Category Archives: Mentor/TEAM Spirit

Constantly Complimented Both Locally & Abroad

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Parents of students in Grades 8 to 11 may have already heard about some overseas HS trip opportunities in the next school year (one trip to Germany/Belgium/France, one to Nepal and another to Ghana) and the Grade 8s have already learned that the Class of 2014 year-end trip will be to Chicago.

Starting in a week, it will be the privilege of 9 staff members to take more than 60 of our HS students on three overseas trips (Cambodia, South Africa and China/Hong Kong). Even though I have been on many of these trips, I am always surprised when flight attendants, bus drivers and tour guides stop me to compliment me on the behaviour of our students. (I also still get a chuckle when travellers in the airport ask the teachers for directions to the Westjet counter…is it because we look knowledgeable or is it our navy, crested blazers and grey pants?)

I still remember the flight attendant who served our group back from Europe who told me that she had been away from Toronto for almost 2 weeks and ours was the very last flight. She told me that to be honest, when she saw our group of “private school kids” get on the plane, she said to herself that it was going to be a lonnnggg flight and she knew she would need to speak to the person in charge. She did, but it was to let me and Mr. Young know what a pleasure it was to deal with our teenagers and that we were so unlike a number of other schools (and she gave us names!) she had served over the past few years.

Probably because I have been here for so long, I sometimes forget how fortunate I am that we have such great kids here AND how so many people are not prepared to give compliments to teenagers. We will get them in South Africa just as we do at the Science Centre. In the same way that the Barrick Gold head office staff was impressed, the business people in Beijing will be. The story will be the same in Cambodia as it is at the Compass Food Bank; we graciously accept the compliments on behalf of the kids and say to ourselves how lucky we are to be working here.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Semis Were Fun In ’81…And Still Are

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Tomorrow is the Semi-Formal Dinner and Dance (or “semi”) for our high school students and with my Grade 9 daughter attending for the first time, it reminds me of my first semi-formal dance back in Goderich in 1981…

Like our semi, the GDCI dance was a very popular ticket and it seemed like I stood forever in the ticket line one lunch hour. I decided to splurge and buy a nice suit (light blue, 3 piece with a reversible vest) but because everyone else was doing the same thing, I had to stand in the suit line. I had (of course) purchased a lovely corsage for my date and when I went to pick it up at Dennome’s Flower Shop, all the other boys in school were there already and I had to wait in the corsage line. And despite the fact that I had made dinner a reservation at Robindale’s, we had to wait for about 30 minutes in the restaurant line. We finished dinner and rushed to the dance but Mr. Rittinger and Mr. Murdie were letting everyone in one-by-one so we stood in the entrance line. Finally, we were inside at the dance and while I was summoning up my nerve to ask her to dance, my date suggested that a refreshment would be nice. I said “OK” but I panicked that it would take forever to get to the punch bowl and that someone on the football team (I was a volleyball player) might come along and ask her to dance while I was gone, but…fortunately, there was no punch line.

We don’t expect to see any light blue, 3-piece, reversible vest suits at the semi this Friday but this is a major event for our high school students (some say it is more anticipated than final examinations!). It is organized by the high school student council, and high school teachers volunteer to chaperone. And yes…..there will be lots of dancing, but it remains to be seen if the last dance will be Stairway to Heaven, like it was in ’81.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Felt Just Like Home

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This past Tuesday evening, I was at the Mentor College and TEAM School table at the “Fashion With Flare” event.

Now when I say I was at the schools’ table, I should probably clarify because it seemed like every one of the 52 tables of 10 had some sort of connection to us. There were a few dozen current families in attendance and another dozen parents of alumni who came to let us know how their “kids” were doing. We saw alumni who are still in university and “kids” like Britta Funck, who was in my Grade 10 phys ed class in my first year of teaching in 1990! The MC for the evening was former student Matthew Maida and almost all of the teen volunteers for the evening were current students. Even the organizing committee was made up of TEAM and Mentor “Moms” and I am sure that they were putting their experience from MTPA Bingo Nights and the charity Fashion Shows to good use! What struck me most about the evening was how it mimicked many of our school events.

Did it start out “small” and grow into something bigger than the organizers ever expected?
Check. The event has grown exponentially in size and scope after just three years.

Were there lots of student volunteers gaining leadership experience?
Check. They even had their shirts tucked in!

Were the speakers poised and confident as they are on Speech Night?
Check. The only 3 speakers were a former student, the Mom of an alumnus and the Dad of a current student!

If money was collected, did it go to a charity?
Check. The event has made a three-year commitment of $250,000 to fund a child-friendly emergency room at the Credit Valley location of the Trillium Health Partners.

Did it start at 7:00 sharp?
Check.

While I was privileged to be one of the principals of the school that was sponsoring the event, full of pride for the confidence our high school students showed, happy to hear of the success of our alumni and pleased with the support of our parents in attendance support, I was especially proud of the group of Moms who put the event together. Just as our teachers give of their personal time to provide students with the best school experience they can, these Moms chose to give their spare time and energy towards making their community a better place. Over and over last night we heard you say how proud you were of the school for supporting the event; indeed, we are just as proud of YOU.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Two Incidents, Two Reactions

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We host quite a few invitational sports tournaments at our schools. TEAM School and the Primary Campus are famous for their soccer and floor hockey tournaments, the Mentor Intermediate Division has been inviting schools to its volleyball and basketball events for over 20 years and in just the past few weeks, we have hosted HS volleyball and rugby tournaments at the school. These tournaments give our students the opportunity to play many games in a short span of time against teams that are usually not in the same division or league, and any profits from the tournament go back into equipment purchases for the teams who are hosting, so they are a beneficial part of our athletic programme.

Whenever we host, there is the risk that some things could get damaged. It is not common but it does happen and at two of the recent tournaments, there was some damage. In the first incident, a visiting student jumped up and smacked a directional sign. The sign fell on the floor and was ruined beyond repair. In the second incident, a group of students were in a washroom. One of our staff members was walking past the washroom and heard a big ruckus. When the students came out, the floor was a mess and there was water and spit all over the walls. The staff member asked what school they were from and they told her.

This is where the stories turn in different directions. In the first case, I found out about the damage after-the-fact so a message was sent to the coach of the player. The coach started by apologizing and then investigated. He told us later that the student admitted to the damage, was remorseful, and was offering to pay for the sign. This was accompanied by another apology from the coach.

In the second case, I went and spoke with the coach of the team right away. His reaction was interesting to say the least. He immediately denied that it could be his team and asked what colour jersey they were wearing, hinting to me that another school’s students had been in the washroom and had given his school’s name instead of their own! A while later he told me that he had talked to the team and they said the washroom was already like that when they got there (and he again insisted that he knew it couldn’t be his kids). It was only after that conversation that I learned there had been an incident with the same team the year before and that they had only been invited back by the convenor because the other coach of the team had promised there would be no incidents.

After over 20 years of coaching and running tournaments, I can tell you that all student-athletes are 100% capable of being just as responsible (or irresponsible) as their coaches. When we go to look for the coach of the players who are found in the out-of-bounds areas of the school, we learn that the coach left the building for a while. The students who are yapping at the refs are the ones on the team where the coach has already complained to me about the tournament setup or the officiating.

I can proudly report that your TEAM/Mentor coaches have never been “uninvited” to a tournament.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

I am not a Number! I am a Mentor/TEAM Student!

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For some reason, we are admitting students after Labour Day more than any other year I can remember.

Now this is not uncommon at TEAM School; the fact that we have an individualized academic programme for each student allows us to admit students at almost any point of the school year. It is also not that uncommon in our high school programmes as international students await visa applications and the like.

Yesterday we had 4 students writing an entrance assessment and in each case, the parents felt that the current school was not delivering on promises that were made in the spring and even into September. We even got the compliment of “I have always wished our current school was more like yours” (which makes me wonder why they weren’t here in the first place…).

The best stories always come from the Mentor high school division, though. As Mr. Whyte says “the story is always the same every year….a student who decides on their own to try a new school after many years at Mentor College. With hesitant parental support, it is allowed and the students are on their way. They then come in to see me hoping for a spot here after their week elsewhere…”. Mr. Whyte tells me that these requests actually come from the students (not parents) and he always hears the same comments:

“I have a comfort zone here.”
“The teachers are so fantastic and really care.”
“The students here generally all want to succeed.”
“At the new school I felt I was just a number.”
“I got there and realized how great I had it here.”
“The principals at the other school don’t know anyone’s name.”

and his favourite:

“I miss wearing the uniform!”

He says that his favourite part is seeing the knowing smiles on the parents when he meets with the family. Their faces say, “We let them make the mature decision to try something else, and they made the even-more-mature decision to return”. We know why we have such smart kids here…it’s all genetic, right?

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School