CAIS Middle School Leadership Conference

CAIS Middle School Leadership Conference

Camp Workshops

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Finding your Passion and Making it Happen!

Scott Hammell, Motivational Entertainer, Me to We

Once you get passionate, you can’t help but change the world. This is the stirring message of Scott Hammell: illusionist, escape artist and Me to We Speaker.

Scott Hammell is a motivational entertainer who brings together social activism and the art of magic and escapes to create high-energy, high-inspiration presentations. Scott has inspired thousands to find and pursue their driving passions, and to discover that any passion—even skydiving—can be used to effect positive change.

A child juggling prodigy and three-time Guinness World Record holder, Scott became a media personality on the TV show Ripley’s Believe It Or Not when he set the record for “World’s Highest Suspension Straight Jacket Escape.” He has been motivating audiences full time ever since—fusing heart-racing stunts and comic relief with a powerful message about setting goals and conquering fear.

After travelling to Kenya on a Me to We trip, Scott joined Me to We to inspire others to use their gifts not only for personal fulfillment, but to bring about social change. His third world record—becoming the first person in the world to skydive while handcuffed and blindfolded—challenged a group of students to raise $8,500 to build a Free The Children school in Ecuador.

Now, with a performance that inspired thousands of youth at Free The Children’sWe Day, Scott’s sights are set on inspiring the next group of world-changers to make a difference. “Find your passion, and make it happen.” Scott Hammell’s message is as basic as one child learning to juggle, and as wide-reaching as a social movement to change the world. Hear it for yourself, get inspired and put your own passion into action.

Fireside Music

Jory Nash, Musician

Thursday, September 27, 2012

(morning sessions)

Tapping into your personal strengths

Jalynn Bosley, Founder/Director ALIVE Outdoors Inc.

Every one of us was born with unique strengths and talents. They help define who we are! In order to clearly understand our strengths we must first dig deep to discover them. Once we acknowledge and understand our gifts we can use them in a way that brings joy, purpose and meaning to our own lives and the lives of those around us. This workshop is based on Martin Seligman’s book Authentic Happiness. It is aimed at helping people discover and acknowledge their own personal strengths. Through guided questions the students will explore how they can leverage their strengths for personal growth. Discussion will be focused on how they can consciously bring those strengths to school and to their personal lives. Students and faculty are encouraged to attend. All you need is a willingness to be authentic, open and honest.

Getting Involved Workshops 1&2

Stu Saunders, Director/Owner, Youth Leadership Camp Canada

High School provides a tremendous opportunity for people to get involved in a wide range of activities. Unfortunately, the fear of looking silly or “stupid” in front of friends prevents some from participating. Students may not attend school events, put their hand up in class or avoid joining groups or teams because of this fear of failure. Stu takes a Hilarious look at growing up and experiencing the everyday challenges of being young. Sometimes how you look seems more important than how you feel. Through true-life stories and lots of laughter, Stu helps students and teachers to rethink how they may be approaching their daily lives. Getting involved in school and in life makes it more rewarding and more enjoyable.

“Your speech meant a lot to me because you speak the total truth. Too many of us are scared that we will be made fun of for getting involved in school, being original or acting a little crazy! Your speech really helped me realize that I should not be afraid to do something wacky or dress differently!! Thank you for helping me realize the real me!” - Amanda Watters, Student, Park Street Collegiate, Orillia, Ontario, Canada

This presentation has been used at school assemblies as part of spirit weeks, anti-drinking and drug campaigns, teen issue awareness days, yearbook sales promotions, and at hundreds of general student body assemblies for any month during the school year.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

(afternoon sessions)

Keynote Talk: Take the Risk, Get Involved! Don't be afraid of looking STU-pid!

Stu Saunders, Director/Owner, Youth Leadership Camp Canada

Presentation will build on the workshop sessions noted above.

The Leader in You!

Janice Ewanyshyn, Middle School Director, Miss Edgar’s & Miss Cramp’s School

Leading is easy. Getting others to follow is the hard part! In this workshop, you will discover THE LEADER IN YOU. Being able to identify and understand your own leadership qualities, your strengths and your challenges, is a vital tool in your leadership development. It is also essential to be able to recognize the leadership styles of your peers, the people that you are working with. When you understand how to bring out the best in others, then you can assemble a SUPER TEAM who will help you make your events, initiatives and school year a great success.

Managing to Lead!

Tiziana Patella, Middle School Faculty-French, St. John’s-Ravenscourt School

Good management skills are important in order for any group or organization to work effectively. At SJR, we use a communication model that empowers the students to take responsibility for their student government. Student leaders learn how to write a thorough proposal, and how to approach a teacher to propose an idea. Faculty Advisors also model and instruct student leaders in effective ways to plan and conduct a meeting, organize competitive house games, and conduct successful dances, social and fund raising events.

In this workshop, I will present the most effective organizational and communication strategies that have been successful for our MS leaders. Participants also will have an opportunity to discuss what has also worked well in their own schools and to incorporate new ideas into their plans for next year.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

(evening sessions)

Leadership Disco

Mark Burleigh, Athletics and Physical Education Department, The Country Day School

A fun, interactive, no-dance-skill-required activity reveals the power and influence of rotational leadership, and the responsibilities associated with the privilege of leadership. Concepts associated with group dynamics, and communication skills will also be addressed.

The popular notion that lessons in teamwork and team building can be learned from a flock of geese will also be investigated, as participants are challenged to produce a creative leadership presentation for their workshop peers.

At the conclusion of this session, the participants should be performing as a high functioning team of disco-charged leaders!

Friday, September 28, 2012

(morning sessions)

Common childhood neurological problems in the classroom – what can I do? (Educators)

Dr. Rob Munn, Paediatric Neurologist, Sick Children’s Hospital

In today’s classroom there is a growing trend towards integration rather than segregation. Educators and others working with children will often find they are dealing with a wide range of neurological disorders affecting children. With the massive dissemination of information now available educators are often expected to understand these conditions and have an approach to individualized learning styles.

In this talk I will review case studies in epilepsy, autistic spectrum disorder and Tourette syndrome with some of the associated co morbidities. We will discuss implications for learning and the need for a team approach.

Finally, what are children and their parents really looking for from their teachers when dealing with these types conditions and how can we help the most? We will learn that helping a child feel good about who they are and their individual potential is the ultimate reward regardless of grades.

I get Knocked Down but I Get Up Again - Never Gonna Keep Me Down!

Erin Kline, Director of Academics, Fraser Academy

This workshop will provide students and teachers with unique and interactive strategies to develop resiliency skills. There will be group discussions in defining resiliency, including what it means to different individuals and how they use it in their day-to-day lives. Afterwards, we will use teamwork, personal strengths/weaknesses, reflection and creativity to craft some lively dramatic productions. Teams will be given scenarios, in which they will have to make a choice between non-resilient and resilient behaviours. They will work as a team to develop skits and perform the scenarios for their visions of both choices. Were the best choices made? Was resiliency shown? Our panel of experts (that’s all of you!) can discuss and decide. At the end, we will all have time to share the new skills we have learned that we want to bring back to our schools.

Little known ways to save the world and enhance your resume while you’re at it

Alex Robertson, Executive Director, Camp Oochigeas

Setting yourself up for a successful transition from high school to your next step relies not only on your grades and school group participation, it also depends on just how you have contributed to society – how you have volunteered. So what? You have your 40 volunteer hours and you think you’re all set? Think again. Quantity doesn’t cut it if you’re trying to stand out.

In this fun and active 70 minute session, participants will have the chance to identify their individual strengths and the field of work that inspires them. The final 15 minutes we will use to discuss unique ways to get involved (or volunteer) in those fields not only helping to make the world better place, but also setting yourself up to be a stand out, a leader (and perhaps even feeding your soul a bit too).

My brain won’t let me stop! (Students)

Dr. Rob Munn, Paediatric Neurologist, Sick Children’s Hospital

Most of us are blessed with great health. We are able to achieve amazing things because of solid minds, determination and healthy bodies. But what would we do if our own brains betrayed us? Imagine if we suddenly fell asleep in the middle of a sentence and awoke in the back of an ambulance. We had a huge headache and someone said we just had a seizure right in the middle of math class. Or suppose we had the uncontrollable urge to twist our face to one side and at the same time snort loudly. No matter how hard we tried we just had to do this even when we were just chilling with friends. Could we deal with the embarrassment? Or maybe we were born with a brain that didn’t allow us to talk or even walk and our greatest pleasure in life was just getting a hug.

In this talk I will discuss (with case studies) some common neurological problems in childhood – epilepsy, Tourette syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy. I will show how the brain works and why some of us get these conditions. We will talk about how we can manage and even overcome some of these disorders. We will learn what sort of support we can give to others with these conditions.

Finally, we will learn about the incredible strength of some of the kids who deal with these types of problems every day and go through life with a big smile on their face without ever complaining teaching us some of the greatest lessons in life!

"So you're Entitled, Bubble-wrapped and Pampered!"

Character and you - Dealing with the label!

Ross MacDonald, Head of the Lower School (Retired), Crescent School

In this workshop we will have an open dialogue about character and teens. Many consider that teens are missing some vital aspects of character and so have been labelled. We will discuss the labels, where they came from and how to promote changing attitudes of society and of teens.

The importance of Volunteerism (Educators)

Alex Robertson, Executive Director, Camp Oochigeas

Setting yourself up for a successful transition from high school to your next step relies not only on your grades and school group participation, it also depends on just how you have contributed to society – how you have volunteered. So what? You have your 40 volunteer hours and you think you’re all set? Think again. Quantity doesn’t cut it if you’re trying to stand out.

In this fun and active 70 minute session, participants will have the chance to identify their individual strengths and the field of work that inspires them. The final 15 minutes we will use to discuss unique ways to get involved (or volunteer) in those fields not only helping to make the world better place, but also setting yourself up to be a stand out, a leader (and perhaps even feeding your soul a bit too).

Friday, September 28, 2012

(afternoon sessions)

Eco-Challenge

Janice Greenshields, Assistant Director, Onondaga Camp

Join your team on a relay race throughout camp! Canoeing, Kayaking, Disco Dancing, Running, Archery, Crossbow, Basketball, Table Setting, Mini Ropes Course and Climbing Wall, just to name a few…there is truly something for everyone in this all-camp Eco Challenge! Traverse the camp with your team, participating in all sorts of games and activities until you reach the end where teams must build and light a fire before running with their flag to the beach finish line!

The Eco-Challenge is a game much loved by staff and students alike. It’s fun, it’s challenging, it’s a blast!

Making School-Community Connections Happen - WOW (Week With-Out Walls)

Erin Kline, Director of Academics, Fraser Academy

Would you like to find ways to get your school more involved in the larger community? How can you build those connections? If you are asking those questions as an administrator, teacher, or student leader, this may be the workshop for you! Week with-Out Walls is a program that Fraser Academy has put on the calendar where our whole school community volunteers for a week at and/or raises money for local community organizations and charities such as soup kitchens, food banks, Covenant House, Women’s Shelters and Kidsafe. We plan to take you on a brief journey of our school’s WOW program and display how it has helped to generate community leaders and change at Fraser Academy. We will also help the groups in attendance to create their first steps to starting a school-wide community service week. At the end, we would like groups to share how they plan to embark on their new adventure as leaders in extending those community ties.

"So you're Entitled, Bubble-wrapped and Pampered!" (repeat!)

Character and you - Dealing with the label!

Ross MacDonald, Head of the Lower School (Retired), Crescent School

In this workshop we will have an open dialogue about character and teens. Many consider that teens are missing some vital aspects of character and so have been labelled. We will discuss the labels, where they came from and how to promote changing attitudes of society and of teens.

Friday, September 28, 2012

(evening sessions)

Canada’s Got Talent

Janice Greenshields, Assistant Director, Onondaga Camp

Come show off your zaniest, funniest talents and skills! Divided in to teams, staff and students alike will be provided with a list of whacky, talented, hilarious things to do. Who can make the most amazing body contortion? Who can make the most authentic elephant sound with their mouth? Sign up for all that you can do and perform your crazy talents with others, in front of a panel of Talent Judges. Will your team be Canada’s Most Talented?