Well before I had this blog, I had a regular column for several years at the turn of the century at the Richmond News. The posts are no longer easily accessible on the internet, but I have all the columns cut-out in a scrapbook (truly old school). I have been rereading some old posts over the break, and mixed in with posts about the Vancouver Grizzlies, dial-up internet, street racing and various local political issues was a more personal post about New Year’s 2002 – 20 years ago!
And at a time we all owe great thanks to the doctors, nurses and others in our hospitals doing amazing work, here is “Caring folk make for best new year’s party in town” from Kennedy’s Corner in the Richmond News – originally published on January 9, 2002.
On New Year’s Eve and the days that followed I got to meet some of the most caring, skilled and committed people I have ever known.
It wasn’t what I had planned for New Year’s Eve, but the evening and the following morning turned out to be my best ew year’s celebration ever.
At about 11 on the morning of December 31, I was running around getting the last supplies for our small new year’s party.
I called home to check on any last-minute grocery purchases and caught my wife just as she was going to the hospital.
Apparently our first child who was due around January 10, decided that she was going to come early.
Richmond General was a hub of activity.
The doctors and nurses were so supportive and caring, each one friendlier and more willing to help than the last.
It was very apparent from everyone I met, that while there are many problems with the health care system in BC, the people on the front lines are the very best at what they do.
Dr. Robson was the most popular person in the hospital that night. We saw her when we came in at noon on the 31st, and some 24 hours later she was still up and going. Being paged from emergency to the operating room, to checking on all her patients in the maternity ward, she was always calm. When someone asked how things were going, I heard her say, “Busy, but no problems.”
I doubt the new year’s eve to new year’s day shift is the most popular, but never a word of complaint.
The same shift is also probably not coveted by nurses.
It is really unfair to single any individuals out, as the 20 or so that I had some contact with were all first rate. From Kerri who took time to explain everything to my wife and I, to Sherri who was with us through the night, to Narinder who cam on in the morning, they were all unwavering in their support for us. After some 18 hours in the hospital, our daughter was born on the morning of January 1st, the second baby born of the new year in Richmond.
The following hours and days in the hospital saw the same caring that we had enjoyed through the labour and birth.
Nurses like Lillian and Rite and doctors Wagner and Duncan shared in our joy of the birth of our daughter and did everything they could to make things as easy as possible for us.
The list of thank-yous is really endless.
These nurses and doctors working 12-hour or sometimes longer shifts treated us always as if we were their main priority and nothing was going to stop them from helping us.
This type of support, commitment and enthusiasm is so special.
As we rest quietly at home, I know I speak for my wife and young Elizabeth when I say thanks to all the doctors and nurses at Richmond General for making our new year’s the best ever.
Thanks to Dixon Tam, then editor of the Richmond News, who gave me a chance to write for his paper. I got $35 a column – but I would have done it for free 🙂
Here we go with the 12th annual list. My homage to growing up in the era of Siskel and Ebert having the “must watch” show at the end of the year as they revealed their best and worst of the year. I am publishing this at a time where anxiety levels are higher than at any point this year. Hopefully you can enjoy a little reprieve from the doom scrolling on social media.
For the first time ever, my April 1st blog (Galaxy High) finished out of the medals this year in 4th place for clicks. I will choose to take this as a compliment to my other posts. I have got a bit of a complex that more people read my April Fools’ post than any other – perhaps thinking I should stick to comedy. It was COVID thinking that dominated my writing and those that resonated most with others. Given where we are finishing the year, I am sure it will feature prominently in my writing for next year. I am working on one for early in the year focused on elementary schools, as most of my writing around COVID has been high school focused.
Top 3 Shifts in the fall as reported by our school and district leaders:
Return of school sports and fine arts performances
Being able to have buddy classes without cohort rules
Keeping some of the timetable changes in high schools
There was a great energy in our schools from September through December. I know as I write this at the end of December things are definitely uncertain for January. It was great to have school sports and fine arts back performing. We knew we missed these activities, but having them return fully, showed the impact they have for kids and schools. Same is true of the dropping of the cohorts so multi-grade groups could connect again. Especially in our elementary schools these are such a key part of learning experiences. And in our high schools, students have continued to embrace new models of flexible time that were present before COVID but fully embraced in the last two years.
Top 3 Topics in BC Education (non-COVID related) that will get attention in 2022:
Changes to online learning
Shifts in early learning and childcare as it moves to Education
Finalization of reporting order for K-12
Stepping away from COVID there are a number of major education policy issues that deserve attention in 2022. We are seeing the first major revamping of online learning in BC in about 20 years. The plan will see that there are fewer providers able to offer courses to students outside their district, while everyone is able to offer to students inside their district. With early learning, there is a move gathering speed that will see all of pre-school aged operations move to be part of the K-12 system. School districts offering their own before and after school programming is already beginning to happen and we will see new relationships between school districts and their traditional providers. Government has plans for low-cost options for families that will be closely linked to the education system. And with reporting, BC has been in a state of limbo for the last several years with some very interesting pilot projects in districts. In what will be different for families, we are likely seeing the end of letter grades at K-9 (many places have done this already) while still holding onto many of the regular periodical reporting that takes place during a year.
Top 3 Canadian thought papers on the impact of COVID on schools:
OK, a touch self-serving with this one as I had some level of involvement with all three papers. I think all three capture important lessons of the last 18 months. Pandemic Shifts focuses on the secondary school experience in the lower mainland, while the paper on District Approaches to Learning is elementary focused. School Beyond COVID-19 takes a systemic look at issues with a Canadian view. All three tell different parts of the story and are very useful for future planning.
Top 3 Areas I learned the most about professionally this year:
Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity
Secondary Timetables
Next Wave of Technology
I look at this list, and I am thinking it will be similar again next year. For equity, diversity and inclusivity it is an incredibly broad topic and while much of the work is around Truth and Reconciliation, with my own learning I am trying to tackle other aspects of the issue as well. I thought as a secondary vice-principal I knew all there was to know about timetables. But the last year has shown me there is always another way. I am in awe of my colleague Ian Kennedy who is the master designer when it comes to different timetables. I am still in the camp of “people like whatever timetable they are used to and the actual timetable has little impact on student achievement” but I think the creativity out there has been awesome. And finally, while we have been focused on Zoom and other streaming connections the last couple of years, there continues to be major disruptions arriving with technology. From the continued growth of robotics and related areas in schools, to the quickly appearing virtual reality and augmented reality, if you are not trying to stay ahead, you are falling behind.
Top 3 Individuals Influencing the work in our district (that have never been mentioned in a year-end list before):
Our district has found a great partner in Alden Habacon as he leads our inclusivity and diversity work. We has a great way of focusing us on our students. Chris Lewis has recently stepped down from the Squamish Nation Council and has been an amazing guide for our school district. One of the many generous leaders in the Squamish Nation we get to work with, Lewis has helped educate our staff and students on the history of our area and insight into the workings of the Squamish Nation. I am wary about highlighting one colleague, when I work with so many great educators, but Cari Wilson is one of those teachers who makes a massive difference for so many in our district. From her weekly blog (click on her name above to check it out) to her work with teachers around technology, to her advocacy for young women in STEM and robotics, she has a massive impact in our district.
Top 3 Interesting Findings in my dissertation on superintendents and time:
Female superintendents spend more time with their Board and on educational leadership than male superintendents
Superintendents spend the most time in the “Community Relations” activities
59% of superintendents are in their first 5 years in the job
I wrote a lot about my doctorate this year – an entire series of eight posts (here is the first one on gender and the superintendency) over the summer. It was such an enjoyable project as having done this job for more than a decade, I finally had some local data to compare my experience to that of my colleagues. While not surprising that superintendents spend so much time on community relations, nor really that surprising that so many in the role are new, I was probably most struck by the very different experiences of male and female superintendents in British Columbia.
Top 3 Personal Accomplishments for the year:
Now a doctor
Ran an ultra marathon
Finished the year healthier than I have been in a decade
I finished my doctorate in June. I actually shared my experience (HERE) of the process. And it is not true that the only reason I did it was so that I could recreate this great scene from Spies Like Us:
Later in the year I had the chance to run an ultra marathon – a first for me. I combined running the race with visiting my two oldest kids in Nova Scotia at their university. I guess in 2022 I will look for an even longer race. And really what I am most pleased with is that I am ending this year at the healthiest I have been in probably a decade. Entering COVID I had a series of health challenges, but the last two years have been good to my physical wellbeing and I feel like I am inching towards 50 in some of the best shape of my life.
Top 3 streaks I have going:
Steps
Running
Photo posting to social media
I love a good streak. While most are healthy, I did once have quite a consecutive day streak for having a Dairy Queen Blizzard. At the end of 2021, my consecutive days streak for getting at least 10,000 steps will be at 8 years – every day from January 1, 2014 to today. At times, travel, weather and health have all proved to be a challenge, but I have managed to keep the continuous days streak going. As I got more into health this year I started a running streak on January 16 of running at least 5 km every single day. I know this is not the smartest training strategy but I am now at 344 days. I don’t think I will keep this one going much longer. My final streak to highlight is also a long one – as of December 31 of this year I will have posted at least one photo to Instagram for 2,556 straight days. While I don’t make many of the photos public anymore, scrolling through the last seven years of life in pictures brings me great joy.
Free Range Humans has a BC influence with Rod Allen. I am sure there are others out there, but this is a great podcast to get one thinking about educational transformation. With George Couros you get the smart ideas of his books combined with George’s great sense of humour. And Robert Martellacci who has several podcasts series posted in different places combines the best of Canadian context with global leaders in education.
Nothing really creative on this list – I listen to ones that are widely popular. I have a routine – each day’s morning run has a Podcast. If it is 5 AM on Monday is time for This American Life. The Reinvention Project from Jim Rome was new this year and he still have some sports related guests, but also many others in different areas. And No Stupid Questions is just fun. Two really smart people taking on an interesting question. Other shows in my regular rotation include Hidden Brain, A Slight Change of Plans, Charges with Rex Chapman, People I Mostly Admire and Politics War Room.
Top 3 elements of nostalgia in my life this past year:
Celebrating 35 years of the Grade 7 Class of 1986
Ghostbusters Afterlife
Kennedy Centre Honors
What a fun zoom call we had at the end of May as close to 20 members of the grade 7 class of Daniel Woodward Elementary School, along with our grade 7 teachers Don Taylor and Ken Whitehead got together to reminisce and get caught-up. I was far more interested in connecting to this group than I would have been with my high school grad group (it was 30 years since that milestone) and it was great seeing where people were at in their lives. It was so fun – I met up with Don (grade 7 teacher), Ken (grade 6 teacher) and George Nakanishi (grade 5 teacher) later in the year for drinks.
Now I was not expecting to like the new Ghostbusters movie. I was actually never a huge fan of the original movies. But it was the perfect mix of interesting new characters with the original characters. With retro connections, I am also a big fan of Cobra Kai and the Saved by the Bell reboot.
And for something late in the year, proof that I am becoming my parents is no more obvious than my love of Kennedy Centre Honours. From David Letterman hosting, to Canadians Joni Mitchell and Lorne Michaels being among those being honoured to the great Paul Simon performing ( LINK to video on Facebook) – the entire show was awesome. It was a holiday tradition in my house growing up, and it still is today.
Top 3 holiday traditions in our house:
The Stanley Park Train
VanDusen Gardens
The List
From my days at Principal at Rochester Elementary School we started going to the Stanley Park Train along with colleagues who also had pre-school aged children. 18 years later – it is still a thing. And VanDusen Gardens is always in the week before Christmas with my mom. And then the List. On New Year’s Eve we hand out the recipe cards to write down goals for the coming year. We all share them as family and then post them to be reminded of them during the year.
Final Thoughts
It was a year of anniversaries for me in education, already noting that I celebrated 35 years since my grade 7 year, and 30 years since high school graduation, 25 years as a teacher and I am just completing 15 years in West Vancouver. I still love the work. The unknown everyday is exciting. There is always a plan, but things never go exactly the way that might be expected. I am so lucky to be surrounded by colleagues who push and and challenge my thinking and a group with complimentary skill sets. Of course, I was hoping this would be more celebratory at the end of 2021, but COVID has had a different plan.
As always I really appreciate the connections we make over the year on this blog, via social media and even in person when we are allowed. It has been exciting to see some amazing lessons of the pandemic in our schools and with our learning continue, and I am sure some things we saw this fall will never “snap back” to pre-COVID times.
To all my friends and colleagues in West Vancouver and beyond still reading as I am well over my 2000 word goal – hopefully you are having a good break.
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