Sarah Rosenhek

As this school year comes to an end, so does the grade 9 ICE program. Throughout the past year, there have been many experiences from the ICE program that have made me learn a lot about myself as a person, student and as a Canadian. From all the field trips around the city of Toronto to bigger excursions like winter camping or our adventure in Ottawa, ICE has not only made me a more aware, engaged and informed citizen of the world, but it has taught me that I am a strong person, proficient student and knowledgeable Canadian. The many topics that we students have learned about throughout the course of this year has definitely contributed to these discoveries, but I find that the hands-on events we have endured are the main factors that have caused me to learn these things about myself.

Firstly, I have learned through the ICE program that I am a much stronger person than I had previously thought I was. The experience that has taught me this about myself was our winter camping trip. In my opinion, this trip was the largest challenge out of the entire year in ICE. All students had no choice but to persevere through a whole week of being outside all day in the middle of winter, especially during the days when we had to sleep in wall tents or quinzhees in the wilderness. Before winter camping, I had no idea how I would survive this trip and I thought that it would be the absolute worst week of my life. However, once I actually endured this experience first-hand, I quickly realized that it wasn’t as bad as I had originally thought. Even though this may sound like something I’m making up just for this blog post, it’s very true. During winter camping, I learned how to find the positive side to each negative event and how to take each day at a time without constantly worrying about what the next day would bring. Being able to accomplish these simple things while winter camping were two indicators that I am a strong person and that I can preserve through any difficult situation.

Next, because of ICE I have learned that I am a very proficient student when I put my mind to a certain task or focus on completing a piece of homework or project. Recently in ICE, we had the task of completing two units at once. These units were our final project unit where we had to create a documentary, podcast, infographic or photo essay about the effect of Covid-19 on a certain subject. The second unit was our “ICE Reads” unit in which we needed to read a novel set in any Canadian province and prepare for a final conversion with our ICE teacher. In this conversation, we would discuss different aspects of our novel and answer one randomly selected question about it. I found that juggling these two units at once was a little stressful at times, but once I really got down to work and divided my time between these two projects effectively, I was able to push through these units without any difficulty. In addition, not only was this something that I have learned about myself as a student, but it is also a skill that can help me immensely in future academic years, especially throughout grades 11 and 12.

Finally, as a result of my experiences in ICE class this year, I learned that I am a knowledgeable Canadian. One specific moment from this program that helped me to discover this was when we were first assigned and introduced to the Challenge Week civics portfolio. Even though we were unable to go on our Challenge Week trips this year due to Covid-19, all students still completed their Challenge Week civics portfolios. After completing my civics portfolio, I learned that I am a knowledgeable Canadian because not only did I learn about the city of Toronto through the ICE program, but as a result of completing this civics portfolio and reading 7 diverse news articles about New Brunswick (my Challenge Week province), I feel that my knowledge about our country has grown tremendously. I can now confidently discuss a wide variety of issues facing New Brunswick as a result of learning so much from these 7 articles. In addition, from reading my ICE novel, which is set in New Brunswick, I have learned a tremendous amount about the landscape, geography, culture and some small communities in New Brunswick.

In conclusion, ICE is an extremely unique program that has provided me with a great outlet to further learn about myself as a person, student and Canadian. Throughout this academic year, I have especially enjoyed getting to learn more about our fascinating country through experiential learning and a variety of hands-on activities. I must admit that the year was quite challenging in many ways, like having to go winter camping or having to juggle the content of multiple units at once. Nevertheless though, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in the ICE program overall and while I might be relieved that it is over in some ways, I will miss ICE next year as all the grade 9 students make their transition into grade 10.