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the linden school 10 rosehill avenue toronto on m4t 1g5 · 416-966-4406 · www.lindenschool.ca · linden@lindenschool.ca the linden letter fall 2010 highlights of this issue linden s first-ever intergenerational event by silvia gonzalez and dawn chan in the presence of grandparents and grandchildren the past and future merge in the present -jean vanier linden s theme this year is origins and our school s unique and vibrant history is based on the wonderful stories of our founders founding parents grandparents and students as educators we recognize that relationships are an essential part of a girl s growth learning and development as a community that fosters inclusivity and connectedness we aim to create intergenerational opportunities to deepen relationships that are so critical to the lives and development of our young women for the first time since the inception of the linden school grandparents and grandparent-like figures gathered at church of the bronwen grade 1 and her redeemer on thursday grandmother elsie at our september 2 2010 at the grandparents day celebration invitation of silvia gonzalez grandmother to two of our young women they met in the church s board room that contained a square table however as more grandparents arrived than were expected we squeezed together and formed a grandparent s circle how do grandparents feel about this initiative grandparents were asked to share why they came some of the responses given · · i love my granddaughter and i want her to know that i support her i want to know more about linden i wanted to meet other grandparents continued on page 2 week without walls page 4 student vote page 11 inside marketing update week without walls certamen sharing our knowledge math mavens and science sisters student vote ins outs of debating sports linden alumnae update 3 4 9 9 10 11 11 12 14 15 16 linden learns admissions update the linden letter fall 2010 · 1

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grandparents day celebration linden s first-ever intergenerational event continued from previous page · i tried to start something like this years ago but it did not take off it s about time we meet we are new grandparents to linden and thought it would be good to find out more about the school and meet other grandparents tending linden events volunteering and donations those attending the gathering also stressed the need to be sensitive to students that may not have grandparents or grandparent-like figures in their lives especially when planning future inter-generational events grandparents day · challenges grandparents were asked about what were some of the challenges they face as grandparents some of the responses included · · · on friday and monday of the international grandparents day weekend linden students from grades 1-12 participated in sharing stories with their grandparents and el i am not good ders in preparation with technology so for this gathering it is hard to keep students participated up with my grandin two storytelling daughter s way of workshops led by communicating french-canadian storyteller marylyn i do not always peringer and bernice know about hune who shared events at the her stories of chischool until the nese-canadian imlast minute migrants the young i come from a women also met different genin their all-school eration and some families to create times i do not aland work on the stoways understand ries that were most grade 5 students sophie and houston with norman phil and elaine the generation important to them my granddaughter comes from which they would later share with their loved ones i invested time care and love with my granddaughters but now they do not want to spend time with me i do not understand what happened during the gathering the rooms were alive with the sound of animated conversation and laughter as the elders and the young women sat together in circles comments such as i did not know that or you did that cool were ever-present many of our young women learned something new about a grandparent through their stories they also had the opportunity to share stories that were important in their own lives the importance of sensitivity mentioned at the grandparents gathering was in evidence at our grandparents day events students who did not have a grandparent in attendance were eager to · common ground as the conversation continued certain subjects came up again and again among grandparents and grandparent-like figures as proud elders in their granddaughters lives they expressed love for their granddaughters and a desire to stay connected to them as they learn and grow for many a large part of maintaining this connection involves supporting their granddaughter s school through at2 · the linden letter fall 2010

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grandparents day celebration linden s first-ever intergenerational event continued from previous page hear the stories of their friends special elders and those elders were unfailingly ready to talk and to share since the launch of our successful first grandparents event silvia and dawn have met to brainstorm possible opportunities for future intergenerational projects we would like to help all linden community elders to be as involved as they choose to be we will be seeking the help of interested elders in forming a working team to assist in the coordination of these efforts to ensure that we recognize and include all the elders in the lives of our young women we invite not only grandparents but also special aunts and uncles or family friends to participate we would also like to invite the participation of interested students to this team we ask for the continued help and support of parents and students as we begin to seek further contact with these individuals in the coming months marketing update telling linden s story by dawn chan so much wonderful learning and meaningful growth happens every day at the linden school and we think it s important to share it with the wider community that s why a few years ago we began the process of rejuvenating linden s brand to reflect the personality of our school as with many projects at linden this one started with conversations ­ in-depth enlightening discussions with students alumnae parents faculty and board members who were excited to share with us their views on what makes linden unique we then put together a marketing committee made up of individuals that had professional backgrounds in marketing communications or public relations importantly these individuals also represented several key aspects of our community this committee consisted of alana dasilva linden `98 beth alexander faculty karen hatch and paul cassel linden parents lorraine lederer board co-chair and shannon macdonald linden supporter i represented linden s administration on the committee and kate raven joined us as staff support this dedicated committee of linden volunteers met monthly over the past year using the information collected from the community to guide us in creating our new marketing materials many hours outside of these meetings were also spent by these individuals in completing specific projects such as running focus groups crafting key messages and creating advertisements as a result of this committee s work we have strong messaging which clearly conveys what linden is all about to prospective families and a new logo and vibrant colour palette to support our message we also have a new tagline which you may have noticed on our new materials and which we hope resonates with you where girls find their voice nowhere is this work more evident than in our new admissions packages which are customized for the junior middle and senior schools we launched these new materials at the our kids private school expo on october 16 with great success this has truly been a collaborative effort and i am so thankful for the feedback we have received from the community to guide the committee in their work in addition i would especially like to thank this dedicated committee for the many hours they have contributed of their expertise and time if you are interested in seeing some of our new materials we have some copies at the front desk please stop by and have a look the linden letter fall 2010 · 3

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week without walls from september 27-29 students in grades 1-11 learned outside of the school for our annual week without walls what did they get up to this year read on to find out week without walls junior school our students in grades 1-6 investigated the ontario science centre explored new modes of communication with puppet-making and improv workshops and experienced what life was like for ontario s first european settlers at sainte-marie among the hurons here s what they have to say about week without walls 2010 monday the ontario science centre on monday we went to the science centre we watched a movie about stars i wish i could go back with my mommy and daddy we also went to a classroom we built bridges -bronwen grade 1 on monday we went to kidspark at the science centre lia and i went on the spinny ride and grades 1-4 went to a classroom and talked about structures we learned a magic trick and made a ring bridge we had fun -sarah grade 2 i liked going to the science centre because i liked seeing the movie especially the part with the seals i liked the planetarium because we learned about stars i also liked the kidzone when we spun around on a spinning wheel we also learned about bridges at a workshop -kate grade 3 i stepped up to the vandergraaf generator at the science centre i was holding my friend s hand and squeezing it i heard a buzzing sound then felt tingling in the ends of my hair the next thing i saw was the scientist holding up a mirror and in the reflection i saw that i looked like a lion with my hair standing on end a static balloon could never match that feeling -claire grade 6 continued on next page 4 · the linden letter fall 2010

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week without walls week without walls junior school cont d when we went to the science centre we saw an imax film about life under the sea when we walked in the theatre it was pretty dark but once the movie started the theatre seemed to light up all around us i felt like i was actually under the sea and had fun learning about the fascinating wonders that live there -samantha grade 6 tuesday workshops i liked the day when a presenter came in to teach us comedy and drama i laughed a lot and had fun i especially liked it when we had to name things that had to do with a certain topic really fast the presenter was really good at improv she called us all jessie it was my favourite day -mackenzie grade 4 on tuesday we began the morning with a puppet workshop and then spent the afternoon with a woman from second city comedy troupe she kept calling us all jessie she said it was easier than memorizing our names we thought it was silly but fun we played games like `bippity bippity bop `elephant jet and made up stories together -the grade 5 class wednesday sainte-marie among the hurons on wednesday we went to sainte-marie among the hurons we took a bus to get there and beth played fun games with us first we watched a movie about the people who lived there then we went to the kitchen it was very smoky but we tried cornbread and maple syrup it was very good after that we went to the tailoring shop and dressed up bronwen dressed up as a huron girl and i dressed up as a huron boy we also went to the longhouse and kelly our guide told us a story after that we visited the pigs and cows we also planted the three sisters ­ corn squash and beans then we made corn husk dolls i named mine sacagawea if i could go back i would have a great time again -mieko grade 2 sainte-marie is a historical site where the wendat people lived with the jesuits in the 17th century we watched a video in a theatre and at the end the screen lifted up to reveal a doorway into the site our class walked through buildings like the smokehouse schoolhouse church and cookhouse then we sat in a longhouse we gathered around a fire and there were lots of firs and dried plants hanging around the building it was very smoky and warm but it smelled good after lunch we played games which the wendat people used to wager on and then played a game of lacrosse then we used a piece of clay to make oakies a clay face the wendat believe that anything with a face has a spirit and that this oakie would protect you from bad spirits we wrapped up the day with a tour of the museum and then took a long bus ride home -the grade 5 class my favourite part was when we went to saintemarie among the hurons i really believed i went back in time in the longhouse we sat around the fire the light shone through the ceiling in streams it seemed so real -jenifer grade 6 the linden letter fall 2010 · 5

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week without walls week without walls middle and senior schools for their week without walls students in grades 7-11 headed to camp wahanowin for three days of team building our grade 12 used this time to plan for their culture-service trip for which they are independently fundraising later in the year stay tuned to hear all about it here are some excerpts from grade 7 student amanda about her week without walls experience from september 27-29 students in grades 7 to 11 went on a trip to camp wahanowin for week without walls on the day we left we were all so happy and looking forward to the trip we rode on the bus for about an hour and a half when we finally got there we sat down and ate our lunch then we were told what cabins we were in who we would be sharing our bunk beds with and who our grade 11 counsellors would be we got into our groups and started to do some of the activities they were all so fun we were allowed to go back to our spidery cabins to rest for a while and then we came out and went to the dining hall where we ate dinner with another school they were loud that night we were all invited to see a concert at the camp there was a band that had come in and they were going to play for us they were great they must have worked hard because the singers and the instrumentalists were amazing i loved it when we went to bed we talked for so long until we finally got to sleep on that cold night in the morning we went to eat and we got hot chocolate which was really good then we went to our different activities and they were all a lot of fun there was a high ropes course where we went on all of these cool courses in the air on ropes there was also canoeing and rock climbing we also had free time to do whatever we wanted i went with some of my friends to make crafts on september 29 we headed home after a great trip 6 · the linden letter fall 2010

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week without walls la semaine sans murs meghan et emma français 9a amanda et mahal français 9a continued on next page the linden letter fall 2010 · 7

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week without walls la semaine sans murs sarah français 9a sylvia et martha français 9a 8 · the linden letter fall 2010

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around linden classics students confident at certamen by jenn haines on thursday october 28th 11 classics students went to toronto french school to participate in the fall certamen this event run by the national junior classical league tests students knowledge of latin vocabulary and derivatives and roman culture mythology and history in a quiz-show format teams of up to four players compete against each other using buzzers to tr to beat their competitors to the correct answer this year we took a team at each of the levels junior intermediate and senior it was clear after the first preliminary round that we were a force to be reckmediate team of emma emmanuelle grace and kima placed 7th out of 18 teams and the senior team of arlie ayesha alex and noa placed 7th out of 18 teams clearly seven is our lucky number the girls have already begun training for the spring certamen determined to do even better congratulations in related news congratulations to noa ayesha alex grace emmanuelle kima and emma for becoming members of the national junior classical league honor society which recognizes their high academic achievement in latin for the 2009-2010 school year oned with each person answered questions confidently and competently and as a result all three teams scored high enough marks after the first two rounds to send them to the semi-finals this was by far our most successful certamen the junior team of jamie shelley and tate placed 7th out of 20 teams the inter linden teachers share knowledge in rethinking schools magazine as specialists in applying girl-centred research in the classroom our teachers regularly share their expertise in the media and at national and international educational conferences in the past few years linden faculty have presented at many academic conferences including the science teachers association of ontario conference and southern connecticut state s annual women s studies conference linden math teacher michelle munk and grade 6 teacher beth alexander have recently been sharing linden s unique approach to teaching math with the wider educational community in particular they have been spreading the word about a unique linden event our social justice data fair the fair held annually at linden is a chance for students from grades 1-12 to use their data managment skills to investigate an issue about which they feel passionate each girl selects an issue conducts research and presents her findings to fellow students teachers family and friends this event represents one way we help students get excited about math it also encourages students to see math as just one of the tools they can use to create real change in the world this fall michelle and beth published an article in rethinking schools magazine entitled a social justice data fair questioning the world through math in their article they describe the reasoning behind holding the fair as well as the wonderful questions and conversations that result they also gave a workshop on a similar theme at the creating balance in an unjust world conference in brooklyn ny on october 23 to read michelle and beth s article visit http tiny.cc/sjdf the linden letter fall 2010 · 9

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around linden math mavens and science sisters on october 5 junior school students and their female guests took over the gym for an afternoon filled with math and science at this annual event students and their mothers aunts grandparents and friends create new shapes with tangram puzzles investigate the insides of machines at the take-apart table and fight the effects of gravity at the egg drop station check out these photos from this highly anticipated event 10 · the linden letter fall 2010

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around linden making our voices heard linden s student vote by emma and lucie grade 10 on october 25 everybody over the age of 18 will be voting however everyone under this age will not get the chance on october 22 linden students in grades 5 and 10 encouraged their fellow students to participate in the voting process through student vote so that they could have a voice in decision making too teams of grade 5 and 10 students explained the ballot to the voters and then each voter went behind a privacy screen to make her choices student voters also had access to a board made by the grade 10s detailing the platforms of the candidates running in linden s ward helping them to make an educated choice now linden student have the tools to vote when they are 18 results of linden s vote mayor george smitherman councillor ward 22 josh matlow top kate grade 3 makes her choices bottom sophia grade 5 explains the ballot to sarah grade 2 the ins outs of debating by samantha grade 6 if you think that debating is easy think again on saturday october 16th i went to a debating workshop at upper canada college with michelle and a few other linden students i learned that there is a specific format that you have to follow plus there are a whole bunch of rules too i guess it s not simply just arguing with another person it was so interesting and i learned more about debating i really enjoyed the workshop and i am looking forward to linden s own debate team the linden letter fall 2010 · 11

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sports linden ultimate frisbee team shines at co-ed tourney by allison cleland the linden u20 ultimate frisbee team demonstrated how determination motivation and confidence can help them to succeed at their small schools athletic federation ssaf tournament in early october our team was the only all girls team playing in the co-ed tournament tenacious defense and outstanding team work demonstrated by each team member allowed us to score more points then we have in previous years the tournament was so much fun i liked the teamwork sportsmanship and spirit demonstrated by other players mara grade 11 despite the freezing cold we still had a great time and played our best elaha grade 11 thanks to all gr 9 10 11 and 12 players for their hard work during the season a big thank you to the parents and guardians who came out to support our games great day at the hangar for junior soccer team on thursday october 28 linden s junior indoor soccer team headed to the hangar in downsview for the annual ssaf elementary indoor soccer tournament after several weeks of practice the girls were ready to take the field the team stayed strong on defense throughout the day earning them the thirdlowest number of goals scored against them of all of the teams in the entire tournament at the end of the day the girls finished second in a hard-fought consolation final andy and martin are proud of the teamwork determination and spirit the team demonstrated throughout the day and they re already looking forward to the outdoor season 12 · the linden letter fall 2010

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sports linden linden in the running cross-country wrap-up before our students tell you about their experiences at this year s cross-country meets a quick note from the coaches elizabeth and kate could not be more proud of the effort linden runners put forth this year they were diligent in their training determined in their running and boundless in their spirit enthusiasm and support for each other both days ended with personal bests and top-half finishes for many students and with weary but happy smiles for all to top it all off our senior runners captured the u20 banner for the second year running well done girls elementary and senior cross-country meet by emma grade 8 on friday october 15th students from grade 6-12 went to sunnybrook park for the cross-country championships we all ran 2-2.5km we were the most spirited group by far even though we were the smallest school attending everyone did an amazing job and we even won the banner in the high school race the event was so much fun with so much encouragement from each linden girl there i can t wait for linden to go back next year and do a great job again primary cross-country meet by isobel and mackenzie grade 4 on october 20th 2010 the primary cross-country team set out on a running experience the first race was under 8 our grade 1/2 class came in third overall the next race was under 10 which the grade 3/4 class competed in overall they came in second it was a great adventure unfortunately we did not win the banner but that did not matter because we still had fun it was a very long race it was 1 kilometre for some of us and for others it was 1.2 kilometeres eventually we all finished with pride the linden letter fall 2010 · 13

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alumnae update riding for ms by jessica rochman-fowler linden `05 on september 12 2010 fellow linden graduate kaitlyn lee and i along with four other teammates took part in the rona ms bike tour a 55km ride raising funds to fight multiple sclerosis ms is a cause that is close to our hearts and it was a privilege to ride alongside the hundreds of others who share our passion for this cause thanks to our cheering section which encouraged us at every rest stop we managed to finish the 55km ride and it felt great team homunculus aptly named by kaitlyn the team s neuroscience major had the most enthusiasm the best shirts the most colourful helmets and a motto we were able to stick to no team member gets left behind together we raised over $2,000 for ms research and are hoping to raise even more in the years to come as we intend to participate in the ms walk-a-thon in the spring and the bike tour again in the fall we are always looking for others to share our enthusiasm having fun and supporting a great cause is our goal and we hope to encourage as many people as we can to do the same top jessica kaitlyn and fellow team members get ready to ride middle team homunculus hits the road bottom linden `05 graduate tara moayed cheers her friends through their 55 km bike ride 14 · the linden letter fall 2010

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from the faculty linden learns by dawn chan and suzanne tompkins as part of our ongoing commitment as leaders in learning linden faculty kicked off the school year with a series of professional development workshops these sessions held every year at the end of august add to our knowledge in areas such as the current research on girls education incorporating girl-centered teaching strategies and furthering our understanding of elements of our mission such as diversity and justice as educators committed to ongoing learning these workshops offer an opportunity to consider and synthesize how we may integrate these ideas into our classrooms they also support our commitment to feminist and critical theories we initially gathered as a faculty by sharing personal stories of community and community building as part of our origins theme for the year to build on the concept of community we conducted a workshop on communication and consensus building strategies these tools help to guide our decisionmaking as a faculty and some of them have also been introduced to our students in the classroom we also discussed our expectations for working with each other and created a wordle www.wordle net as a visual reminder of the things to which we have committed as a team these are posted in many of the classrooms as a visual reminder and also to demonstrate teamwork and collaboration to our young women our keynote speakers and topics for this week included a panel exploring power voice and authority in the classroom and a session on diversity and building inclusive classrooms the panel featured diane meschino psychiatrist at the university of toronto and programme leader at women s college hospital michael gilbert professor of philosophy at york university and alana bell ph.d candidate in feminist pedagogy and consultant to the linden school diane discussed child development and developing voice without using authority as well as differentiating power authority and leadership michael discussed effective argument and how belief systems work alana moderated the discussion and brought her many years of classroom experience on developing student voice from the university and senior school settings chris veldhoven queer parenting coordinator at the 519 church street community centre led a faculty discussion on cultural competency power and privilege and social vulnerability faculty explored the concept of a bi-gendered system and learned new strategies and resources in working with diverse families as shared in our curriculum night presentation we will further explore new research about girls psycho-social development from leonard sax s new book girls on the edge the four factors driving the new crisis for girls to support efforts to further integrate technology in meaningful ways with our young women we are also keeping up to date on the latest research on girls and technology stay tuned for more installments of linden learns throughout the year building consensus the fist-to-five 1 an example of a consensus-building tool we use in our faculty meetings is the fist-to-five the fist-to-five is a visual representation of the group s feelings on an issue when it is time to make a decision after a discussion the discussion leader asks everyone to show their level of support each member shows a fist or a number of fingers corresponding to his or her opinion the number of fingers represents a scale where one indicates a need to discuss certain issues and suggest changes and five indicates total agreement with the idea and a willingness to help implement it a closed fist indicates that the individual votes no on the issue and needs to talk more about the proposal before his or her vote changes to yes 1 kohm barbara and beverly nance principals who learn asking the right questions seeking the best solutions alexandria va association for supervision and curriculum development 2007 print the linden letter fall 2010 · 15

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