With Awe and Appreciation

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Andrea Fanjoy

One popped in to help my Mandarin student with his pronunciation.

Two co-chaired a gala that will live on as the most fun gathering of pirates, Willy Wonkas, Godfathers, Flappers and other assorted book characters Etobicoke has ever seen.

Two others worked steadfastly, as always, in our Parent Network Store.

I sat with six at our strategic planning meeting on Tuesday. Another six joined the grade ones on their outdoor education trip.

About a dozen worked in the hallways putting up 309 pieces of “Hero” art.

Thirty hosted dinner parties for hundreds of grateful KCS Moms, Dads, Friends and Staff.

Dozens more gave generously in time, expertise and goods to our Feast of Fiction extravaganza.

… and that doesn’t even cover the whole week.

One of our KCS Habits is Respond with Awe and Appreciation. Between all of the above, and the countless other ways parents help make KCS what it is – New Family mentors, Welcome Back BBQ, special lunches, library helpers, various fundraisers, Open House volunteers, the Board of Governors and committees, class parents, and many more – I am filled with the awe and appreciation we aim to establish in our students.

With effort, the world can be pretty awesome. With appreciation for the huge contributions of our parents, our little corner of the world is.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics

A Tribute to Quiet Leaders

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Andrea Fanjoy

Be quiet. If you listen, you will hear them roar.

A quiet leader at KCS told me about the new book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. Susan Cain, introverted author and now uncomfortable-yet-superb TED Talk speaker (see her speak here), makes the compelling argument that volume, voice and unabashed extroversion should not be treated as a preferred modus operandi, the standard all should strive to reach. Communication matters, but so does quiet, and particularly so for some.

This reminds me of some students I know.

Each term, a student from each class in grades four through six is chosen to receive the Junior Merit Award. The second-term ceremony was the week before March Break. Making the ceremony a teachable moment for all students in the audience, homeform teachers introduced the recipients with a speech that made clear why they were chosen. Here are some of the many ways in which the recipients are exceptional:

Concise writing
Clever sense of humour
Hard-working
Always listening and learning
Showing concern for others
Consistent sportsmanship
Listening carefully to suggestions
Though shy, first to participate
Exceptional effort
Courageous
Exemplary work

The second term awards were handed out the same week this quiet teacher-leader and I were talking about Susan Cain and her work. Though talking about ‘quiet’, it was loud and clear to us that the very worthy recipients were living proof of Cain’s message. Knowing the six students, they are quiet leaders. They are supremely able, significant contributors. Their modus operandi is a model to us all.

In our rather loud and busy world, take time to be quiet, and notice the quiet leaders in your life. Their example speaks volumes.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics

Lead to Make a Difference

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Andrea Fanjoy

A student entered my office this morning. “I have the chocolate”, she said, then promptly opened her pink flower-covered backpack, pulled out a bag and showed me multiple packages of fair-trade chocolate, each tied up with ribbon. We’re approaching the big moment when she and her friend present their powerpoint at a school-wide assembly and initiate the leadership project they have been working on since last year: Fair Food Friday.

They are in grade three. How we got here is an interesting story.

They knew about leadership projects, because they happen here frequently and visibly. They approached me about doing a project on chocolate, “because everyone loves chocolate.” One thought it would be great to collect recipes, and maybe students could win something by contributing recipes.

During one of these early meetings, her friend remarked, “I don’t know. Most of the projects here do something. They matter. This one doesn’t seem to.”

“But just doing something you like matters!”, she replied.

“Yeah, but…” Back and forth they went.

At this point, I told them about a leadership project from a previous year when students spoke at assembly about the connection between the chocolate we all love, and child labour in Africa. Upon hearing this, raising awareness of this underside of the chocolate industry, and awareness of fair trade foods, became the compelling purpose of the project. The plan is as follows: They will start the project with a presentation at assembly that tells the story of chocolate, child labour and fair trade. Also during this presentation, they will invite students and teachers to contribute their favourite recipes. Every week, they will randomly draw one recipe from their box, and give fair-trade chocolate to the person who shared it. At the end of the year, the recipes will go into a e-cookbook, and a hard copy cookbook for the KCS library.

With the plan in place, the girls wrote their speech, decorated their recipe collection box, bought the chocolate prizes, and are almost finished their power point. The official launch of Fair Food Friday is imminent.

Last year, the article “Student Leadership, Gone Viral”, first published by OurKids, explained the bigger picture of student leadership at KCS. But it’s the details that go into each project that excite me most. And it’s the details that convince me our students are really learning to be leaders, because the students are behind the details every step of the way. As for making a difference, without these two students, 310 people would likely not hear about the connection between chocolate and child labour. Most wouldn’t learn how fair trade practices have been established so that consumers can make things better by their purchasing choices, not worse. They would not be reminded of these things week after week, making the memory of this lesson stick. Many would not have the opportunity to savour fair trade chocolate under the envious eyes of their school community over the course of the upcoming year.

This is leadership that makes a difference. As icing on the (chocolate) cake, it inspires me to follow their lead. And it is just one of the dozens of student-led projects I’ll witness over the year.

This is not what schools were designed to do. But they could be. Imagine what a difference that would make.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
Follow Andrea @afanjoy