King's College School

Starting Young to Develop a Social Conscience

jdevlin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:15:51 +0000

For the past couple of weeks, the elementary art class at King’s has had great fun creating hand-made cards for Dare Arts, and they were anxious to show them off before they were given to the volunteers from Dare Arts. The cards will be sold by Dare Arts for $5.00 each ““ an amazing amount to these budding artists! ““ at various local events throughout the year. All the money raised from the sale of the cards will go to the many worthwhile projects that Dare Arts supports helping Canada’s aboriginal youth. The students had a great time developing both their creative side and their social conscience at the same time ““ a great example of the school philosophy of “Win, Win, Win, Wonderful”. (Win for yourself, Win for the other, Win for our shared world, and make a Wonderful difference) Well done, young artists!

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What Leadership Means to Me by Katelyn B., Grade 12

jdevlin — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:43:13 +0000

Leadership was never something that I thought much about until I came to King’s. When I arrived in grade 8, I started to hear the word ‘leader’ and gradually developed my own definition of leadership:a combination of volunteering, stepping up within the school, and helping fellow community members. Over my years at King’s, I have increased my involvement as a young leader. Some of my proudest achievements include raising, completely on my own, nearly $10,000 for ‘Free the Children’ and speaking at an 800 student conference regarding leadership. However, it is the initiative that originally sparked my interest in giving back, Christmas Families, that is my proudest success.

When I came to King’s in grade 8, I was encouraged by the older students to take on small volunteering role in the an annual project, Christmas Families. I learned that each year the students would hold this fundraiser to help families in our community who could not meet the expenses of the holiday. Taking direction from the middle managers, I completed the small task of holding a raffle at our annual Christmas Gala. I enjoyed interacting with the families of the school while completing my tasks, but what I enjoyed most was knowing that I was a small part of helping someone who greatly appreciated it.

The next year, instead of having to be prompted to join the team, I eagerly signed up as soon as I could. I wanted to take on more responsibility in raising the monetary goal, which is exactly what I did. My third year on the committee was my chance to share the task of leading the group with two other students. Over the course of the project, we learned how to work together as a cohesive team because of the challenges we faced. When I entered the fourth year of my involvement, I was now the head of management helping the less experienced students step up. Leading the whole project is a fulfilling experience because I have had to evolve and mature as a team leader to hold the position. I am continuing to find my management style and improve as a leader while helping others. In fact, as we head into this year, a new management team has been appointed. I am overseeing their management while providing tips, direction, and advice as they lead the project for the first time.

Over the past five years, my time at King’s has allowed me to develop a strong definition of leadership, and I truly believe the strongest quality of any leader is the ability to help others realize and improve their own leadership qualities.

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Remembrance Day and the Profound Need for Peace

jdevlin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:50:31 +0000

On this Remembrance Day morning, one is deeply and profoundly reminded of the desperate need for peace, understanding, and compassion in our world. We commemorated Remembrance Day at school on Friday, and it was made even more poignant and immediate this year by the fact that the uncle of two of our students is shipping out next week to Afghanistan. After watching the bitter animosity expressed in both the American and, unfortunately, increasingly in the Canadian political arenas recently, one does not have to look far from home to see the pressing need for kindness, compassion, and mindfulness – all values we hold dear at King’s. We were all encouraged this week by meetings held by our younger students working to resolve some on the small conflicts that inevitably arise as young people seek to learn and grow and find their own place in the sun – while learning how to do so without casting shade on their neighbour. The resolve of our grade 3′s, 4′s and 5′s to share their goals with each other, to trust each other, and to help each other with their goals was a highlight of this most reflective week. As well, our grade 6′s, 7′s and 8′s took a time out from classes this week to come to a realization that they truly do care for each other and will express that caring in all their interactions with each other. It is so encouraging to see the King’s Family deepening its ties and living the peace that our world so profoundly needs. On this Remembrance Day, and on all days, we pray for peace and compassion in our shared world.

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Congratulations!

jdevlin — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 15:53:16 +0000

The Mid-term Reports were released this week. Our congratulations go to all the students who have done so well, with special mention of the Top Five. First overall in the school as of the Mid-term Reports is Matthew Grade 10 (back row, left), followed VERY closely by Wamiq Grade 12 (back row, centre), and then Suhanna Grade 10 (back row, right), with Taylor (front row, left) and Zora (front row, right) in Grades 4 and 2 respectively coming in at 4th and 5th overall. Well done!

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Haliburton!

jdevlin — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:01:20 +0000

The students of King’s had an experience that took them WAY outside their comfort zone – with fantastic results! King’s kids from grades 7 to 12 went to the Haliburton Forest Reserve, just south of Algonquin Park, for a week of leadership training, team building, canoeing, rock climbing and high ropes challenge. We stayed in log cabins on a private lake deep in the forest - without any electricity or running water – and certainly learned to appreciate the modern conveniences at home! Back at the school, this experience has created a strong peer leadership group that can now take on the challenges of doing some great work for others, both in the school and in the community. We are now meeting each day to continue to build the King’s family by constantly practising the leadership skills we learned in Haliburton, and passing on what we learned to the students in grades 3 to 6 who stayed at the school the week that we were in Haliburton.

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Building the King's Family – Haliburton!

jdevlin — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:05:08 +0000

One of the most exciting weeks in the whole school year is upon us: Haliburton! Starting Monday, the grades 7 to 12′s are off to spend a week in the wilderness at the Haliburton Forest Reserve, learning about ourselves and each other. This is really the week that builds the King’s Family and cements the relationships and the ability to self-reflect that will go on to transform each of our lives. The challenge of the rock wall; the tremendous pride of conquering the high ropes course; the shared deprivations of no electricity, no running water, no showers, and no flush toilets; the crisp cold at night with the truly awesome canopy of stars – more stars than most of our students have ever seen in their lives before and, if we’re really lucky, some incredible evenings watching the dance of the Northern Lights and listening to the calls of a far-distant wolf pack – all of these add up to unforgettable shared memories and stories that will last a lifetime. But what really builds the King’s Family are the evenings spent quietly talking, sharing our goals and challenges, discussing the progress we made that day and helping and encouraging each other on our own personal journey of growth – that is what makes the Haliburton experience a life-altering week of personal discovery and growth and of mutual respect, caring, and attendance. Here’s to Haliburton – may we all have another wonderful week!

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Getting to Know Ourselves – Part Two

jdevlin — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 16:11:07 +0000

So this week, as part of getting to know ourselves and getting to know who we are, we discussed who we are as a community. What is our purpose? What do we believe in?

When all of us – students, staff, parents, and guests - come through the front door of the school, the first thing that greet us is a plaque that says “˜King’s College School: Dedicated to the Magnificence of Learning, Doing, Being, Leading, and Making a Difference’.

We have a very clear purpose: to grow human beings who will be magnificent in learning, magnificent in doing, magnificent in being, magnificent in leading, and magnificent in making a difference.

King’s is about the higher human dream: How can we be our best selves? How can we contribute the highest amount possible to our shared world? What can we each do in our own individual quest to move upward and forward to being the best human beings that we can possibly be?

We value what we call ‘The Four W’s': win, win, win, wonderful. I win, you win, the world wins, and we make a wonderful difference. We are all looking forward to a year of making a wonderful difference – in our own lives, in the lives of each other, and in our shared world – let the quest begin!

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Getting to Know Each Other

jdevlin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:08:18 +0000

‘Getting to Know Each Other’ is the theme of the month for September, and we have been very busy for the past two weeks doing exactly that! Getting to know each other at King’s goes way beyond just knowing each other’s name and maybe a few points about each person. It all starts with getting to know ourselves. On the first day, when asked to say “Who am I?” to the other students, one new student said that he didn’t really know who he was – and several others agreed that they, too, weren’t really sure who they were.

As learning who you are is one of the main tasks of life at any age, we start tackling that question right away – starting with the use of ‘Learning Injunctions’. In doing the Learning Injunctions, each child is asked to look at each subject and figure out a number of things about that subject: What would it take for anyone to do well in this subject? What do I want to do in this subject – what is my intent; what grade do I want to get; what else do I want to get out of taking this subject? What are my strengths and weaknesses as learner vis-a-vis this subject? and finally, Given my intent and my strengths and weaknesses as learner of this subject, what am I specifically going to do, each and every day, to ensure that I actually accomplish my intent?

By the end of the first week, when each student has been guided through this level of self-reflection and self-knowledge (at least about himself or herself as a learner), each and every student is a lot closer to knowing herself or himself. And now that we know a just little bit more about ourselves, we can get on with the really fun task of getting to know each other!

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Plant Seeds: The Origins of our Sister School in Africa

jdevlin — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 16:24:31 +0000

The fact that Mr.Eta is leaving on Monday for a visit to our sister school in Africa prompted the realization that perhaps many of our current school community are not aware of the origin story of our African sister school: Eta College, Kumba, Cameroon. It started quite a few years ago now with a group of our senior students who wanted to do something to contribute to their broader world and came up with the idea of collecting used books and shipping them to Africa to start a reading room in one of the founding partner’s home town of Kumba, Cameroon.

Over the next two years, many books were collected. Funds were raised to ship the books, to rent space to store them, and to provide a salary to employ a teacher to run the reading room. Once the first shipment of books was sent, Kumba instantly had its first library open to the public! The students of King’s were delighted at the difference they had made but, like so many wonderful things, this was just the beginning. The small seed that those very few students planted over ten years ago has grown, thanks to many amazing people and, most especially, to Mrs. Pat Long, an alumni parent, into a Canadian registered charity: Eta Colleges International. Eta Colleges has built a school dedicated solely to the purpose of “Raising African leaders to solve African problems”. What was just a few years ago a small, storefront reading room, changed into a a reading room and tutoring centre, and then to a very small school, and now to a brand-new, large school building which will eventually be able to house up to 400 students with state-of -the-art labs and library. Our lab in Cameroon has already been called the best in any school in all of Cameroon, and much better than those in many universities.

I hope that those original students take with them for the rest of their lives the knowledge that, at a very young age, they have already made a magnificent difference. The lesson we all need to take way is to plant seeds – you never know how many other wonderful people will come along to water them and help make them grow into something truly inspiring.

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Learning Activities – Empowered Studying

jdevlin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:54:22 +0000

Empowered studying is not just about sitting down and doing the work; it is about preparing yourself to obtain, understand, and retain information so that you can reference it later. Children learning how to learn, often opt for fast memorization over long-term understanding. The art of cramming, writing, and forgetting seems on the surface to be the easiest way to get a good grade. However, those who truly want to learn, and take the time to learn, can see the immediately beneficial outcomes of the time and effort they spend studying. So the question becomes, if our child WANTS to learn, but isn’t sure how, how can you as parents help him or her?
The first thing to investigate is the environment in which the studying is happening. Is it clean? Organized? Well lit? Secluded enough to minimize distractions (ie. not in front of the television, or at a table while other people are laughing and talking), but not too secluded that your child cannot ask for help or, alternatively, get distracted without your noticing? Does your child have the supplies that he or she needs? Is this the space that your child can use every time that he or she needs to study?
The next thing to consider is, is this the right time of day? Each of us have a time that works best for us: we are morning people or late-risers; perhaps mid-afternoon nappers? We need to ensure that our children are studying when they are most awake and alert (not after a big meal or lots of sugar!)
Finally, what are they studying? Ask you child to take the time to think about the subject, what does he or she already know about it, what is he or she trying to learn, and how does that relates to the other things that he or she is learning. The more context the learning has, the greater the chance of the learning sticking for the long term. Empowered studying needs to happen as soon as a new topic has been introduced. This may mean studying halfway through a chapter or unit. If each topic is understood as your child goes along, then the overall concepts and big ideas will be easier to understand and apply.

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