Summer Programs & Safer Schools

Summer Programs

School may be out for the summer for most students and teachers, but no so for staff and students involved in July programs with the Ottawa Catholic School Board.

Some 2,500 students are enrolled in Reach Ahead and Make-Up courses at four high schools across the city - Holy Trinity, Immaculata, St. Patrick's, and St. Pius X.  An interesting pilot occurring this summer is blended earning in some English and Career/Civics courses.  I very much enjoyed visiting all for summer school sites and even had the opportunity to teach a lesson on Hamlet to an enthusiastic grade 12 Reach Ahead class at Holy Trinity!  

There are also 1,300 or so elementary-age students this summer taking international languages classes at five sites: Notre Dame, St. Clare, St. Elizabeth, St. Gabriel, and St. Luke (Nepean).  The most popular language this summer is Chinese Mandarin.  During my visits to the sites in July, I also met students studying other languages such as Korean, Russian, Cantonese, Spanish, and Italian.

With Site Administrator Vitus Soo visiting International Languages
summer classes at Notre Dame High School

Thanks to a generous grant from the Ontario Ministry of Education, the Ottawa Catholic School Board's Focus on Youth program is able again this summer to employ 65 or so students between the ages of 16 and 18 as counselors at a variety of summer camps in the Ottawa area.  As well, this grant has made it possible for 20 students to work as custodial assistants in our schools.  I was very pleased to visit the summer camp programs run by the Britannia Woods Community House and the City of Ottawa in conjunction with the Michele Heights Community Centre and speak with the Focus on Youth students working there.  St. Paul student Katarzyna Maciaszek beautifully summarized the benefits of Focus on Youth when she said to me, "It's amazing how much I have learned from working with the children.  It's my way of paying it forward to the children - being a role model for them." 

Michele Heights Focus on Youth counselors

Focus on Youth Staff 2013



Book Review: Step By Step to a Safer School 
(2^nd edition)

Author Michael J. Hill begins Step By Step to a Safer School with a summary of Safe Schools legislation in Ontario – from Bill 81, the Safe Schools Act (2000) to Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act (2012).

There are some valuable insights in the chapter on suspensions.  For instance, Hill suggests that a teacher submit an office referral form prior to sending a student to the office for misconduct, and that the teacher indicate on the form the progressive discipline interventions, strategies, supports, and consequences that the he/she has previously used to address and improve the student’s conduct.  He also suggests that caution be used on suspension notices such that language that has Criminal Code connotations – ie. assault and weapon – be avoided.  Likewise, a principal should ensure the legal status of a student is clarified before using an in-school suspension or voluntary withdrawal of students from school as a progressive disciplinary measure.

A good point made in the chapter on expulsions is that, when conducting an investigation, a principal should keep a written record of his/her attempts to speak with the student involved in the misconduct as well as the student’s parents – in order to prove that the principal has observed procedural fairness.

Important advice is offered on conducting investigations.  To begin with, Michael Hill recommends that, for legal reasons, the principal should personally investigate any serious student incident that may lead to a long-term suspension or expulsion recommendation.  As well, to ensure fairness and impartiality, he suggests that an administrator who has been directly affected by a student’s misbehaviour not conduct the investigation or determine the consequence.  Hill cautions that a principal provide specific and “compelling” evidence that a student incident that occurred off school property has negatively impacted the school climate before imposing discipline on the offending student. 

Other advice offered for conducting investigations includes the following:

-       Interview victims and witnesses before interviewing students suspected of misconduct;

-       Be factual and non-judgmental in all written and electronic documentation pertaining to students;

-       School officials should take pictures of any seized item or object prior to the police removing them.

In the chapter Search & Seizure, school officials are reminded that they have greater powers of search than police since they need neither a search warrant nor parental approval.  However, they are cautioned against conducting random locker or personal searches and advised to ensure they have reasonable grounds before conducting any search.

Shelter-in-place, hold and secure, and lockdowns are discussed in the chapter on emergency response procedures.  One interesting suggestion the author makes for these responses is to place pre-made signs on exit doors to signify the type of emergency response in place at a school and how parents can obtain additional information.  When it comes specifically to lockdowns, Hill points out that conducting just two lockdown drills per school year (as required by regulation) may be insufficient for students and staff to fully grasp what is required of them.  As well, he emphasizes that lockdown procedures should provide enough flexibility to allow adults to have some autonomy in decision-making.  Hill recommends principals send a trespass advisory letter prior to sending a formal trespass notice.  

In a brief chapter on Youth Gangs, the author introduces some new gang terminology, such as stacking (hand signs used to signal gang activities such as imminent assaults) and netbanging (gang social media sites).

The book also contains several case studies, lengthy appendices of safe schools legislation and policy statements, and a brief glossary of terms.

Unfortunately, Step By Step to a Safer School contains a number of typos and usage errors that detract from its presentation.  Some examples include:

-       Nor is incorrectly used instead of or (and vice versa) in the last two points on page 16;

-       Section 206(1) is incorrectly identified on page 19 as the part of the Education Act that lists the behaviours for which a suspension must be considered;

-       An agreement error appears the bottom of page 41 (they is used to refer to The student;

-       The word disinterest is misused on page 124.

These minor editing errors aside, the second edition of Step By Step to a Safer School is an easy read and a good primer on school safety for educational administrators.

On Graduation & Student Exchanges

Mother Teresa Exchange with Cape Dorset, Nunavut

On Friday, May 24, I was privileged to meet Senator Vernon White at Mother Teresa High School.  Senator White came to the school to speak with students and staff at Mother Teresa and with the exchange students from Cape Dorset, Nunavut.   Mother Teresa students had spent a week during the early spring in Cape Dorset, and in return, hosted the Cape Dorset students in late May.

Senator White spoke specifically about restorative practices - an approach to misconduct whereby the perpetrator of harm towards others accepts responsibility for the harm he/she caused, asks for forgiveness, and repairs the harm he/she caused.   He explained that when he was a young police officer, he thought his job was to "put people in jail".  However, his experiences in law enforcement taught him that putting people in jail did little to reform them, or make them take responsibility for their actions.

Back row l to r. Mother Teresa teacher Kevin Nearing, Senator Vern White,

Superintendent Peter Atkinson, SEVEC Representative, & VP Marcy Cooper

Front row: Some Mother Teresa and Cape Dorset Exchange Students

In 1985, he took a course in restorative justice that changed his thinking.  In his time with the RCMP, he found that a person's likelihood of re-offending was cut in half when the person went through a restorative process.  Senator White later completed a Ph.D thesis in restorative justice, and his research findings were that 98% of victims of crime interviewed said they found restorative justice a "more satisfying" process than the traditional justice system.

Teacher Kevin Nearing, who led the Mother Teresa-Cape Dorset

exchange, with Senator Vern White

Senator White chose to come to Mother Teresa to speak about restorative practices while the Cape Dorset exchange students were there because, as he acknowledged in his address, he believes he would never have found restorative justice if not for his policing experiences with northen cultures.

St. Nicholas Adult High School Graduation

In the matter of a few days, I attended four high school graduations.  Each was customized to reflect its community , but without a doubt, the graduation ceremony for St. Nicholas Adult High School was the most unique. 

For those who have never attended a St. Nicholas graduation, it is difficult to describe the experience.  For one thing, the locale is spectacular - Centrepointe Theatre.  Then there is the atmosphere, which is loud and raucous, as so many of the graduates, their families, and friends are over-joyed to have completed high school.  At what other graduation ceremony do you hear every graduate cheered loudly as he/she receives his/her diploma - often to spontaneous shouts such as "I love you, mom!" or "You rock, dad!"     

Some of the close to 300 graduates at St. Nicholas Adult High School

The valedictory address is particularly moving.  As is the tradition, there were co-valedictorians this year.  One of the valedictorians, a fiftysomething mother, shared her life story, which was filled with terrible hardship and abuse, yet like so many St. Nicholas graduates, she found tremendous support from the staff of the school, and through much determination, met with great success at the school.

St. Nicholas Adult High School truly is a place where people`s lives are turned around!



http://chirb.it/FKP4Lr

Presenting Director of Education Award at St. Nicholas Graduation

My Address to The Class of 2013

On Thursday, June 27, I was honoured to speak briefly at three graduations - those at Mother Teresa, St. Francis Xavier, and St. Joseph High Schools.  Below is the text of my address to the grads.

 

Dear Catholic Graduates,

There’s an old adage that says advice is cheap.  As you transition from high school to college, university, apprenticeships, or the world of work, you will no doubt receive a great deal of free, and unsolicited advice.

Here’s a small sample of advice for graduates that I pulled off the internet:

-      Find what you like to do and have a passion for;

-      Never write anyone off and never alienate a person over one small disagreement;

-      Don’t spend money that isn’t in your pocket;

-      Unplug for at least an hour a day;

-      Find a worthy someone to love and make them your first priority in life;

-      Get up and go to church. Church is good for you;

-       Put yourself in the position of others;

-      Don’t be afraid to fail; and

-      Be content, but never complacent.

But here’s the one suggestion that I want to leave you with.  It’s adapted from Richard Olson, Vice-Principal at Bishop Macdonald Catholic High School in Guelph, Ontario, as quoted in the April 14 Catholic Register:

“Catholic graduates should say ‘thank you’ to their parents, families, and teachers with their lives.  Remember that those famous words ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country’ come from a Catholic U. S. President.  By virtue of your Catholic education, you have been consecrated; that is, set apart for the task of loving and serving the world.”

So go forth from today as emissaries of the God who loves you:

-         bringing light where there is darkness;

-         bringing hope where there is despair;

-         bringing healing where there is anger and hurt;

-         and most of all, bringing love to where there is hate.

 May God bless you on your life journey.