports team or perform on stage for the first time and think to myself “Why didn’t they do this sooner?”. Even more frustrating is seeing students who are very active in the TEAM/Mentor clubs, teams, ensembles and activities from JK to Grade 8 but then don’t get involved in anything in high school! What happened to YOLO (You Only Live Once)?

In a few weeks, it will be New Year’s Eve and many of us will be making resolutions for 2015. Students…make this the year that you tryout for a new sports team, audition for a role in the musical, join the cooking club or sign up to participate in an Outreach project. Parents…if your child needs a bit of encouragement to get involved, let us know and we can perhaps subtly give them a nudge. You could even write that letter to the “14-Year-Old Me” (or choose the age your child is) to start the conversation. The only question is…would you have listened to an “ancient” person like you when you were 14?

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School