This week marks the halfway point of the school year! For some students, this meant cumulative midterms. And for others taking half-year courses, they wrote their final exams.
Our Grade 11 & 12 students of Bolton house were busy studying for and writing exams all week. PHEW! Here in the house this weekend, it is clear that students are excited for the week to be over – but they feel proud of themselves for the hard work they are putting into their academics.
This week, our Grade 9 students were involved with our Applied Design, Skills, & Technology program.
The Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies curriculum builds on students’ natural curiosity, inventiveness, and desire to create and work in practical ways. It harnesses the power of learning by doing, and provides the challenging fun that inspires students to dig deeper, work with big ideas, and adapt to a changing world. It provides learning opportunities through which students can discover their interests in practical and purposeful ways.
Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies curriculum includes skills and concepts from the disciplines of Business Education, Home Economics and Culinary Arts, Information and Communications Technology, and Technology Education, as well as rich opportunities for cross-curricular work and space for new and emerging areas.
SMUS students took on a project of developing and improving upon the design of a hand-crank USB charging device for their phones. It was such a neat project!
Here are some photos of our Bolton boys in action!
Technology Education involves students in the design and fabrication of products and/or repair and maintenance services using a variety of materials, methods, technologies, and tools in order to develop their ability to shape and change materials in the physical world to meet human needs.
Using creative and critical thinking, students have the opportunity to work collaboratively to address real-world challenges by exploring materials, using tools and equipment, designing and building, developing processes, and communicating the merits of their work. They learn to critically evaluate the appropriateness of the products and/or services they develop and those developed by others. As they explore the role of culture, including local First Peoples cultures, in the development of practical and innovative solutions to human needs, they develop a sense of personal and social responsibility for the products and/or services they develop and use, and their effects on individuals, communities, and the environment, now and in the future.
Finally, our Grade 10’s continued the work they were doing in the SMUS Experiential Program. Mr. Daly, our teacher coordinator of the program, writes about the benefits of learning outside of a classroom here:
https://news.smus.ca/2020/01/31/unexpected-lessons-outside-the-classroom/
Here is a video on sustainability that Eric and Frank created as part of their cohort:
The Bolton boys should celebrate their achievements this week, both academically and experientially. However, the work continues both in and outside of the classroom.
The next few months will bring about the start of our Grade 11 Boarding Leadership Training, the Senior School Musical Production of Disney’s “Newsies”, as well as many more academic endeavours. We can’t wait to update you on all of the great achievements and involvements of our diverse group of Bolton Boys!
For now, I will leave you with a few photos of Alex and some other boarding students who ventured with me (Mr. Fryer) down to Victoria’s Breakwater today. It was super windy, but so much fun! Check out the video too!
