A class of Grade 11 students at Ursuline College in Chatham are learning how to live their faith, right in their own community.
Steve Churchill, the teacher of the Grade 11 university English class, said he was inspired by the school board trustees and Director of Education Dan Parr’s new strategic direction to promote living our faith, not just talking about it, using innovation, 21st century skills and leadership in social justice.
“This is an English class and typically we read old books, like Shakespeare, and I wanted to get these guys reading, writing, talking about things that they actually care about and reading, writing and speaking that would actually make a difference in our community,” Churchill said.
The students were tasked with bringing in members of different community organizations and listening to the different issues the community faces, such as poverty and hunger. The Ursuline Sisters, Outreach for Hunger and the Chatham-Kent Police Service came to speak to the class, and the students were able to pick a topic that interested them and come up with a project that allowed them to make a difference.
“When I graduated teacher’s college, that’s the type of learning that I always envisioned myself to actually do,” Churchill said. “After so many MacBeth essays, you start to wonder if there is something more meaningful that these students can do and you get that sense from the students as well. What kind of learning can I create for my students that will leave them forever changed?”
The teacher noted these projects and what they learned from them are something they will remember for the rest of their lives; an experience that will stick with them. Churchill started with the community projects last year and asked students to look into something they were passionate about, but noticed the students didn’t really know about the real problems in our community.
“That’s why I wanted to bring in community partners, so my students chose people they thought would know a lot about problems in our community, and they were able to share with us what the real problems were in our community and those partnerships are really key, and something our school board is trying to do more – make these valuable community connections,” Churchill explained.
The students were asked to pick a topic, research it and come up with a project to help a community organization with the project. They had to write and blog about their process, project and achievements and speak about the project.
One group, according to student Makayla Boundy, was interested in the issue of stray cats in the community and wanted to do something to help neglected and abandoned animals. She said they heard the Pet and Wildlife Rescue group, PAWR, who runs the animal shelter, got robbed, and they wanted to help.
Her group decided to make 200 bracelets with “Rescued is my favourite breed” on them with a fundraising goal of $400.
Another group, with Vanna Nguyen and Eunice Tullao, heard about Shepherd’s Way Inn from the Ursuline Sisters. The restaurant feeds people in the community for free.
“They introduced us to some problems in the community, subjects like poverty and hunger, and part of the restaurant; they give out free food to people who need it, no questions asked,” Nyugen said.
The two girls started volunteering at the Inn and met different people, she said. They met a homeless veteran and were amazed because they didn’t think that type of problem existed in this community. They started collecting warm clothing to take to the Inn for homeless people as a way to help.
The student said they learned a lot because they, at first, had a lot of ideas that got turned down and it was really challenging to come up with fundraising ideas. They finally came up with the idea that just involved the two of them, which worked.
Churchill said the projects, as a whole, challenged the students to read, research and come up with different ideas to solve a problem.
“We still read all the classics, but it’s important to read other things. These guys are reading websites and local newspapers because that’s how you get a sense of how our community is doing and that’s a different type of reading that I don’t think we do enough of in schools,” Churchill noted.
Churchill said there was some skepticism with the idea of working on their own project, but once he got into it and explained the process, students were really empowered by that opportunity to do something that really matters, and something they want to do.
“Sometimes we have to disrupt the common place to do something innovative,” Churchill said. “I don’t think they (the students) are used to being asked what they want to learn about all the time, which is why it can be kind of scary for the students, parents, even teachers, but I think it’s something that needs to happen more.
“They are learning valuable skills. These girls that are selling bracelets, they are learning entrepreneurial skills; how to sell a product and market it. Along the way, they have had several ideas on how to raise funds and they all have been kyboshed. It’s hard to run a charity; you run into roadblocks, but these are really valuable life skills to learn, in my opinion.
“One of the big differences between this project and the other things we do in school, some of these projects have been successful, some of them have been failures, but I don’t grade them on whether the projects were a success or failure. I tell them I am marking them on their writing pieces, their blogs and they are doing a TED talk this month and I will mark them on their speaking,” Churchill explained.
“I want them to do something big and if it ends up being a failure then that’s a great thing because oftentimes they can learn from these failures and bumps in the road, much more than if they were to succeed with no problems at all. That’s something that needs to be encouraged more in schools; giving them a safe place to try something incredible, and if they succeed great, but if they run into a roadblock on the way, it’s something they can learn from and it should be celebrated.”
The projects will be completed at the end of the semester, later this month.
