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/