As a principal, I’ve seen a lot of things. But nothing prepared me for the day last year when I got “a-quack-ed.” Imagine this: I walk into my office, ready for a typical afternoon of emails, meetings, and decision-making. But something’s off. There’s an unusual sense of stillness in the room, a quiet—too quiet—until I [...]
My husband started watching MasterChef US a few months ago and by the end of the first season, he had me hooked. MasterChef is a reality show hosted by Gordon Ramsay, where home cooks compete in a series of cooking challenges hoping to avoid elimination each week from a panel of celebrity chefs, and ultimately [...]
BY ANNA REDEKOP, ACS PARENT When our daughter, Sadie was 10 months old, she was not meeting several of her developmental milestones. So we took her for genetic testing. I remember sitting her on the ground in the doctor’s office and giving her a cracker thinking everything would be fine and the doctor was about [...]
I am an admitted “neat freak” and I am okay with that. Regularly, I get razzed for how organized my office is. “You can’t be very busy because your office is always neat and clean.” The truth is, I just cannot work when there is disorganization. By the way, if you ever come into my office [...]
It is Thursday and Monday is coming. No, it is not Easter. I am busy cross referencing every student in Grade 6 and 7, praying I haven’t messed up a student’s allocation for their X-Block 5 Module. Cooking can only take 12, so can Cookie and Cupcake Decorating, Maker Taker can take 6, Design Thinking [...]
BY HELINDA VANDERKOOI, ACS PARENT Middle school…yikes! I heard stories from parents about middle school. Claims like: your kids don’t need you as much in middle school, hardly any parents come to chapel, the teachers don’t want your help, the kids ignore and avoid you. With all this chatter I was not looking forward to the [...]
Just a few days before the Christmas break, I received a phone call from my friend Dave MacDonald. Dave and his wife, Danaya, have a very collaborative relationship with our school, even though their children don’t attend ACS, as they homeschool in order to volunteer in Guatemala. They have hosted several school events at their [...]
BY: KARL FRIESEN, MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANT A large part of being an Educational Assistant (EA) is working towards small every day successes. For the past three years, I have worked with a student through grade 6, 7, and now in grade 8. Seeing students mature in the classroom is such a privilege. I just [...]
About an hour drive outside of Guatemala City, we arrived at Bethel school in Patzicia. As usual, we were welcomed warmly into the school by the administrators, but also by the children as they were having their break. We exchanged many handshakes, high fives and fist bumps. During my trip to Guatemala at the end [...]
“Can I get your autograph?” This was different. Pig tails, braids, smiling faces, toothless welcoming grins reached out their pieces of paper towards us. “You’re the government! Can we get your autograph? ” I stifled a laugh, smiled back, looked over at my newly met colleague, shrugged, pulled out a pen, and signed away. I [...]
