Category Archives: Mentor/TEAM Events

What We Are All About

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Just prior to the graduation ceremony for the Mentor/TSS Grade 12 Class of 2015 last Thursday, one of our high school teachers was putting on his gown and hood and made the (paraphrased, and I say that because it doesn’t sound like proper English) comment, “This is the day that we are all about”.

Indeed, Grade 12 graduation is the day we are all about as a school that prepares its students for post-secondary success. The students were brimming with excitement about their first month of school and told their teachers that they had so much confidence in their own abilities after seeing what their skill level was in comparison to many of their classmates.

On Tuesday, we christened the new field at the Main Campus with a rugby match against a school from Scotland. Kevin Vertkas was the first Mentor player out onto the field and he went to the centre logo, sat down, ran his hands across the turf and looked up into the sky as if to say “Finally!”. Kevin was a student at the Primary Campus when the idea of an artificial turf field was first proposed to Mr. Philbrook, Mr. Macdonald and I so watching that little scene made me think that after all the issues with permits and delays, this is the day we are all about.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

University-Minded & University-Bound

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Last night, our Grade 12 students and parents (along with some Grade 10 and 11 families) got the exclusive opportunity to meet with over 40 Canadian colleges and universities at our annual University Fair. The Grade 12 students were a mixture of excitement and terror … excited about all of the options open to them but scared that they will make the wrong decision. I even overheard one student say that she was even torn about last night. “Should I be here finding out the courses and marks I need or should I have stayed at home to study in order to get the mark in the course I need?”

Having graduated from Goderich DCI (a small rural-ish high school), I did not experience any of these things. If there was a university fair somewhere, I didn’t hear about it and only a handful of universities held information sessions at our school. I never worried too much about my marks (to my mother’s chagrin) and neither have I ever questioned my decision to accept Wilfrid Laurier University’s offer over Western and Waterloo.

If this year’s Grade 12s could only come to Commencement tonight and speak with the Class of 2015, they would get re-assurance from these post-secondary “veterans” (they have been away for 5 whole weeks after all!) that everything will work out just fine. They would hear that being a TSS/Mentor grad does not mean that you are immune from all the distractions of university but that when you move your stuff into residence, you will also be bringing with you a unique skill set that allows you to balance the fun part of post-secondary life with the academic side. In other words, you have the academic background and work ethic from your years here that will allow you to be just as involved in extra-curricular life as you were in your high school years!

Have a wonderful long weekend, everyone!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Almost Time For Good-Bye

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By the time you read this, most of our high school students will have completed their final examinations, our Grade 8s will be planning their pre-graduation rituals and our junior kindergarten to Grade 7 students will be preparing for their final assemblies.

The last day of school is a bittersweet time. Teachers say good-bye to their students knowing that their charges will be moving on to another grade next year when another teacher will become the “best teacher I ever had” come September. Our Grade 8 students celebrate with each other on their graduation night and then have a tearful good-bye at the end of their dance. Students and staff alike say good-bye to our Grade 12 students as they begin the next journey of their academic careers.

We hope to see many of you over the next 24 hours so please say “good-bye” to us if you have the opportunity. We will have one final weekly update next week so I will save my good-bye until then.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

A Lot Of Activity In The Next 6 Days!

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Well after last week’s exciting news about the re-development of the field and track at the Mentor campuses, I didn’t think I would have anything to talk about this week. As a parent with only a high school student, it has actually been a very quiet week with “studying for finals” being the only thing tacked to the fridge door.

Then I looked at the school’s calendar.

There is SO much happening in the remaining 6 school days that you really need to go to the web calendar to see for yourself because you need to make sure you have blocked off your personal calendar for the events where parent participation is encouraged. Parents of JK to Grade 8 students might be at the school as an audience member at “Aladdin”, “Mary Poppins” and “Guys and Dolls”. We have over 100 helpers coming for Fun Days and including the grade-by-grade assemblies at the Primary Campus, academic awards, extracurricular assemblies and graduations, there are 12 awards ceremonies taking place next week!

Like the “Scrambler” at Fun Day, next week is going to be over before you know it and have you going in circles but it promises to be a fun ride!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Teachers’ Strike Affects All Of Us

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I had my first slo-pitch game of the year last night and we sat around after the game to get to know each other a bit better over an iced tea (as slo-pitch players do). When my new teammates found out what I did for a living, one of them said, “I guess you are one of the few people that are happy about a teachers’ strike!”

Actually, we are not happy about a strike. It affects our students by disrupting the scheduled extra-curricular activities and the participation of competitors from all schools.

Our junior boys’ rugby team has won all 4 of their ROPSSAA games. Their Tuesday game vs. John Fraser was cancelled and their big game versus also-undefeated Lorne Park today did not happen. If sports do not re-convene in the Peel schools, there are only 2 Catholic schools in the league; we have played the only one in our division and our boys may have played their last official game of the season. The senior rugby boys have played the only Catholic school in the league and might also be done. The boys’ soccer team is also in first place but now have no games scheduled. Girls’ soccer and girls’ rugby have only one game to play. Yesterday’s junior badminton match was cancelled and after tomorrow’s game against St. Francis Xavier, there will be no more games if the job action continues. The coaches of all these sports are finding exhibition games or tournaments to keep their season going but we would rather be playing within the regular ROPSSAA framework.

Competition in extra-curricular activities for our students is also affected. Our high school mock-trial team will have its regional competition on Friday, but will be missing participants competing from schools of the boards who are on strike. We have an elementary student participating at the Canada-Wide Science Fair next week who will be accompanied by one of our science teachers, while a volunteer chaperone had to be recruited to allow the students from the public board to participate as part of the group from the Peel region.

We hope that a solution is negotiated that will allow students and teachers to return to their school, and to their classes and extra-curricular activities, thereby allowing our sports and extra-curricular activities to proceed as planned with participants from all schools.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School