Expressions of Interest for the 2025-2026 Program will open in December 2024
Information Night
Thursday January 9, 2024, 7 pm - In Person at 930 Western Counties Rd, London, ON N6C 4R3 (Please Register Here so we can Estimate Numbers)
Wednesday January 15, 2024, 7pm - Virtual information (Question / Answer -based) session (Sign up Here to be sent the Presentation Link) -
Note: The same information will be shared at both sessions so there is no need to attend both!
RecordinG of our information Session From Jan. 18, 2024
*Changes for 2025:
Grade 10 Science (SNC 2D/2P) now replaces the Interdisciplinary Studies credit.
Staffing has changed and we have welcome Mrs. Gail Cratt to the teaching staff!
Updates on recent community-driven projects can be seen in our updated slide-deck (above).
Head
Heart
Hands
We are very excited to be offering students an opportunity to join our new grade 10 multi-credit environmental program through our London Environmental Education Centre.
Student accounts from our first week in February 2019 are available here as well as a student-generated article from the February, 2020 London Review.
The head, heart, hands approach to transformative learning involves understanding, caring about, and taking action on a particular issue. Our projects will all directly impact the local community in which we live. We're excited to put the 'active' into active citizenship and give students the opportunity to develop transferrable skills.
”Learning in the outdoors not only offers a unique context for learning but also provides experiential learning outside the classroom to foster a connection to local places and to develop a greater understanding of ecosystems. Natural and human-built environments can be used as sites for discovery, problem-solving, and active learning, as well as for first-hand experiences that put students in touch with nature.” Ministry of Education, Environmental Education Scope & Sequence 2017, page 5.
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This course is designed for grade 10 students. Depending on the number of applicants it will run both semesters or Semester 2 only. Please see the Interested? page for information for current grade 9s regarding how to apply.
This course is designed to meet the Ministry of Education’s objective, as described in Achieving Excellence, of “creating more relevant, applied and innovative learning experiences that spark students’ curiosity and inspire them to follow their passions” (p. 4); and to provide students with “more flexibility and ownership in their learning, allowing them, for example, to determine whether they want to spend more time on e-learning or on learning outside of the classroom” (p. 6).
Why did we develop this course?
Foremost, we believe that 15 year olds are capable and competent critical thinkers who can contribute to their community. Secondly, we believe that there's a lot to learn from interacting with the local landscape!
We're excited to bring together a group of student leaders from various secondary schools, and empower them with engaging experiential learning opportunities.
(In case you haven't noticed, alliteration is a fun writing tool, we'll play with that too as part of the English curriculum!)
What would a typical day look like?
That's tricky! Here are some example days. One day we might be planning for a week of visits from grade fours who will come snowshoeing at the Environmental Education Centre. We'll draw on our Physical Education curriculum and definitely our Writing and Oral Communication skills from the English curriculum. Another day, we might work with the Conservation Authority to mark trails, and develop interpretive signage and pull from our Civics and Careers curriculum (as well as English and Phys Ed). A third day we might be learning about local bird identification and submitting our data as part of a Citizen Science project. We could also work on developing a website outlining procedures for one of our Thames Valley District School Board school gardens that we may have helped to set up. In order to learn about the health of the Great Lakes, we'll conduct our own research alongside local experts. Some of our course readings will come from current research and some will come from historical works of Thoreau, or Leopold, and our writing will always relate to the work of our projects.
We have no bells, or transition time between 'classes'. In order to get in our instructional minutes plus 40 minutes for lunch, we'll start at 8:35 and depart at 2:15.
Who should take this course?
You should probably have some of the following qualities:
an interest in making a difference in your community
an enjoyment of the outdoors
an inquisitive nature
an excitement for sharing your passion
What will I get out of this?
What are you willing to put into it?