Friesland, Democracy & Critical Thinking

I have a strange name.

I have spent a lifetime being called everything under the sun and have particular sympathy for people whose mother tongue is other than English (which is a far cry from suggesting that native English speakers do any better with it!) Innes is a Scottish surname that my francophone relatives have a particularly tough time with - the hard ‘i’ sound tends to come out as “he”. The best way to remember it is to think of ‘Guinness’ and drop the ‘G’.

However, Innes isn’t my first name. It actually begins with a C and is an ancient name that seems anachronistic in North America, although it is still common in parts of Europe. As a kid, outside of my own family, the only times I had ever heard it used was in my Latin textbook, in the Christmas special Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and in Planet of the Apes – the original starring Charlton Heston. See if you can figure what it is.

As an adult, my name has grown into a point of mild pride. It is interesting, tells a story, and links me with my ancestors. But for kids (including me), often unique traits are about as welcome as lice. Whether it is physical differences, ways of speaking, weird names, or family quirks, anything that moves you to the outside of the adolescent bell curve of being ‘normal’ is to be avoided or at least well-hidden.

Young people who are comfortable in their own skins, especially if they are different, are remarkably impressive. How we promote this ability is among the greatest challenges for parents, teachers and society. Because, whether the comfort comes from wisdom, courage, delusion, perspective, or arrogance, it will more than likely be a major contributor to longer-term happiness. We all know people who have spent lifetimes trying to become comfortable with who they are. Discovering (or it is developing) that comfort is one of life’s greatest gifts

My last name was created in the 1630s by my great x 10 grandfather, Jacob Jansen. He emigrated from a flooded island home call Nordstrandt (or ‘North Shore’) in Friesland to an area of New Amsterdam that is today just outside of Saratoga, New York. Once in the New World, he adopted the surname van Nordstrandt or ‘from North Shore’. Any van Nostrand or Van Ostrand or Noordstrand or other derivation is almost certainly a descendant of Jacob Jansen.

Friesland is now part of The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, but the Friesans used to be their own nation and were intertwined with the Angles and other Germanic tribes. The distinct Friesan language and dialects still exist and I am told that Friesan culture is alive and thriving. My cousin John, who is a well-known international expert in planning and how communities interact, informed me that for much of their history in the early Middle Ages, the Friesans had neither kings nor lords and practiced democracy as the core of their societal decision-making system long before most other European powers. Indeed, they exported the idea to other nations.

Democracy is at the heart of North American and Western European society. It is impossible for me to imagine Canada being anything other than democratic. We promote it in much of what we do as a school, and it is a pillar of Round Square.

It’s hard to take issue with Churchill’s famous quote on the subject, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” However, David Brooks’ column today is a refreshing example of US-based critical thinking when it comes to political systems.

In travels over the last 20 years, there have been many questions raised in my mind about political structures. Visits over the last couple of years to places such as Peru, China, India, and Malaysia, as well as observing some of the areas of international tension have amplified these questions:   

·         Is democracy right for all societies?

·         What are the pre-requisites for successful democracy?

·         Is it essential for freedom of the press, a free-market economy, human rights, an independent judiciary and democracy to co-exist?

·         Does democracy work when society has big problems that need to be solved?

·         What is the relationship between corruption and different political systems?

·         Is the appropriateness of democracy related to stages of social development?

·         Have we been sufficiently creative in coming up with variations on democracy to fit circumstances?

I don’t pretend to understand the best answers to these questions, but I do appreciate that, like religion, we often fall into the trap of assuming that our system is right … simply because it is our system.  We grew up with it, it has worked well for us and our ancestors, and our nation prospers. It is easy and common for North Americans to fall into the trap of assuming that we have a monopoly on truth as applied to political systems both for our own futures as well as those of the other nations of the world.

There is an interesting conversation among educators about the oft-used used phrase ‘critical thinking skills’. There is a broad consensus that it is one of the most important skills for success in the next 50 years, but what exactly do we mean by it? In part, it is the ability to ask the tough question; to challenge conventional wisdom; to keep an open mind; to use evidence and creativity to fully explore all aspects of a big question or issue.

Is there any better example for the need for critical thinking for global citizens than defining the best systems to allow our communities and our nations to govern themselves?

Musical Poetry, Midges and Spring

On Thursday night, I had the pleasure to welcome the new local students and their parents to Appleby. It’s a great experience looking out on a room of bright, smiling faces tinted with the contradictory blend of excitement for what is to come, together with mild worry about leaving what they know and are comfortable with. It was great to watch Andreus, one of our fabulous Grade 12 students, break the ice with the kids by performing absolutely mesmerizing and seemingly impossible magic tricks. Even the most cynical teenager couldn’t help but be impressed and smile.

I shared with the new parents why this is such a great week. It finally feels like spring has sprung – the flags on campus are up, the trees are budding, temperatures are rising, and you can have your full recommended daily intake of protein by walking across campus with your mouth open. (For those outside of the region, the Toronto lakeshore area is being swarmed by tiny, completely safe, non-biting, but annoying midge flies. There are lots of folks wandering around swinging their arms like mad orchestra conductors!)  It’s more than just the weather though, Appleby won all the rugby and soccer games I took in this week (and no, I’m not suggesting a causal relationship.)

It is also Arts Week here on campus. Every day there have been multiple performances across campus. From massive bands to innovative dance performances to mask-based drama to the jazz ensemble belting out Chicago’s Make Me Smile while looking out over the lake, there has been something for everyone. This year, a few of the newer initiatives included: a powerful original play about social media and the portrayal of girls; the cooking club creating culinary treats for the schools and Art Battle. Art Battle was a “competition” over lunch where about 10 students and faculty are in a circle in the Schlesinger Dining Hall and are given 15 minutes to create individual masterpieces in front of the rest of the school. The crowds gathering around the artists (some of whom really fit that descriptor and others not so much) showed how much natural interest there is in the creative process.

On Friday, I took in a couple of concerts in the John Bell Chapel as well as the Finale in the gym. The contrast in each performance was a window in on the talent of our students, and also on the notion on variety and how it can infuse passion and interest. In the finale, we had solo pop/rock vocal performances , an incredible Tchaikovsky concerto performed by Harry on piano backed by a full orchestra, our great Grade 12 Hold the Phones house band, David and James performing a ukulele/guitar duet of their own Hawaiian folk song (a unconventional endeavour if there ever was one as they don’t know the language), Andreus and Catherine performing a cello duet of Guns N Roses’ Welcome to the Jungle, a little Barry Manilow from the Concert Band, and the evening closed with the 1812 Overture complete with chemistry students exploding hydrogen balloons that reverberated throughout the gym – real cannons couldn’t have sounded better.

The Chapel concerts had similar variety with great vocal medleys and even one of the string ensembles shifting from Hadyn into Bruno Mars.

During these performances many of the students in the audience couldn’t help but follow a little nuthatch as spent hours flying all around the chapel from the balcony to the rafters, even landing on some of the stunning stain glass windows – all in a quest to escape this strange place. Most certainly, audience goers flipped back and forth between tuning into the music and worrying what would happen if he was unable to get out.

About three quarters through the second concert, Timur took the stage (the sanctuary of the chapel) to belt out New York New York. I have heard Tim sing crooner numbers before. He has a great powerful voice and both his timing and his ability to modulate make him a popular and stylish showman. And he really hit it out of the park that morning.

As Tim was mostly through his piece, the nuthatch stopped his incessant flying and landed on the candle hanging above him and the sanctuary. For the first time in hours, the bird started to sing. Unbeknown to Timur, he was doing a duet with this little fellow. You couldn’t have written it any better because as Tim was hitting his last “New York” – the song’s crescendo, the bird finally found small stained glass window cracked open, flew over, landed on the edge, then, as the audience erupted in ovation, the bird completed his own chapel odyssey to flying out to his endless buffet of midges.

What a perfect exclamation mark on  … Spring is here!

What The Global Leaders Are Saying ...

Alison and I are on our way home from the G20 meeting of schools heads in Lima, Peru. It has been a wonderful blend of cultural learning; reconnecting with relatively new friends; discussing ideas about educational innovation from superb schools from around the world; and listening to impressive Peruvian leaders which included university presidents, an international justice, journalists, the CEO of the country’s largest bank, cabinet ministers, presidential candidates and Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa.

At this meeting, there were heads and their spouses from: Australia, China, Ghana, Hong Kong, Kenya, Peru, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, UK, USA and, of course, Canada. Some of the schools represented are large, fewer small; most private but a couple public; some very old and some quite young; a blend of day and boarding; some single sex, but mostly co-ed; and some only high school but others range from pre-kindergarten to matriculation.

It is clear that the realities of different countries bring with them very different challenges. Some are trying to better engage parents, while other schools are trying to get parents to be less interventionist. There are varied dynamics around faculty management and compensation, but many similar thoughts around faculty growth and development.

There were, however, a few themes that seemed to be shared by the vast majority of participants

1)     Character education – how we develop graduates with a strong sense of morality and a commitment to societal contribution. More interesting are the conversations about how to makle this compatible with more traditional indicators of academic success, including university admissions and results in standardized tests (which often reward wrote style learning)?

 

2)      Mental Wellness – increasingly but to varying degrees, my colleagues feel that a significant portion of their challenges relate to student mental health, personal coping skills, and mindfulness (or the lack thereof). More specifically, the intersection between these kinds of issues and school culture is an area that schools are trying to better address in more creative ways.

 

3)      Systems for teaching and learning that promote collaboration and creativity. Increasingly, ideas of cross or non-disciplinary work by students is seen as important in developing their ability to make connections between seemingly different concepts, as well as develop different aspects of problem-solving skills and ways of thinking. How these skills are being developed in primary, middle and high school programs is one of the more exciting trends in education. Perhaps the most famous example of this is at the MIT media lab.

So, those are a few of the common threads in leading schools around the world, all of which we will incorporate in Appleby’s next strategic plan, currently under development.

The Founder of the G20 and its Secretary is a fascinating man.Dr. Anthony Seldon serves as the Master of Wellington College (perhaps not an unexpected title for the head of a school founded by Victoria & Albert as a tribute to the Iron Duke.) Anthony also serves as the Executive Principal of Wellington Academy, a state school founded and run by Wellington College based on its own operating principles and programs as one example of their commitment to the public education system. Anthony is a passionate, eloquent and inspiring voice for progressive education both in the UK and internationally. This link to an address he made at the University of Birmingham last year provides you with a taste of the kind of conversations that take place at G20 meetings and the calibre of leaders I am privileged to learn from.

And finally, on the subject of this year’s host school, Markham College, here is the profile of what they expect to develop in their students:

The attitude of a Markham graduating pupil ought to reflect:

 

• A strong commitment to honesty and justice

 

• Self-confidence but not arrogance
• Compassion and a genuine interest in the needs of others
• A willingness to apologise graciously when wrong
• An ability to work effectively in a team for a common purpose
• An appreciation of the natural world and the determination to preserve it
• A sharp awareness of one’s own limits, the preciousness of life, and the gift of time
• A strong work ethic, balanced sensibly with time spent with family and friends

As I read this and met some of their student leaders, it occurred to me that these sentiments would graft very well onto Appleby’s mission. And indeed, they would seem to parallel the values of this group of heads from every corner of the globe, further reinforcing for me that educational greatness has more points of commonality than differences, especially when it comes to purpose.

Cusco Meets Haight-Ashbury

My wife Alison and I are in Peru right now attending an annual meeting of a small group of school heads and their spouses from around the globe. The meetings start today and are being hosted at Markham College in Lima – a British-Peruvian PreK-to Grad school of 2000 that is known for technology, innovation, a bilingual program, outdoor education, and international education. (More on Markham once the meetings start.)

This is our first visit to South America, so there are many new and intriguing experiences for us. We took advantage of the trip to visit Cusco, the ‘historical Andean capital’ of Peru, the seat of the ancient Inca Empire, and a UNESCO world heritage site. It is located at the edge of the Andes with an elevation of 3400m (more than 2 miles) above sea level and used as a jumping off point to many of the spectacular Peruvian historical sites, including the Sacred Valley and Machu Pichu, named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. If you ever have the opportunity, you should visit this remarkable region and experience both the generous culture and rich history of the region.

Cusco was lovely and the people were delightful. It is clear after only a couple of days in Lima that the culture and make-up of the Andean people is very different than that of this rich, bustling, cosmopolitan city.

While proceeding to our flight in Cusco, Alison and I followed what appeared to be a North American couple through security. They looked right out of casting as aging hippies from Haight-Ashbury, complete with native bags and colorful cloaks. We struck up a conversation and discovered that they were indeed from the San Francisco Bay area (Berkeley to be exact) but that this region of Peru is their second home. They have been coming here for more than a decade. She is a language educator and he is a contractor.

When I asked him more about what he works with, he said water. From before we arrived in Peru, Alison and I were well-aware of the massive issues with freshwater in this country. The tourist guides suggest that you do not drink the water even in major hotels in the big cities. In rural areas, it is certainly out of the question. It seems so odd that in country marked by beautiful mountain streams, rich agricultural valleys and an abundance of what seems like pristine countryside, the water supply is so compromised. Bottled water seemed to be a booming industry throughout the country and the large piles of bags filled with recycled bottles in every town gave further evidence to the hydrological reality. One of our tour guides reported that Incan engineering featured clean water sources running through the middle of streets in their cities, while sewage was handled otherwise – the total opposite to European design. So with the Conquest and the arrival of the Spanish, the co-mingling of these systems resulted in large-scale contamination and disease. These issues have been further compounded by problematic agricultural concentration and widespread chemical contamination of water sources by large scale mining – the two most important economic drivers in rural Peru.

So our hippy friend from Berkeley (I think Dean was his name) was there doing work with small Andean communities in trying to secure clean water through purification systems. Like many parts of the world, rural Peru faces a huge social problem with unsafe water. It creates health issues that multiply and mutate to create debilitating impacts on areas as varied as child mortality, the economy, education, and sense of community. Access to clean water is one of the great world problems, which we in Canada often don’t full appreciate because we have 20% of the world’s freshwater supply (most of it clean) and less than one half of one percent of the world’s population.

Dean outlined the project he was working on now – dealing with town leaders to import microfiltration systems to remove organic waste (things like human and animal waste) from local water supplies. He plans to have these systems manufactured in Michigan then shipped to Peru. Chemical contamination, on the other hand, (the most common implication of mining) requires reverse osmosis systems. Because these are so energy-dependent, and power is very expensive in Peru, it raises other issues. There are discussions around designing mini-hydroelectric systems on rivers in order to power these types of purification systems. I wonder about solar systems and the potential for a couple of these economically desperate towns to get involved in the manufacturing of the filtration systems. It was very easy to get really excited by the potential to make a large-scale change in rural Peruvian society (and many other countries for that matter) by the use of small-scale innovations in conjunction with local communities.

I had two take-aways from this conversation:

1)      Dean’s work is exactly what we should be encouraging in our students. It is he kind of ethos that we are promoting through the Appleby Diploma in Global Leadership. It requires the merger of creativity, practical problem-solving skills (in this case linked to very basic chemical engineering), a sensitivity towards culture and collaboration, as well as the belief that you can make a difference even in a land that you haven’t grown up in.

 

2)      More often than not talking to that person who looks a bit eccentric or different can be entertaining, stimulating or a window on a new way of thinking.

End of Term Celebration

We have less than week left in the winter term. It has been a strange and eventful one. I am writing today from LA, where Iain McMullan, Danielle St. John and I are attending an Appleby event at the home of Peter ’52 & Linda Schlesinger. I hear that the windchill is -30 back home, while down here it’s been raining steadily, creating lots of flash flooding in a region that has been crippled by drought.

I don’t remember a winter that has been as consistently cold as this one, although apparently only 20 years ago the GTA experienced one that was higher (or lower?) on the badness scale (the AWISS.) It has certainly been invigorating and a test for our students from warmer climes in Canada for their first year.

Some things remain consistent from winter-to-winter, regardless of the mean temperature. Without fail, we get seduced by short bouts of milder weather, one of which came last week, leading us to believe that winter is done and spring is about to burst forth. We never learn.

This has been a great few days for Appleby. It illustrates many the elements of the breadth of experience for our students. I thought I’d share a few of the highlights:

·       Tomorrow, the fourth and last of the Grade 10 groups return from the McLaughlin Campus in Temagami. Every one of the groups has spent time sleeping outside despite the extraordinary winter. I understand that it has been a great snow year – 3 1/2' in the bush, a critical asset for insulation from the cold. As this last team completes their hike from Rabbitnose Island across the ice to the landing, they will signal another class having entered the special fraternity of Appleby students who have mastered a Northern Ontarian winter. Congratulations.

·       My second to last post tells you of the incredible community experience of watching and celebrating Canada’s Olympic hockey gold medals, including our graduate Brianne Jenner’s critical goal in the final.

·      This week, my wife Alison and I had the great pleasure of watching opening night of the school play, Leader of the Pack. It was a delightful romp through the music of late 1950s and 60s, especially some of the great hits coming from the Brill Building. While I knew that we had many great musicians and vocalists at the schools, I was amazed at the number of superb performances. There must have been more than a dozen students who sang lead. It was an entertaining, energetic and fun romp for all of us who had the pleasure to attend.

·      There are many teams involved in playoffs.  As I left Appleby yesterday, the Athletic Prefect sent around a note announcing that yet again Appleby’s swim team had captured the CISAA championship and qualified 13 swimmers for OFSAA. It’s the most recent example of what has become on ongoing model for athletic commitment, participation and success.

·      And finally, next week we will sending off 12 trips with almost 200 students and faculty to various locations around the Globe (Asia, Africa, Central America, South America, Europe, and for service and intercultural trips. Our global education program is an area we have great pride. It is a catalyst for both promoting the ethos of global citizenship and well as preparing our students for success in a flat world.

Congratulations to all for a great winter term, and let’s all hope that the warmth of spring will be here when we return for next term (… there I go again!)

 

P.S. On Monday morning our Prefects shared a Life in the Day (Day in the Life) of Appleby video shot on Feb 20 (the day of the women's Olympic hockey gold medal game.) It is a compilation of clips invited from all students and shows lots of typical school life, the early, the goofy, the celebratory and the happy.  Thanks to Thomas A for putting it together.

Tribute to a Gooooooood Reader

Writing blog posts can at times be trying. I'm never quite sure how much impact they have.

Early in my tenure as Principal, a wise, long-serving school head told me that one of the most important responsibilities of this role is to shape narrative in the community - to introduce important ideas and be the catalyst for the community engaging in the dialogue. Of course, many of the subjects should be different for students, employees, Governors, alumni, parents, etc., but across the board, having the conversations is an important part of being strong community.

The blog is one vehicle for this narrative, but I get very little feedback on my posts. While I receive readership counts and some in-person comments from time-to-time, I'm never quite sure whether my thoughts resonate, offend or are met with a wave of indifference.

Over the last year and a half, the one exception to this has been the consistent, enthusiastic and heart-warming feedback from my father-in-law, Doug Holt. He has been my most loyal reader and every time I have posted, he has been was quick with a supportive comment or a laugh. Loyal readers will recognize that I have mentioned him in a couple of posts, which he always appreciated, even if it included some good natured chiding.

Sadly, I won't be getting commentary from him about this post (at least in traditional media). Doug died last week. His death was unexpected and sudden while he and my mother-in-law were vacationing in Florida. It was shocking because Doug (known by his three daughters and five grandchildren as Poppa) was only 71 (but seemed much younger), was seemingly very healthy, and came from stock that were blessed with remarkable longevity. While any death is difficult on family and he lived an extraordinarily happy, fulfilled life, it always hits you a bit harder when someone goes prematurely. There is no doubt that's how everyone who was close to Doug feels today - lots of incredulous friends and family still trying to figure it all out.

Doug was a special guy. He was born and raised in Magog in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. He was the first in his family to attend university (a proud Gaiter), living with his grandmother in Sherbrooke as a way to be economical. While he had a very successful career working for and leading sales and marketing divisions in various sectors from aeronautics to tools to manufacturing, he wouldn't for a second peg career as his greatest achievement. He worked to live, and his greatest pride, pleasure and comfort stemmed from family.

He certainly dotted on his three daughters, Alison, Sandy and Jenn, sometimes to the chagrin of his two sons-in-law. He often treated them lovingly like teenagers, always getting their cars ready (washing them or filling up fluids), passing on helpful advice, and insisting that they check-in regularly whenever travelling ("Your mother insisted that I call.") If is he dotted on his daughters, then he downright fawned over his four grandsons and one granddaughter. They could get away with a great deal with Poppa, and they would do things for him that were beyond the realm of possibility if requested by a mere parent. It was apparent to anyone who knew Doug that his greatest pride in life was around his daughters and grandchildren - he would talk about the "original five" and his grandchildren all the time. For his grandchildren, their grandfather was among their very best friends. While it is a great blessing to get know grandparents, their loss is often the first major one experienced by children, and this is a case in point. As a parent, while losing someone you love is tough, it is not nearly as difficult as breaking that news to your children.

He and I had many common traits (sometimes disturbingly so for me), but we were also different in many ways, none moreso then our relationships with mess. As I brag to my wife, I am blessed with a very high tolerance for mess. She is less enthusiastic about that particular "strength" of mine. And as for her father, if there was one thing that drove him nuts, it was disorder and mess. Anytime people were doing something significant, like cooking or packing up to leave, Mr. Clean would some sweeping in with an almost Pavlovian drive to vacuum or collect the recycling or empty the garbage in the middle of the chaos. He loved order, which made him the easiest target for button-pushing from mischievous relatives.

Doug was one of those guys who loved to be busy. He always had cottage or home improvement project on the go, even though, truth be told, they weren't exactly his forte. He took on many tasks large and small and took as much joy in doing them, especially with family members, as he did in the outcome He was a very active guy - loving to play squash, ski, walk, and golf, despite his titanium knees. He reveled being with his many friends as well as extended family members such as in-laws and cousins. He was fun to be with.

In the family, he was famous for his many oft-repeated phrases: doing a high kick (although not as high as it used to be) and karate chop while yelling hyundai; singing Summertime but coughing after the first line as he tried to mimic Satchmo's gravelly tone; pointing to himself with both thumbs and declaring himself gooooooood when he was feeling particularly proud about something; or running around the outside of the Trouser Lake cottage (Lac Trousers in Quebec) at night banging on the windows to scare the kids while yelling "Monkey Man". Their response was to charge outside searching for Poppa them taking him down like a wounded animal.   

What I always found most remarkable about Poppa was the strength of his personality. He went through life with an unrelenting ability to always be positive, enthusiastic and supportive to everyone around him. He complimented people all the time and was one of those people who always showed deep, sincere interest in others. He took pride in others' accomplishments whether large or small and wore his emotions on his sleeve. One of the great family games was to get him crying, which would in turn get one of his daughters crying (usually Jenny), which would have a domino effect with the rest of the family. When I think of his tears, however, they were almost always tears of joy and nostalgia rather than sadness. What a wonderful way to go through life. I've talked to a great number of his friends, acquaintances, and even those who barely knew him, but they all talked about that sense of enthusiasm and joyous acceptance. While Poppa was a man of his own strongly-held opinions (politics, sports, religion, among others), he always seemed to listen to, appreciate and accept those who were different from him. Like most Quebecers, he loved a good conversation. None moreso than his daily one with his younger brother Gerry, where a review of the weather could eat up 10 minutes.

Finally, one of Poppa's most remarkable traits was his willingness to laugh at himself and practical jokes aimed at him, which were never in short supply thanks to his nephews, sons-in-law and grandchildren. Whether it was used tea bags (a personal nemesis of his) throughout the house, water balloons being tossed his way, trick golf balls, or a variety of other pranks - all of which featured him as the target - his own laugh at the outcome was usually the loudest. I really wish I can become as generous.

So, what else is left to be said? Lots.

Stories and memories, photos and videos will for a very long time help nurture us with his generosity and enthusiasm. But more than anything, whether it is through genes or learned behavior, Poppa's greatest legacy is in who his children and grandchildren are today, and who they will become. Together with the completely symbiotic, loving relationship with his dear wife Kay, this is the legacy that is most important to him, and it is the one for which he has the greatest pride.

So farewell to a man who loved people, who loved family, and who loved life. We will miss your enthusiasm, your joie de vivre, your caring, your laugh and your cries, but look forward to seeing you often in the words, actions and personalities of your children and grandchildren.

 

Of Memories, Community and Sharing Gold

I always like to ask alumni about the most visceral memories of school. There are many responses and lots of variety. However, four themes tend to predominate:

1) Experience overseas, especially on service projects when graduates' report that their world views changed profoundly. Students' assumptions about norms, adversity, happiness and their own lots in life were often turned on their ears. I am proud that Appleby offers one of the leading global education programs as we "double down" on these kinds of experiences and epiphanies.

2) The Northward Bound program. When Bruce McLaughlin and some other Governors encouraged Ned Larsen to start an Appleby-specific Outward Bound-like program in the 1970s, I suspect they had no idea of the full extent of the impact that they would have. It is remarkable the number of alumni for whom their time in Temagami provides the centerpiece of their memories - be it related to experiences from years ago such as solos or swimming in ice holes (common sense and the risk managers put and end to this practice a while ago), or those from more recent times such as canoe trips, camping in quinzhees, and wolf howls.

3) The impact of specific teachers in shaping lives. Almost all alumni - be they from the class of 1943 or 2013 - have views on their teachers. While many names and faces will fade with time, most grads hold a few people locked in their hearts because in their life-shaping influences. Not surprisingly, in boarding environments, these kinds of impacts are both more frequent and all-encompassing as faculty can become a blend of parents, aunts and uncles, and mentors, in addition to their traditional roles as teachers, coaches and advisors. The thing that I have started to realize, and it challenges my natural intuition, is that while there are some teachers who have almost universally positive impacts, there are also some who are outliers. They are at the same time unpopular with some alumni, and wildly popular and influential with others. On a superficial level, it seems almost incongruous that someone can generate such divergent reactions. It does reinforce that each child has his/her own personality and make-up. The key to understanding, connecting and unlocking potential of each student is unique. Not every teacher can hold that key for every child. Moreover, it is a sign of a healthy school that students will deal with a variety of teachers with different styles, for that is good preparation for life. This does not mean that a great school should in any way compromise its commitment to very high quality teaching by all, but it does reinforce that great teachers will often have varied impacts on different students. It is critical, however, that schools find a way to make sure that each child does connect well with at least one teacher; that every child has a trusted adult to whom they can turn.

Over the next two weeks, we will be launching a series of comprehensive constituent surveys - all students, employees, parents and alumni will be asked to provide us thoughtful feedback on how we are doing and how we can get batter. Some of the questions will relate to these issues. Alumni are being asked to let us know which faculty had the greatest impact on them, students and parents are being invited to let us know how well faculty connect with students. Please take the time to fill out the survey.

4) Communal experiences. When I changed schools moving into Grade 4 in September in 1972, it was a big deal. I didn't know anyone there and I was one of only a few new students moving into a already coherent and close class. But when I think back to that year, there is little that I remember. But what does stand out (I think) were two major events that we watched together in class. They were the launch of Skylab (the first space station), and game 8 of the Summit (hockey) Series between the Soviet Union and Team Canada ... remember the Henderson goal? Through the fog of time, it seems to be that they were captivating events that generated great enthusiasm, in large part because we experienced them as a community. We celebrated together and our energy was amplified as it bounced off the energy from our schoolmates.

Like many other places, we shared a similar experience over the last two days as teachers tuned in the women's Olympic gold medal game on Thursday, then the men's semi final hockey game on Friday. Both of these fabulous bouts between Canada and the USA entranced the school population. (I was really impressed by the handful of American fans who courageously waved the red, white and blue in a sea of red and white.) Some classes watched the games in their classrooms while others saw it on Appleby's close circuit tv system. As I had it on in my office, it was clear that the streaming to the various computers and projectors were out of synch - you could hear massive cheering taking place on different rooms separated by minutes.

The largest gatherings were in the Schlesinger Dining Hall, which was packed with hundreds of students and employees - from Grade 7 to 12, from all countries, long serving teachers and facilities staff. Here is a clip of us watching the Canadian Olympic Women's Hockey Team win the gold medal. Of course, we were particularly proud that Brianne Jenner, Appleby graduate and daughter of our colleague David Jenner, scored the goal to get Canada back in the game.

These are incredible community events, which in 25 years time, our students will remember fondly as being highlights of their time here. Of course, the core aspects of school are critic - teaching, sports, arts etc. - but these times when we come together, share emotions, and celebrate are often what makes a great school experience whole, special, and memorable.