The news article featured the success story of 3 year old Flannery, a child who developed a speech and language delay that placed her in the severe range. After attending programming at Elmwood School in Edmonton, Alberta, her diagnosis was adjusted to mild-moderate, because of how much progress she made. If the story ended here, we would probably consider it to be a happy ending, and an example of how children’s speech and language can be drastically improved with early intervention.

However, the policy of the system comes into play as well. The Edmonton Public School board has a program in place to provide transportation for children in the program, but only for those with a diagnosis of a severe speech/language delay. For Flannery, a child whose parents both work full time and who lives too far from the school to walk, the transportation to and from the program was one of the key elements of her success, one that she is no longer eligible for given her improvement and new diagnosis.

The two sides of this issue are obvious. On the one hand, there are families that need all the help they can get in managing and treating their children’s speech and language delays regardless of diagnosis. On the other, there is the government or school board that is trying to spread out a limited resource, (money and professionals) to a large population that needs it. As the representative from the EPSB points out in the linked video, there are many mild/moderate children who are in the same boat and who must find their own transportation to and from the program. Where is the line drawn? Who should get funding and who can go without? How can we objectively determine who is best served by getting money and support for service and who can manage without? Is a blanket diagnosis the best way of deciding, when we know how varied individuals can be in the types of issues they have, or is it a standardized, fair practice?

Funding is one aspect of this field that I did not even consider as I began to pursue a career as a Speech Language Pathologist. Qualifying clients for funding, whether it be by diagnosis for Program Unit Funding (PUF) or for transportation or some other financial alleviation, will be an important part of my future advocacy for my clients, one that I’m sure will come with its own controversy and red tape.

So what do you think? What do you think is the best way to deal with situations such as Flannery’s, where improvement in speech and language results in a reduction of support and funding, even when it is still required? How should governing bodies such as the Edmonton Public School Board decide who gets funding and who doesn’t? What is the fairest way to spread the limited resources of our field? Leave a comment below!

-Adele Courchesne

The board has voted unanimously to launch the review, which will begin after the summer break.

High school physics teacher Lynden Dorval is at the centre of the controversy.

His school, Ross Sheppard, has a policy of giving students an incomplete for assignments not handed in or tests missed, but Dorval refused to follow it.

Students started a petition to get him reinstated with some calling him the “Zero Hero.”

Dorval figures his career is in limbo until the review is over, because he won’t teach again unless he can give out zeros on merit.

“Under the conditions that I go back to doing what I was doing before, yes I’d go back to teaching,” he told the special board meeting on Tuesday.

Dorval says he’s surprised at the publicity his case is getting.

“People are angry that they weren’t being informed. They didn’t know what was going on, parents didn’t know what was happening, so yeah, I was just surprised that so many people are concerned.”

Student Jacob Gerber started a petition at the high school to try to get Dorval reinstated.

“If they do not suffer the consequence of the decision they make, they learn nothing at all, absolutely not,” Gerber told the board.

“They do not learn to hand their work in on time, they don’t learn accountability, they don’t learn to work hard…”

(CHED)

By Michelle Andruik

Edmonton Public School Board Teacher

I am a teacher who has whole-heartedly embraced the philosophy of not assessing the behaviour of my students. Instead whenever possible, I provide them with every opportunity to complete all assignments and tests.

I am constantly working to ensure my assessments are directly linked to the specific learning objectives from the curriculum, which also attempt to have students demonstrate knowledge, application and “higher order mental thinking processes”.

I resent the relentless pressure being placed on teachers, by academia, administration and experts in assessment. The specific terminology and assessment practices that are being bantered around might mean nothing to the general public, but in terms of time, expertise and collaboration to make these a reality in our classrooms, teachers are expected to constantly develop new lesson/unit plans and valid, “authentic assessments” in order to create the best opportunities for our students to learn and demonstrate understanding of the curriculum. At the same time, full integration of students with special learning needs is taking place, while class sizes swell to over 35 students per class in many high schools. To accomplish this, we require a great deal of time outside of the classroom to research, plan and collaborate with colleagues on a regular basis.

Where does this end?

I think we need to refocus the issue on the realistic, day-to-day application of the practices being proposed. As far as I know, there is no objection when a teacher is marking a valid assessment and a student completely fails to answer a question that I am allowed to assign a grade of zero for that question. The student had the opportunity to demonstrate understanding and it is implied that by leaving the question blank, they did not know how to demonstrate understanding of the concept being tested. When will teachers be expected to work with each individual student who has not completed a question on an assessment to ensure that each and every question or part of an assessment is completed? Where does this end?

At the other end of the spectrum, these experts are losing sight of the fact that students receiving a grade of zero for an assessment or fail a course altogether are provided with another valid, often used but apparently forgotten “second chance” that all students are provided for free until they are 19 years old, for each and every course they take in high school all students are allowed to take the course again. Students can enroll in a high school course as many times as they need to either complete the course or up-grade their final grade with no prejudice based on previous performance and a record of only their highest level of achievement in the course on their transcripts from Alberta Education. The only cost to the student is their time. In the big picture, students are being provided with the best of both worlds, the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, gaining a sense of responsibility and the chance to continually improve their understanding and grades in their courses.

The experts and proponents of the “no zeros” assessment movement seem to value the time, effort and energy of students over the professionals educating the students. Most high school teachers are responsible for teaching and assessing approximately 120 students per semester or 240 students per year. High school students are expected to complete approximately five to eight, 5-credit courses per year. How far does the onus of responsibility have to shift away from the student to the teacher? There are literally only so many hours in the day. Everyone would agree it is not in the best interest of students when seasoned teachers, experts in their field of study are taken out of the classroom due to sick or stress leave or never-ending administratively required professional development, putting in place a substitute teacher or a new, less experienced teacher.

I resent the implication that quality teaching practices, such as “designing authentic assessments”, working with students as individuals, taking into consideration students’ personal, emotional and special academic needs while addressing an ever increasing range of student abilities to come up with as accurate and fair grades for each student, were not already happening across the district. Not unlike a classroom, there are teachers of all ranges of abilities, experience and willingness to incorporate best practices for optimal success. But not unlike the academic students that feel undervalued in the classroom by special privileges afforded students that don’t have to live up to the same expectations placed on them, dedicated teachers are feeling the strain of over simplified assumptions that they are performing their jobs with any less vigor, expertise or professionalism.

Assessment and teaching, in general involves a lot of grey area – black and while approaches just don’t hold up to the realities of the 21st century education system. Over zealous application of any one approach has not proven successful in the past and will likely not have the substance to endure in the extreme for long. One only has to look at the research and implementation of “Whole Language” learning approaches in the 90′s and the subsequent fall out.

Teaching is hard enough to begin with, especially with amount of criticism we have regularly expected from taxpayers, parents and the public at large, especially when we are trying to negotiate a new collective agreement. We now have to defend and protect ourselves from criticism and unrealistic expectations from within the education field by administration and academia, who have in many cases not taught full time in a classroom, this age of student, under the current conditions, for decades.

Other posts:

Suspended teacher Lynden Dorval is a hero for standing up for high standards in the classroom

Public uprising against No Zeros policy

Educators speak out against the No Zeros policy

Educators speak out for the No Zeros policy

School principal: “We are truly preparing every child for the world of work.”

The No Zeros Policy is ethical, rational and practical, consultant argues.

I am vehemently opposed to politically correct rules instituted in softening the reality of a non-performing child. If a child doesn’t deserve any more than an “F” grade it is ludicrous and disingenuous to give that child any higher grade. Preventing teachers from giving a mark they feel is reflective of their students’ achievement is outrageous.

Lynden Dorval is not the person you should be firing. It is the very people who concocted a stupid rule that prohibits giving students a zero grading, who should face the chop. David Staples is right to call Dorval a hero:

Lynden Dorval, 61, has been a teacher for 35 years. He’d be in in the class room again today, except he’s suspended.

Why?

Because Dorval can’t in good conscience go along with a misguided new scheme cooked up by educational theorists and school administrators.

Under this scheme, it’s no longer possible for high school teachers at Ross Sheppard and numerous other Edmonton  schools to give a student a mark of zero on a test or an assignment, even if the student refuses to hand in the assignment or write the test. Instead, students are given a mark based on the work they do complete.

This policy has been in place at Edmonton junior high schools for decades, Dorval says, but it is now making its way into local high schools.

Ross Sheppard’s principal brought it in last year. Dorval refused to go along with it then and was reprimanded. He again refused this year. He was reprimanded some more.

Finally, on May 18, after a meeting with Edmonton Public School Board superintendent Edgar Schmidt, Dorval was suspended.

In his letter to Dorval, Schmidt said it was mandatory for Dorval to follow the instructions of his principal. “You chose to disregard the requirements and thus repeatedly behaved unprofessionally and blatantly undermined the authority and responsibility of the Principal.

“You must turn in your school keys … You are not allowed entry into Ross Sheppard School or its grounds without your Principal’s permission. If you defy this directive, you will be considered a trespasser and charged …”

If Dorval doesn’t buckle under and go along with the new way of marking students who don’t do their work, he says he will lose his job.

I met with Dorval on Thursday and immediately thanked him.  It’s not often any of us see real heroes, people who put their reputations and jobs on the line to uphold a righteous principle. Dorval fits that category.  By refusing to accept lower standards in our schools, even if it cost him his job, he’s standing up for all parents and students.

I should say that Dorval is a reluctant hero. When I ask how he’s handling his suspension, his eyes fill with tears.

“It’s been pretty tough. … I didn’t expect to end my career in such a dramatic and sudden way.”

Education needs people of principle. It needs people prepared to go against the trend and fight for transparency and fairness.

Firing Dorval would be typical yet extremely damaging.

The issue that developed from reading the Kristopher Wells article, Generation Queer is how can teachers support, protect, defend and legitimize those LGBTQ students who arrive in our schools and in our classrooms?
As future educators we have the responsibility to become unbiased promoters of inclusivity, including LGBTQ students. Generally to teach in Alberta, one must be a member of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and as future members of the teaching profession’s union we will be mandated by an overarching document to maintain certain professional expectations. The main guiding document is the “Code of Professional Conduct”. The ‘Code of Conduct’ is split into four main sections: in relation to pupils, in relation to school authority, in relation to colleagues and in relation to the profession. The section of focus that relates to the Wells article and our responsibility towards LGBTQ students is in relation to pupils; wherein the first standard of professional conduct states that “The teacher teaches in a manner that respects the dignity and rights of all persons without prejudice as to race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical characteristics, disability, marital status, family status, age, ancestry, place of origin, place of residence, socioeconomic background or linguistic background.”

School Based Policies
Up until recently LGBTQ teenagers were systematically marginalized by the institutions that are meant to be a safe environment for them to participate. Over the past decade public school boards have begun to pass policies that are intended to support and protect LGBTQ students. For example in November of 2011, the Edmonton Public School Board implemented a policy that “is committed to establishing and maintaining a safe, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming learning and teaching environment for all members of the school community”. This includes peer support groups such as Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs). However, Catholic school boards will support “respecting difference” clubs that focus on Catholic values such as “mind, body, and spirit” but they will not support GSAs as they believe “the word ‘gay’ is distracting.”

Family Acceptance and LGBTQ students
In the Grace and Wells article  Marc Hall Prom Predicament and the Wells article Generation Queer , which both concern current and future LGBTQ students there is an understanding that in addition to fulfilling our ethical and professional responsibilities as public educators, we must also value, understand and foster the importance of the role of family acceptance. The importance of family acceptance is evidenced by Marc’s relationship with his parents and their support during his fight against discrimination at his school. Wells also emphasizes family acceptance on page 7, “welcoming and supportive familial relationships are arguably the most important resiliency factors in the lives of youth, especially sexual and gender minority youth”. LGBTQ students may need familial support in combating the adverse effects of discrimination. Coupled with teacher support (via school communications and welcoming messages), family acceptance can develop confidence, a positive sense of self, as well as pride that can translate into reduced stress associated with “coming out” and coming to terms with non-heterosexual identity during school life.

Positive Representations
Although there has been arguable progress in the reclamation of the Queer identity, LGBTQ youth in Canadian schools remain at risk as a vulnerable minority (as per survey results quoted in Wells, 2012 – see pg 5). As future teachers we need to ensure that our classrooms are safe-spaces that offer LGBTQ students positive affirmations for self-expression. Wells recommends inclusive curriculum that breaks the barriers of stereotypical portrayals, and encourages LGBTQ youth to build self- and social-esteem. Affirming images in classrooms and curriculum that acknowledges LGBTQ identities are tools to create conditions of self-empowerment and mobilize LGBTQ youths from risk to resilience, and possibly towards a “post-gay” (see pg. 4) world that Wells envisions.

There has been an explosion of debate on education since the case of suspended teacher Lynden Dorval was first reported last Thursday. Dorval got suspended from Ross Sheppard high school for refusing to put in place the school’s No Zeros policy.

Since I’ve had many thoughtful responses from educators, students and parents. On the weekend, I put up two posts, one with educators in favour of the policy, the other with educators against the policy.

Today, I’m posting more responses from students, parents and concerned citizens. Not one of them speaks out in favour of the “No Zeros,” which comes as little surprise to me.

We posted a poll on the “No Zeros” policy on Thursday. More than 11,700 people have now responded, with 97 per cent of them against the “No Zeros” policy.

Of course, this is an on-line poll, and subject to all the pitfalls of a such a poll, but most polls at The Edmonton Commons on public issues get a few hundred responses and rarely will you see such unanimity of opinion.

Across all political lines, it’s evident to me at least that the public is deeply uncomfortable with the “No Zeros” policy. Advocates of the policy suggest that the public doesn’t understand the policy. I’d suggest the policy is well enough understood and touches on the deep discomfort that many people have for a perceived lowering of standards in the public school system.

It’s little wonder that trustees of the Edmonton Public School Board are now intending to look at how students are assessed.

Here are a few more of the letters I received from people over the weekend.

Patricia Startek

I am a retired high school English teacher who spent most of my career in an alternative high school for adults.

I did the same thing Mr. Dorval did in showing my students how much of an impact not finishing an assignment would impact their marks.

I agree with him that we must teach our students the consequences of their decisions before they go out into the world of work.  How chaotic it would be if doctors, teachers, assembly line workers decided on their own which duties they would or would not do!

Please add my support to Mr. Dorval who I agree is a hero for putting his job on the line for his beliefs.

Patricia Startek

Neil Williams

I’m currently in my 33rd year of teaching high school, and based on my experience I’m against the “No Zero” policy.  Marks are earned by students based on their knowledge and efforts, not “given” by teachers.  If assignments are not handed in nor an effort made to write a missed exam, a student has unfortunately earned themselves a zero.  Within our varying curriculums we are still teaching life skills.  You can’t wrongfully miss work and show-up on payday expecting a full cheque, nor go to a bottle depot with no bottles and expect payment, nor believe our laws are for some but not for others.

I do believe-in and practice the “disappearing” zero theory whereby a student has until the end of the course to complete any missing assignments/exams thereby replacing their zero with their newly earned mark.  If they elect not to do this then they’ve earned their zero.  Fortunately the vast majority of students complete all of their required work and zeros are a non-issue.

I’ve been presented with four references on the no-zero mark theory and each of them originates south of the 49th parallel.  It’s interesting that Alberta student’s consistently score in the top 10% on international testing yet our too many “Higher-Ups” insist on implementing policies from countries who are not in the top 10%.  Unfortunately many of our decision-makers have very little classroom experience but instead a few letters after their name (degree) which they earned dreaming-up these brilliant theories.  This then allows them to get promoted within the educational system and to then become the decision makers for the truly great teachers who are still in the classroom, or who have worn-out and retired, or who have been suspended! The system definitely needs tweaking!

I support Lynden Dorval’s professionalism.  Thanks for your time and efforts.

Neil Williams
High School Teacher
Kitscoty, Alberta

Paul Schickler

I think that instead of firing Lynden Dorval, the teacher that violated his school’s no-zero policy, the Edmonton school board should simply mark him as “incomplete” in compliance and so “unable to assess.” We need a “no-fail policy” for teachers, a philosophy of not giving up on them. Dorval needs to be given as much time as necessary to do the job he was assigned. Firing him will stigmatize him and ill-prepare him to succeed in the real world.

Paul Schickler

(I am a New York City public school teacher.)

Bertha McLaughlin

I had the experience recently of patronizing Bev Facey High School’s cosmetology program. I had a pedicure and gave $40.00 to pay the $26.25 bill. The first girl entered something wrong in the cash register and it said I shld receive $17.?? in change. I told her that could not be right and that $26.25 + $17.00 was more than I had given her. She insisted the machine had to be right. When I finally convinced her it could not be right, no less than three girls due, to graduate this year, tried to subtract $26.25 from $40.00 manually. They could not do it. These girls will receive graduation certificates even though they cannot do grade 3 math. Again and again, in conversations, people will relate the poor math skills of our young adults and yet they all graduated. Whatever that means now days.

What does this say to the students who do work hard? They will, however, succeed, but the ones who do not even bother? Welcome to the welfare system.

Kudos to Mr. Dorval. Very few teachers have the integrity and courage to challenge the system or their unions, and stand up for what is right. They are more concerned with their salaries, job security and pensions than they are with the good of the students. They are often aware of unacceptable behaviour by other teachers but they say nothing. This becomes apparent after a teacher is charged with a criminal act and it hits the news. Then fellow workers say they were aware of it and even cautioned the teacher on his/her behaviour. Why didn’t they take it to the authorities for the good of the student? Teachers have a lot to answer for and are not good role models for our children. Their behaviour when striking is to teach our children that if you do not get what you demand, then throw a tantrum. They behave like intellectual terrorists holding our children hostage.

B.R. McLaughlin

Leigh Davies

Hi David,

Thank you for the excellent article on Linden Dorval.  He is, indeed, a hero for his stand against the utter nonsense of EPSB assessment practices.  I’ve not seen any coverage on why these kinds of assessment practices have emerged – apart from the well-intentioned but naive and misguided educational philosophies which emanate from faculties of education these days.

Superintendent Schmidt’s open letter yesterday simply stated that EPSB assesses students on the work they do complete.   Edgar Schmidt has not explained that EPSB’s practices are very likely an attempt to deal with Alberta Education’s high school funding rules, implemented during the Klein era. The childish reasoning behind the rules originally argued that if students failed, then teachers were at fault, and schools should not receive any funding for a job poorly done.  Subsequently, a compromise was arrived at whereby students who earned a mark of 25% but less than 50% would be funded if they attended 50% or more of their classes and have been assessed on at least 50% of the course work. As a consequence, teachers are faced with a professional and moral dilemma when ordered by their principals to not give marks of less than 25%, and to ensure that attendance is recorded as 50% or higher.

The most obvious consequences of these dishonest practices are grade inflation and “improved” completion rates. To do otherwise would result in reduced funding to already cash-strapped high schools.  An honest statement should have mentioned that EPSB is compelled to ensure adequate funding for high schools under current Alberta Education funding rules. Schmidt has chosen to support the current funding rules and the attendant assessment rationalizations, and suspend courageous teacher Lynden Dorval for his opposition to EPSB assessment practices.

A Superintendent who truly cared about students and school funding would not have attacked the messenger. He would have taken aim squarely at the problem: Alberta Education funding rules.

Leigh Davies

High Prairie, AB

Dennis Bedard

David – I have never written to a newspaper before, but I feel so strongly about this story that I cannot hold back.  If I met the suspended teacher in person, I would shake his hand.  If you can, please forward this to him on my behalf as a show of support.

By the way, EVERYONE I spoke to about this over the last few days is 100% behind the teacher.  We think that pandering to the self-esteem movement is doing a grave disservice to kids.  As a parent, I have high demands for my children, both academically and otherwise.  I believe that is truly the best way to prepare them to be able to cope and succeed in life.

Dennis Bedard, Edmonton.

Nichole Quiring

Dear all,

Like many, I too have been following the recent suspension of Lynden Dorval and the no zeros policy in the news and I think I can tell you something about my experience with zeros, actually I think I can tell you an awful lot about zeros—more than any consultant, physiologist, study etc.

On first, or maybe second meeting, you’d likely find out that I’ve been an Edmonton resident for over thirty years, married for five, had my first child—two years ago—while  in my mid-thirties, own our own home and would likely be classified in our recent census as “middle class.”  If you talked to me more you’d find out that I completed a two-year diploma in journalism and a four-year degree in secondary education and that if I had more time and money I’d go back and do a PhD in English literature—I loved university that much. You’d find out that I’ve traveled and lived in Europe, Asia and different parts of Canada. You’d find out that I’ve written for magazines and newspapers, taught junior high and high school and worked for a number of non-profit organizations. You’d also find out that I’m an aspiring novelist whose almost completed writing—two years later—her first book manuscript while working full-time, raising a busy toddler and learning the ropes of step-parenting two teenage girls. You might also find out that in our household I look after paying all the bills, budgeting and doing both my husband’s and my taxes (more on why this is important later).

What you might not find out about me until later, much later is this: I come from a single parent family. My mother had me at 16 and two more children before she was 22 years-old. We moved to Edmonton when I was six and lived on social services and in Edmonton Housing until I was a teenager. We didn’t have much—I remember a week of hamburger and macaroni for every meal but my mom made it work and we always had our needs met.

Starting in junior high, school became a nightmare for me. Looking at my junior high report cards, I was there usually once or twice a week and my marks, especially in math, were in the 20% and some were lower. I received a number of zeros, mostly for not being in class to do the work and not handing in or completing assignments. There were phone calls home, parental meetings etc. but homework completion wasn’t largely enforced in my house. My mom had three children whose basic needs needed to be met, who had time to administer homework? I can honestly say I should have repeated grade eight but I was pushed through to grade nine, and grade nine I was lucky if my overall average was in the 20 per-cent. I became more and more behind. A meeting was called between the principal, a counselor, my mom and me and it was agreed that I would repeat grade nine. How did I feel? Disappointed, sad, upset that my friends all got to go to high school but I had to stay behind. I was told that if they pushed me through I’d keep getting lower and lower grades and never get through high school or beyond, that repeating a grade was an opportunity to fix where I had gone wrong. I chose to repeat the grade and I chose to repeat it in the same school.

The second year of grade nine was a struggle. I continued to skip, smoke, drink, party and shoplift.  I also continued to struggle with math and was lucky to have the same teacher I’d had the year before. He didn’t give up on me but I’m sure he went home, many nights complaining to his family about how frustrated I made him, either not showing up for class and not doing my homework, or, when I did show, the frustration in having to explain the same concept to me 40 times and I still couldn’t understand it. I slogged through his class and just barely passed it the second year; he did give me a number of chances to improve. However; the second year of grade nine I improved in a number of my subjects but not all, enough that I could take the university stream of classes in English and social studies.

In grade 10 and 11 I continued to struggle with math. I started getting tutored by the school counselor who was also a math teacher. We logged a number of hours both at lunch and after school and when it came down to writing my grade eleven midterm I felt more prepared and more confident than I’d ever felt about any math exam. I went in to write it, felt relaxed and knowledgable only to find out a few days later that I received a zero on it. All my answers were wrong. That was the day I crumpled up my exam, walked out of the classroom and withdrew from school. It was bad enough getting zeros when I didn’t try but even worse when I did.

I moved to Jasper and partied for five months where I watched university dropouts work the ski hill all day and get stoned all night. For a seventeen-year-old who’d already spent a lot of time partying the scene was great…for awhile. Then it old. Fast. It took me less than two years to get myself back into school, write the English and Social Studies diplomas, bomb out of math yet again and not bother with science.

On a whim, at 19 years-old I called a local daily newspaper and asked if I could volunteer there, I wanted to know what it was like to be a journalist. That, was one of the best choices I ever made. I started going in once a week and received a first-hand education on how a career in journalism looked and the best part was that I would meet someone who would later become one of my greatest mentors. The city news editor took me under his wing and taught me how to write a press release, how to interview people and allowed me to see my stories and bylines in a daily newspaper, which, for a young high school dropout was pretty incredible.

He also taught me what it was to receive a zero on writing press releases (I can’t tell you how many of my re-writes he’d crumple, throw in the garbage and tell me to re-write). He taught me to be accountable for my work (I once had to call a source and apologize for writing information incorrect in the paper) and, I admit, he made me a cry a few times—he was tough, probably as tough as Mr. Dorval. But, I kept showing up at the paper and he kept giving me advice, teaching me to write and be a journalist.

A year later I applied for the Grant MacEwan journalism program and didn’t make the cut—I was short two marks on a grammar entrance exam. At the last hour, Eric, my mentor, called the program chair and gave me a reference, explaining that I’d worked with him for a year and letting the chair know that he would vouch for me. I got in. I finished the program, worked as an intern for the paper when I was done college then was given an opportunity to work in Thailand on a student internship and the rest is, as they say, history. I pushed myself through all the challenges, despite the zeros. I did well in university and even achieved A’s because I was doing something I enjoyed and was good at and I knew if I didn’t work hard, I’d get the zeros and someone else would be behind me ready to take my place (of course, this isn’t the case in junior high and high school). Before I could get the honest As, I needed to get the honest zeros.

So the question is do I believe in grading kids with zeros? Yes, absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Do I have regrets about my past choices or feel that receiving zeros, not passing grades or dropping out has affected my ego, my confidence or my ability to succeed in anyway? Absolutely not!

A zero was a barometer that told me that there was an attitude adjustment I had to make, a concept I need to research or spend more time with, an equation I need to understand or an expert I needed to seek out for help. A zero in no way reflected who I was or who I would become. A zero was an opportunity for me to rise to the occasion (which is what I learned from all the teachers and mentors who helped me along the way). A zero was someone telling me—hopefully—their honest opinion of where they think I’m at academically.  It took me some time to realize all this but I did. Would I prefer an inflated grade that doesn’t represent where I’m at over that? Definitely not! Would I prefer a brain surgeon with inflated grades who was “pushed” through the system so the university could make their numbers look nice? Ummm. Do I really need to answer that? Did I enjoy getting zeros, failing grades and dropping out of high school. Not so much. But I can see now how much those zeros taught me.

Was it the school’s fault for these things? Did the school fail me somehow by giving zeros? No. To blame the school would be to blame my mother from getting pregnant at 16, raising kids without a dad, living in poverty, the teacher who failed me on my midterm in grade eleven, the system for letting it slip that I likely had a disability when it came to math and, the teenage boys who broke my heart, peer pressure etc.; frankly, teen angst.  My choices were not the school’s fault. Had the school had math supports for me at the time would I have stayed in school, finished and did well? Probably not. I had too much other stuff going on at the time.

What do I remember the most? I remember having amazing teachers and mentors helping me learn to rise above the zeros, helping to encourage me, teach me, advise me and show me that a zero was only an opportunity to get angry, push and challenge myself and rise above, into something greater. At the end of the day the zeros didn’t matter as much the junior high math teacher who explained the same concepts over and over to me, the high school counselor who tutored me only to watch me fail an exam and drop out, the city editor who taught me about writing and perseverance and helped me get into college. It was these people who taught me that the importance of zeros was in overcoming adversity.  It was the zeros that fostered my think skin in the decision to become a writer—and man do you need a thick skin for zeros with this sort of career choice.

As for my math…I still struggle and I’ve learned that my strengths are greater than my weaknesses. I have the basics, enough to budget a household and complete our taxes and maybe someday I will challenge myself into trying to writing the grade 12 math diploma. However, I’m better at English and I enjoy it. I think I’ll continue to leave the math for the experts.

So when it comes to zeros, I think the School Board and administration should worry less about statistics, School Board grade profiles and penalizing teachers for giving zeros—especially teachers who have 35 years time in, who know something about kids and marking, and who has likely contributed to the successes of a number of kids’ lives and careers (in the big scheme of things does this not count for anything?) and worry more about whether we, as a community—parents, teacher, mentors, are giving our kids the TOOLS and ENCOURAGMENT they need to become successful, resilient, responsible and accountable adults in the world after high school. I think the parents who are complaining about the schools having a no zero policy need to make sure they stand behind the teachers and administrators when it’s THEIR child who gets a zero, rather than making excuses for their kids and trying to paint the school and teachers as the bad guys. It should be our responsibility, as a community, to figure out why our kids are getting zeros in the first place and help them find solutions to those zeros.

As for the kids themselves, give them the tools and support they need and they will rise above the zeros. I promise you, they won’t disappoint.

Please keep teachers like Mr. Dorval. I’m sure there is a lot we can all still learn from him.

Nichole Quiring

Al Boychuk

Dear Mr. Schmidt,

Today’s Edmonton Journal quotes you as stating this about the EPSB No Zero Grades Policy: “So this is not, in any way, making life easier for kids. It is in fact, continually finding ways for them to actually demonstrate the work and demonstrate their knowledge. … We believe it’s a fairer practice to clearly lay out to students and often to parents through their progress reports what they have been assessed on and what level of performance they’ve achieved.”

What your policy actually does it make life harder for kids who do not complete work as they are not being given experience on the consequences of their decisions. Not giving zero grades when merited ignores the fact that they have made a decision not to demonstrate either work or knowledge. Claiming it is fairer only to grade students on work they choose to do is nonsense and really when you think about it, contributes to grade inflation. Your policy serves to make life easier for the school board and teachers while placating parents and it certainly does not serve your students.

Shame on the Edmonton Public School Board.

Al Boychuk,
Duggan

Anonymous Grade 12 Student

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to express my concern regarding the no-zero policy. As a member of the Ross Sheppard Composite Senior High School graduating class of 2012, I was a student at this school when the administration decided to implement this policy. In my opinion, this policy disrespects students who make an effort to complete and hand in
assignments on time. I firmly believe that a student who makes a deliberate choice to do no work makes a deliberate choice to accept a zero.

I would like to state that I mean no disrespect by anything in this letter; however, I am concerned about the decisions being made about my education and the education of my generation.

As a grade twelve student, I realize that these policies will no longer apply to me once my time at Ross Sheppard is complete, however, I think of my younger friends, children I baby-sit for and my potential future children and feel strongly that I do not want them to be coddled in this manner and graded with such lax standards. It is unethical, unfair and unprofessional.
Of course I understand that a student who receives a zero as a result of incomplete work is not necessarily a student who has absolutely no knowledge or understanding whatsoever of the specified curriculum. I also understand that effort and discipline should be considered factors when determining a student’s grade and if a teacher observes that a student has put in no effort, I believe that teacher has a right to give the student a mark based on an absence of effort.

Also understandable is the school’s desire to boost averages in order to claim a higher number of graduates and/or students who have earned honours standing. While the statistics achieved as a result of this policy may appear impressive, the reality is that many of these students did not deserve the graduation, the credits and/or the marks
they were given. As educators, your ultimate and premier purpose is to educate and as teachers, you are to prepare students for the life outside of the four brick walls of our high school. In life, an individual who does not do what is required of him at his job is suspended or fired. In school, a student who does not do what is required of him should be punished also and the most direct, efficient and impacting method of doing so is to administer a zero.

Which brings me to my next point. We, the students are not being held responsible or accountable for our actions by the implementation of this policy. A “no-zero policy” does not benefit any student in the long run. The student may complete the semester with a higher academic average, but he will be unprepared for the harsh reality of the world that exists after high school (arguably more important than high school grades) and will not be successful in life if his educators cultivate in him this attitude of laziness and promotion of a lack of discipline and of effort. His lack of success will doubtlessly be due to a poor work ethic. Companies and businesses are less likely to hire applicants
whom they believe are used to little or no work obtaining the same results as hard work. Similarly, colleges and universities will be less likely to accept high school students who are neither held responsible nor accountable for their choices.

Finally, I do willingly concede that it is, at times, impossible for students to complete their assignments by a specified date. These are, of course, extreme cases. In such a situation, the responsible thing for the student to do would be to speak to the teacher confidentially and have them work out an agreement on an extension. The reason
for the extension must however be legitimate and extensions should not be given liberally, but after much pondering and on a case-by-case basis. This prevents students dealing with unfortunate circumstances outside of school from
being unfairly punished.
On behalf of all the students, parents and, yes, even teachers who do not support a “no-zero policy” and believe that the former gives students a false understanding of how the world works, I implore you to reevaluate this method and return to a grading system which reflects the legitimate marks achieved by students.

Respectfully,

Concerned Anonymous Grade Twelve Student

Money raised by the Kowalchuks (Bernie has passed away, but daughters Kelly and Kristine are on board) is used to purchase food at local Sobeys grocery stores at a subsidized rate. Sobeys staff prepares fresh items weekly — from sandwiches to healthy pizzas and fruit — and the food is delivered by Sobeys and volunteers from the local software firm, Intuit Canada. All funds raised go to food for the children; administrative expenses are picked up by the supporters and the Edmonton public school board. It costs about $30,000 to run the program.

If you’re interested in making a donation, contact Carol Kowalchuk at 780-467-3232. http://www.foodforthoughtedmonton.com/

The first read: “A blog by Wildrose candidate @allanhunsperger where he calls #yeg Public Schools “godless” for being tolerant.”  The post ended with a link to a column Pastor Allan Hunsperger, the Rosie candidate in Edmonton-Southwest, had written for his church website thehousetoday.com , in which he opined that homosexuals would burn in a lake of eternal fire and that the Edmonton Public School district was wicked for bringing in a policy to protect queer students and staff from discrimination.

In case people didn’t get the point, Adam York followed up with two more posts.

“Oh, and @allanhunsperger also says its (sic) a fact that gays will spend eternity in hell. Agree, @electdanielle ?” and “How can gay or tolerant Albertans be accused of fear mongering when these are the people running for Wildrose?”

How can gay or tolerant Albertans be accused of fear mongering when these are the people running for Wildrose? <a href=”http://t.co

The second two tweets also linked directly to the Hunsperger site.

What happened next is an extraordinary demonstration of the power of Twitter to spread information exponentially – and to shift the course of public debate.

Allan Hunsperger

Adam York’s Twitter feed had virtually no followers. But the three tweets all included the Twitter “hashtag” #abvote – that’s the code that hard-core Alberta political junkies were monitoring during the campaign. Two of the tweets also included the hashtag #yeg – the code that people who are interested in Edmonton issues and happenings watch most closely. And, by including the Twitter handles of Allan Hunsperger and Danielle Smith directly within his posts, York constructed his tweets to maximize the chances that Smith and Hunsperger themselves would see them.

By Sunday morning, York’s three little tweets were spreading. (I saw one when it was retweeted by popular Edmonton blogger and Twitter diva Kathleen Smith (no relation to Danielle), who writes under the handle @KikkiPlanet.) I retweeted the link myself, and posted it to my Edmonton Journal Facebook blog, after I first checked to make sure the site it took me to was legitimate. Within hours, the Hunsperger story was the talk of the internet, Hunsperger had removed the “lake of fire” sermon from his church website, and the Wildrose party was attempting damage control.

Things might have died down there. But on Monday morning, Danielle Smith came to meet with the Edmonton Journal editorial board. When asked about Hunsperger and his views, she declined to disavow the candidate or his ideas. Instead of using the opportunity to voice any support for gay rights or in-school tolerance herself, she constructed a narrative in which Hunsperger, not gay children, was the victim of intolerance and persecution. She would not discriminate against religious candidates, and she would defend people of faith from state persecution, she said.

Politically, strategically, it was a remarkably tone-deaf response – one that seems to have perplexed and perturbed many Albertans, and which seems to have played a key role in the Wildrose campaign’s fatal loss of momentum. Albertans might have respected Smith if she’d positioned herself as a champion of free speech in the abstract. But her failure to clearly condemn the hateful, bullying content of Hunsperger’s blog post haunted her for the rest of the election.

But who was this Adam York, whose three little tweets turned the the tide of the election? A gay activist? A citizen journalist? A disaffected member of Hunsperger’s congregation?

Not quite.

It turns out that Adam W. York was a pseudonym for long-time Progressive Conservative blogger and social media strategist Blake Robert, 30, known on Twitter as @BRinYEG.

For about five years, Robert ran his own political blog, AlbertaTory. During the Stelmach days, he also worked for the PC Party caucus.

This election, Robert had a much lower profile. He’s been out of active politics for the last few months – he’s been on a paternity leave, taking care of his seven month old daughter. A resident of Edmonton-South West, he says that this campaign, he was only going to some basic campaign volunteer work for his local PC candidate, Matt Jeneroux.

But, according to Robert, one night two weeks ago, after he’d rocked his baby to bed, he decided to do a little web surfing, to look into the background of Jeneroux’s Wildrose rival.

“I went to Google and I typed in three words. Allan Hunsperger and gay, ” he says.

The second thing that popped up, he says, was Hunsperger’s anti-gay blog post.

“I was floored. I was appalled,” says Robert. “I couldn’t believe that nobody had seen this yet – and that, on the other side, that nobody had taken it down. I honestly didn’t know how people were going to react to it, but I decided, this is factual information that should be out there.”

Yet Robert didn’t send out the link under his own name.

Instead, he created a fake Twitter identity.

Now, the cynical view of this would certainly be that Robert created the fake Twitter avatar, since he knew that if he tweeted out the explosive Hunsperger link under his own name, on his own high-profile Twitter account, that the information might be discounted -  because it would have come from a well-known Tory operative, who was working on the campaign of Hunsperger’s competitor.

Certainly, as a journalist, I might have hesitated to retweet the link quite so quickly, had I known the partisan nature of its source.

But Robert insists he just didn’t want to get sucked into a Twitter mud-slinging brawl with Wildrose tweeters – that he wanted the focus to be on the content of Hunsperger’s message, not on him. For him as a new father, he says, the most disturbing part in Hunsperger’s piece was the attack on the Edmonton Public School district’s new anti-bullying policy.

“That’s what set me off, more than anything else. People are entitled to believe what they want to believe. But when someone’s running for public office, they have to be accountable for what they say. I’m a new parent. I don’t know what my kid is going to grow up to be. But I want her to grow up in a society where she’s accepted for who she is. “

Robert says he never told Matt Jeneroux that he was the author of the anti-Hunsperger tweets. And, he insists, PC media strategist Stephen Carter and the rest of the central party machine knew nothing about his actions. (Carter, for the record, also disavows all knowledge of the connection.)

“Nobody knew. Not a soul. This was no brain-storm of the war-room, I assure you. I don’t know who was in the war-room, and I didn’t tell them. I didn’t want to get sucked into this. I kept this very close to my chest,” he says.

Robert says he actually spent the last five days of the campaign away in Vancouver, watching the ripple effects of his tweets from afar, in some disbelief.

“It was an absolute shocker to me to watch it all unfold.”

Robert says he himself isn’t certain how much impact the Hunsperger affair had on Monday’s final outcome.

“It would probably be pretty naive to say it didn’t have some effect on it. But people form their decision long before they go to the ballot box, for all kinds of reasons. If you go to vote, there’s no right or wrong reason to do it.”

On Wednesday, I emailed “Adam W. York”  – a name I already expected might be bogus – to ask him for an interview. I was as surprised as anyone when Blake Robert got back to me. He says he wasn’t sure, at first, whether he should acknowledge that he was the author of the tweets.

“Once election day came and went, I thought, well, it is what it is. It’s part of the narrative of what happened.”

So how should the rest of us respond to the news that the infamous blog post was tweeted out by a PC Party campaign worker, under a false name? At first, I’ll acknowledge, I felt angry with myself, angry that I had allowed myself to be manipulated, to a certain extent, by a long-time Tory operative. And despite Robert’s protestations, I can’t help but believe that his use of a pseudonym was carefully calculated to distance his party from the charge of digging up dirt on an opponent.

But Robert didn’t fake the Hunsperger blog post. It was real, and the Wildrose Party has never denied the fact. And Robert wasn’t responsible for the ham-fisted way Danielle Smith dealt with the ensuing public controversy.

I’m not happy with feeling used. But I can’t regret that the Hunsperger post came out when it did – and that all Albertans had the chance to judge Smith’s leadership potential by her reaction to it. Blake Robert’s motives , as author of those damaging tweets, may not have been disinterested – but Smith was very much the author of her own misfortune.

Robert knows he’ll likely be criticized for his secretive strategy. But he’s far from apologetic.

“It wasn’t sinister. It wasn’t malicious. It was just something I saw that I wanted people to read,” he says. “As a parent, it was something I didn’t think was right.”

Earlier this year, the board accepted a series of recommendations from its school closure moratorium committee. They ranged from common sense solutions around problems caused by the funding formula for schools, to forays into city planning, such as providing housing for seniors to “free up” housing for families in mature neighbourhoods. Now, I tend to take a community-oriented, collective view towards most issues, rather than an individualistic one, but that last one is far too down the path of social engineering for my liking, practicalities (or lack thereof) aside.

I consider myself a committed urbanist, and am very supportive of a more dense urban footprint – particularly one that supports mature neighbourhoods, and ensures they are amenable to a diversity of people – especially families. But the idea that schools won’t close, or shouldn’t close, is ludicrous. Consider the following when evaluating whether or not closures are a good idea.

A Shift in Mindset Alone is a Victory
The modus operandi that governed the board in its 2007-10 term needed an overhaul. As an outside observer, it struck me as being, crassly, akin to that of a retail chain – aggressively closing under-performing locations and focusing exclusively on opening new ones in growing areas. Location is a part of providing schools amenable to its users, but this seemed to be done with very little second thought, or consideration to how it affected the users of existing schools.

Should the moratorium end, but have the effect of shifting the mindset of the board, it will be a victory in my mind. The new mindset and approach of the board should not be a knee-jerk approach to closing undercapacity schools, rather it should focus proactively on sustaining schools where it makes sense. Indicators may be a growing number of families, and Area Revitalization Plan or other measures in place that are likely to increase family-friendly housing, or specific characteristics of the school and student body that make it valuable to retain. Examples of that would be a school that serves an identifiable cultural or linguistic group, or one serving a marginalized, at-risk population, one where students would benefit from extra investment and support. An example of this is McCauley School, which was closed in 2010.

Education, Not Merely Location, is What Matters
I’ll admit a bias here in that I did not go to my community school. In fact, from Kindergarten on, I never attended the public school closest to me. The initial reason for this is that my parents placed me in a French Immersion program, which was not offered at the two closest elementary schools. We have no regrets about this. Whatever value being able to walk to and from school may have provided to me is, in my mind, far outweighed by the benefit of being bilingual. Additionally, attending a school and program with a larger catchment area meant I interacted with a larger number of kids. I played on sports teams with the kids from my neighbourhood, but was exposed to a different group throughout the day through my school.

In some cases, the community school may be best for a student, but I don’t see it as a hard and fast rule. The education of the child should always be the first and foremost duty of the school system. You can’t offer every program at every school, and for this reason magnet schools and specialized programs which will draw kids away from their “community school” are important.

Complete, Healthy Communities Go Way Beyond Schools
I understand the argument for a community school from a planning perspective, that many parents will follow schools and other amenities. But a complete, healthy community goes way beyond having a school, and many community-level institutions are struggling. Independent businesses, particularly grocery stores, have given way to larger chains with drawing from several neighbourhoods. Community-based recreation and social activities are giving way to events that draw a crowd from the macro-scale. Even neighbourhood pubs are fading away. There are larger trends happening in most cities to draw activity to a more macro level. Schools alone cannot, and should not, treat it as their job to stop this trend.

Demographics are Destiny
One of the most salient points about population and demographics I heard recently was this – it’s that the key indicator is not a head count, but a household count. This reflects the fact that overall, family and household size is decreasing (this chart traces fertility rate and immigration. Household/family size numbers are more complex). As a hypothetical example, let’s say a school’s catchment are had 100 families in both 1972 and 2012. If the average family in ’72 had 2.5 children and today has 1.7, there would be 250 school age-ish children then,
but only 170 now, even if the household count hasn’t changed.

Of course, this hypothetical example isn’t the truth. Mature neighbourhoods in most cases also have fewer families today than they did then. If demand is going down, it’s going to mean that not every location can be saved.

Given all this, I think the school board will land in the right direction. It will have to go back to closing schools, but will employ a more measured approach. Initiatives underway such as the schools as community hubs effort, and explorations into space sharing, can ensure relevance and value from the schools even if the educational space is decreased.

It should just start and end from the point of what’s best for students. In Edmonton, we like to throw around the term ‘world class’ for, well, every mega-project we want to build. But our public school system is one of the truly, indisputable world class features of our city (I would argue the River Valley system and the Mall are two others). This should continue to be the primary focus of our school system; it’s a contributor to city-building, but not by any means the only party, or the driver of it.

That’s why this urbanist will be happy to support a school board that takes a cautious and measured, yet responsible approach to managing school supply. Even when it has to close some buildings.

He’s noticed lots of empty lots in the older central neighbourhood he’s lived for some years. Westmount, around 124 Street, is one of the few  older  communities left with plenty of single family homes. There’s room for more on lots sitting vacant, he says.

Why couldn’t the city offer some temporary tax relief to encourage small developers to build on these single lots and put up a single family home or townhouses?

That sounds intriguing to me. In the late 1990s, the city offered such incentives in order to get housing built downtown. Developers were given $4,500 for every residential unit they built in the core and it was a great success. The city has long recouped the cost of that program in new property taxes.

So why not make a similar investment in mature neighbourhoods? If the city is serious about bringing families back, it’s one step to consider.

I can already hear the planning department say, “oooh, can’t do that, that would be  intereferring with the market.” But they didn’t say that when it came to getting housing downtown.  A number of older neighbourhoods could benefit – Highlands, Forest Heights, Queen Mary, Old Strathcona and Viringia Park – all pre-war subidivions and many with declining populations, old playgrounds, old sewers and schools under the threat of closure. The need small scale development as well as the high rises developers are keen to build.

“In the scheme of things, these neighbourhoods are not large but with some investment are poised to “tip” the flight of families to the suburbs,” writes Stolte.
“Alternately tax empty lots in a different manner so there’s an incentive to develop.”

Or is this a case of lots of talk, not much action, he wonders. “Edmonton has all the right things on paper and then it allocates few of its resources to make urban living happen.”

Meanwhile, right this very moment, there’s a new opportunity for community leagues to push for family friendly housing in at least 14 neighbourhoods, some central, some not.

The city is looking for new ideas to develop the surplus school sites it took over from school boards last year. On Oct 28, it advertised in The Journal for ideas to home builders, community groups, non-profits and developers – anyone who wants to see community oriented land use.

Family friendly housing is definitely part of the mix the city is looking for, says Tim McCargar, the planning guy in charge.

Proposals couldalso  include mixed uses – commercial, day care, market housing and affdordable housing. But they have to conform to new planning documents that call for walkable communities and help achieve teh goal 25 per cent of the city’s growth in older neighbourhoods, he said. In other words, some density is allowed.

Beware. These building sites aren’t large. The new development can only cover the space that a school building would have occupied, he stresses. So it won’t increase population vastly, but every family home helps.

The surplus school sites, as public land,  are one place the city gets to chose what will get built.  So a big chance for the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues to push it’s campaign for family friendly housing.

Deadline for submissions is Nov. 30. The documents can be found at http://www.purchasingconnnection.ca

For a map of the surplus sites, go to:

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/planning_development/surplus-school-sites.aspx

Meanwhile, interesting things are happening along west end of Jasper Avenue at 122 Street.

The Ukranian restaurant, the florist and other stores are moving to make way for the Western Bank and a new mixed use development.

This will be the first time the city will use its new CB3 zoning category that went into effect this July. The idea is to encourage smaller scale, mixed use development – retail, office development and housing – which could be apartments,condos or an apartment hotel. The new CB3 zoning also requires pedestrian-oriented store fronts, as opposed to big box commercial, says city planner Peter Odinga.

The maximum allowable height is ten stories, though that could go up to 14 storeys if the developer provides some extras to enhance the urban space and public use.

Armin Preiksitis, whose planning  company is handling the application for rezoning, says, including residential units in the bank building is a possibility but the development plans are not complete. Local lawyer and developer John Day, who took over the Garneau theatre, is involved, he added.

This busy location, however, is not the ideal site for family friendly housing, he said. 

There’s been one meeting with the Oliver Community league. The residents have some issues.

It would be great if someone who was at the meeting would write in with some comments.

Meanwhile, keep an eye on the old Molson brewery.  The demolition looks done. What’s next? 　

On a two week rotation, students from the Jasper Place Culinary 10 program will be working in the food forest courtyard and in the greenhouse to collect and grow food for their program, which inevitably ends up bellies of student and staff. Below are some pictures of the herbs we’ve been growing in EarthBoxes over the summer. One of the great things about growing in EarthBoxes is that they’re easy to move and will be brought inside (either to the greenhouse or to the Culinary classroom) to continue growing all winter.

Left: A JP Culinary student gathering flat leafed parsley. Right: Thai Basil, French Tarragon, and Summer Savoury

Above: Herbs getting ready for drying.

When I first started at the school in February of 2010, almost immediately, I set out to start the JP Permaculture Club. For the last year and a half, this club had been the source of most of the projects and success we’ve had. Meeting once a week, students are involved in starting and taking care of plants, building food forests, and discussing the implications of permaculture.

Clubs Day

Each Fall, JP hosts a clubs day in which dozens of clubs set up booths in the hallway to advertise and recruit new members; a great chance for making connections, we wanted to make a good showing and with lots of new students feel pretty happy about the event.

Above Left: The JP Permaculture booth Above Right: Students, staff, and clubs advertise their clubs via the #jpREBELS live twitter feed.

A mycorrhizal fungi and a poplar tree pair together in mutually beneficial relationships.

Note that an organism with 8 beneficial relationships is better off than another with only 3.

In the picture above, we have a fungi and a poplar tree… both of them are quite different but are connected; the fungi is mycorrhizal, meaning that it lives on and in the roots of the poplar tree, seeking out and finding minerals and water that it delivers to the tree in exchange for photosynthesized sugars. This relationship is mutually beneficial and, as a result, these two very different organisms are better off than they would be if they were alone; in fact, you could argue that it’s because of their differences that their partnership works so well. In this way, we can start talking about resiliency as the direct result of connections; when looking at systems we can conclude that the more connected something is, the more resilient it becomes. As social ecologist Peter Drucker wrote, coming together results in the “alignment of strengths, making [our] weaknesses irrelevant”. We can imagine how resiliency is further compounded by the addition of a third, fourth, and firth element; even more so, if these elements are diverse. Diversity creates more opportunity for connections and hence resiliency, for this reason, it is important to protect.

Above: A muir web is a map of an ecosystem’s relationships (From Mannahatta)

Above Left: A map of a social network

What takes care of an ecosystem? Nothing… or more accurately, no one thing! Ecosystems are so interconnected and so rich in diversity that they are intrinsically resilient; they are self-assembling and in near constant dynamic equilibrium. As a result, they act as nets that capture and store energy, carbon, water, and nutrients. Imagine a drop of rain landing in an ecosystem; because of the number of connections and the amount of diversity, this one drop of water may take hundreds of years to leave and through its journey, benefits dozens or even hundreds of living organisms. The capacity for prolonging the journey allows for even more connections which, in turn, allow for even more capture and storage. In his book Seeing Nature, Paul Krafel refers to this as nature’s “upward spiral”. Permaculture shows us that we can, and should only, work with the upward spiral of nature; this looks beyond sustainability and actively seeks to increase ecological resiliency.

A Social Net?

People, in addition to being an integral part of ecological networks, are social beings and, and as such, belong to social networks. (It’s important to note that social networks aren’t only online; though, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) are tools for virtual extending traditional social networks). Because both ecology and social networks are systems we’re able to make some correlations between them; both consist of relationships and connections and thus follow similar patterns and principals. As an example, we can start thinking of a resilient person as someone who has many social supports (family member, friends, interests and hobbies, numerous skills ect.), resilient communities as diverse (bringing many people, groups, and organizations together), and resilient cities, as Richard Register writes in his book Ecocities, a place for “maximizing connections”. Social networks offer the exchange of thoughts, ideas, questions, answers, and the occasional flu virus. Not unlike the drop of water in an ecosystem, an idea flowing though a social network has the ability to cycle for hundreds of years and, in doing so, builds connections, links to other ideas, and becomes resilient. Applying permaculture principals to social systems would then say that we can, and should only, work to increase social connections and the capacity for social resiliency.

School As Ecosystem

As the ‘Social Permaculturalist’ at Jasper Place High School, it is clearly my job to pursue both ecological and social resilience; to date, much of this blog has been about the former. In the coming year, I hope to document my experience working to build, maintain and map the social network of a large educational institution. What is a resilient school? What do resilient staff members and students look like? How closely can we link what’s happening within our hallways to the outside community? In the coming month, I hope to answer these questions.

Full disclosure: in junior high and in high school, whenever I had the money, I used to head to main street to buy donuts and cream puffs at the Devon Bakery.

So it’s not like I didn’t love my junk food. I was as much a treats addict as any teen.

In those days, though, there was no sale of junk food at Devon Junior/Senior High School (now John Maland High School, named after Mr. Maland, our school’s beloved principal and high school band leader.).  If I wanted my fix, I had to go on a 15 minute walk, 30 minutes round trip.

The best thing I can say for the new ban on the sale of junk food at Edmonton public schools is that it will make kids walk a bit in order to buy their junk food. They will have to get outside, stroll a block or two or three, in order to make their purchases.

This may be a small thing, but I like the sound of it. If someone is going to be in the habit of eating junk food, it’s also good they’re in the habit of walking some distance in order to buy it.

I also agree with the argument that schools shouldn’t be in the habit of selling unhealthy junk to kids.

Banning junk food in schools also makes it easier on parents, who need all the assistance they can get.

With the abundance of treats these days, kids can get an endless supply of the stuff at home or at their friends’ homes. Parents struggle mightily to limit the treat intake of their kids. So it’s fine by me if that struggle doesn’t have to go on at school, as well.

Some of you may remember that last spring, we inoculated the entire courtyard with a mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria solution; so impressed by the flush in plant growth and health was I that I could resist attempting to brew our own version of this soil food-web soup. Not only did these tiny soil organisms help in decomposing our foot deep layer of much but they also capture and store nutrient (within their tiny bodies) and form symbiotic relationships with plants.

Though, the last time we inoculated our soil we used a commercial product from Fungi Perfect, I’ve been familiar with compost teas for quite some time. It wasn’t until I ran into Bruce Dueley’s elegant “Little Texan Tea Brewer”, however , that I decided to try it with the Indigenous Permaculture class. The simple brewer creates an abundance of beneficial soil organisms and consists of nothing more than a bucket (with lid) some 1/4 inch hose, a nylon bag, an air pump, and some air stones; all of this was pretty easy for us to track down as we had just recently purchased some hose, and air pump/stones for our aquaponics system.

A Bucket, Turned Compost Tea Brewer

The teas have many variations; a Google search yields numerous results. Typically, each recipe consists of water and a sugar source (usually molasses); sometimes soil amendments, such as rock dust, are added. After the tea has been left to brew for three days, it can be applied directly to your garden and potted plants.

Why the Air and Sugar? It’s About Cellular Respiration!

Simply put, soil-organisms, like all living things, convert glucose and oxygen into carbon dioxide and energy (ATP). In our case, we’re trying to create an optimum environment for the breeding of micro-organism so providing our compost with a source of glucose and constant supply of oxygen, we keep them happy and multiplying. If there’s too little sugar, the population will peak and begin to decline. If our tea doesn’t get enough oxygen, a less efficient anaerobic cellular respiration begins; producing carbon dioxide and alcohol (not the by-product we’re looking for).

The General Set-Up: Bruce Dueley’s “Little Texan Tea Brewer”
Compost is contained within a nylon staining bag and added to a slightly sweetened (glucose) solution; air is than pumped into the bag and container. The entire mixture is allowed to brew for three days and is than applied to plants as a way of inoculating soil with beneficial micro-organisms.

An article about the Indigenous Permaculture class at Jasper Place High School appeared in today’s paper. Last week the Edmonton Journal’s education reporter, Elise Stolte, visited the JP class; what followed was a great article! Thank you Elise!

Screenshot of the Edmonton Journal Article

For more on reporter Elise Stolte, check out her Edmonton Journal profile, Education Page, or follow her on twitter @estolte.

In the middle of February, CBC’s Niall Mckenna paid the Jasper Place ‘Indigenous’ Permaculture class a visit; bringing a tape-recorder and a TV camera, here is the first segment of the coverage:

JP Students Discuss the Indigenous Permaculture Class (~3:00)

Built upon the Aboriginal Studies curriculum, Jasper Place ‘Indigenous’ Permaculture aims to use permaculture as a tool for reconnecting ourselves with a rich culture of being connected with the Earth. Currently, the class is working towards the design and implementation of an Aboriginal Medicine Wheel garden next to the Food Forest.

Above Left: Students participating in a traditional sharing circle. Above Right: Students working in the greenhouse

It’s in all of our best interests to build mutually beneficial relationships within our communities.

One factor contributing to the incredible resiliency of natural systems is the idea that everything is connected; each element and species uses the resources around it (it’s needs) and in-turn, directly or indirectly provides certain services (yields). In this way, the yields of one element become the needs of another and nothing is wasted. On the ecosystem level, this creates a web-like structure of relationships where energy, nutrient, and resources are captured and cycled; benefiting each element on the group level.

Needs & Yields Analysis of a Chicken

What’s interesting is that social systems also rely heavily on the creation of connections; the more connected an individual, organization, or community is, the more resilient they will be. That’s why it’s in all of our best interests to build mutually beneficial relationships within our communities.

The following is a Needs & Yields analysis of Jasper Place Permaculture; if you see ‘a fit’ that you would be interested in pursuing, please contact our program.

Needs & Yields Analysis of Jasper Place Permaculture

Once again, we at Jasper Place Permaculture, have put in a large order from Richters Seeds. Though,last year’s order focused primarily on edible perennial plants, this year’s order has a focus on plants with a history of use by aboriginal people (many of which are edible).

Through the exploration of these plants and permaculture principles, students of the newly offered Indigenous Permaculture Class (Aboriginal Studies) will explore a traditional worldview and new way of interacting with the world.

Seedlings: Most of which have a history of use by Aboriginal cultures (edible, medicinal, spiritual, etc)

The Complete Jasper Place Permaculture Plant List (As of Blog Post)

Ok, so perhaps our particular choice of plants are far from local natives; good luck finding star fruit growing outside in Edmonton. The main point of the experiment, however, is that if it’s living, it can usually be propagated. Fortunately for us (and out Star Fruit), Jasper Place High School has a heat greenhouse on the roof of the school.

A variety of exotic fruits and vegetables; root, vegetative parts, and seeds.

Star Fruit, Persimmon, & Magosteen

The above fruit all contain seeds and can be propagated by removing, cleaning, and planting the seeds within. Eating my way though is by far my favourite way to get the seeds out!

Lotus, Gobo, & Water Chestnuts

Most roots can be propagated by simply burying them under a few inches of soil.

Rose Apple, Rambutan, & Jimica

Arrow Root, Yam, & Long Taro

Ginger Root, Short Taro, & Black Sugarcane

Sugarcane is neither a root or a seed but we’re trying to propagate it by laying it horizontally in a large container and burying it under some soil; what should happen is that each node (joint between segments… sugarcane is giant grass) should sent out new roots and eventually send out new shoots.

JP Permaculture Club students & the mess we made…

of course, anything that didn’t get eaten made its way into our worm bins.

It probably isn’t a surprise that cities are, on average, a few degrees warmer than their rural surroundings. It might surprise you, however, to know that this can be a tremendous advantage for our herbaceous counterparts. Though, some gardeners do take advantage of this fact (planting tomatoes next to the house, for example), many people don’t truly appreciate the build environment’s microclimate creating effect.

How It Works: Many building materials, such as brick and concrete, have high heat capacities; this means that they are capable of storing heat; these materials are often described as thermal mass or heat sinks. Thought these objects often take a long time to head up, they also loose their heat very slowly. So even though a sidewalk, for instance, may take all day to warm up, it will slowly release its stored up heat throughout the night; warming the surrounding air. This is of particular use to gardeners, as planting next to thermal mass decreases the likeliness of frost when the temperature dips below zero. Though, this process isn’t going to hold back winter, it is a useful tool; giving you a few extra frost free weeks at the beginning and end of each growing season.

Above & Below: Tomatoes, beans, and strawberries still blooming in Mid-October; not a common sight in our Alberta climate.

The Jasper Place Courtyard:
One of the advantages the JP Permaculture garden is where it’s located; surrounded on all four sides by concrete sidewalks and one and two story brick walls, the courtyard enjoys a sheltered microclimate with plenty of thermal mass. Though, some plants have shut down for the season (squash seems to wither and die at the near mention of frost), others are still going strong (as shown in the above pictures taken on October 15th).

When choosing a site for a new garden, most gardeners wouldn’t likely choose under a tree. Conventional gardeners might say that trees cast too much shade and suck up needed water. Though, that may be true to some extent, a properly designed garden can benefit from large trees.

Every wonder why a forest doesn’t need watering? …or fertilizing? …or tilling? Many of these questions can be answered (at least partially) by the annual dropping of nutrients we see in temperate climates such as ours; every year, thousands of tons of nutrients falls to the ground in our forests. Over time, this continuous supply of carbon and nutrient builds layer after layer of rich healthy, biologically active soil that retain moisture and nutrients. This is how forests become more stable and resilient over time; they create soil and increase their capacity for life and biodiversity. In this way, each consecutive year offers more possibilities than the last.

One could look at a tree as a sort of nutrient pump, mining minerals and nutrients deep down in the soil, carbon from the air, and energy from sunlight. Each year, a percentage of these gathered resources are added to the forest floor where they can accumulate and cycle back into the forest.

Above: Ornamental crabapple trees in the JP Permaculture courtyard food forest and the natural mulch they delivers to the garden beds below it. Each year, this gift to the soil without any additional work on our part; by placing the beds beneath the trees, we ensure our free mulch lands exactly where we want it.

If leaf mulch builds soil, it should be asked: “What happens when people rack up and bag their leaves?”. To answer this question one only need look at the diagram above; fallen leaves represent a return of energy and organic matter to the soil in what is (on a long enough time-line) the recirculating of energy. Removing this leaf layer causes a break in the flow of nutrients and robs the entire system. What’s worse is that when leaves are hauled to the landfill their nutrients are lost forever.

If the annual accumulation of nutrients increases a systems possibilities from year to year, than surely, the annual robbing of nutrients will do the opposite.