Blue Sky School

As parents, we are all looking for the perfect fit for our children. Whether it be the right school, dance class, instrument to play, soccer league, group of friends etc...We just want our children to be O.K., to feel safe, happy and engaged. To have positive self-esteem and   feel part of a community. For them to know that   they can make a difference in this ever changing world.   I have been searching for a school that can provide this for my children for 7 years. I have finally found it. Blue Sky School. I am a teacher myself. I have 20+ years of teaching experience. I have taught in both the private and public systems, as well as overseas, (Australia and U.S), JK/SK to grade 8, in inclusive classrooms to congregated gifted programs, and everything in between! I know all too well the struggles that we as educators have on a daily basis. There are so many enthusiastic teachers out there with hearts of gold who go home each night wondering what more they...

In the past year, I have written over ten essays for my Masters, but I have yet to write one sentence about my experience at Blue Sky School. I’m going to attempt to change that today, but it already feels like a far more daunting task than a twenty-page research paper. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to do it justice. If you ever went to summer camp as a teenager, you probably know this feeling. You come back after a summer of building relationships, with ridiculous stories that only your camp friends can appreciate, and your school friends quickly grow tired of hearing you say: “This one time at camp…” Thankfully, in my adult years, I have friends that are deeply interested in the stories I have to tell about my experience as a coach at Blue Sky School (or at least they graciously pretend to be and each deserve an Academy Award for their remarkable acting skills). Actually, my experience has been that people, in general, are quite eager to see and know more about our schoo...

You can’t just stop poachers, that’s not how it works its way more complicated than that. The first thing people need to know is that it isn’t so black and white. It’s not just “poachers are bad” there are different kinds of poachers. The ones who do it for fun and the ones who do it because they have to. It's important to know which is which. The ones who poach because they have to need something else to  turn to and the ones who do it for fun in my opinion need an education or someone needs to change their minds. Something most people don’t think of when it comes to poaching is the buyers. Some people who are most guilty are the buyers. They’re encouraging poaching by paying big money for animal parts. For example: Poachers poach and then they sell rhino horns for $65,000 a kilogram in 2012. If there were no buyers, there wouldn’t be a point for poachers to poach. I think something that would make a difference to the buyers is seeing pictures of dead animals, ...

Tashirojima is part of about a dozen “cat islands” around japan, where cats outnumber humans six to one. Recently gaining popularity online, tashirojima has seen a steep rise of visitors. Cat island takes about 2600 yen, about 21$ and a 50 minute ferry ride to get to, it only runs a couple times per day so if you miss it or if it gets canceled, you get stuck on cat island, not exactly the worst thing in the world. You see, cat island was never supposed to be a tourist destination, the cats were originally introduced to keep down mice populations and both superstition and fondness for the cats led to an explosion in their population. More than 100 cats not live on this island. And while some measures has been taken to provide tourism, it has still been a struggle keeping up with all the diseases. Tashirojima is a small fishing island off the coast of sendai, and, it is inhabited by an extraordinary amount of cats, Tashirojima has a lot of abandoned buildings includ...

Helping my community ( and the world) be more aware and treat our Autistic peers with with the respect they deserve. People with Autism may learn differently than others just like the rest of us. Ask them “how do you learn’’. Don’t reject their answer just because it’s different than the way you learn because there is no right way to learn. People learn in different ways on different days. Everyone needs to feel unconditionally loved, including Autistic people. Give them the amount of support you would want but don’t walk around supporting them all the time. They can handle some situations on their own. Events like Autism On The Hill give me hope for a future that has a better understanding of Autism. Fantastic Five Tips for Being a Friend to Someone with Autism 1. People with Autism like support.  We like it when people tell us what we do well instead of what we do wrong. Sometimes we like it when you give us credit and recognition. But don’t walk arou...

CTE found in 99% of studied brains from deceased NFL players because cte is the most common long term brain trauma in football. CTE is something called chronic traumatic encephalopathy and it takes place in the brain. What does CTE do, CTE forms clumps of a protein called tau and slowly destroys brain cells. Is there a cure? The sad truth is that there is no cure and no way to diagnose it because it can only be found be an autopsy. What are the different sense between concussions and CTE, concussions is that there is no serious long term effect unless you have multiple and if you have multiple there is a larger chance to have CTE. I think that if there was more awareness of CTE I think it would be much easier to find a cure. I hope that in the future it will be more easy to diagnose CTE. -by Seb CTE Slideshow