BY MEGHAN FRANKLIN, CLASS OF 2015 My younger brother (and only sibling) Evan will be graduating on Tuesday. As I’ve been watching him and his friend’s prepare for prom, exams, and the excitement of commencement over the past months, I can’t help but reflect on when I was going through those same experiences myself three [...]
Being in the middle school is an opportunity to see students grow and change almost daily. My favourite memory this school year was sailing with one of the grade 8 classes. I was witness again, to students growing confidence and a willingness to try something new and difficult. Some students climbed higher in the shrouds [...]
I still remember the first time I heard the story of why my brother became a teacher. He was in his first year of college, not sure what he really wanted to do. He had to take a science course as one of the core subjects. One of the required labs was to document the [...]
Apparently the tradition started about 15 years ago. A dad of a kindergarten student decided to call around to other dads in the class to encourage them to make arrangements and “give their wives a day off.” To the surprise of the kindergarten teachers at the time, there were more dads than moms on this [...]
I remember the tears well. It was like deep, dark rain clouds descending on a sunny day. A mom, in my office, being told we didn’t have any room at ACS in our Learning Support Services department, meaning we would not be able to enrol her son in grade 9 in the fall. The [...]
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 WENDY ENNS, LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES COORDINATOR What on earth could I possibly offer teachers from a rural village in Ethiopia? In November 2016, I had an incredible opportunity to travel with Run for Water to see a village that ACS Elementary raised money for clean water and a school. I was asked if I [...]
The email was followed up by a text; the kind that starts off with polite pleasantries about the weather and courteous queries about how I’ve been, only to make the awkward shift into, “So…while I’ve got your attention, I was wondering….” It’s the ever-popular approach of requesting a favour of someone or reminding them of [...]
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 [...]
I remember it like it was yesterday. Grade 9 Band Tour. My suitcase was packed. We got on the bus at night. I was nervous. We were going to drive through the night and arrive in Alberta the next day. I remember the sun was just starting to go down, the smell of fresh fallen [...]
