For a student, parent or educator, the 2022 calendar year started inauspiciously. A January 3, 2022, news headline seemed to capture it all: “Ontario closes schools until January 17. Bans indoor dining and cuts capacity limits.”
Ugh. Double ugh. Triple ugh.
For the third consecutive academic year, kids in our province were going to be faced with another interrupted school year. Back to online learning we all went.
This week, Mr. Brent Hurley considers the value of a liberal arts education, particularly following an unprecedented time in history. At TCS since 2015, Mr. Hurley is an English teacher and the assistant head of Senior School - student life.
Written by guest blogger, Brent Hurley
“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’”
In 1992, the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies released a song entitled, If I Had $1,000,000. In the song lyrics, the writers state that, should they have this great sum, they would “buy you a house” as well as furniture and a car. The song gets increasingly silly by the verse, with them buying “a tree fort,” “pre-wrapped sausages” and “Dijon ketchups.”
The song was fun and a big hit; reaching number 13 on music charts in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
For me, the answer to what you would do if you won a lottery valued at $1,000,000 is a popular conversation topic. And, I have found that what people say they would spend the money on follows a rather consistent pattern, regardless of age and stage. (Except perhaps if you are under the age of 10, keen on splurging on a million dollars worth of cookies or the like!)
This week, Ms. Cristy Drake shares some insight into the value of students being involved in three terms of sports in the school year. Ms. Drake has been at TCS since 2020 and is the School’s director of athletics.
Written by guest blogger, Cristy Drake
Wayne Gretzky did it.
Clara Hughes did it.
Michael Jordan did it.
I did it.
What exactly is “it”? “It” is playing multiple sports growing up.
At Trinity College School, this is one of our defining program features: three terms of sport! We embrace it. We celebrate it. We are thrilled to offer it!
Here’s why:
Do you remember what you wanted to be when you were 13 or 14 years old? I do. I wanted to be a marine biologist. I had just watched the Disney classic Free Willy and, in my heart, I knew it was my calling to study whales. As it turns out, one trip to SeaWorld and I changed my mind.
When I was a little kid, under the age of 10 years old, in the summer months, my parents would fly me and my sister to their hometowns of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, England, to visit relatives. My favourite place to go was the home of my grandmother (“Nan”) and grandfather (“Gramps”) on my father’s side of the family.
The primary reason: in her very small war-time refrigerator, my Nan always had a steady supply of mini chocolate bars which she kept in the “vegetable drawer.” Specifically, mini Mars bars (you know, the 19.7 gram “fun size” bars). They were tiny. Delicious. And, plentiful. A vegetable drawer filled to the brim with bars – at least 25 of them!
I can still remember running up their walkway, giving them a bird-bath-shallow hug, then blasting past them into their kitchen to pull open the fridge door and see “the chamber of gold.” Limitless chocolate decadence. This six-year old’s dream. In my mind, Mars was truly another planet!
This week, as we mark Remembrance Day, the School's chaplain Father Don Aitchison shares insights on how TCS honours those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Written by guest blogger, Father Don Aitchison
The Trinity College School calendar is replete with many annual events such as the Oxford Cup, the Carol Service, Reunion Weekend and Speech Day, but Remembrance Day stands out for me, as one of the most moving and meaningful ceremonies of them all, for many reasons.
Our Remembrance activities have evolved over the years since the first TCS students went to war in South Africa in 1899.
In the years following that war plaques and windows were dedicated to the memory of the fallen in the old chapel.
As parents, as we think back to our elementary and high school days, conversations about who was our favourite teacher abound. Was it the teacher who was the nicest, in your opinion? The one who seemed to understand you the best? Or perhaps they were the one who you learned the most from? The one who taught your favourite subject? Or maybe, the one who sparked a previously undiscovered academic interest?
But rarely do we ask ourselves, “Looking back, what was the most important subject I took in school?” Likely courses that taught you to read, write, add and subtract (“The Three Rs”) from primary to elementary school would be at the top of everyone’s list. But, if we move beyond primary school, and consider our years in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, how would you answer that same question?
Part three of a series of three blog posts
This is my third and final blog post in the series focussed on TCS’s decision to have a school size of approximately 600 students. My first blog post focussed on the composition of our student body; the second blog post of the series provided the rationale for this size of school; and, this post will address the impact and outcomes of our “by design” school size.
Part two of a series of three blog posts
In last week’s blog I outlined the size and composition of the TCS student body. In this submission, I explain the rationale for our school’s strategic enrolment and grade level targets. In next week’s blog, I will discuss the impacts on school culture, ethos and programming here at the School.
To review, our Junior School student body includes approximately 100 day students from across the region. Our Senior School comprises approximately 500 students of which roughly 200 are day students and 300 are boarding students. Approximately 50% of our boarding students live in Canada while the other come from beyond our borders. (While my last blog posts includes exact student body numbers, please allow me to reference these approximate numbers for ease when discussing overall composition and balance.)
Part one of a series of three blog posts
In addition to our school’s shared mission, the enrolment and composition of the student body of our school community determines, to a very great extent, the programs, staffing, culture and ethos at Trinity College School.
Our mission statement is developing habits of the heart and mind for a life of purpose and service.” Our total enrolment total at TCS is 592.
Over the course of this post and my subsequent two blog posts, it is my intention to help parents and alumni better understand (1) the composition, (2) the rationale and (3) the implications of our school size.
Let’s get started with “the numbers”:
