Category Archives: Mentor/TEAM Events

Memories To Music: Seniors Learning From Seniors

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10259769_707457759350017_6367664688648605383_nIt is a very high school-specific event but I really want to highlight the amazing job that Mentor’s senior music students did at last night’s “Memories to Music” concert.

For the uninitiated, this is a pilot project with the Alzheimer’s Society where students are matched up with a senior partner in the early stages of dementia, interview them over the course of a few weeks and then compose a song about their senior partner. The song is performed for the senior partner and their family at the concert but more importantly, it is recorded so the senior partner can have a copy of their own. Numerous studies show that even after other aspects of a person’s memory have faded, music seems to “stick” in our minds longer so having a song that chronicles your life story can help you remember those details.

As faculty advisor Mr. Hoare told the crowd, his favourite part of the process is that very first meeting. He and his counterpart at the Alzheimer’s Day Centre (just across the street from the Main Campus) watch as both the students and seniors are SO nervous to meet each other…both groups wondering “Am I going to get a cool person?” and “Will they like me?” and within 5 minutes, they are chatting back and forth like old friends. Mr. Hoare’s theory is that teenagers and seniors have that one special bond of “neither one of them care what middle-aged people think about them” and that is why the programme works so well.

As with most events like this, the tendency is to focus in on how much “we” are doing for “them” but in this case, I think the students might even get more out of the experience than their senior partners. Case in point? The final number of the concert was, unfortunately, dedicated posthumously to Joan Linklater by her student friends Mirabella Chan and Vanessa Kabu-Asante. Joan passed away in October but her husband Jim was gracious enough to allow Vanessa and Mia to sing the song in her memory. The song started with a poem Jim gave them:

When I come to the end of the road, and the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room, why cry for a soul set free?

The tissues came out around the room and I told myself that if the girls started to cry, I knew I would be joining them. They did a gorgeous job of the song and were able to keep it together until they got off the stage and got a big hug from Jim and then their classmates and the audience joined me in a sad/happy cry. I am sure Vanessa and Mia will be recounting that story to generations of their own families…their own version of “Memories to Music”.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Amazing!

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At the end of the Inside Ride event, I was pleased to speak to our student, teacher, and parent participants. I told them that they were amazing; but more importantly, that what they had done was amazing. Their fundraising totals for the event and their enthusiasm during the day was amazing and they had truly made a difference in the efforts to eliminate children’s cancers in supporting SickKids, Coast to Coast Against Cancer, and Jenna’s Angels.

We have had a number of special events at Mentor and TEAM recently. As a group of students and teachers, we have found these events to be truly moving and memorable, fun and meaningful.

Why do we do have all of these special activities and events at Mentor College and TEAM School?

Definitely, these activities provide an opportunity for our students to participate in an event. The events foster school spirit and a sense of community across the campuses and divisions of TEAM and Mentor. Leadership opportunities abound for our students when they get involved in these initiatives. We showcase our fantastic students and their many talents of course, but the awareness that they take away from these activities is so important. They gain an awareness of some of the challenges that families may face. Most importantly, they learn the importance of giving back to the community, whether through time and effort, or financial donation. The special events and activities encourage our students to adopt an understanding of giving back, and they become leaders in their school community who want to give back to the larger community.

In the past few weeks we have seen our students involved in many events and activities where they were involved, enthusiastic participants in the community. Students have participated with the Outreach clubs at the Humane Society, the Children’s Aid Toy Room, and they have visited Armagh House, senior centres, and have presented Memories to Music in partnership with the Alzeheimer Society-Peel; students worked at the gingerbread build in support of Habitat for Humanity, supported the Make-a-Wish campaign, our elementary choirs and Leaders for Change group will visit local retirement residences before the Christmas break, and our high school play production in December will support Doctors Without Borders and Gua Africa.

All of these are examples of events where our amazing students truly shine. Thank you, parents, for supporting the students in their many initiatives. Thank you also to the many teachers who devote time and effort in “leading by example, and inspiring excellence” in our students’ participation in the many activities provided by our school. Our students surely will grow up to be leaders in their community who will be participants in various opportunities for involvement, giving, and community outreach. Our students are amazing, but more importantly, what they have done is truly amazing!

Chuck Macdonald
Director
Mentor College / TEAM School

Ready To Ride

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I was always aware of school spirit when I was a student and for me, it was usually defined through sports. Whether I was a spectator at a Wilfrid Laurier University homecoming football game (complete with facepaint, purple longjohns and a yellow cape) or a player in a Goderich District Collegiate Institute basketball game against one of the dreaded Stratford (big city) teams, I saw how these events would draw together all the various groups within a school.

Here at our school, we have many events that allow the students to be spectator and/or participants in spirit-building. Events like the upcoming holiday assemblies are a great example of this as students show off their drama and musical talents to their teachers, fellow students and parents but for school spirit, no other event can match the Inside Ride.

Even if you have viewed a YouTube video of a past Inside Ride, you cannot fully appreciate the “merry madness” of this event for our Grade 7 to 12 students. All the ingredients for school spirit are there (music, costumes, cheering, clapping, etc.) but the overall experience is even more satisfying because of the by-product of the spirit…the chance to help stop cancer. We are proud to be the top fundraising school in ALL OF CANADA so we encourage all the riders to each reach out to at least one more potential sponsor tonight to help us keep our reputation intact, to honour the memory of Jenna and get us closer to our goal. Let’s Kick Cancer’s Behind!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

The Best Students & The Best Possible Education

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I have believed for quite a long time that our school is the best possible education but there have been a number of things happen over the past while that have cemented that realization.

It was Chris Hadfield that got me thinking about this again. We sometimes take what we have for granted but when he told the students that they were in a great place (Mentor/TEAM) to learn in a great country, it was a great reminder. There are students right in our neighbourhoods who do not have the same opportunities as our kids do and there are many countries in the world where sadly, education is a privilege at best (and where simply seeking an education can make you a target for terrorism).

Last Wednesday night, I had the opportunity to hear a homeroom of Mentor Grade 10 speeches. And while only one of those speakers will get the opportunity to say their speech again (at tomorrow’s Speech Contest), every one of those students will be asked to speak in public dozens of times in their lives. The experience with Speech Night every year puts our students at a competitive advantage in post-secondary education and long into their employment years. If you need proof, just click on this CTV news link to see how polished our students are in front of the camera!

Over the past two days, I have heard from perfect strangers how wonderful our kids are. At yesterday’s HS wrestling tournament, guests (parents) commented on how helpful some students in the front lobby were in escorting them to a washroom and the coaches glowed about the efficiency and teamwork that our 30 student volunteers exhibited in keeping the tournament flowing. Today, it was satisfying to hear the students leading the HS Business Conference speaking with the guest speakers in the room next door to mine. They were businesslike (but in a good way, if you think that is a negative connotation) and friendly and I could tell by the responses of the guest speakers that they were impressed with the professionalism of both the afternoon’s programme and the poise of the students.

It will be interesting to hear from prospective parents this Saturday at our Open House what they know about the school and more importantly, about our students. I am confident that if these families have any experience dealing with our students, our school (like a good business product or service) will “sell itself”.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Chris Hadfield Brings Something For Everyone

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It was definitely the most excited crowd the Main Campus gym has ever seen yesterday as Chris Hadfield spoke to over 1200 students, staff and parents in the 2014 edition of the Speaker Series.

Hadfield’s talk had a little bit for everyone. Those who love machines enjoyed hearing about rockets and horsepower. The physics-minded marveled at the thought of getting into orbit and being slung-shot through and above the atmosphere. He engaged the arts minds with the idea of music and science being complementary and not (as popular belief would have it) opposites. The teachers liked the part about how he was so sad the day he heard a high school student say “I can’t wait to be finished high school so I can stop learning”. The dreamers in the crowd liked the fact that indeed, “the sky is NOT the limit” and those who revel in details were encouraged to hear that you need to think of EVERYTHING in order to be successful. He encouraged everyone, no matter what stage in their life they find themselves, to make short-term and long-term goals. Not only that, Hadfield insisted that the most important thing to do was, once the goal has been set, to start it right away…not to wait a week or two but immediately.

In many ways, Hadfield has a similar world view to our Mentor/TEAM families. Get the best education you can get, when you get it don’t squander that amazing opportunity, find something you love to do and immerse yourself in it, set goals, reach your goals, set new goals and have lots of fun doing it.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School