share what you know |

Great things can start really small. When small, of course, they appear insignificant and usually go unnoticed. Small things start becoming great when they’re shared.

Here’s how this happened recently at KCS.

About a year ago, a student in grade 5 thought of a story. It could have stayed in her head, like the many stories people think up. Instead, whenever she found the spare time to do so, she started writing it out on her school computer. It turned out that the story was pretty lengthy, so she kept on writing. As it grew, her friends and teacher started to notice. It kept growing and soon I noticed.

When a student ends up writing a 76-page story, just because, it’s already clear that something great is going on. But the sharing didn’t stop there. Ms. Hoggarth, our librarian, and I started talking about what to do with a story like this. After much discussion (sharing what we knew), we came up with a new offering at KCS that has us both pretty excited. Young Authors of KCS (YAKCS) is a program designed to inspire, support and ultimately publish the work of any students in grades 4 to 8 who independently persist in writing a book. Participating students will receive expert guidance from a published author, with the exceptional opportunity to receive direct feedback from the author when manuscripts are written. Published books will be honoured with a KCS book launch, housed in our library, and copies given to the student. Books will also be given an ISBN and be registered in the National Library of Canada and the National Archives. Aspiring artists will also join this group if chosen to be illustrators.

When first announced at assembly, fifty students rushed to the library to pick up information on how to participate.

The story in the head of our original aspiring author, when unshared, was unnoticed. Because it was shared, and because it inspired subsequent sharing, her story is not only on its way to being published, but was also the catalyst for what may end up as countless more books and inspired future authors.

Share what you know. You never know where it’ll go.

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

A hero is an ordinary person who finds the strength to persevere and endure
in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
– Christopher Reeve

Need a hero? Look no further – we’ve cornered the market at KCS.

Every student is creating a work of art that represents either a hero or heroism to them. Students in grades one to five are each working on a teacher-led project. Students in grades six to eight have designed their project entirely on their own, choosing everything about it other than the theme. Each student has his/her own hero, and their own way of showing it. The Spring Showcase from May 17th to June 6^th will be the richest, most interesting, and most inspiring exhibit of Sharing What You Know at KCS ever, I’ve no doubt.

Since reading a biography of Golda Meir in high school, heroes have always nestled in the periphery of my thoughts – all the big ones, the ones who stared down gross injustice, the ones who believed humanity could be better, the ones who courageously devoted their lives to it – reminding me to get off my duff and strive to live a life that matters.

I’m also recently thinking a lot about a smaller hero. Most people don’t know him, though all KCS faculty and staff, and many of our parents do, as well as many people like us in communities across the continent. He’s small in stature, quiet and humble in demeanor. In that way alone could he be considered small. A hero for me, he speaks a common sense about raising and educating children of character that few people speak. Challenging mindsets à la mode, he devotes his life to helping parents and educators be the better people they are capable of being.

This hero, Ron Morrish, is speaking at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School on May 9^th. You can also learn more about his message by visiting http://www.realdiscipline.com/ or reading his book Secrets of Discipline for Parents and Teachers: 12 Keys for Raising Responsible Children.

Heroes come in all sizes. Whether big or small, far away or right in our midst, their example has earned them a place in the periphery of everyone’s thoughts. Thanks to the artistry of our students, our Spring Showcase is KCS’s effort to make that so.

And maybe, just maybe, this occasion of Sharing What You Know might help us ordinary folk move one step closer to being heroes: people devoted to making humanity a little bit better.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics