Every Square Centimetre Christian Schools Canada

In episode 31, Eli Banta invites us to Great Lakes Christian High School, in Beamsville, Ontario. Join the ESC “Run” as we learn:
- about “hookin’ humpies” and hitting “seagulls with suckers,”
- that residents of Beamsville are either Sunbeams or Beamsvillians,
- that half of the student population of Great Lakes Christian High School are international students that live on campus,
- that Physics allows us to see some amazing aspects of the Creator that we can’t see anywhere else,
- what quantum entanglement is not,
- how inquiry-based learning and Cooperative Group Problem Solving (CGPS) can better engage learners, and
- that we’re all turtles on a fencepost.

Connect with Eli at eli.banta@gmail.com.

This episode is sponsored by:
EduDeo: Visit https://edudeo.com, their school’s page (https://edudeo.com/schools), or email EduDeo at schools@edudeo.com.

In episode 30, Darren hosts another Every Square Centimetre “campfire” conversation. Recognizing that there are a number of exhausted educators across our country, we invite Tricia Schinkel, school counsellor at Calvin Christian School in Hamilton, to help us process some of our questions: How do we stay well as we engage life in the present season? What role does the school play in promoting the individual well-being of staff? and “How do you recover after a season of not being well?”

As always, we end our campfire conversation with the “Cross Fire” segment, where we banter over listener inspired prompts:
- What’s something the people in your family don’t appreciate enough about you?
- What’s something you’ve messed up recently?
- What was Justin’s bluegrass band experience and was Tricia part of a punk rock band?

You can connect with Tricia at tricia.schinkel@gmail.com

We go international in episode 29, as Paul Matthews invites us to Calvin Christian School in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Paul believes AI tools, like chatGPT, can be a real beneficial tool to help keep Christian educators in Christian schools. Join the ESC “Mob” as we learn:
- sometimes it's necessary to kill a bass to catch a muskie
- which Canadian or Australian beast would win a “battle of the beasts” in a school gymnasium
- how AI will be able to help teachers design individualized, differentiated lessons
- that Christians need to be involved in AI spaces as a place of creativity
- that burrowing your head in the sand, like an echidna, will be ineffective as AI technology continues to make ecological changes to society
- that students will take a “huge haircut” if we don’t prepare students to use AI well and,
- how you can be involved in Paul’s AI pilot program, myteacheraide.com

Connect with Paul at paul@myteacheraide.com

This episode is sponsored by:
EduDeo: Visit https://edudeo.com, their school’s page (https://edudeo.com/schools), or email EduDeo at schools@edudeo.com.

In episode 28, Stephanie Montojo invites us to Academia Stella Maris, an independent bi-lingual Catholic school in Limoges, ON. Stella Maris means Star of the Sea in Latin. Catholics see Mary as the Star of the Sea who points the way to her Son; just like sailors would use the stars for direction, so ASM looks to Mary for direction to Jesus. Join the ESC “Scurry” as we learn:
- warm June evenings are all about the smell of hay, Dairy Queen after soccer games, and the sound of neighbourhood kids screaming “bloody murder!”
- celebrations of learning in June can help emphasize students’ (and teachers’!) own experience in learning and de-emphasize the story of grades and report cards at the end of year
- Canada didn’t become bi-lingual until 1969 (Ontario didn’t officially recognize the use of French until 1984!)
- Stephanie’s own background as a Franco-Ontarian also included discrimination because French was her first language.
- ASM is a bi-lingual hybrid school program, teaching students in both French and English as a first language, as well as to students who come to school both full and part time.
- ASM students also take a customized curriculum which is co-designed by the school and parents, catering to their ability level for each subject.

Connect with Stephanie at smontojo@academiastellamaris.ca.

This episode is sponsored by:
- EduDeo: Visit https://edudeo.com, their school’s page (https://edudeo.com/schools), or email EduDeo at schools@edudeo.com.

In episode 27, ESC goes to Leduc, AB, to visit Colin Ward, who is committed to helping students when school gets hard. Join the ESC “Passel” as we learn:
- School musical programs have long lasting memories
- Sometimes bribing kids with candy for the sake of adult-student relationships can be a great thing
- The CANAMEX corridor goes straight through Leduc and stretches all the way from edmonton to Mexico
- Collegial relationships have a profound impact on our job satisfaction
- God cares about our wellness and wholeness while we’re here on earth
- You can take the pastor out of the church, but you can’t take the sermon out of the pastor

Connect with Colin at colin.ward@gshare.blackgold.ca

This episode is sponsored by:
- EduDeo: Visit https://edudeo.com, their school’s page (https://edudeo.com/schools), or email EduDeo at schools@edudeo.com.

In episode 26, our second “Big Boss” episode, Ed Noot, the retiring Executive Director of the Society of Christian Schools in British Columbia, offers us his reflection on the state of Christian education through the Wayfinder prompts “praise, lament, and hope.” Join the ESC “Band” as we learn:

- A donation of bone marrow might result in a lifelong friendship.
- When Ed grows up he hopes to be like his mom
- In 1920, Zorro was better known for his “mark” rather than his “mask.”
B.C.
- Is home to some of the world’s largest things, such as a fly fishing rod (Houston), totem pole (Alert Bay), garden gnome (Nanoose Bay), wooden paddle (Golden), cuckoo clock (Kimberley), hockey stick (Duncan), and tin soldier (New Westminster).
- How Ed celebrates the joyful increase of diversity in Christian education.
- That Ed has asked a past grade 7 class “What kind of car would Jesus drive?” and laments that a few parents were unhappy about that question.
- Ed has a lot of hope for Christian education to move away from fear and toward courage and boldness because of the people he knows working in Christian education, and
- Ed shared these celebrations, laments, and hopes and more for christian education in his latest SCSBC “The Link” article.

Connect with Ed at edwardnoot@gmail.com.
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This episode is sponsored by:
EduDeo: Visit https://edudeo.com, their school’s page (https://edudeo.com/schools), or email EduDeo at schools@edudeo.com.