"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Tuesday 2 November 2010

St Maximillian Kolbe High School

A couple of weeks ago, there was a special celebration at the school A third of the students achieved honours at the end of their first year.

I thought it would be easy to write a post about it  but  not so.  So I will just run through  the courses offered at St. Max.

Before he died, the late Pierre Berton, Icon of Canadian History, railed against a government decision to remove history from the high school curriculum as a required subject. He knew he was dying so there wasn't a lot more he could do but express his outrage

Pierre Berton would have been comforted that night at St Maximilian Kolbe.

Grade 9  Arts,has Drama, Instrumental music, Vocal Music, and Visual Arts. In Grade 10 all that and Dance.

They have Business Education.

Canadian and World Studies in Grade 9 and in Grade 10, Canadian History in the Twentieth Century and Civics.

They teach English and Moderns.Guidance and Student Services,Mathematics Physical and Health Education,Religious Education, Science,Social Science, Humanities and Technilogical Studies.

There were six special awards. Students participated in Canadian Mathematics Competitions and took four  medals. A Community Award for Citizenship was granted.

Curry's Art Award was won.

James and Jenny Wilson Award  was presented for perseverance and commitment.

A School Spirit Award was won. Finally, St Maximilian Kolbe Award went to the student who exemplified the school's motto and the Saint's belief that "choice not chance determines destiny"

I didn't stay the whole evening. There's a limit to how long I can sit on a small hard chair.But I was there long enough to catch how the excitement of achievement was shared by all students, the teachers, the parents and Elizabeth Crowe, Chairman of the Board and Trustee for Aurora and King.

St Maximilian Kolbe High School continues to impress me with its sense of renewal and commitment to excellence It's so much more than a building.It's the first  chapter of  the  history of a  cultural  and educational community.

I find it ironic parents  fight so hard to save an old,mouldering crumbling  school building when everything about their children's future in  their world , cries out for renewal and update in every sense of the word .

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"It's so much more than a building.It's the first chapter of the history of a cultural and educational community."

"I find it ironic parents fight so hard to save an old,mouldering crumbling school building "

I presume the second reference is to Well Street PS.

I find it quite ironic that you can see so much more than a school building in St. Max, yet with Well Street all you see is an old crumbling school building. It was so much more than just a building. To see it, all you would have had to do was take the same interest in it that you do with St. Max.