They were the best of times, they were the worst of times…

When Dickens first committed these words to paper, I am certain that he was not thinking about the last time Tyrone MacPherson was teaching in a high school classroom. But when I ‘officially’ returned to the classroom last month after 16 years, I was compelled to think about the changes that have happened over that time. Changes to the curriculum, coupled with the way we deliver education in the 21st Century, present both learning curves and tremendous opportunities for today’s educator. And by extension, provide new and exciting opportunities for the students in our care.

At Credenda Virtual High School this year, we are offering a course called Social Responsibility 20. It was designed at Credenda to target youth who want to make a difference in the world. We try to generate discussion around local, global and environmental issues that impact all of our lives. The course is designed to provide opportunities for our students to practice care, generosity and service. We hold a live classroom session online each Monday from 3 to 4 pm this term but more importantly, students design and participate in a charity project where they are expected to log 80 hours. The course is recognized as a Grade 11 level course where students receive credit but we hope that they get much more from it. We hope that they get a chance to make the world just a little bit better place because of their awareness and efforts.

This is one of the exciting things happening at Credenda Virtual High School this year and I have had the good fortune to work with my colleague Lori Poitras, as we team teach this course. So after a 16 year absence from the high school classroom, I was able to return in a virtual way last month and I am both excited and thankful because of it. All of us here at Credenda are enthusiastic about the chance to teach our youth about social consciousness and as an Elder once told me ‘if we put a little more into the world than we take out of it, we will leave it a better place.’

Isn’t that all we really want for all of our children?

March came in like a lamb. Will it go out as a lion?

March has finally arrived and it came in like a lamb! Now the question is will it go out like a lion? I don’t know about the rest of you but I always felt that once March came that it marked that we made it through another good old Saskatchewan winter. I know that we are still bound to have some stormy days but overall, we are starting to see the temperature rise. Speaking about temperatures rising, I was talking the other day to a retired teacher who does the occassional subsitute teaching. She was telling me that in the elementary schools, teachers are starting to feel the pressures of report cards. Staff and students are coming down with the flu and colds which makes it difficult to teach. I think that it is just that time of the season. I should know because I just finished a bout of the flu and a nasty cold myself.

Having said that, we encourage our students to take care of themselves this time of the year. With our high school exams coming up the last week of March, we would encourage our students to start reviewing and make sure that all of your assignments are completed and handed in for grading. We can’t express enough how important regular attendance is. If a student is not in class, he/she will be missing important information. The more a student is absent, the more difficult it will be to catch up.

We have sixteen weeks of school left and that’s including the holidays. Before we know it the school year will be done and summer will be here. We encourage all of our students to continue to persevere in their classes. At Credenda we have an open door policy so if you would like to phone, email or drop in, please feel free to do so at anytime.