Hope You Enjoyed the Last 54 Days

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Derek Logan

The St. Julien Memorial – a Canadian war memorial located in the village of Saint-Julien, Belgium. KCS European Battlefields trip 2013.

My last Blog post was February 12^th. A couple of times each week since then, a thought comes into my mind that I need to write another post. Each week I feel guilty for not writing, but then I start on something else work or family related and another week passes by. The guilt begins again, I begin something else, and then another week passes without another post. It’s not that I haven’t been doing things the last eight weeks. I’ve been down to Philadelphia to attend the annual NAIS conference for educators across North American; attended a trip to the Canadian battlefields in Europe along with 74 other students, teachers and parents from KCS during the first week of the March break; prepared for Board meetings, strategic planning sessions, and staff meetings; read books; watched my Leafs on their playoff push while laughing at the hockey commentators and their inability to predict any trades; attended plenty of soccer training sessions with my son; celebrated a 75^th birthday for my Dad, a 70^th birthday for my mom (hi mom, thanks for reading!), and a 93^rd birthday for my grandmother; bought Eagles tickets for July 11th.

In short, life happened, my blog posts didn’t. Life went on for you, and the fact that you didn’t read a blog post from me may not have made a difference in your last 54 days. It got me thinking about all the things we try to cram into each day, and if we didn’t do them, what would really happen? Maybe this blog post made you think for a second, maybe it was a non-starter; maybe it was a happy distraction in your day. At least for me, I no longer feel guilty about not writing something, my ‘writer’s block’ has been overcome and I’m already enjoying working on my next post. Stay tuned…

Derek Logan
Head of School

A recommended read: The Globe and Mail’s ‘Why kids need to fail to succeed in school’

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Derek Logan

The following article was in The Globe and Mail on August 31. I have written about this topic on a couple of occasions in the past few years. I thought the article would be of interest as we begin the 2012/13 school year.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/back-to-school/why-kids-need-to-fail-to-succeed-in-school/article4513436/

Often in this space I will write about things students say to me that make me smile and remind me why teaching is such a rewarding, memorable and humourous profession. Yesterday during the grade 1 drop in I met one of the new grade 2 boys who was accompanying his sister and his parents. He said hi, and then looked up and said, “You have the same sandals as my Dad.” An interesting first day observation between a student and a principal.

This morning, I came in from recess, and walked into the grade 1B classroom to deliver a couple of birthday cards. The students were getting ready for their first KCS French lesson. One of the grade 1 girls looks up at me and says, “You’re cute.” I’m fairly certain that I have never had that said about me in my twenty years in education. However, if you know my wife Heather’s email address, please feel free to pass this information on to her. See you around the school.

Derek Logan
Head of School

Sportsmanship Matters

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Derek Logan

This has been an exciting summer for my son’s soccer team. Brandon plays for North Mississauga Panthers U14 boys’ team in the Ontario Youth Soccer League. This weekend they are playing for the Provincial Championship, and they have qualified for the National Championships that will be held in Toronto in early October. As many of you know who have children who compete in various activities, standing on the sidelines can be an emotional rollercoaster for a parent.

A couple of weekends ago, the Panthers faced their rivals, Brampton East Scorpions, in the semifinals. They won on penalty kicks. After the game was over this photo was taken of the two goalies:

John Wooden, UCLAs famous basketball coach noted that sports reveals character. How many times I’ve witnessed the truth of that saying over my years standing on the sidelines: both in the boys’ behaviour on the field and the parents’ behaviour on the sidelines. After viewing this photo last week, it certainly made me proud to know that Brandon is associated with teammates like this.

Derek Logan
Head of School

Drinking From the Stanley Cup

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Derek Logan

Three or four of you might have watched the conclusion to the NHL season last night. If you are really interested, you may have watched the postgame celebration on the ice and in the dressing room with the Cup. You may have asked yourselves, I wonder what the liquid is they are drinking when they pass the Stanley Cup around. A KCS grade one boy has the answer.

Last week, I was sitting at my desk at the end of lunchtime, when two grade 1 boys asked if they could come in and speak to me. The first boy asked me if I could do anything I want in my job. Before I was able to respond, his sidekick looked over at a poster I have in my office with Bobby Orr drinking out of the Stanley Cup after winning it in 1972. At the bottom of the poster it states: TRIUMPH: “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”—Thomas Paine. He asked me who was in the photo and why is he drinking out of the Cup?

I told him the photo was of Bobby Orr and it was taken in the dressing room right after the Bruins won the Cup. This caused him to pause, look at the poster and then back at me and ask, “So he was really thirsty so he poured some water into the Stanley Cup and had a big drink?” “Exactly,” was my response.

Derek Logan
Head of School

What Lies Beneath the Surface

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Derek Logan

In honour of our Feast of Fiction Gala this weekend, here’s a video that was passed on to me yesterday morning from one of our grade 5 homeform teachers, Rob Sawyer. The message: Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover.

http://youtu.be/41IS2OKqq1w

Derek Logan
Head of School

Grade 1s outside my office

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Derek Logan

A few blog posts ago, I wrote about what two grade one boys said outside my office during one of our Spirit Days. Moments ago I overheard another two grade one boys says to each other: “I wish my schedule was: “Gym, Gym, Gym, Gym, Lunch, Recess, Recess, Recess.” Dream big, boys. You just can’t make this stuff up. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Derek Logan
Head of School

A Good Read

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Derek Logan

On the weekend, I finished reading a book entitled, Inside Out Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives by Joe Ehrmann. The author is a former scholarship athlete who played football in the NFL. He now coaches high school football, writes and speaks about the impact coaches have on children. He certainly provides an important and thoughtful perspective on a coach’s influence.

While reading the book, I made notes on a number of quotes/stories that he references. Two of my favourites are below. This morning I forwarded the first story on to my son’s soccer coach as I know he’s experienced similar situations to this one over the past few years.

From page 193
The following is the story of the coach and a conversation he had with one of his players. Please note the quote is taken directly from the book and does not reflect the everyday vocabulary of the author of this post.

“Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?” The player nodded in affirmation that he knew. “Do you understand that what matters is not whether we win or lose but that we play together as a team and do the best we can individually and collectively?” Again, the player nodded yes. “So,” the coach continued, “I’m sure you know that when a coach makes a bad call or the referee drops a penalty flag you shouldn’t argue, curse, or call them a peckerhead. Do you understand all that?” The player again said he did. Coach continued, “And when I take you out of the game so another player gets an opportunity to play, it’s not good to call your coach an idiot, is it?” The player shook his head. “Good,” said the coach, “now go over there and explain all that to your mother and father.”

From page 214
We are all familiar with the saying, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Ehrmann prefers Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy’s retort: “The only must win was World War Two.”

Derek Logan
Head of School

Just Play and the Lessons Learned

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Derek Logan

Over the past eight years, I’ve been involved coaching and taking my son to minor sports, mainly soccer. I’ve watched him play for club teams and various school teams over the years. I’ve written about some of my thoughts on what I’ve seen in minor sports in this blog and in other newsletters at KCS over the years: treatment of referees by spectators as well as the behaviour of some coaches are topics that I’ve observed and commented on. Upon reflection, I realized that I’ve never written about the players. And this brings me to a story of watching my son play basketball with five guys he never knew before he stepped on the floor with them on Easter weekend.

My thirteen year old son, Brandon, and I went to work out at the fitness facility our family joined. We started off together doing various exercises and then he went off to shoot baskets in the gym. Earlier this year he decided that he was going to play on the school basketball team for the first time. The playoffs were starting the next week so he wanted to go and practice dribbling and shooting for a while. After an hour or so I finished what I was doing, and with the help of an oxygen tank, made my way up to the gym. When I arrived, I noticed Brandon was involved in a 3-on-3 game with some other boys, who ranged in age from 12-15. I sat and watched for twenty minutes.

To me, this was sports at its essence: a group of children getting together to play a game. It reminded me of my childhood when a bunch of us would congregate after school or on the weekend to play road hockey, soccer, football or baseball. We’d set a time to meet and then we “figured it out” from there. So many times, other kids we didn’t know would wander by and get invited to play in whatever game we were playing. Brandon and these five other boys ended up together on the court not knowing each other when they arrived. They picked teams, changed them when necessary, and called their own fouls. They congratulated each other on great plays and shots; they competed, disagreed, laughed and poked fun at each other for over an hour. Amazingly this was all done without listening to the input of others on the sidelines. They just played.

I think for my son, he likely took away other memories than I did from that Saturday; as a thirteen year old, he’s likely forgotten about the game in the same way he forgets about the things I ask him to do around the house! But for me that game allowed me to witness something about Brandon’s personality: it showed me that he has the willingness to get together with others he doesn’t know for a brief moment in time, and because they shared a common interest, have a good time. It also reminded me what my role is as a parent of an athlete: to get Brandon to his games and training on time, let his coach do the coaching, and let Brandon tell me about the training or the game afterwards. The rest is really up to him.

Derek Logan
Head of School

Grade 1s are So Honest

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Derek Logan

Today we had a Spirit Day at KCS. It was beach day. I was sitting in my office with one of my colleagues with my door open. My office is across the hall from the grade 1 classrooms. The younger students are always interested in seeing what the faculty and staff wear on Spirit Days. The two boys peeked their heads in to see what I was wearing – my Toronto Maple Leafs beach shirt, shorts and sandals. One of the boys said to the other, “He doesn’t look that weird.”

Derek Logan
Head of School

7/8 Boys Floor Hockey Team Triggers Memories

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Derek Logan

Last Wednesday, I went to our boys floor hockey tournament in Oakville with Mr. Marshall. As I expected, the boys were competitive, terrific sportsmen, and represented KCS in the way I’ve come to expect over the past thirteen years.

The boys were playing our arch rival, Mentor College, in the semi-finals. Mentor had squeaked out a 5-4 victory in the round robin portion of the tournament against us, and following the game I heard a number of their players say in front of our boys that they were expecting to play Fern Hill in the finals. Our boys had other plans for the first 21 minutes of the game. We were up 6-2 with six minutes remaining…but we lost 7-6. I was disappointed for the boys, but fifteen minutes later, they had “recovered” from the defeat and they were back to being their usual selves on the bus ride back to KCS.

As we were driving home, and I was thinking that this is what Ron Wilson and Randy Carlyle must have felt like this year, I remembered a particularly memorable defeat that my Dad reminded me of just a couple of years ago when he said to my son, Brandon, “You should ask your Dad about the time his team lost to Ottawa in hockey.” I remember him saying this and thinking to myself, I’ve forgotten about this loss for the past 30 or so years, and yet you’ve kept this in your memory bank for that long. One of the messages of this exchange is that the things we do as kids can often stay with our parents longer than it might stay with the child who actually does them. Anyways, when I was either 14 or 15 we were playing ice hockey against Ottawa. We were winning 4-0 with two minutes to go in the game. When ended up losing 5-4 in the first minute of overtime. My Dad had remembered this event and triggered my memory about it two years ago when he was speaking with my son. The KCS boys on Thursday brought it back. I have a message for the boys: You’ll forget about this in time. Your parents might not.

Derek Logan
Head of School