Blue Sky School

(Us listening to Midia Presenting)   At Blue Sky School, we have the amazing privilege of inviting brilliant and passionate changemakers into our space to learn from. On September 19th, 2019 we once again were proven that Midia Shikh Hassan is no exception. I could go into giving you one description of who Midia is and what Midia does but I think this quote concludes it perfectly: “I don’t really define myself as one thing because I am the type of person that doesn't like to be doing only one thing at a time. I identify with a lot of things and a lot of communities” - Midia Shikh Hassan I think this sums up the type of person Midia really is. At Blue Sky, we like to joke that she is good at everything because in the past she has mentored us on the most random range of things that she seems to have expertise on. She discussed with us that day on our current Exploration (a topic to dive into for a 12 week period), community.  She talked about how she grew up in a ...

Calling all history nerds and fans of Leonardo da Vinci! Wow! To think that half a century ago, Leonardo was walking and talking on this planet, making the world a better place with his amazing brain! It is crazy how smart he was and the huge impact he made on this world, a big enough impact that 500 y ears later, his name is commonly known. Unfortunately though, in today's society, though Leonardo name is commonly known not a lot of people no half of the amazing work he did. I think it is so important that we learn about Leonardo, that is why I am so grateful to Luc Lalande, a dear friend and mentor at Blue Sky School who came into the space and talked to us about Leonardo’s amazing legacy. I learned so much, including his notable painting of the Mona Lisa, his depth of understanding and art of the human body, his inventions and innovations, and to get to the point of this post, his notebook sketches. One of Leonardo's notebooks Amazing sketches, studie...

When our family first visited Blue Sky School in November of 2017, we were just looking for something  different, not life-changing. Quite unexpectedly, we got both. Our 11-year-old son was struggling in the public system, unable to focus and falling far behind. Jay’s  teachers did everything they could within the parameters of the system, but a typical classroom setting  simply wasn’t meeting his needs. The kid who used to beg me to go school, even when sick, had grown to dread and avoid it. Once the  happiest and funniest of our children, he grew sad, angry and withdrawn. Once a kid favoured by his  teachers, he was getting in trouble nearly every day. Once a social and well-liked child, he was regularly  bullied. His peers laughed at him for not understanding the work and resented him for disrupting the  class. “I used to hate math; I wouldn’t even talk about it. I was so embarrassed because I couldn’t do it. Blue  Sky made me find my lov...

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...

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

(Image source) A couple months ago, South Sudan was a foreign topic for me. I had a vague idea of where it was and what it was going through. But now, knee deep into my most current life-long project on building a South Sudanese shelter, I know a lot about what is happening to the women there, so much as a matter of fact that sometimes I imagine that I am living it.  It keeps recurring in my thoughts that in South Sudan right now, a woman is probably being raped, that a child is probably going hungry and their mother and father are not there to feed them. Image source Here’s one thing I definitely know about South Sudan: that this country is suffering and the women there are struggling the most. I have learned a lot from my reading. There are two reasons in my opinion why this is, the first reason is because of the culture there, a lot of people believe that the women there do not have any intellectual depth and you can do whatever you want with them, the second reas...

(image source) “What! Oregano? Really?” This was my exact reaction when I found out that small, commonly-found-in-pasta plant, oregano was the cure to one of the biggest aspects of climate change, the evil, treacherous, methane packed cow burps and farts! Apparently, if you only mix three percent of oregano into the cows feed then it is supposed to reduce the methane by thirty-two percent! Additionally, the amazing plant is also rumoured to increase the prevention of getting disease in cows! The plant is also known to grow very fast and in any condition. This plant is truly a miracle worker! Researchers at Aarhus University believe that adding oregano to a cow's diet would alter the balance of bacteria in their digestive systems and reduce the amount of methane released. Source When I heard this, I knew there were only a few more tasks we had to do if we really wanted this experiment a reality! Now this is my call to action! We have a methane detector, we are growi...