Many years ago, when Heritage Academy was much smaller, they had a creative idea.  They would have ‘Pet Day’ where students would come in for the day and bring their dog, cat or other animal.  As the school has grown, the tradition has continued, and I for one love it.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Ruby. I love kids, enjoy a good run in the park, and when opportunity presents itself, like to chase the occasional squirrel or rabbit.   I am a husky/shepherd mix and today, like I do once a year every year, I am fulfilling my duties as Vice Principal Dog.

You see, Derek Rhodenizer (one of my humans) is the Vice Principal at Heritage Academy. Most of the time, that is. Once a year I clear my regular schedule of naps and chasing  the cat to come into the school and assume the duties of Vice Principal Dog.  It’s great.  When I get to the school I make sure to do my rounds.  Derek says the students enjoy having me around, that I break down barriers and relax the student body.  Mostly I like to sniff feet and lockers – boy, do they ever smell good!

Derek takes me into all the classes and teaches the students how to approach me.  I make sure to go say, “hi” to each student, and use my indoor voice!  I know that pulling off a day like Pet Day would be difficult for most schools.  However, this is a tradition that works very well at Heritage Academy.  It brings a unique and important life experience to the students here.

I only get to be here one day out of the year, so I am off to meet more students! (And maybe implement a mandatory fetch program for gym class.)

Ruby Rhodenizer-Willems
Vice Principal Dog

Gentle Greeting Specialist

Heritage Academy of Learning Excellence
207 Bayswater Ave.
Ottawa Ontario
K1Y 2G5
Phone: 613-722-0133
Fax: 613-722-7881

www.heritage-academy.com

Once again, society and life has changed.  Social media has helped shrink the world and make a much larger network of educators available to each other.  One tool that has really stood out in this regard is Twitter.  Enabling quick, short discussion, Twitter has allowed educators to share information, links, lesson plans and more at the fast speed that is required to meet the demands of education.  Regular worldwide chats like #EdChat on Tuesdays at noon and at 7pm, have allowed educators to talk about a specific topic as a group with a  variety of backgrounds.

I have been using Twitter and #EdChat in particular to expand my PLN, and have seen great benefit in it.  As an Ottawa based educator, I would like to take the advantages of this hash-tag and apply them locally as well.  Our city is one with a wealth of untapped resources, teachers from the  area school board as well as catholic school board, independent school, teacher`s college, and more.  The logistics of getting all of these people together to talk is a serious challenge that is mitigated with Twitter.

I am launching #OttEdChat to bring these groups together to discuss education in Ottawa.  The weekly event will haven at noon on Wednesdays, we hope that you can participate.

As educators we work towards teaching to the student.  Every student has a different learning style and educators know this.  This is why we are seeing more and more students on IEP’s (individual education plans) and teachers who are tailors their lesson plans and classroom environments to the individual students.

Heritage Academy is a school that subscribes to this philosophy.  We have an individual academic plan for every single student in the school, and ensure we are using their strength to support their weaknesses and teach to the student so that we can have a population that succeeds academically.  We know that environment is everything for a student.  If they are comfortable and willing to take risks, then they will succeed.  Creating this environment is a top priority.  I ensure that I know every student’s name and chat with them all regular.  Every student needs to feel comfortable and in that environment we will truly see success.

Having said all of this, I now look to next week where I am doing the exact opposite.  We are creating a decidedly uncomfortable environment that is designed for the average student, not the specific student, and we have to in order to have our students graduate.

I understand that we need to have checks and balances to ensure that students are reaching certain expectations in schools, however, wouldn’t it be more effective to invest in your teachers instead?  If we are fully confident in our professional educators, then in turn we should have confidence in our students performing as they should.

Heritage Academy is a school primarily for students with dyslexia in Ottawa since 1989.  We have an environment with small class sizes and specific programs designed to teach dyslexic students to read, as well as a highly developed classroom environment to accommodate each student and their specific needs.   These are students who are perfectly able to learn, they simply do so in a different way.  Heritage Academy is an independent school that follows the Ontario curriculum, but delivers the material in such a way that its population can better understand it.  Heritage Academy is a welcoming community, we believe that if you create a positive environment where students feel comfortable to learn, and then they will feel comfortable to take risks.  If a student can take risks then they will excel.

Shihan Bill Gatchell, the author of Kanzenbudo Jiu Jitsu taught at the 100% Martial Arts schools of Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing & fitness.  He teaches that that the whole mind and body are engaged in jiu jitsu techniques offering cutting-edge programs that promote artistic freedom while honoring traditions of the past.  Shihan Gatchell has spent hundreds of hours developing a revolutionary curriculum that focuses on safety while teaching you the most effective combative moves.  The progression creates a bank of movements that get committed to muscle memory, allowing the student to develop continually and achieve great success in the sport.   Jiu Jitsu is the art of movement, the science of self-defense, and a phenomenal way to train your mind, body and spirit. Jiu-Jitsu is the original martial art of Japan’s samurai warriors. It is a strategy of self-defense that uses kicks and punches, strikes, throws, locks, holds, grappling and weapons systems. Jiu means gentle and Jitsu means art or science.

Dyslexia is a language based learning disability that presents itself in a variety of ways.  Dysnemkinesia affects the motor skills, while dyseidesia effects the visual perception of an individual, finally dysphonesia is auditory dyslexia.  People can be affected by one, or multiple types of dyslexia, and varying degrees of each type.  The result is a unique combination with every person who presents as a dyslexic learner.  While most documentation examines how dyslexia effects students in the classroom, Heritage Academy supports students as a whole entity as they move through school, of course, this extends outside the classroom as well.  Taking this approach allows us to see that dyslexic students have challenges in executive functioning, memory, organisation, time management depth perception and muscle memory.

It is important that educators support all sides of the student, and using a variety of strategies.  With this in mind Heritage Academy and Shihan Bill Gatchell of 100% Martial Arts collaborated to create a symbiotic program.  The goal of this program is to extend students to learn a martial art and at the same time have that martial art support the classroom.  In the end this is exactly what we found is happening at the school.  The program has completed one year at Heritage Academy and the students enrolled have improved in all of the noted challenges.  This is an ongoing project, but it is the goal to graduate students from Heritage Academy with an Ontario Highschool diploma and a Black Belt in Kanzenbudo Jiu Jitsu.

Unlike some martial arts, this program does not include a significant amount of wrote memory activities.  Instead each move flows naturally into the next, and the logical addition continues, as each attack has a counter and a counter to that counter, etc.  The final result is a long combination to moves that the student can commit to memory.  Sequences that were boggling when our students first start, a few months later are very simple.  The practice of these gross motor skill memory activities have the brain practicing the exercise of remembering with the support of have a physical flow to each move.  This support makes what can be a very challenging activity much easier for the dyslexic mind.   Interestingly the practicing of the physical activity helps increase memory in all types of tasks.  Students who can remember complicated jiu jitsu patterns on the mats seem to find it easier to remember scientific terminology, or other more academic tasks.

Shihan Bill Gatchell’s Kanzenbudo Jiu Jitsu program has come together with heritage Academy’s unique environment to allow students functioning at a wide variety of athletic abilities improve in athletics as well as academics, they co-exist in a symbiotic manner that is teaching to the whole student, and allowing the organisations to see great improvement.

Derek Rhodenizer
Vice Principal Heritage Academy of Learning Excellence

OCT-Special Education/Reading Specialist

I hope that everyone’s potato barrels are doing well.  The drought and the heat waves were all challenging times, but hopefully everyone has pulled through.  We are now coming up on harvest time.  We will be collecting the Potatoes on Wednesday, October 03, 2012 from 9am-4pm, hopefully this will allow everyone to come drop off their potatoes as we need them all on that one day.  However, we would really like everyone to try to come between 1-3pm when we will be having the big party to celebrate the event.

How do I harvest my barrel?

This is the question of the day.  To be completely honest, I am not sure, as this is a pilot year, we will just have to see.  I will be filming as I harvest my potato barrel and will put the result on the blog a week before harvest, if you would like an idea of how to get started.

Are your potatoes dying?

You will notice that possibly in the end of August, but more likely by mid- September you potato plants will yellow and eventually die.  This is fine, they are meant to die back before harvesting if at all possible. Once the plant is dead simply stop watering your barrel and wait for October 3rd.

I didn`t Plant Potatoes:

I have had a lot of people tell me they would like to donate fresh food to the food bank, but did not have a chance to take part in this project when it began.  I have been suggesting that if this is the case, feel free to buy potatoes from our local farmers at the farmer’s markets in town and donate those to the project.  I am told by the Food Bank that it is not possible to have too many potatoes to use.  Please feel free to pass on this information to the community!

When classes begin in September, there is a transition period – one that takes a few weeks to work through. Students are getting to know each other, and I am getting to know them. I think of my job as not only to teach the curriculum, but to also take the time to get to know my students as individuals and real people. Getting to know each students interests, needs, and areas of strength is always one of the most exciting aspects of a new class and school year.

Once the transition period is completed, we move into a period of comfortable routine. This usually occurs mid semester, and carries through to the Christmas break. This year, I taught the same class for three periods out of the day – this allowed us to form strong communication skills and allowed the students to feel comfortable in their learning environment. It also allowed me to get to know these students on a level that many teachers do not get to experience. Not only do the students change, I change as well because teaching in a small setting gives me a chance to learn from them. We are able to have discussions interspersed within lessons where students share their personal experiences relating to our topics of study. It fosters a sense of trust and understanding. These are often the moments when I am thankful that I became a teacher, I get the chance to watch these young folks shape their ideas and identities.

The second semester of the school year usually starts off with the same routine, but it always gets a little harder to focus as the weather warms and the end of the school year comes in sight. By this time, students have found their own niche in the class and amongst their friends. Things can be a bit more relaxed than first semester, but the hard work doesn’t end. This year, I was very impressed with the students’ hard work on their displays in the Social Studies Fair. It was such a treat to walk around and chat with the students about their projects. They are often reluctant to share their work, until they get their first visitor and they are able to show off their knowledge and skills. What a sense of accomplishment they must have felt!

But now we are at the end of the school year. Final projects are due, and exams are being written. Our students are on the verge of freedom from early mornings and due dates.  This time of year is always met with excitement and accomplishment. I know the students will leave here feeling a bit more confident in their abilities; they will have expanded their knowledge and hopefully, found new interests. They will have learned how to work with their different abilities and carry that knowledge to other aspects of their lives. I will leave this year feeling a sense of pride knowing that the teachers and staff have done their best to prepare the students for the coming years. It has been a wonderful year and (I’m sure) we are all ready for the summer break!

Thanks for a great year!

Amanda Kavanagh

Senior English/Social Sciences Teacher

The school garden is very important here at Heritage Academy. It is a great way to have students learn in an experiential way. They get to use their hands and get involved in a project from start to finish. The applications are endless and the results astounding. Every time I speak with a different group I challenge them to find a class that you can’t use the garden for, and I haven’t been stumped yet. Garden journals in English, graphing output in math, soil samples in geography, root dissections in science, the list is never ending. We have students from grade 1-12 in the garden, and they love it. The cost is very low and the payoff is very high. We have students have a chance to solve problems, fine tune designs, eat foods they never would have if they hadn’t grown it, and much, much more. Our gardens are an invaluable tool, an outdoor laboratory.

Gardens do not need to start with massive investments, ours started off quite humbly. In my first grade 8 class seven years ago I had a student ask me how to grow pickles. This threw me for a loop as an educator. My answer was to put a shovel in the ground in the back yard and plant a 1$ pack of seeds. That year we had cucumbers, and we pickled them in class. Next September that student ate the pickles that we had “grown,” it was an amazing experience, and what drove me forward to keep the gardens going at Heritage Academy.

Now our garden has 8 organic vegetable beds, including a tire garden and an octagonal pyramid. We produce a great deal of food every year. The students plan, plant, manage and decorate the garden. In the summer we donate extra food to local restaurants and they, in turn give cooking lessons to students during the winter. We also launched the city wide program the Potato Project this year in conjunction with the Ottawa Food Bank in an effort to give back fresh food to the community. It is our goal to have a garden program that connects the students, teachers, parents and the community as a whole. We have been working with other local schools to get a strong network so that the gardens are all helping each other.

The next steps at Heritage Academy include, expanding the gardens, strengthening community ties, installing a greenhouse, working towards a student farmers program, and much more. We pride ourselves in implementing new, interesting pilot projects. We also hope to support new schools that would like to start gardens but are not sure how.

I invite you to take a look around, see if your school has a garden, and how you might be able to become involved, and if it doesn’t feel free to contact me and I can point you in the right direction. Let’s keep the Ottawa School Garden Revolution going!

I have seen students, over the course of time go from not being active at all to doing daily exercise and the difference is amazing.  The sense of purpose, discipline and self betterment, as well as the purely physical benefits cannot be ignored.

If only 7% of our young population are getting enough exercise, then this points to a systemic problem.  Do we as a society see regular exercise as something of value?  Are we passing on the fun of physical activity to our children and students?

We have to ensure that when we try to solve this problem we are noting, “giving a man a fish,” but rather, “teaching a man to fish.”  Students should not be mandated into exercise, but rather learn to incorporate and enjoy exercise and healthy eating as part of their day.

I have received a great deal of interest from people who would like to participate in the Potato Project to help the Ottawa Food Bank, however, I have run out of barrels and I am rapidly running out of seed.    This is a great chance to help the community, and it is also a fantastic hands on learning experience for young and old, seeing food from ground to plate, to people who need it the most.

There are two ways you can still help out the project, you can grow potatoes traditionally, or you can make your own barrel.

Grow Traditionally:

If you go to a seed store and get some certified seed potatoes you can grow them in type of traditional garden.  Seed potatoes will give you a healthier plant and a larger yield.  If you hill soil around the plants as they grow, then you will get a nice big yield.

Make your Own Barrel:

1. Go to Cohen and Cohen and buy an olive barrel for $15
2. Making two cuts with a saw separate the barrel into three equal parts
3. Take the middle part and attached 3 wooden supports ( hockey sticks work well) so that they stick out 2 inches on either end of the section
4. Check the video to see how the barrel should look  http://heritage-academy.com/potato-project/
5. Plant 4 certified seed potatoes in your barrel and follow the instructions on this web page

If you come by 207 Bayswater Ave. and ask for Derek I can hand out seed as long as it lasts, I still have a few pounds left!

No matter how you decide to grow your potatoes follow us on twitter, facebook, or on the Spud blog to see when we will harvest them, it will be in September.  Come by the school in the given window and you can add your potatoes to the haul that we will be donating to the food bank.

If you have any questions, please contact me at rhodenizer@heritage-academy.com