Friday 11 July 2014

The Gift of 'Wonder'
Book of the Month
July 11, 2014

In the last week of school I had the opportunity to sit down for coffee with Mrs. Danis, the principal of Rundle College Primary School.  The topic of our conversation was wide ranging; from a review of the school year that had just past, to our summer plans, to family updates, to great movies and books we had recently seen and read.  As always, I took an opportunity to share about the wonderful year Rundle Academy had just had.   A key component of this sharing involved the success of our school's focuses.  Rundle Academy had keyed in on the core values of 'Grit' and 'Responsibility.'  Students, staff and parents all seemed to embrace the idea of 'true grit' and I think it helped us all reach our potential.


As our conversation continued, we eventually started talking about the 2014-2015 school year at Rundle College Society. In time, we mused about what Rundle College, as a whole, might focus on next year.  It was obvious that we would continue to emphasize a 'safe and caring environment' and we would continue to help students discover their potential, challenge them to do their best and celebrate with them when they do.  Beyond the mission of Rundle College Society, we discussed values such as 'courage,' 'friendship,' 'character,' and 'creativity.'  After a short while, I asked what she thought about simply asking our students to consider 'kindness' as a key core value for the upcoming school year.  It was at this point that Mrs. Danis  asked if I had ever read the book 'Wonder' by R.J. Palacio.  



I had to admit I had not heard of the book but would see if I could find it this summer and give it a read.  Needless to say, I picked up the book 3 days ago and have now completed reading it.  I am so very happy that Mrs. Danis suggested this read.  Even though it would be classified as a young adult book, it is filled with universal truths that every person can learn from.  R.J. Palacio does a spectacular job of telling the story of the main character, August, through multiple perspectives that demonstrate an uncompromising empathy for all things that are true and good.  Beyond this, I am going to refrain from saying too much more because I believe everybody should give this book a read.  

I'll just leave you with this teaser.... if you want a preview of the Headmaster's 2014 Key Precept.... make sure you get to the last chapter.

All the best to you and yours during the summer of 2014.

Jason B. Rogers

Saturday 5 July 2014

The Courage of a Mountaineer
Lessons from CAIS Heads Institute
July 6th, 2014


This past week, I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to sit down with a dozen Headmasters from across Canada, Dr. Robert Evans and Dr. Michael Thompson.  


As one might expect, these meetings are inevitably filled with insights, big ideas and worldly viewpoints.  In spite of the vast amount of information that is shared, whenever I am away at any type of session like this, I’m always asking myself the question:


How will this session improve the experience for our students at Rundle College?  


In the nearly 30 hours of conversation, there were quite literally hundreds of take-away learnings.  Of the most impactful and pertinent was a conversation around courage.  Even though much of the conversation revolved around courage in school leadership, there is much that can and should be transferred to our student’s experiences in growing and learning.  




The five domains of courage as described by Dr. Michael Thompson are:


Courage of the Mother - the kind compassionate courage we all feel when we are in the care of another.  The acts of strength that come when you love something so deeply that you cannot imagine a life without it.


Courage of the Mountaineer - the courage to undertake the long, arduous journey.   


Courage of a Comedian - the courage to put yourself out there and be prepared for your ‘set to flop.’  When your set does flop, it’s the ability to have the strength to continue on.


Deliberative Courage - the courage to make a tough decision when it is necessary.


Courage in the Face of Pain - the courage that is required to overcome moments where you or others are suffering or in pain.


Each of the five domains are easily explored in the context of an excellent K-12 education.  Our teachers, students and families encounter and overcome multiple situations during these years that require us to leverage each domain.  However, for obvious reasons, I think it is appropriate to focus on the second principle, “Courage of the ‘Rundle’ Mountaineer.”  




The Rundle community prides itself on supporting students in their pursuit of becoming a renaissance learner and an ethical citizen of the world.  These lofty goals are never attained without first, a long journey that is fraught with peril and punctuated with celebration.  We could easily surmise that this journey is much like ascending a mountain.  At Rundle we hope that our students experience the occasional non-catastrophic failure, understand that there is a team of educational and emotional sherpas that will steward them through the challenge and ultimately through these experiences and this tutelage they will develop the ‘Courage of a Mountaineer.’  

As a community we will all be stronger together if we remind ourselves that life is a long and gratifying climb not a downhill sprint.  Collectively we need stamina, we need to remain patient, in the difficult moments we need to remember to be kind and more than anything we we need to develop courage if we are going to summit each mountain we face.