Head's Up - Your Monthly Update From The Headmaster

Welcome back to another year at Rundle!  A special welcome to all those families who are new to our community. We wish you all the best as you and your children begin your Rundle Experience. This year in the monthly Head’s Up, I hope to share our ongoing narrative. Each edition will include a themed introduction, followed by some updates on happenings and events from across our programs. I hope these publications give insight into the fabric that is Rundle. Together, Jason B. Rogers Table of Contents: I.    The Narrative – Part I – What does ‘well-rounded’ really mean? II.   Strategic Plan Highlight – Happy To Be Here – Emotional Wellness Taskforce III.  The Rundle Experience – Rundle Day IV.   Fine Arts Day V.    On The Shelf I.  The Narrative – Part I – When we say 'well rounded'… what do we mean? Just last week, I had the opportunity to visit more than 50 of our Rundle Alumni in the Toronto area. I was joined by our Director of Alumni and Advancement, Mr. Aaron Goettel and our Superintendent, Mr. Dave Hauk. We hosted two events: the first event was in Toronto for those who have convocated and are now in the workforce, and the second was at Queen’s University in Kingston. During our time with these young men and women, a few themes started to emerge.  1)    Community 2)   Leadership 3)   Agility 4)   Character Community: The students we visited were clearly connected to their past, present, and future through their Rundle experience. It was wonderful to hear the stories about their former Rundle classmates and teachers, the connections they have developed through our alumni network and their dedication to helping Rundle continue to improve.  Leadership: It was marvelous to see the way the Rundle Alumni embraced leadership in their education and their careers. On the first night in Toronto, we engaged with dozens of alumni who are now professionals leading in law, medicine, business, the arts, and engineering. However, as impressive as this was, it was just as impressive to hear about the involvement of our alumni at Queen’s University. Two examples are: A third-year student is in charge of the entire orientation week for the Queen’s university. This involves the orchestration of thousands of employees and volunteers, operating a half million dollar budget and inducting nearly 5000 new students.   Another fourth-year student is the manager of Queen’s University peer support network.  She maintains a 24/7 crisis hotline and coordinates dozens of staff to provide ongoing support to all students at the university. I made it my personal mission to ask each and every person, “Honestly now, did Rundle prepare you for university and your career?”  Without exception, the answer was, “Absolutely.” The anecdotal stories that followed were inspiring and affirming. The Queen's students emphatically stated, “We are more prepared than any of our peers, including others who have come from Alberta.  Academically, our first year felt like review and socially, we are used to getting involved, so the transition was eased because we were able to quickly find a community we belonged to.” It leaves me affirmed that we are doing the right thing as we pursue the credo: “Rundle inspires leaders.” Agility: Countless times during the conversations with our former students, we heard of educational and professional journeys that took one 90 degree turn after another.  Stories of students who went into medicine and are now pursuing law or students who initially pursued engineering and are now successfully running their own technology businesses.  It was these moments that reminded me of the importance of our well-rounded curriculum and our commitment to preparing our students for an ever-changing future. Without fail, our students confirmed that they were well prepared for the challenges of university and the life that followed and much of that preparation started in the classrooms and hallways of Rundle. Character: A strong handshake, a gracious welcome, a deep personal engagement and a sincere thanks – these are the characteristics of each and every conversation we had during our time in eastern Canada.  Our former students really understand how to connect, how to care and how to communicate. Ultimately, they understand what it means to have a strong character. What struck me most was the fact that almost every conversation came around to how these Rundle Alumni were giving back to their communities.  Hardly a conversation went by without comment of volunteering or giving. Maybe most impressively, all students talked about how they are excited to return to visit Rundle and to give back however they can.  We see this already happening in a variety of forms such as our career mentors, our Jr. Cobras coaches and donations towards current initiatives. Improving Rundle’s Program: This is not to say there were no conversations about how Rundle can continue to improve.  Our students were forthcoming with recommendations on topics that ranged from exposure to online courses to availability of options to more opportunities to connect with university students prior to them moving onto university.   After hearing from our alumni, we are committed to taking the information away and sharing with our entire faculty and as a follow up we will seek to make some adjustments that will allow our students to have the best opportunity to succeed in years that follow their time at Rundle. It is fantastic to see that our students are not only great ambassadors for Rundle and for themselves, but they continue to demonstrate the enduring value of kindness.   II. Strategic Plan – Pillar 3 – Happy To Be Here We continue to work towards wellness in our community.  Before the middle of October, we will have had committee meetings with all our subcommittee groups: students, parents, and faculty.  We also continue to partner with a variety of external agencies who continue to give us opportunities to consult and leverage best practices.  A thank you to the Mathison Center for Mental Health Research and Education, the Centre for Suicide Prevention, URSTRONG (GirlPower and GoodGuys), and Mind Up. Out of these meetings, we expect to see further tangible actions that will support our community in achieving emotional wellness. Last year, some of the highlights from our work were: For Students: Focus on mindfulness in our classrooms, the pilot of the Menu of Engagement and increased focus on peer support, and the hiring of an expert in Executive Functioning. For Parents: Creation of a parent advisory committee dedicated to emotional wellness and planning for upcoming speaker series on topics such as executive functioning and anxiety. For Faculty: A new Personal/Professional Development Model that includes training on Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Personal Coaching, and Leadership. On top of all this, the most exciting developments are yet to come.  Our committees will continue to keep our community informed as opportunities to engage and learn become available.   Teaser… one of our most creative projects is set to be revealed on October 5th!  This is potentially a game-changing initiative that looks to inspire our entire community to act! III. The Rundle Experience – Rundle Day On September 21, 2018, we celebrated the inaugural  Rundle Day! Students in all our campuses engaged in community building activities.  Some examples of this were a spirited school rally at the Academy, the first meeting of our Grade 4 and 12 buddies at the College and a Rundle-wide celebration of football at ‘Friday Night Lights.’  Thank you to all who participated and supported this important day. The day exceeded all expectations and I can hardly wait to celebrate it again next year with our entire community. IV.  Fine Arts Day  Yesterday we celebrated the annual tradition of Senior High Fine Arts day at the College campus. Faculty and students in grades 9-12 participated in a variety of activities - from drumming, hand bells, and balloon art to Bollywood dancing. The grade 12 students started a new Fine Arts Day tradition by inviting their grade 4 buddies to join them at the Conklin school to share the experience. Thank you to Mr. Geer and his students for producing together this short video that captures the creativity and fun of Fine Arts Day at Rundle.  V. On The Shelf Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness  by Ingrid Fetell Lee Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain by Daniel J. Siegel Factfulness: Ten Reason We’re Wrong About The World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Ronnlund Highlighted Podcast: Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell – Season 3, Episode 3 & 4 – An interesting examination of our memories.