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Wednesday 7 October 2015

My visit to the school at the Roy

On Tuesday I officially become the Superintendent of Education working with the Staff at the school in the Roy McMurtry Detention Centre. Today I went for my second visit and when I left I was walking on sunshine!!

The staff and the administration at the Roy school have hearts the size of New York City. They have no delusions about their clientele but they are people filled with hope, optimism and you can tell they don't give up on a student easily. All of it is music to my heart.

The staff at the Roy are models for all of us. With their Principal they have redesigned the timetable to truly meet the needs of the students they serve. Initially they were a bit skeptical but they now realize the changes made were the right ones. Their students are more relaxed, feel safer and are better able to focus on their studies. Staff feel safer too.

When young men are placed in the Roy, they have committed a very serious crime. Many have few high school credits, and some have some pretty significant learning disabilities, but through the work of the staff at the Roy, some boys actually graduate.

Today I met a young man who is one of those graduates but not only did he graduate, he found his passion at the school in the Roy. He excelled in the wood shop and he creates absolutely beautiful things. Currently he is enrolled in the construction management program at a local college and he will graduate after one more semester. When he isn't in class, he comes back to the school in the Roy and works in the wood shop with whom I suspect is his favourite teacher.

Working with kids at risk is my passion and I think that is why I was so drawn to 21C learning. I think many of the tenants have the power to make school an accessible place for all students.

After my visit today the question I have left in my head is, "Why did that boy have to go to a detention centre school to discover his passion? Why wasn't he able to do that in regular day school?"

The question isn't a rhetorical one and I don't want you to waste sleep thinking about it but I do want you to think about it. When will we have the courage to do as the Administrators and teachers have done in the Roy, and make schools student centred instead of adult centred?? We all need to chew on that one.