Elevate Aviation Learning Centre – Edmonton International Airport

Spring is definitely in the air.  Let us imagine jets on this magic carpet and head out to the Edmonton International Airport. Edmonton has a rich aviation history that has always fascinated me. I am quite excited to visit here because this is a brand-new member of Inquiring Minds. Elevate Aviation is a non-profit organization founded in 2015 in Edmonton, Alberta. As we fly in, I want to be careful to avoid causing any air traffic controllers a problem. I will just peek down at the horses training on the Century Mile racetrack (I do love horses).

Airports all over the world look different right now. Edmonton International Airport takes the current COVID-19 (coronavirus) very seriously and has been working closely with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Public Health Agency Canada (PHAC) to identify best practices and help inform passengers with the correct information. In this time of travel restrictions, physical distancing and health concerns, EIA continues to stay open for critical and essential travel.

Nova Andrews, Program Director for the Elevate Aviation Learning Centre, and I had a wonderful chat about the development of this program. The paths to Inquiring Minds are forked and winding. A ballet dancer who had a career in aviation, she found herself recently taking off into the open skies of Elevate. Like all of us in these unusual fluid days, she is learning about navigating interesting times. She is excited and hopeful about the weeks in the 2020-21 school year following the Inquiring Minds model. We agree on the idea of flight as inspirational, innovating and engaging, a perfect place to start an opportunity to learn, no matter what age the learner is.

The Inquiring Minds website has this to say about Aviation School:

Students see the world of aviation through a brand-new lens, meet inspiring people, and learn about careers through mentor presentations, conversations, hands-on activities, and tours. They will also have the opportunity to go behind the scenes with Edmonton International Airport, NAV CANADA, Edmonton Flying Club, Canadian North, North Cariboo Air, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. We invite you to join us on this week-long interactive and immersive experience as we focus on aviation careers, aviation safety, and design thinking for innovation.

Look at the Elevate Aviation Learning Centre webpage. https://www.elevateaviation.ca/programs/ealc/

Do you want to know more? Contact Nova at learning@elevateaviation.ca   

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Zoo School

From Rogers Place we head west above 104 Ave, pick up the Groat Ravine, check to see how many new green leaves are showing and then turn right and follow the North Saskatchewan River. After a couple of bends we will swoop under the pedestrian bridge that joins Hawrelak Park to Buena Vista Park then bank right to our destination, the Edmonton Valley Zoo.  The Zoo welcomed its first guests on July 1, 1959 and maintains a vision of being a special place that inspires love and learning of animals and nature. Certainly, when the god-mother of Inquiring Minds, Gillian Kydd, visited it back in 1999, she found a warm, welcoming environment and staff with a willingness to let children get behind the scenes. The Zoo had already had a class or two come every day for a week by that time and were well on their way to the program that is called Zoo School, today. During these Covid-19 times and like all City of Edmonton recreation facilities and attractions, the Zoo is closed to the public until further notice. However, true stewards, the staff at the Edmonton Valley Zoo continue to provide the highest quality of care to the more than 350 animals that live at the zoo.

Courtney van Roijen, Immersive Experiences Coordinator for the Zoo, tells me she was working at the Zoo part time while finishing her education degree when she heard about Zoo School/Zoo Immersion. Since she already had a BSc in Biology, the idea of being able to teach kids and animals really called to her. “I loved the idea of being able to work in a non-conventional classroom,” she adds. Courtney taught Zoo Immersion for 2 years before she took over the Zoo School coordinator role in 2014 and has been with Zoo School and Inquiring Minds ever since.

Courtney feels people overlook the inter-curricular objectives the program can provide and that many teachers think it is just for younger kids. “I've had a blast doing older grades and trying to think of ways to integrate other curricular ties. I had a junior high class that focused on careers. We talked to multiple people at the zoo and talked to a manager about job interview techniques,” she says. She continues with a smile, “I have gathered data to calculate the perimeter and area of an enclosure using non-standard measures, as in our feet.”

One surprising thing that Courtney loves sharing is the zoo’s compost space. She expands, “Whenever we get up there it's fun to be able to talk about things we can do to support the environment and when we take a quiet moment up there we can often see wild coyotes that live in the area which is an interesting juxtaposition to the fact that we have camels right around the corner.”

The Inquiring Minds website describes Zoo School this way:

Get closer to the animals at the Edmonton Valley Zoo! Imagine how memorable learning is when smelling, touching, hearing and seeing our residents up close and personal.   Zoo School offers a customized curricular week-long immersion into the inner workings of the zoo.  This program builds writing and observational skills through the use of a naturalist journal, beginning in September and carrying on throughout the year until June.

Look at the Zoo School webpage https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/edmonton_valley_zoo/zoo-school.aspx

Do you want to know more? Contact Courtney at courtney.vanroijen@edmonton.ca

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Edmonton Oilers ICE School

I’ve tromped all over downtown Edmonton with kids. For our magic carpet ride from the Legislature to Rogers Place I want to glide past Historic McKay Avenue School Archives & Museum again, then head north down the middle of 104 St., the 4^th Street Promenade. By flying low, just 3 floors off the ground, we’ll clear the traffic lights but stay surrounded by the history. I love the feeling here. For sentimental reasons, my favorite building is the Birks Building. My wedding band was custom made in it and the diamonds checked, every so often, until Birks moved to Manulife Place. There is a sideways, hockey time-trip that connects Manulife Place to the Legislature. Manulife sits on the site of Edmonton’s first indoor hockey rink, the Thistle Rink, which was the meeting place of the opening session of the Alberta Legislature. I LOVE telling the story of the Thistle’s spectacular disappearance to anyone who will listen. Back on 104 St. we pass the wonderfully nostalgic and enchanting-to-look-at Neon Sign Museum. We’ve reached our destination, the south-west corner of Rogers Place, home of the Edmonton Oilers ICE School.

The program was the first initiative of the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, dedicated to building strong, vibrant and safe communities by demonstrating philanthropic leadership with a focus on education, health and wellness and hockey programming for youth in Northern Alberta. And it goes without saying (but I will) that this program was my personal introduction to everything awesome about week-long, site-based, inquiry back in 2002.

With Rogers Place Covid-19 dark, I caught up to Cheryl McLeod, Coordinator, at home. Cheryl is an EPSB teacher seconded to facilitate ICE School. Her first encounter with Inquiring Minds was ICE School. Although she had taken classes to the Strathcona Science Centre and Bennett Centre for overnight educational experiences and understood the power, she had not heard of the Inquiring Minds programs. In the spring 2013, her principal at Riverdale School, Dave Bennell, an alumni of ICE School himself, suggested Cheryl apply. She had hockey playing sons and an extensive collection of hockey books in her classroom library. She took his advice and the rest as we say is history. Over the next few years, she attended City Hall School and U School. When it came time for Diane Gurnham, the program facilitator from 2011 to 2018, to retire Cheryl threw her hat in the ring.

Cheryl wants teachers to know that ICE School is not only focused on hockey. The whole building, the science, the history, the arts, career pathways, Cam Tait, marketing and horses (yes horses) all have connections. She invites students to be explorers during their week, see interesting things and make connections.

She has many favorite gems to share with students but one of the magical moments that never gets old occurs when a class steps into the ICE School classroom for the first time. That lovely classroom was part of the design of Rogers Place from the beginning because the program existed years before Rogers Place. This speaks on many levels to the place of the program in the Oilers' world, and that is a wonderful place indeed.

The Inquiring Minds website has this to say about Edmonton Oilers ICE School:

At ICE School teachers are given the opportunity to move their classroom into the world of Rogers Place and the new Edmonton Ice District. ICE School incorporates site facilities and the provincial curriculum to develop a week of hands on learning to fit the needs of each class.  At ICE School we believe learning occurs when experiences are concrete, real and meaningful, when connections are made between topics, concepts and skills and when time is provided for observation and reflections using journals.

Look at the ICE School webpage. https://www.nhl.com/oilers/eocf/ice-school

Do you want to know more? Contact Cheryl at cmcleod@edmontonoilers.com

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

School at the Legislature

When I am done this Inquiring Minds tour, it’s going to be hard to give up the magic carpet, but right now I wish we were walking this next path together. Regardless, we will fly out of Churchill Square south and pass a fine example of Edmonton’s architectural heritage, the Hotel MacDonald. At the Mac, let’s swoop gently to the west to follow the Heritage Trail that approximates the original path from the settlement of Edmonton to the Hudson’s Bay Company Fort where the Alberta Legislature Building sits. Along this trail are plaques about sites of historic importance and McKay Ave School, the meeting place for Alberta’s first Legislative Assembly. As we wend our way through the buildings just above the treetops lining the streets, we finally pass the Federal Building and turn to the right to carefully swoop down to the reflecting pools. Look south and take in the iconic Dome and then north to the windows of the Education Centre, home of the School at the Legislature.

Are you a teacher interested in Parliamentary Democracy? Consider the Alberta Teachers Institute on Parliamentary Democracy planned for this fall. I can’t help but wonder here, if an alumnus of School at the Legislature is already working in our provincial civil service or considering running as an MLA?

The health and safety of the Members, staff and visitors is a top priority for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, so during these Covid-19 times, all tours and public events are suspended.

I had the opportunity to catch Kelsey Kendrick, Michael Ruiter and Grace McNeely working hard in their respective homes. Kelsey first observed Inquiring Minds in action at the Legislature in 2015. As a program assistant, she facilitated a hodgepodge events for programs and exhibits. Michael Ruiter, with a Master of Letters in Medieval Studies, was a tour guide (Heritage Interpreter) at the Legislature when he met Inquiring Minds through a class of Gr 4 I brought from EJ (Edmonton Journal) School. Grace McNeely, who recently became SATL Education Coordinator, started at the Legislature in fall 2016 as a Heritage Interpreter. Her first interaction with SATL was giving a small group interview for a French class! She began leading SATL weeks a year later, in 2017, and eventually became a Programs Assistant.

I asked each of them in turn about misconceptions teachers might have about spending a week at the Alberta Legislature. In their own ways they all came back to the idea that the educational opportunities of their space are so much more than social studies. They enjoy making connections to ideas teachers might only dream they could make there.

The diversity of their hidden gems surprised me. These gems speak to the wonder of how pleasing it can be to be engaged by different things. I have visited and toured the site numerous times over many years and appreciate the fact that I have not plumbed the depths of treasures there. For Kelsey the gem is a piece of beautiful and clever stained glass in Legislature Library. Michael takes great joy in sharing a larch planted to honour Alberta’s sister province in Japan, Hokkaido and builds on its needle dropping habits to illustrate the metaphor of something being two things at once. Inside the refurbished Federal Building is a pedway stairwell walled with Tyndall stone where Grace delights in revealing fossils from a time before even flowers existed, a surprising science, art and just plain fascinating set of connections.

The Inquiring Minds website has this to say about School at the Legislature:

Bring your students to our fully equipped classroom to experience government first-hand and to meet the people behind today’s headlines!  The School at the Legislature program is targeted towards meeting all aspects of the Grade 6 curriculum and aims to educate students about citizenship and democracy while providing a fun and exciting learning environment.

Look at the School at the Legislature webpage. http://www.assembly.ab.ca/visitor/teachers/SchoolatLeg/SATL_program.htm

Do you want to know more? Contact them at satl@assembly.ab.ca

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Sound School

From our vantage point up here on the magic carpet, it is much easier to get around all the construction on 102 Ave. Slipping north from the Citadel over the top of chain-link fences and construction, we find ourselves at the Francis WinspearCentre for Music. This is the Arts District, in downtown Edmonton. The history of this particular building and the people who championed and funded it is, like that of the Citadel, a testimony to the artistic drive and ingenuity of people in Edmonton who thought our city was, in the words of Tommy Banks, "too big and too good a city not to have a concert hall." Tommy Banks believed that music has the power to change lives. The ESO and Winspear Centre believe this too and the Tommy Banks Centre for Musical Creativity is home to many wonderful programs, including the Inquiring Minds Sound School.

While the music in the concert hall is on PAUSE right now, thanks (is ‘thanks’ really the right word?) to Covid-19, the music makers are, luckily for us, operating virtually. My hockey fan cheering self just loves  Quarantine 2020 Project: Hockey Night In Canada - the Battle of Alberta Continues - ESO & CPO.

Amanda Banister, Associate Director of Musical Creativity, came to the Winspear in 2013 to help launch the Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta. She had teaching experience with EPSB. Her introduction to Inquiring Minds came by way of the cup of sugar borrowing neighbour, Linda Hut. Amanda was part of a City Hall School observation and then a pilot Gr 3 one day Sound School.

Anne-Marie Switzer, Musical Creativity Program Coordinator, was a music educator in the Pembina Hills for 10 years (when we say music educator, we mean music and a dog’s breakfast of other things). She came to work at the Winspear one week and found herself leading a Sound School class the next. She has not looked back and regrets never having the chance to bring a class of her own to this program.

Amanda and Anne-Marie agree that Sound School is much more than the opportunity to cover a Gr 3 Science curriculum topic. This year they took classes from Gr 2 to 6. They mention the multitude of career pathways, concepts of Board governance, philanthropy, volunteering and women in music. There is the current construction project to observe. The opportunities for non-music cross curricular learning provide a veritable choose your own adventure for a teacher to consider.

Amanda’s hidden gem is the time capsule in the lobby which is part of the first day tour of Sound School. She enjoys talking about what is inside, and why someone might make a promise to you and the community, to still be here in 2095. In a beautiful circle of learning, students make a time capsule of memories at the end of their week which they open at the end of the school year. My heart literally sings with the deep connective power I see in that activity.

Anne-Marie describes with relish the mystery musician project that starts for classes before they even reach the site.  Some personal items from an ESO musician visit the class. Then on site, during the day of reveal, the items are laid out on an orchestra poster and students speculate who they are going to meet. The musician arrives and plays 5 notes. The silence at the sound of instrument and the focus on that musician are evidence for Anne-Marie of the power of the program.

The Inquiring Minds website has this to say about Sound School:

Explore all aspects of sound in this week spent at the Winspear Centre!  You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at concerts and other events, with the opportunity to meet professional musicians, sit in on an Edmonton Symphony orchestra rehearsal, and even perform on-stage!  Students will gain hands-on experiences with a variety of instruments, will explore the acoustic properties of Enmax Hall, and will learn about the importance that Arts and Culture have within our community.

Look at the Sound School webpage. https://www.winspearcentre.com/tommy-banks-centre/sound-school/  

Do you want to know more? Contact Amanda at abanister@winspearcentre.com

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Citadel School (Citadel Theatre and Academy)

From our spot hovering over City Hall, look across Churchill Square. Let’s slip this carpet over, so we can peek in the north facing windows to the Citadel Theatre and take in the green of the Lee Pavilion. The history of the Citadel Theatre as one of the largest not-for profit theatres in North America speaks to the dedication and entrepreneurial spirit of the arts community of Edmonton, from past to present. The current vision statement says that the Citadel seeks to be Inclusive, Innovative, and International in its programming and practices. From its early days the Citadel championed theatre education and creative development. Building on that skill set and collection of educational assets, it is now also home to an Inquiring Minds site.

During these “interesting times” of Covid-19, combating the impact of social isolation on mental health requires creativity. With classic Edmonton spirit, the Citadel’s  The Stuck in the House series is supported by the Edmonton Community Foundation.

Doug Mertz, Director of Education and Outreach, came to the Citadel in 2009, and putting his Masters in Performance Pedagogy to good use shouldered the Citadel’s Young Company in 2010. He remembers his first contact with Inquiring Minds. Linda Hut, the neighbour across the square reached out to borrow a cup of sugar. Actually, Linda wanted to bring a City Hall School class for tour and Doug wanted to know more about what she was doing. Before long, in the spring of 2017, he found himself piloting an Inquiring Minds’ week. And it would be an understatement to say Doug took to it like a duck to water.

Teachers (and most of the public) don’t how many people are involved in a theatre production, Doug says. The diversity of skills needed behind the scenes (I love how we incorporate theatre terminology as a basic element of Inquiring Minds) require knowledge of Math and Science not just Language Arts and Drama. No one stops to think about how accountants can be important in a theatre, but of course they are.

Doug’s favorite moments are those of his first reveal of each Citadel performance space; the moment of quiet wonder, heads swiveling to take in the venue. Those reactions are something he never gets tired of.

The Inquiring Minds website describes Citadel School (Citadel Theatre and Academy) this way:

Spend the week immersed in the performing arts! Students will get to explore the Citadel Theatre from the inside out through the lens of curriculum-based activities integrating drama, music, improvisation, theatre history and much more. Students will learn by doing as well as by interviewing the many people who contribute to our theatre season. This will help them to gain an understanding and appreciation of the collaboration, innovation and creativity that go into making a successful production. By spending a week in the Arts District downtown, students will learn about the importance that Arts and Culture have within our community.

Look at the Citadel’s Student Experiences webpage. https://www.citadeltheatre.com/artists-learning/student-experiences

Do you want to know more? Contact Doug at dmertz@citadeltheatre.com

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

City Hall School

Did you enjoy the trip to the Garden following the river? Let’s travel it back, down stream into the heart of Edmonton. This time we will swoop to the left just after the Low Level Bridge at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park. We need to make it quick before we crash into the cranes working on the bridge that will carry the Valley Line LRT trains after they burst out of the hole in the river bank to cross the North Saskatchewan. Hang on while we do a steep climb over the Edmonton Convention Centre, watch Jasper Ave flash by below then duck in and around a few tall buildings. After we pass the renovations at the Stanley Milner Library and the construction on 102 Ave we see ahead the distinctive glass pyramid, clock tower and carillon of Edmonton’s City Hall. This award-winning piece of architecture was designed by Edmonton architect Gene Dub and opened on August 28, 1992. Gene Dub’s design combined the old with the new by incorporating materials such as marble and granite from the old City Hall into the new building. It was also designed as a ‘people place’ - a place for civic government and a gathering place for Edmontonians. Here, as well, is the home of City Hall School.

These are interesting times. To contain the spread of COVID-19, the City of Edmonton acted following the direction of Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. Most City of Edmonton facilities, services, and attractions, including City Hall are closed. To borrow a favorite start to an idea from Linda Hut, “I wonder what people in the future will think about this?”

I’ve known Linda for quite a long time. Our friendship started because of Inquiring Minds. She knew about week-long, site-based, inquiry-learning in Edmonton before me; before it was even called Inquiring Minds. As a classroom teacher 20 years ago at Westglen she took a class to Museum School. For the next 10 years she applied and attended Fort School, ICE School (where we met), and Zoo School. One year when she famously did not get a week to any site, she approached the Northern Jubilee Auditorium, convinced them to let her bring her class there and try the approach. The birth of Jube School. In 2009 the Campus Calgary/Open Minds site coordinators hosted a provincial professional development gathering at the Calgary Zoo. They graciously suggested I bring along a master teacher to share the day. Linda and I drove down together. We talked non-stop the whole way there and back. I got to introduce her to Gillian Kydd. In 2010 Linda was seconded from the Edmonton Public School Board and became the Program Coordinator of City Hall School.

Teachers discussing City Hall School for the first time with Linda often view municipal government as small and full of hard connections to difficult ideas and curriculum. What Linda hopes they discover is that the year-long conversations of City Hall School will bring kids out of their egocentric world to a place that celebrates their active citizenship.  “I have so much more to offer than Gr 6 social studies,” she states emphatically.

And then to illustrate that idea she shares one of her hidden gems, poet Kevan Lyons. I have been most fortunate to witness the power of the formerly homeless poet to connect with children. When he meets City Hall School students, he makes no secret of the fact that this relationship with City Hall School changed him. Small things can make a big difference. Linda treasures parents’ tears, the looks on kids faces and binders of letters thanking Kevan.

The Inquiring Minds website says this about City Hall School:

Leaving the confines of the classroom and immersing themselves in the rich learning in community of City Hall students gain an understanding of complexity of issues that affect our city and the important roles of citizens in municipal government.  Student journals are filled with Reflections, Observations, Wonders and Sketches as they focus on social responsibility, the environment, history and democracy.  The connections with their city and curriculum start in September with a presentation of a “Key to the City” and end with a celebration of citizenship.  Weekly City Beat eNewsletters keep classes engaged and inquiring.

Look at the City Hall School webpage. https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/city_hall/city-hall-school.aspx

Do you want to know more? Contact Linda at linda.hut@edmonton.ca

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Green School

Get comfortable because it is a long trip out west to the University Of Alberta Botanic Garden. If we were travelling on wheels, we might choose to use the Yellowhead, but since this is my magic carpet, I am taking you along the North Saskatchewan River. It feels just right to let those winding curves lead us south and west. Once we spot two golf courses along the south bank, we leave the river behind and head straight west. The mission of the University of Alberta Botanic Garden is to inspire connections between plants and people through curated collections, innovative education, research, conservation and experiences. My personal favorite spot is the Kurimoto Japanese Garden, particularly when the irises are in bloom. But my hands down favorite activity there is tramping through the trees with Deb leading one of her Green School classes. 

Green School receives funding from the Edmonton Community Foundation . 

The Garden is currently closed to visitors for the winter season. They are working on a plan so visitors might be able to enjoy the outdoor gardens this year, within Alberta Health Services guidelines, and with the safety of the public paramount in planning. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the Garden’s 2020 calendar of activities.

I caught up to Deb by phone at her home. Deb Greiner’s path to Inquiring Minds was as winding as the river. After university where she earned her teacher certification, she taught music and other things (as music teachers do) just outside Edmonton. When she became a mom, she took a break from that kind of paid education work, instead teaching piano and doing an assortment of volunteer activities. By 2010 she was ready to come back to the classroom but was not having much luck as she made the rounds. On a trip that took her out to Graminia Road, she stopped by the Garden as an after-thought and dropped off a resume. Soon she found herself working in their day programs. She observed and admired Green School. In the fall of 2011, she was asked to cover the role of Green School Coordinator. It fit her like a comfortable old garden glove and with all the experiential activities in the outdoors, the pieces of her passion and educational approach came together.

Deb thinks some teachers worry about the ability of children to spend most of the 5 days on her site outdoors. She sees being outside as an advantage and says there is a simplicity to being with kids in the open air. I admit I stole one of my best going outside with kids lines from Deb. “There is no such thing as bad weather, just poorly dressed people.”

The day we talked, there was a fresh white blanket of snow (in April, sigh) and Deb shared that she loves these spring snow days with kids.  “They find little tiny insects on the snow,” she recounts “and that gives me the chance to reward observation skills, talk about snow fleas, micro elements, and what good eyes they have.”

The Inquiring Minds website describes Green School this way:

The vision of Green School is to enable every child and teacher to develop an appreciation for the natural world. Immersion in the community of the University of Alberta Botanic Garden (plants and trees, animals, birds, wetlands, and people) allows for authentic learning experiences and for developing observational skills using journals.  This creates the potential for activities where the curriculum lives and encourages undertakings, which go beyond the week at the Garden, inspiring hope in hearts and minds to live and learn well.

Look at the Green School webpage. https://botanicgarden.ualberta.ca/programs-courses/green-school/

Do you want to know more? Contact Deb at uabg.greenschool@ualberta.ca 

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Science School @Telus World of Science

Peek over the edge of our magic carpet as we follow Groat Road north from the University across the North Saskatchewan River leaning into each bend through the banks of Groat Ravine and make a sweeping turn at the Westmount Shopping Centre so we can come in low over the Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium to check out its restoration progress.  A little farther to the south and west, we see more renovating construction at the TELUS World of Science, Douglas Cardinal’s striking and innovative building created as Edmonton’s flagship project commemorating the Province of Alberta's 75th Anniversary. Now take a moment to consider the time space continuum, appreciating this convergence operated by the Edmonton Space & Science Foundation, a non-profit organization, on a mission to: Ignite curiosity. Inspire discovery. Celebrate science. Change lives. Personally, the opportunity to contemplate a rock from the moon and reflect on how it made its way to earth and our science centre is transformational. We are at the home of Science School.

Andrea Brickman, School Programs Specialist, came to the Telus World of Science (TWOSE) as a teaching contractor. Science School and Inquiring Minds entered her job description the first time in 2016. The next years of her journey with Inquiring Minds are not unlike the red Tardis phone box of Dr. Who, moved by mat leave jumps, personnel changes and moments not just in her life but that of others. During these COVID-19 times, TWOSE has ramped up its virtual connection to the public and I found Andrea at her home office.

She wishes many teachers could get beyond their “science disgust” when considering her site. She exhorts teachers, “If you are not comfortable with science, it is not a reason to not apply (to Science School). Think of writing in science as a big idea, not a list of curriculum considerations. Plus, there are things to do here you would not do at in the classroom because, in the case of robotics, for example, we have the resources.”

Andrea finds joy in showing off staff for many different reasons. People working in the building at the Telus World of Science love Science School. Interviews with staff prove to be some of the most treasured moments of the week. Andrea mentions the diversity of jobs required to make the Telus World of Science function; accountants, board members and yes, scientists. She illustrates with the example of a passionate exhibit designer who gets kids excited about design thinking. During his presentation, he touches on the importance of failure in creative problem solving.  

The Inquiring Minds website describes Science School this way:

Science School is designed to inspire students to explore STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) through collaborative design projects, guided explorations of the natural environment, experimentation with engineering and technology, and learning through play. This journey will help students develop a passion for science and discover the areas that excite them.

Look at the Science School webpage. https://telusworldofscienceedmonton.ca/educators/science-school/

Do you want to know more? Contact Andrea at ABrickwood@twose.ca

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

U School

From the Jubilee Auditorium it is a quick, short swooping flight to the University of Alberta north campus. Evolving on the edge of the North Saskatchewan River since its founding in 1908, it covers 230 acres or 930,777 square metres (almost but not quite bringing meaning to a million). With over 37,000 undergraduates it would have ranked 9^th as a population centre in Alberta. The program is under the aegis (I owe my personal love of Greek mythology to my most memorable U of A undergrad professor, Dr. Robert Buck, who demonstrated every class to me the essential place of sharing passion in learning) of the Chancellor and Senate of the University of Alberta, and makes the most of its volunteer experts to open the window of endless possibility in inquiry to U School students.

I caught up to Michaela Mann, U School program lead, working at her apartment near campus. COVID-19 means U of A classes are being delivered remotely and only essential work is being done on campus.  Most U of A research is continuing remotely, but essential research is being conducted on campus related to COVID-19 and clinical care activities.

Michaela’s path to Inquiring Minds started when she was working for U of A Students Union in professional development and program design for students on campus. The previous U School program lead, Melania Woloszyn, reached out looking to fulfil a U School teacher’s big idea. Mel asked Michaela to make a presentation to a U School class on leadership. There was also an “off the wall” connection, which literally came while she was climbing a wall. Michaela got to know a facilitator of class experiences at U School while on the climbing wall at the Wilson Climbing Centre and as a result in the fall of 2019 applied for the position of Program Lead.

Her first thought when asked about an overlooked aspect of U School concerns the walking. “It is a big site, basically a small city,” she told me, “and we walk everywhere.”  Walking across campus provides a visual representation of the breadth of the university. We agreed that walking is an essential and wonderful learning activity built into every Inquiring Minds site.

Michaela relishes the constant opportunities U School provides for her own learning. One of the first presentations she saw connected the spectrum and the thermo-dynamic (hot and cold) science of lasers. After predicting the effects of shining a green laser at green balloon and then a red balloon (absorbed and reflective energy) and watching one explode, she now has an incredible love of all things laser. She routinely sees that happen to U School students; exposure to something mind blowing plants seeds of interest deep in a brain.

The Inquiring Minds website describes U School this way:

U School is designed to give students the opportunity to interact with University of Alberta staff, students, professors and community members while learning about a wide variety of teacher-directed topics.  Students are introduced to the U of A and our sessions take place primarily on North Campus.  Please note U School only accepts applicants from socially vulnerable metro areas and provides rural opportunities to those outside of metro areas.

Take a look at the U School webpage. https://www.ualberta.ca/chancellor-and-senate/u-school/index.html

Do you want to know more? Contact Michaela at uschool@ualberta.ca

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Jube School

Our first fly-over on this magic carpet ride, is the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. This program exists in two cities: in Edmonton at the Northern Jubilee Auditorium and in Calgary at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Those of us who have had the privilege of visiting both these International Style monuments built to celebrate Alberta’s Jubilee (50 years) as a province of Canada have experienced a real twinge of Déjà vu or two subtly different realities. The buildings were born twin sisters and live full lives in two different settings and cities but continue, over more than 60 years, to share the same beautiful bone, muscle and skin. Twin spaces. Different places.

Karen Youngberg is the Cultural Development Specialist for the Alberta Jubilee Auditoria Society, a not-for-profit organization led by Board members working for the betterment of the Jubilee and striving to promote the importance of art and culture. She carries a passion for what she does that radiates from her eyes and smile. Her path to Inquiring Minds, like each of the people we will meet who facilitate Inquiring Minds, is unique. 

Prior to coming to work at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium in an office admin job, she had been stage managing and working with Quest Theatre, a company with lots of experience working with and in schools. Her own children had exposure to inquiry learning education. She was eager when I invited her to come and spend an observation day with me at a site being run at the Calgary Arts Common in the fall of 2015. The rest, as they like to say, is history. She connected with a supportive crew from Campus Calgary/Open Minds and built a Jube School (Jube is a diminutive or term used  to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment for Jubilee Auditorium) program at the Southern Alberta Jubilee. In the past year, the existing Northern Alberta Jube School program folded into her job description.

In these days of Covid 19, the Jubilee Auditoria are “dark”, a term they use in the theatre business, meaning the venue has been closed to the public. But Karen is busy creating ideas and sharing activities for connecting folks of all ages with the arts. I, myself, attempted her “One Line Sketching” Challenge.

I asked her to comment on something teachers might overlook about her site and she barely hesitated. “I don’t think teachers realize it is a government building. It’s filled with more than 60 years of storytelling. They will get to feel that lived experience of building. The arts are about creating and sharing community.”

For her, a hidden gem of Jube School is directly related to that idea. Her voice warmed as she related the wonder of a student in Grade 3 who volunteered the fact that his dad loved Led Zeppelin. Building on those associations for kids makes participating in an activity about the Jube's state of the art sound system a connected, deep learning experience. Karen enjoys revealing the long list of artists who have walked from the dressing rooms out to perform on the Jubilee stage.

The Inquiring Minds website describes Jube School this way:  

A week-long program of personalized, interactive, arts-based learning rooted in elements of each class’ curriculum. Creative explorations in the technical, visual and performing arts will inspire learners and educators to make personal connections in, through, and about the arts. Working alongside some of the world’s best teaching artists and technicians, students have a hands-on opportunity to create, reflect, and explore in an environment that supports personal and social growth, empowers practical learning and inspires curiosity that enriches the individual, the class, and our community. 

Take a look at the Jube School webpage. https://jubileeauditorium.com/edmonton/jube-school

Do you want to know more? Contact Karen at kyoungberg@albertajubileesociety.ca

You can start your application process at the Inquiring Minds website. https://ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com/application/

Inquiring Minds – The Fabric of the Carpet

The 13 current Edmonton and area

sites of Inquiring Minds share an application process for the 2020-21 school year and are bound together by an approach to learning. Nothing more; not extra funding or staffing, no higher order administrative structure.

The website says “Children learn best by doing. The Inquiring Minds partnership offers teachers an opportunity to move their classroom to a community site for a week of hands on, multi-sensory learning. Student learning is enhanced by meeting curriculum expectations through meaningful connections to the real world.” The website also uses the descriptive phrase “week-long, site-based, inquiry programming”.

Those ideas work together to create the essence of this approach. It’s not really a whole new world. It’s just the fascinating world that can be discovered at a site. Inquiring Minds banded together because they share this learning idea. It is an organic connection. Each site has its own individual funding and administrative organization. The diverse coordinators come together monthly to share ideas related to this approach, but there is no overall business unit or funding model in Inquiring Minds. Like the learning ideas they champion, each site handles those things in its own unique way. Inside the larger organization that is home to each program, the magic of the site and pride in the learning it facilitates help create meaningful connections to the real world.

If you want to raise the “hackles” of an Inquiring Minds program coordinator use the words “field trip” to describe your understanding of their program. While there are many places (some Inquiring Minds physical locations also welcome teachers and students to other programs that might be called field trips) providing very focused experiences for anything from an hour to a full day, the approach of Inquiring Minds is to slow down and open up the multi-facilitated learning available at that physical space. Site-based means to “be” at a site and introduce as many different curriculum connections as might to be possible in a week’s worth of full days.

Week-long has recently morphed to 5 days with the education school days (instruction days) calendar leaving fewer whole weeks. Most program coordinators use a creative approach to provide 5 consecutive instructional days. The point is to bring students and teachers often enough to the space to allow time for observing, connecting and reflecting with a variety of people and things, traverse the breadth of the space and get behind the scenes. Overcoming first impression newness and allowing for visit-revisit connections settles sensory stimulated brains and provides deeper learning opportunities. Inside this practice we like to say, “Students and teachers end up owning the space”.

The big idea behind an inquiry approach in a learning rich environment is the power of ENGAGEMENT of students; what “catches the eye”, fascinates and creates a willingness to spend time slow looking naturally leads next to lots of questions. With more time those questions lead to the process of seeking answers and that can lead to (with nurture or without) connections making curriculum objectives come alive.

One of the reveals at each site is an introduction to jobs many of us, adults included, know little about. A key component of each program is the people who work for the larger organization. Tying curriculum to the everyday skills and ideas of occupations can give reason or purpose to certain aspects of learning. In Alberta we refer to these curriculum connections under the term, Career and Life Management or CALM.

All the programs hope against hope that participating teachers will use the experience as a central part of a year long connection to learning. Facilitators offer educators ways and support to divide the school year into 3 parts: 1. before we go, 2. while we are there and 3. what we can do with what we learned.

And all Inquiring Minds sites champion the use of a journal as a primary research and reflecting tool.

The next 13 posts will be about individual sites. Our current “interesting times” gave me the opportunity to phone chat with a variety of program coordinators. There is nothing like a personal perspective to see a whole new world.

Hang on to the fringes and tassels. Here we go.

Inquiring Minds

Site Coordinators Feb. 28, 2020

I can’t help it but the words from the Disney song, A Whole New World , keep rolling through my brain as I sit to write. Yes, I watched a few of the different Duos (my goodness that word has taken on a new meaning for me in the last 3 weeks) performing the song since it was released in 1992. This math inclined brain of mine jumped to make a connection with that year. 

Gillian Kydd, in Edmonton we refer to her as the god-mother of Inquiring Minds, was early in her role as a science consultant for Calgary Board of Education. She met in the fall of 1992 with people at the Calgary Zoo. By January of 1993 she helped a teacher and class take the first steps onto that site every chilly day for a week. She began weaving a magic carpet of education, something with a “new, fantastic point of view". In 2002 she took me for a ride that showed me “a hundred thousand things to see” and left me all these years later saying “I can't go back to where I used to be”.

This "whole new world" we find ourselves in today, was not even comprehensible on Feb. 28, 2020 when the group in the photo above spent the afternoon connecting with teachers at GETCA. The opportunity to talk to teachers this way, was something new and from my observer's view point, a great success. It is safe to say, many of us hugged, shook hands and spoke to each other well inside the 2 metre acceptable circle of today’s in-person social distancing communication guidelines.

My heart sang, all afternoon.

I told everyone I just came for the T shirt. I LOVE the new logo. But I really came to see some of the old and new faces of the site coordinators. Being truly retired means I don’t go to those facilitators' monthly meetings and I do miss them. 

Great energy crackled down the long display table and the smiles on everyone’s faces spoke to an amazing current of connection.

I was inspired. I decided to write a fly-by snap shot on each of the 13 sites of Inquiring Minds and post them here.

Early in the week that was school spring break in Edmonton, I met an alumni teacher of Inquiring Minds in the Safeway parking lot. Standing at least 3 metres apart we discussed the strange new paradigm teachers found themselves in and he asked if I thought he should still apply for a site next year. “Absolutely,” I said. “We have no idea what the school year will look like in the fall. If you don’t apply you won’t have a chance to access that rich world of learning.”

Then I reminded him of all the skills his “inquiry focused” “blank journal” equipped students can bring to their remote learning for the rest of this school year.

For the next few posts, join me, as Inquiring Minds biggest fan. I want to “open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways and under, On a magic carpet ride”.

“I can show you the world, Shining, shimmering, splendid” of Inquiring Minds. 

I invite you to take a brief bird's eye peek with me. It will not be technologically wonderful; just words to hook you, set your teaching imagination in motion, glimpse a hidden gem.

You can start by checking out the application at the Inquiring Minds website. It could be your magic carpet to a "whole new world" of learning.