Forest Valley - A Toronto District School Board Outdoor Education Site

When I was a public school teacher,  one of my most favourite teaching programs was Outdoor Education. 

I used to take my students to Sheldon Valley or Lake St. George where we spent three to five days at their residential program. We learned about the environment and outdoor survival skills.

An outdoor place at Forest Valley where students sit, talk and roast their marshmallows and hot dogs,

Trees with disease marked to be cut down at Forest Valley

At the end of the school year, I would ask students to look back the year and  share with their peers what program did they like and enjoy the most.

Almost without fail,  everyone of them talked about their wonderful memories and our time at the Outdoor Education site.  

Having fun and learning at the same time!

Everyone enjoyed the Outdoor Education program

They fondly reminisced the friendship, the bonding with friends and the unique experience they had at the outdoor centre which evidently had etched deep into their memories.

Enjoying the fresh outdoor air!

This was one program I always advocated for my students to make sure  they would receive this valuable and memorable experience with mother nature.

By the same token, when planning our two week leadership program with OPC for our visiting educators from overseas, I highly recommended this program and advocated for its inclusion in our school visit itinerary.

Forest Valley staff took us on a tour of the 200 acre site

Last Thursday, we visited one of the Toronto District School Board's Outdoor Education site - the Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre,  located on Blue Forest Drive at Bathurst and Sheppard Ave. in Toronto. 

We were lucky as it was not too cold on the day of our outdoor visit. It felt just like a nice autumn day in October!

 Principal of Forest Valley explained to us about TDSB's  Outdoor Education program

The Forest Valley Outdoor Education coordinating principal and the site supervisor were there to welcome us. 

The supervising principal of the site gave us a presentation and some video clips about the Toronto District School Board's Outdoor Education program.

Even though I worked for TDSB for many years, I did not know  that the board has ten outdoor education centres located in the various parts of Toronto. 

At the Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre, our group was taken on a tour of the 200 acre site.

The instructor explained to us about maple syrup making and we learned some interesting facts about this process:

Learning about the process of Maple syrup making

1.  It takes 40 litres of  saps tapped from the maple leaf trees in the spring to make 1 litre of  our famous Canadian Maple Syrup!

Sampling the treats made at Forest Valley

2. There are various grades of Maple syrup from very light colour to the darker colour. The lighter colour is more expensive as it is rarer.

We received a gift of Forest Valley Maple syrup candies!

3. Forest Valley makes its own Maple syrup and candies of excellent quality. They have consistently won prizes at the annual Canadian Agricultural Exhibition held in Toronto.

Calling for the birds of the wild to their feed!

There are various programs offered to students of different grades according to the seasons and student interests. 

Here, the visitors were shown how to attract birds by extending their hands filled with bird seeds to get birds closer and feed them.

Our group was introduced to the Medicine Garden at the Forest Valley Centre

The most interesting part for us was learning about the inclusion of aboriginal culture into the students program.

 We were introduced to the Medicine Garden at Forest Valley.

A Medicine Garden has four sections representing the four seasons and directions

The Medicine Garden was divided into four sections.

The four directions and  four seasons were represented in the different sections of the garden. A variety of  plants were planted in each section representing the different seasons.

All the participants in our group enjoyed the visit to Forest Valley tremendously! 

Just like my adolescent students whom I took to the centre, this group of visiting educators loved being outdoor!

 They soaked in the outdoor fresh air,  laughed, took pictures and enjoyed learning about mother nature in its natural state.

Visiting Educators Learning about Outdoor Education at TDSB's Forest Valley Education Centre 

After our visit to the Outdoor Education site, the visiting educators consisting school teachers, vice principals, principals and education officers told me how much they learned and enjoyed the experience. Their enjoyment was written on each one of their faces!

Our sincere thanks to TDSB, the principal and staff of the Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre for the opportunity to visit your centre!  You are awesome!

R.T.

Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre

North York, Toronto, Ontario

Heydon Park Secondary School - a Unique School for Girls in TDSB

Heydon Park Secondary School, Toronto

My passion has always been teaching! For the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity of teaching and sharing my experience with a group of educators from overseas who are involved in the Leadership Training Program at OPC.

This group of Asian educators are here in Toronto for a two week professional development course. One of the components of the course is to visit schools in the greater Toronto area and to observe students and their learning in the classroom.

We appreciated the hospitality displayed by the school staff.

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit Heydon Park Secondary School, a very unique TDSB school for female students with special needs, the only one of its kind in Ontario.

Heydon Park school is located in the downtown area of Toronto on Darcy Ave.

Refreshments baked and set up by the students

We were touched by the hospitality displayed by the students and staff of the school. There was a welcome sign on the front door to welcome the delegation. We were greeted warmly and led into the library by the vice principal.

Principal of Heydon Park Secondary School

Inside the library, a couple of tables were beautifully laid out with cookies and refreshments prepared by the students of the school!  What a treat it was for us!

Teachers explained to us about the school programs

The principal and a few teachers gave us a presentation on the history, programs and students of the school.

\
Heydon Park started as an orphanage for girls as early as 1852. It has kept its tradition of providing services and supporting female students ever since.

After the presentation, the group was given a personal guided tour of the school by the  principal.

A Science lesson was in progress in the Science lab

We went into a number of classrooms and areas where students were taught different skills and subjects so that we could gain a better understanding of the school.


We visited the Science classroom where a science class was taking place.

What stole our hearts in the Science classroom was a clutch of chicks recently hatched in a glass box being kept warm by a light bulb.

A Cooking Classroom equipped with a commercial kitchen facility

The Cooking area -  equipped with a commercial kitchen where students learn and practice their culinary skills by preparing daily lunches for staff.

.

The Hairdressing Classroom

The Hairdressing Classroom -

 - equipped and furnished as a Hair Salon where students learn hairdressing skills.

While some Heydon Park students do head to post secondary education institutions, many of whom develop employment skills in the personal beauty industry.

A chart on Basic Manicure techniques

Charts and equipment on personal beauty care were on display.

A Music Class at Heydon Park Secondary School, Torotno

The most exciting part of the visit was when we visited a music class where students were practicing their Christmas songs on the xylophones.

Chinese educators  visiting the school and  enjoying a song by one of the students

A student offered to sing a song for the visitors.  She sang with gusto and her enjoyment of performing for her audience was evident on her smiling face!

As we were leaving the school, a fleet of yellow school buses was waiting outside ready to take the students home.The Ontario philosophy of Reaching Every Student was demonstrated right here! Students living outside the area were bused to the school so that any students with special learning needs can have access to the education opportunities offered by this school regardless of the distance from their homes.

A fleet of  school buses awaiting to take students  home after school.

Visiting educators from China with some of the staff at Heydon Park Secondary School

R.T.
Heydon Secondary School
Toronto, Ontario

Teaching ESL at a Toronto Senior Home

Teaching has always been my passion! I enjoy teaching tremendously. When I was a school administrator, this was the part I missed the most.

Therefore when a senior home in Toronto invited me to teach the English class at their place, I gladly accepted.  It started with a few seniors and we met weekly for an hour and half. Instead of following any textbook to teach basic English, this time I threw the text book out of the window and tried a different way of teaching.

Very often, English as a second language teachers follow a certain pattern of teaching. They are very concerned about building the students' vocabulary and their lessons are heavily based on learning new words.

Seniors learning English at a senior home

I am trying a different approach this time. My lessons are based mainly on teaching my senior students how to make friendly day to day conversations with their English speaking neighbhours.

 In each lesson, I design a series of questions and answers based on a practical situation or current event. I teach and use the 5 W's words often - Who, What, Where, When, How.  From these five W words, my students learn how to ask questions and respond to them based on the material provided from the exercises I have prepared with their interest and abilities in mind.

Seniors enjoy practicing what they learn with each other

At the beginning of each lesson, I review the material from the previous session. After the review, we discuss the latest current event or a topic relating to their everyday living which draws their attention. From there, I go over the questions and answers with them, explaining each word and the sound.

After this high interest group lesson, students would practise with each other in pairs. I am often delighted with the enthusiasm and the energy of my senior students, most of whom are in their 80's!

The best part is watching my senior students making new friends, exchanging phone numbers with each other and having a good time! This makes me very happy and I thank God for the opportunity to serve the seniors in my community.

R.T.
St. Paul's Senior Home
Scarborough, Ontario