The Giving Season

Posted on December 22, 2022 by KCSMATTERS

In the past 2 weeks, we have held our annual Christmas Concerts. It was the first time we have been able to gather for this tradition since 2019. It was wonderful to see all our families in the audience as they watched their children perform. When you see the smiles, you cannot help but feel a warmth and joy that comes out at this time of year. I ended the evening by reading a letter about the difference that the KCS community donations had recently made to 11 families identified by The George Hull Centre. Each family had their own story and needs ranging from resettling to a new country due to war in their home country, a single mom who recently lost her four-year-old child to cancer, families affected by mental health issues, to families torn apart by domestic violence. The KCS community has been providing financial support through the Reason for the Season for 17 years. This is a Parent Network driven event and our volunteers do a fantastic job collecting for those who are in need.

It got me thinking about some of the other things that have been happening at KCS and I wanted to share more about our students’ initiatives at KCS that also make me proud to be part of such a giving community. In the Junior School, students organized and collected gently used books to donate to the Children’s Book Bank in Toronto. They collected 22 boxes full of books for children who might not be able to afford to buy their own books. The organizing committee of students for this project were overwhelmed by the generosity they saw.

The Junior School also organized and held a food drive to support the Mississauga Food Bank. The Grade 5 class delivered the donations to the Food Bank and spent some time volunteering and sorting the donations on-site. Food insecurity is a huge issue, and sadly with the price of food escalating, the needs are increasing. Watching our students bring in their donations and seeing that they understand that others in the city are struggling and hungry, shows me that KCS’s Citizenship Door to Learning does make a difference. Students are learning to have empathy and to care for others.

Our Senior School students were also incredibly active. The Grade 9s learned about food insecurity as part of the curriculum in math and geography. In both courses they learned about the factors that influence food insecurity in Toronto and throughout Canada. As part of their learning, they visited the Four Villages Community Health Centre at Jane and Dundas to take action to mitigate food insecurity in the city. The Senior School also initiated a toy drive and delivered toys to the local Fire Department. As well, our students headed out into the city and donated food directly to those in need.

It has always been important at KCS to ensure that Citizenship is part of what we teach. At school, we know that academics are important. Sports and arts as well. At KCS, we also believe that becoming an empathetic, honest, good person is also integral to our students’ education. As I think about the last month and the activities led by students, parents, faculty, and staff to support and help others, I feel that warmth and joy. As the Head of School, I feel proud knowing that KCS and its team of educators, support staff, and volunteers have helped to instill a sense of citizenship in all our students.

It is the season of giving and I wish to thank everyone in the KCS community for their generosity towards others. I wish you all a great holiday season.

KCS Head of School

Derek Logan

Zeena Zaiyouna Conducts Ontario Pops Orchestra

Posted on November 28, 2019 by vmilburn

Our very own Zeena Zaiyouna is this season’s assistant orchestra conductor of the Ontario Pops Orchestra, under music direction of Carlos Bastidas and is playing principal oboe in the orchestra.

Zeena has performed with orchestras including Harthouse Orchestra, Counterpoint Orchestra, Greater Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, Kindred Spirits Orchestra, Kingston Symphony Orchestra and the York Chamber Ensemble. She is a Toronto and Ontario Arts Council recording artist recipient and she most recently was featured as a conductor with the Canadian Independent School Music Festival performance at Roy Thomson Hall.

Together with a performance degree on oboe from Queen’s University, Zeena has studied under the guidance of Barbara Bolte and principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Hansjörg Schellenberger. Her orchestral conducting background and experience includes private studies with Maestro Andre Presser from Holland and Maestro Harold Faberman at Bard College in New York state. She has completed university studies in Denmark, Spain, and Canada and has had a unique opportunity to design and implement transdisciplinary arts-based teacher training and curriculum on four continents. Currently, Zeena teaches instrumental music at Kingsway College School and concurrently works as a private studio oboe and piano teacher for young aspiring musicians.

Zeena will be assisting the orchestra conductor of the Ontario Pops Orchestra on Saturday, December 14 at 8:00 p.m. at the Humber Valley United Church. We are incredibly proud of Zeena and her achievements outside the walls of KCS! If you would like to see her in concert, please visit http://www.ontariopops.com/.

Shanda Lee Exults in National Choir Competition with Exultate Chamber Singers

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Mark Magee

National Champs! Our very own Shanda Lee, along with fellow choir members from “Exultate Chamber Singers”, recently won First Prize at the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs, in the category of Mixed-Voice Adult Chamber Choirs.

Shanda has been singing with this talented group for three seasons. Exultate recently won the national competition for amateur choirs this past summer which was open to all ages and sizes of groups. Earlier this year, Exultate, along with the other competing choirs, submitted four songs to their chosen “Adult Mixed Voice Chamber Choir” category. The choir learned at the beginning of June that they were selected as one of three finalist choirs, and at the end of June CBC radio announced them as the winner in their category. One of our competition submission tracks was played on the radio during the Sunday morning program Choral Concert.

Link to music here.

The choir also submitted an entry to perform at “Podium” the National Conference for Conductors which happens every other year, and were chosen as one of the groups to be featured during the concert at the conference in Montreal in May.

Since 1981, Exultate Chamber Singers has become known for sensitive, precise singing, richness of tone and blended sound throughout a wide dynamic range. Founded and led for 30 years by conductor and organist John Tuttle, the choir form a passionate, committed ensemble with a wide-ranging repertoire. Exultate gained a reputation throughout Canada for excellence as a result of its pattern of success in the CBC National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, frequently appearing in the competition finals: in 2000, and again in 2004, Exultate won both First Prize in the Chamber Choir Category and the Healey Willan Grand Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts.

We are incredibly proud of Shanda and her achievements outside the walls of KCS. We also consider ourselves very lucky to have her as part of our Arts team, as her passion for and commitment to excellence in vocal music sets a wonderful example for our entire community!

shanda choir

KCS Faculty are Lifelong Learners Too!

Posted on April 12, 2019 by matinamosun

At KCS, we focus on developing lifelong learners. It makes sense that each year our faculty embrace new and challenging learning opportunities so that they can continue to support each student in this goal. With the goal of each student becoming lifelong learners, each faculty member is also actively involved in learning that is relevant not only to their teaching practice, but also their ongoing commitment to learning. Many teachers choose to take courses, read, share, and attend conferences to support their professional learning and their students’ needs. KCS’s commitment to lifelong learning is not only evident at the student level, but at the teacher level as well.

One particularly relevant professional learning experience is offered each year through CIS Ontario. Now in its seventh season, Cohort 21 brings CIS Ontario educators together for a year-long professional learning opportunity. Working collaboratively with some of the most passionate educators in the province, participants share innovative ideas, connect with experts in the field, plan for change in their schools, and engage in Design Thinking workshops to help develop a focus of a personal project called an Action Plan.

As a veteran of Season 4 in 2014-2015, I can honestly say that my learning experiences through Cohort 21 played a role in my decision to continue to research learning for six more years. Having a good understanding of student learning, I wanted to better understand teacher learning, and of course as a lifelong learner I am still figuring it out. Since then, KCS has supported three more faculty members throughout their own Cohort 21 experience. Last year, Season 6 involved our grade 2 team. Lisa Woon ventured out to discover new technology and Keri Davis went on a ride through project based learning. This year, Bob Hayes is exploring how to solve the world’s greatest problem and I’m back as a coach, still learning about learning.

Cohort21

Lifelong learners tend to be those who are well supported in their learning efforts and this is something that KCS models across the entire school community. We’ll never stop learning because we are supported in both our efforts and our passions. We know from experience that this is what drives us to learn along with our students and our students know from experience that no matter what we are along for the ride.

Remember, be kind to yourself

Posted on April 10, 2019 by dlbowes

Throughout my years as a teacher I have found that I am often learning as much from my students as they are from me. Working with the youngest students at KCS I am continuously taught to enjoy the little things in life. To appreciate the first snowfall of the year, and the second, and the third, to revel at the intricacies of an insect’s body, and see the beauty in every flower or weed. However, the biggest lesson I have learned came from a group of students I do not often see.

This year the grade 4s have been amazing anti-bullying heroes (as deemed by Mrs. Drummond). Recently they were visited by Jason from MLSE (Community, Alumni & Educational Program Specialist, Toronto Argonauts) for a pre-assembly workshop for the upcoming Huddle Up assembly. He spoke to them about how being proud of who you are and being part of a strong community helps to deter and diffuse bullying.

Out of this conversation came a great initiative from the grade 4s. They asked that each person in the school make their own trading card. This card would have a list of two to five positive qualities about yourself along with a picture. Once done you could show others your card in the hall, at lunch, or during recess.

Dbowes

As I sat down to complete this task I realized that bullying is not just an external force. That more often than not it can be an internal one. We often think of a bully as someone else who may say or do things to hurt us. We don’t often consider the fact that we can be our own bullies.

If asked to write a list of positive qualities for anyone here at KCS I wouldn’t skip a beat. I could rhyme off a number of things without hesitation. However, when it came time to write my own list I sat there for a very long time considering what to write. It wasn’t because I thought there were too many things to choose from. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I had no idea what to write. Ultimately, being a huge Harry Potter fan I went with some qualities used to describe my Hogwarts House.

Once again I ended up learning just as much from the students as they do from me. Whether intentional or not, the grade 4s have taught me that I need to stop being my own bully, and remember to be kinder to myself. This is a lesson I will take with me through the good days and the bad and I will be forever grateful to a group of 8 and 9 year olds for teaching me this very valuable lesson.

Five Things KCS is Thankful for in our 30th Year!

Posted on October 9, 2018 by Mark Magee

1) The one and only Ricardo – salter of icy sidewalks, handyman extraordinaire, and our foremost class clown!

2) Our alumni are now grown up enough to work here!

3) Foula’s big smile and bigger heart! Whether she’s looking after a sick student, helping a new family find their way around the school, or simply greeting everyone who walks through our doors, she does it all with a seemingly endless supply of happiness and joy.

4) Three additions, one amalgamation, lots of renovations, and (coming soon) a new park too!

5) The visionary and dedicated founders of KCS. Because if they hadn’t followed their dream thirty years ago, we wouldn’t get to be a part of this amazing school that they built for all of us. So from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!

KCS thankful

Top 5 Work-Friendly Social Events

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Mark Magee

There’s a real sense of community amongst the faculty and staff at KCS. Even though we spend over forty hours a week together, we still love to hang out with each other once the school day is done!

That’s why the wonderfully creative minds at the KCS Faculty & Staff Social Committee regularly put together fun evening activities for their co-workers. Every month they organize at least one event designed to get us out on the town as a group.

So if you want to nurture a passionate community at your own workplace, why not take a page out of the KCS Social Committee playbook? After all, there’s no better way to build team spirit than by meeting up after work to share a few laughs and adventures! With that in mind, here are our top five after-work events that are guaranteed to wow your co-workers…

CASA LOMA ESCAPE SERIES
With an emphasis on teamwork, puzzle solving and imagination, escape rooms are a natural fit for any large group outing. But why go to an industrial park in Scarborough when you can spend an evening figuring out how to escape from Toronto’s very own gothic castle? Casa Loma offers a rotating selection of themed experiences, meaning you could end up doing anything from cracking WW2 secret codes to evading the law as a Prohibition-era bootlegger. History has never been so exciting.

We didn’t quite make it out in time, but we had fun trying

AXE THROWING
Get in touch with your inner lumberjack/jane by bringing your officemates to one of Toronto’s many axe throwing venues. You’ll start off laughing at the surreal nature of it all, but it won’t take long before it turns into a spirited competition to see whose axe skills reign supreme. Just remember – it’s more about skill and timing than simple brute force, so anyone can win the bragging rights of a champion!

The science teacher won, showing physics has an edge!

PAINT/PLANT NITE
If your work crowd is more of a bohemian bunch, take them out for an evening of guided artistic creation. There are a slew of places in the West End that offer group lessons in painting or flower arranging. Afterwards, feel free to offer your colleagues some feedback on their creations while you bond over pub grub and beverages.

This group created their own gorgeous succulents

VIP MOVIE SCREENINGS
Sometimes after a long day of work all you really want to do is shut your brain off and enjoy some popcorn-fuelled entertainment. But bring along a bunch of your co-workers to one of Cineplex’s snazzy VIP screening rooms, and you veg out together in style. Best of all, nobody will feel left out during the next day’s watercooler movie talk.

Nothing beats a movie night with friends

THE GOOD OLD LOCAL PUB
Sometimes you’ve just got to go with a classic. Pick a nearby pub (preferably one with good burgers and wings), choose a night (preferably a Thursday or Friday) and just sit back and wait. Before you know it, you’ll have a crowd of happy colleagues swapping stories, telling jokes and talking about something other than this quarter’s targets.

So there you have it. Five simple ways to get your work family to turn off the email, ignore the office politics and just spend some quality time together. Because just like any friendship, passionate communities don’t just happen on their own – they take a little effort. So be the one to put out the call and organize a night out. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes!