Amazing Class of the Week!

Teacher: Deepti Celetti
Grade: 2
School: Rockwood Centennial PS
School Board: Upper Grand District School Board

1. How did you hear about the program?

I attended an ETFO conference called …And Still We Rise Conference and this program was presented at one of the workshops.

2. Why did you decide to participate?

I decided that kids these days need to think of others first instead of themselves so instead of having a Star of the Week where the focus is on the child, I thought a Social cause or action would help them become better global citizens.

3. What is the biggest impact/change in your class ?

The kids have taken ownership of Nobody and feel that they truly can make a difference through their actions.

4. What is the biggest impact/change in one of your students and please share an example of one student’s project?:

One of my students wants to raise awareness of the plight of Syrian children to the point that he wants us to raise money to help arm the rebels so they can fight the government. Obviously, I had to re-direct his misplaced sense of right and wrong. He seems very passionate so we’ll see what action he decides to undertake. A couple of my kids have decided to continue their action of raising toys for tots as an ongoing thing each year. A couple of my kids have decided to continue their action of raising toys for tots as an ongoing thing each year.

5. Example of one student’s project:

One student went to visit the Humane Society to find out what the needs of the animals were and then proceeded to make an announcement over the PA requesting donations as well as making a poster to distribute to the whole class.

6. Which whole-class Who Is NOBODY? Project did your class do? i.e. Free The Children or another organization or cause & Why did your class chose it?

We back onto a Conservation area so we decided to clean our yard – instead we discovered that many pet owners had left either poop or poop bags on the yard. This caused the kids much anguish as people were stepping in it. We decided to write a letter to the Principal, the caretaker, the Director of Education and The Editor of a local newspaper. We received responses from all and even though the school sign reflected our plight (picture attached) and our letter was published, the problem still remains although it is somewhat better!

Who Is NOBODY? was also highlighted in Education Journal ‘Professionally Speaking’ Magazine, that goes to every educator in Ontario! Click here to view and here to see the magazine edition!

To view the article in French, highlighting a class who participated in Qui est PERSONNE?, please click here.

Have you or your child participated in Who Is NOBODY? What project did he or she do?
Please leave a sentence in the comment section below or upload a photo here to inspire others!

Bronson’s Who Is NOBODY? Project: Donated Food to the Food Bank. Inspiring work, Bronson!

Amazing Class of the Week!

Vice-Principal: Lisa True
Teachers: Debbie Cauley and Annie McGouran
Grade: 4
School: St Mark the Evangelist CS
School Board: Durham Catholic District School Board

1. How did you hear about the program?

Lisa True: I heard about the program through a presentation at the Faculty of Education at York U. Then I shared it with my staff. We thought it would be really good for one of our Grade 4 classrooms.

2. Why did you decide to participate?

Lisa True: We decided to participate because the theme around this program and the learning/sharing that would happen would support the development of safe and healthy relationships among the students in that particular class.

3. What is the biggest impact/change in your class ?

Annie McGouran: Biggest impact – Students are more aware of the fact that other children their age don’t have some of the basics like clothing, food…

4. What is the biggest impact/change in one of your students?

Annie McGouran: Students are very excited to take nobody home and have told other students about him. They feel like he is part of our classroom! The students are very caring towards Nobody and are enjoying their time with him!

5. Please share an example of one student’s project:

Annie McGouran: One student and his family (Bronson in the picture), donated food to the Food Bank at Metro because they felt no child should go hungry.

*See photo -  he put a smile on Nobody!

Who Is NOBODY? was also highlighted in Education Journal ‘Professionally Speaking’ Magazine, that goes to every educator in Ontario! Click here to view and here to see the magazine edition!

To view the article in French, highlighting a class who participated in Qui est PERSONNE?, please click here.

Have you or your child participated in Who Is NOBODY? What project did he or she do?
Please leave a sentence in the comment section below or upload a photo here to inspire others!

Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre is hosting this years GREEN LIVING SHOW!

Here at Who Is NOBODY?/Who Is GREEN? we believe:
CHANGE STARTS WITH KIDS

…So get the whole family together (or a group of your best buds!) and have fun while making a difference because there’s something for EVERYBODY!

Taste local and sustainable food and drink at the Ontario Culinary Adventure Pavilion. Discover stylish, sustainable fashion from leading designers. Browse healthy makeup and personal care products. Learn how to achieve optimum health—naturally—at the Health & Wellness Pavilion. Test-drive an electric & hybrid vehicles and view Canadian 2013 Green Car Award Winner top green car. Learn green parenting tips at the EcoParent Pavilion, experience the River Runs Through It museum or play with your little ones at the EcoKids zone… and so much more.

For more information click here!

And we can’t do a GREEN post without a song from our favourite green friend:

Amazing First Class of the Week!

Teacher: Jill Wastle
Grade: 2
School: Fallingbrook P.S.
School Board: Durham District School Board

1. How did you hear about the program?

My teacher partners (Amber Currie & Kathi Bracken) received an e-mail from our principal about 5 years ago, introducing Nobody and asking if we’d like to participate.  After starting the Who Is Nobody program we’ve just kept it going, year after year.

2. Why did you decide to participate?

It was a great opportunity for our students to learn at a young age that they can make a difference in the world they live in.  We also loved that the children could choose a project that was personally meaningful to them.

3. What is the biggest impact/change in your class?

Every child who participates is so extremely proud to get up in front of their peers and present their Who Is Nobody experience.  They are even more excited to take their message to the rest of the school, staff and administration at our end of the year celebration.  Many of our students chose to continue their Nobody experiences long after their week with Nobody.

4. What is the biggest impact/change in one of your students? And example of one student’s project:

Each Who Is Nobody experience that kids have shared has been amazing and moving – from donating to our local Animal Shelter after a fire to working with Habitat for Humanity.  The first presentation this year really brought home the importance of helping others.  A student in my class is on home instruction due to medical reasons.  When this student had his turn with Nobody, he sent in a video presentation for his classmates.  He chose to donate to Sick Kids Hospital since he has been a patient there and this got more students interested in helping other young people.  The whole class had a personal connection to this outreach initiative and it became obvious how each Nobody project inspires the next as students realize the impact they can make.

5. Which whole-class Who Is NOBODY? Project did your class do? i.e. Free The Children or another organization or cause & Why did your class chose it?

Our Who Is Nobody classes chose Unicef as we began the project in October in time for National Unicef Day. Each student was able to proudly say that they were a part of helping less fortunate children in another country go to school.

Fallingbrook Public School was also highlighted in Education Journal ‘Professionally Speaking’ Magazine, that goes to every educator in Ontario! Click here to view and here to see the magazine edition!

To view the article in French, highlighting a class who participated in Qui est PERSONNE?, please click here.

Have you or your child participated in Who Is NOBODY? What project did he or she do?
Please leave a sentence in the comment section below or upload a photo here to inspire others!

When I was working out in the gym this morning the news reporter transitioned from Lance Armstrong to the weather by saying:

Let’s talk about something less controversial

What is controversial about Lance Armstrong?

What he did was wrong. He is apologizing because he got caught. Wrong again.

“He cheated and there was no excuse for what he did,”

John Fahey, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency

If we have to call it controversial, can we at least agree on one thing?

Can we at least agree that Lance Armstrong likes spinning?

Lance Armstrong wasn’t talking to Oprah because he’s sorry. Lance Armstrong was talking to Oprah, in the words of Lainey, “to further his remodeled agenda.”

What message are we sending to all the young people out there who we talk to about character building when we spin the Lance Armstrong story as ‘controversial’?

We can’t control Lance Armstrong, but we can control how we tell the story.

We have a responsibility to tell the story with the character we hoped he had.

Giving kids a first hand experience of building respect based on their actions so that their self worth is earned and lasting is one of the big reasons Who Is NOBODY? was created.

You have to wonder how Lance Armstrong has spun his own story in his head to continue walking around with such abundant confidence.

Perhaps his take on himself has developed from all the practice he’s had with textbook bullying – the classic putting people down to pull one self up to keep people from finding your fraud.

…Now if only I had been at a spinning class rather than on an elliptical machine this morning, I could round out this post by going back to the start.

Image courtesy of -Marcus- / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Growing up I was a huge Family Ties Fan!

I loved all the characters in the show and who they have become off screen.

We all have a cause near and dear to us – something that affects someone we love or something that we have read about that really draws us in.

Micheal J. Fox is such a fantastic role model.  He has been advocating for Parkinson’s since his diagnosis by creating awareness and also raising funds.  If he did Who Is NOBODY? I wonder what he would add to represent his project and help turn NOBODY into SOMEBODY?

Mallory, played by Justine Bateman was another one of my favourite actors on the show.  Being a teacher, I always think of her whenever I play a DVD because she had the following great line: ‘You know school’s going to be good when your teacher rolls in the VCR!’

A picture says a 1000 words, so how many does a moving picture say?

I think it’s great to mix up teaching methods with audio-visual once in a while.  Hours and hours go into every minute of a well-made documentary, old news footage or a movie about the topic you are teaching.  Playing a relevant DVD can be an effective way to wrap a chapter you’ve taught by pulling in all the lose ends and presenting it in an exciting format that stimulates the senses.

The other day I logged onto the Who Is NOBODY? Facebook Page and saw a video posted by an awesome student named Ozzy and to concur with Mallory, I knew it was going to be good.

Ozzy’s message is:

Helping people is fun & Kiva makes it easy!

Do you know anyone who has helped to empower people around the world with a Kiva Loan?

AWESOME Teacher Candidates at the Ontario Council for Exceptional Children Conference:
Rochelle Tkach, Nicole Franklin, Rosemary Tamburini, Lia Mancuso

EVERYBODY is definitely SOMEBODY at the CEC Provincial Conference held in Niagara Falls, Ontario!

CEC’s Mission is:
“To enhance educational outcomes and improve the quality of life for individuals with special needs.”

The conference opened with inspiring Keynote Speaker Ashley Gialelem who’s message was:
Looking beyond the barriers and getting to know the person inside

Followed by Dr. Christy Chambers, President Elect, CEC International who began her career as a special education teacher before assuming various roles  that have given her the experience and capacity to lead change in restructuring and improving delivery systems which have lead to significant reform recognized internationally.

AWESOME Teacher Candidates at the Ontario Council for Exceptional Children Conference:

Rochelle Tkach
Nicole Franklin
Rosemary Tamburini
Lia Mancuso

Hold NOBODY, SOMEBODY and the mysterious case the program arrives in, that includes 25+ support materials to get teachers started WITHOUT a workshop or any preparation!

Break-out sessions allowed attendees to tailor their learning over the rest of the conference and focused on topics ranging from:

• Mental Health and Addictions  Strategies
• Putting Research Behind Effective Reading Programs for Struggling Readers
• Helping Students with ASD Transition to Post-Secondary Education or Competitive Employment
• Strategies for Families and Educators to Help Build Language, Communication and Reading Skills
• Using Learning for All, K-12 Support the Implementation of ABA in Classrooms and Schools
• Nature and Needs of the Gifted Learner
• Structured Teaching for Learners with Autism & Other Exceptionalities: From Daycare to Grade 12 & Beyond

Sessions were lead by professionals from The Ministry of Education, classroom, universites and organizations within the greater community who are passionate about supporting young people in reaching their potential, including Dr. John McNamara (Brock University), Ashley Short (Niagara Learning Disabilities Association), Dr. Heather MacKenzie (Wired Fox Publications), Pawanjit Mahal (Special Needs Itinerant Teacher (Peel DSB), Stephanie John, (OISE/University of Toronto) and dozens and dozens more from as close as Niagara Falls to as far as Hawaii!

Who Is NOBODY? was thrilled to be accepted to present our workshop:

EVERYBODY is SOMEBODY
by Director Kelly Clark

Our workshop syllabus was as follows:

Students are surrounded by confusing messages about how to build self‐esteem. Who Is NOBODY? is a practical tool set-up by DVD that engages students at-risk in experiencing, sharing and celebrating EVERYBODY’s strengths.  Students build a sense of purpose and belonging by applying the curriculum to real‐life experiences that guide career, student and interpersonal development.

Below is a short documentary we played that captures the program in-action with feedback from students, teachers and the community!

For more information please visit:
www.whoisnobody.com

Overall the conference was well organized and insightful with information and support for EVERYBODY!

For more information about Ontario’s Council for Exceptional Children, please visit:

http://www.cecontario.ca/

We would love to know what conferences you went to this year!  Please leave a comment by simply listing your top 3 favourite education conferences.

Three of many amazing CEC Conference Co-ordinators who volunteer countless hours to support young people, their families and communities:

Amy Shannon
Beth Kavanagh
Saba Mir

Hold the mascots that come with the Who Is NOBODY?, Who Is GREEN? and Who Is NOBODY? (Pink) Bullying Prevention Special Edition

The program requires each student to take action in their community by either donating time, money or raising awareness for a cause.
Over the school year Nobody goes from being Nobody, a doll with no character, to Somebody, who has lots of character as a result of students’ actions.

Each student must attach a tangible item to nobody to represent their cause.

The first project was done as a class to kick off this great experience. Students decided to choose the food bank as their community project. Students made posters for awareness and ran a popcorn sale and food drive to collect donations.

In the end, students raised $140 in cash donations and over 400 non-perishable food items.
They attached a food label as a bracelet to Nobody to represent their efforts.

Up next:  Nobody is slated to run in Arnprior’s Unity Run and Nobody will be wearing purple for Bullying Awareness Week coming up in November.

Great job Grade 5s!

Raivca, Lucas, Shakeme, Isabella and Camila in front of the hundreds of food items collected for the Fall Food Drive
Photo: Kim Lowes

By Kim Lowes

From October 5-15 Amory Dubbin with the help of her grade 2 class at Carruthers Creek Public School organized a fall food drive for St. Paul’s on the Hill Food Bank.

Their goal was to collect 800 pieces of food. The project is part of their WHO IS NOBODY? project.

The project is a character based educational program that encourages the students to help others around them.

It was an amazing opportunity to share the Who Is NOBODY? Program and how it supports setting students up for success, as highlighted in the Principle Connections Magazine distributed by The Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario.

Below are the Top 5 Questions we were asked:

1. How does it impact my students?
   Students are surrounded by confusing messages about how to build self-esteem.  Who Is NOBODY? supports young people in discovering their strengths and using them to help others so that they have a first hand experience in building respect that is earned and lasting.
2. Is it EASY to set up?
   The program is implemented by DVD so there is no workshop or teacher preparation.  Then it is self-running over the school year and reusable!
3. When do I start the program?
   The program can start as late as after March Break but it is an excellent back to school ice breaker!
4. What curriculum does the program support?
   The program is cross-curricular and flexible so it can tie-into everything you are already doing including:
   • Literacy
   • The Arts
   • Guidance
   • Health Education
   • Information Technology
   • Character Education
   • EcoSchools
   • Safe Schools (Bullying Prevention)
   • Equity and Inclusive Education
   • French Immersion
   • Special Education
   • ESL
   • K to 12
5. How does it work?
   Please see the video below!

Best Wishes to all teachers, students and their families as we start to get ready for a new school year.  It is a chance to challenge ourselves to invite people who look lonely to join us at recess, ask questions about subjects to find an interesting angle and overcome challenges by understanding each one helps us carve out and fine-tune exactly who we are.

Below is a poem that I love and a great outlook for the 2012 – 2013 School Year:

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelingis is to risk rejection.
To place your dreams before the crowd is to risk ridicule.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the gretest hazard in life is risking nothing at all.
The person who risks nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or love.
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave.
He has forfeited his freedom.
Only a person who takes risks is free.

                               ~ Anon