When God, in his infinite wisdom, filled my house with five active boys, He thankfully looked after a few extra details that have come in handy. From the time I was young, I knew I’d live on a farm. I’m not sure how I knew, but I knew it. My mom was a teacher and [...]
BY: KOENRAAD BEUGELINK, FAITH FORMATION DIRECTOR Two days into my start at ACS these words entered my mind: “What am I doing here?” I mean why would anyone who made it out of high school want to go back to high school? Don’t get me wrong, I had a pretty good high school experience. Not [...]
BY DAN VERBEEK, GRADE 7 TEACHER Being a teacher has its perks from time to time. We receive many gifts and goodies from students and families at Christmas and the end of the year. We are showered with cookies, baking, candy and gift cards. It is really wonderful…but only temporary and only confined to those [...]
Large crowds of protesters, police barricades and masked men with guns roaming streets. A house burned down killing those inside including a five-month old baby, arrests and disappearances and police road checks examining phones for any evidence of anti-government postings. Over 500 dead and 350,000 people out of work. Unfortunately, these kinds of reports are [...]
My daughter phoned me a couple of years ago and said, “Dad, I bought a boat.” Awkward silence. I didn’t know what to say. She had just been married, her husband was in his last year of university, they were poor as church mice and she was halfway through her nursing degree…and she bought a [...]
I have always been good at recognizing faces. When we are watching movies, my husband and I spend a lot of time wondering, “What else was she in?” and then looking people up on Wikipedia to figure it out. When I started teaching at ACS, 13 years ago, it was fun for me to go home [...]
BY LINDA GROOT, ELEMENTARY TEACHER LIBRARIAN I like to regularly highlight new titles with my library classes to help create student interest in reading. Sometimes, this can lead to interesting conversations with students: Student: “Hi, Mrs. Groot, I’m looking for a book you showed us last week.” Me (excited): “Sure! What’s it called?” Student: “I [...]
Another school year is under way. And while only a few weeks ago I was resisting the idea of my low-key summer days coming to an end and ushering in the season of routine, there is comfort and stability in predictability. As much as I miss my guys when they are gone, I was looking [...]
The first discussion we have in the English 12 Poetry Unit is about truth. Too many people consider poetry to be something that exists on a continuum between fluff and falsehood. This drives us Humanities types batty. Many hold to the mistaken idea that a thing is true if it is factual. Poetry isn’t usually [...]
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 [...]
