Be the ‘I’ in Kind

Posted on October 10, 2019 by tdrummondkcs

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop

Initiated in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health, October 10 is recognized in over 150 countries as World Mental Health Day. The purpose of World Mental Health Day is “raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.”

Here at KCS, we have made it a priority to do just that by promoting student well-being and educating both our students and our families about mental health. By recognizing World Mental Health Day and other events that promote mental health awareness, we can broaden everyone’s understanding about the importance of taking care of not only our physical health, but also our mental health.

The focus of World Mental Health Day this year is suicide prevention. This is a topic of great importance as more than 800,000 people die by suicide a year, making it the principal cause of death among people fifteen to twenty-nine years old. While we know this is a troubling and complex issue, we must do our part to help remove the stigma that surrounds talking about suicide and its impact on all age groups.

However, we also know that this is a challenging topic for many of our learners to understand, so we wanted to address the issue in an age-appropriate manner. Therefore, we have chosen to help recognize World Mental Health Day 2019 by inviting all of our school community to share in one simple message – being “The I in Kind.” One simple act of kindness can brighten someone’s day, let them know they matter and that someone cares about them. This gesture can make a significant difference in one’s day.

To help share this message, we hung a banner in our school lobby and are asking everyone to literally be the “I” in kind. Of course, this is not a new topic in our school, but this week our teachers have spent a little more time talking to the students about what it means to be kind and how it shows others that you care.

Students are being encouraged to “catch” each other being kind and then write about it. As well, we are encouraging everyone – students, faculty, staff, and parents – to take their picture in front of the banner, share it on social media, and spread the word about how sharing acts of kindness can also help spread awareness about the importance of mental health education.

Kind acts are like a stone thrown into a pond. The acts ripple outwards and have impacts we may never even know about. Every single one of us will have people in our lives who will struggle with mental health issues at some point. But when we talk about mental health, we help those in need feel less alone. And if we make the world a kinder place, we create ripples that can ease pain, give hope, and maybe even help save a life. I got caught being kind tamara i in kind

Learn, Adapt, Launch, Repeat – Design Thinking at KCS Part 1

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Andrea Fanjoy

HeadandArrowssmall Earlier this year I wrote about our debut with design thinking. For readers still unfamiliar with what that means, here’s my attempt to describe it:

Design thinking is a process that takes a group of people from ‘complex problem’ to ‘solution’ in ways that are exceptionally correlated with success. Design thinking deeply engages all stakeholders, requires them to empathise with all affected, and reins in the more typical ‘rush to conclusion’ so creative win-win thinking has time to emerge.

While the specifics can vary according to task and organisation, the method is clear and comprehensive. Thanks to Project 2051 at the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) Leadership Institute last summer, I became acutely aware of its power and potential. Inspired, we have adopted design thinking, adapted it to meet our needs, and launched two new innovations that are rocking our world.

The earlier blog explained how we’ve established a new form of student leadership that allows all interested senior students and staff to work together to make KCS the best it can be. Here’s the design thinking process we’re following:

What is the design challenge?
1. What problems are you aware of that need fixing?
2. What challenges are you aware of that are worth addressing?
3. What opportunities have occurred to you that are worth pursuing?
What do you need to know?
1. Who is affected?
2. What are their perspectives?
3. What research can inform you?
4. What can you learn from others’ experiences?
What ideas address your design challenge?
1. What can you think of?
2. Which are win-win for all?
3. Get feedback from a larger group
Act
1. Pilot at a small scale
2. Reflect and iterate
3. Expand to address the challenge

We started as a small but intrepid group. Since our November launch, the group has quadrupled in size. The design challenge we’ve chosen to pursue first, identified by a grade 7 student, is the following: “How do we better enable differentiated learning at KCS?” We’ve since conducted a survey with the grade 6 to 8 students to learn more about how they best learn. Later this month, we’ll be launching this year’s Student Voice topic so we can hear from all students about differentiated learning and how to improve it. The KCS by Design members are currently preparing frequency distribution graphs and PowerPoint slides so they can share their findings through presentations to faculty, senior students, and the whole school (separately), as well as through presentation boards in the foyer for parents. Finally, Mrs. Drummond and I have launched a new elective as a prototype that makes more differentiated learning possible at KCS. That exciting venture will be Part 2 in the story of “Learn, Adapt, Launch, Repeat”.

This is what all leadership should be built upon. Engaging, listening to, learning from, prototyping with, and informing the whole school community makes smart innovation possible. I can’t wait to see where this journey goes. The inspiration that began with Project 2051 energises every step of the way.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

How a Tradition Was Born

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Andrea Fanjoy

It’s funny how things come to be.

KCS has quite a few traditions. Many are from before my time so the story of how they began will have to be told by someone else. There’s one young tradition, however, that some of us have had the good fortune of watching from birth. It’s unique to KCS and both the result of and engine for much of what’s special here. It’s called Compliment Friday.

As the name suggests, this tradition takes place every Friday and is the community service project of a group of five to six students every year. At assembly, these students come forward and announce to the school that it’s Compliment Friday, to which the school responds with a resounding cheer. Yes, it always starts the same way, predictability being a hallmark of tradition. Other students are then invited to come to the front and publicly share a compliment, or thank you, to one or more people. Each week, the theme changes. Last week, compliments were for teachers and classmates. The week before, pets. Over the years, there have been all manner of public outpourings of appreciation.

Contrary to what you might expect, Compliment Friday didn’t emerge from Shangri-La. Though there’s much that’s wonderful here, KCS remains part of a real world that sometimes includes conflict, missteps, insecurity and poor judgment. Despite our many proactive efforts, social bumps continue to be part of growing up.

This tradition began with a group of students who had been struggling with getting along. Friendships started, ended abruptly, then started up again. Feelings were hurt, sometimes healed, then, sadly, hurt again. When it came to our attention at the end of their grade 7 year, many steps were taken. One was the introduction of class meetings.

Now taking place in all grades throughout the school, class meetings have three parts. Students and their teacher usually sit in a circle, and the meeting begins with an “around-the-room” sharing of compliments. After this affirming start, the students collaboratively discuss and problem-solve an issue that needs attention. The final part of a class meeting is another “around-the-room” where students and teacher share something going on in their lives that others might not know about. It’s a powerful way to build connections and encourage empathy. The class meeting proved very effective in turning around relationships in this group of grade 8s. They were so pleased with the exercise that these same students came up with Compliment Friday as their community service project for the school. It has taken place practically every Friday since then.

An environment of regular, public gratitude is as wonderful as it is rare. These students turned a negative situation into a unique legacy of positivity.

And for that, this is a heartfelt public thank you.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

Why KCS is the best

Posted on November 27, 2012 by KCSMATTERS

There are so many wonderful things about KCS! Let me tell you about a few things that make our school so special. First of all the teachers are so kind because they help you when you need it, they make you feel better when you’re sad, they have a great sense of humor and they will spend their time at recess to help you finish something. The students are also amazing because they are so enthusiastic to learn, they help other people, they are willing to spend their time at recess to finish up something or help someone else finish up something and they always follow the three school rules. The athletic programs at KCS are great because every single person always tries their best, shows good sportsmanship and they show their school spirit. The students are also very welcoming to visitors and if it is your first day they make you feel that you have been here for your whole life. That’s why KCS is the best school ever!

Kiana
Grade 5 student