Do you feel that our K–12 system is properly preparing our young people for adulthood? Did it ever? A recent Question of the Day poll asked that very question. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said no. So where does that leave us? There are certainly positive steps being taken. The province is expanding its skilled-trades programming to another 21 schools, which is a step in the right direction. But despite initiatives like these, there remains a great deal of pessimism abo

Times tables are a cornerstone of early math. When a child knows their multiplication facts, addition, division, fractions, money, measurement, and problem-solving become much easier. But this is about more than multiplication. Create a Safe Place to Learn School can be an intimidating place for a child. A teacher may be doing an incredible job, but one person can be responsible for 30 or 40 children, all with different needs, abilities, personalities, and challenges. There i

July 14-16, 2026 Your job is not simply to manage performance. It is to notice potential, nurture confidence, and create conditions where people can become more than they currently believe they are. “Catch people doing something right, and tell them what they did, why it mattered, and how it made a difference.” Discussion How many people in your life can you still remember who genuinely changed your direction? What did they do? What was the outcome? As managers, are your staf

2026 Child and Youth Care World Conference EmpowerU Mentoring: Beyond a Strength-Based Approach June 26, 2026 Opening Activity: How many years do you have in the field? What has been the most meaningful part of this conference this far? The Sour Kangaroo and the Obsurtity of a speck... The Sour Kangaroo and the Absurdity of a Speck In Horton Hears a Who!, the Sour Kangaroo dismisses the speck because she cannot see what Horton sees. To her, the idea that an entire world exi

Rethinking Potential: What the Joshua Bell Experiment Teaches Us About Mentoring “Become who you are.” — Friedrich Nietzsche The story of Joshua Bell playing incognito in a Washington, D.C. subway station has become a modern parable. A world class musician, performing on a multimillion dollar violin, goes largely unnoticed during rush hour. The takeaway is often framed romantically, suggesting that genius surrounds us and we simply fail to notice it. In mentoring contexts, wh

Introductions If you do one meaningful thing this summer as a camp counsellor, let it be this: help one child build a friendship. Maybe it's helping a child meet someone new. Maybe it's helping a shy child join a group. Maybe it's helping a child develop the confidence, social skills, or habits that make friendship easier. We often think the biggest impact comes from the spectacular moments, but for many children, the thing they'll remember most is whether they felt like they

Every year, many children struggle in school. They are eventually assessed, categorized, and labeled as having a learning disability. For some, that label opens doors to support. For others, it quietly reshapes how they see themselves for the rest of their lives. What if the issue is not the child, but the way we understand learning in the first place? The concept of human ability has the power to change how we see our children and ourselves. It is not flashy or inspirational

Intorduction to EmPowermentU Mentoring Gaston Jacques & Senator Chantel Petitclerc Django Reinhardt & Tony Iommi The manager of the sheet-metal factory where Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi lost the tips of two fingers helped him regain his passion for the guitar — by playing an album from the gypsy jazzer Django Reinhardt. As Tony is quoted, “He said: ‘Well, this guy plays with two fingers.’ And that really inspired me to do it,” says Iommi, who’d eventually begin experimenting w

Compliance is not learning, no matter how neatly we package it. Ontario is moving to tie high school grades to attendance. Should Newfoundland and Labrador follow? A VOCM poll suggests 74% of respondents say yes. On the surface, it sounds like accountability. In reality, it risks mistaking compliance for learning. The harder question is the one we keep avoiding: why are students not showing up in the first place? This isn’t a motivation problem. It’s a relevance problem.

April 15, 2026 In Horton Hears a Who, the Sour Kangaroo represents: Cynicism Social pressure Groupthink Mockery of belief in unseen potential Here are some interesting facts about the Rubik's Cube: 🧠 1. It was invented by a Hungarian professor The cube was invented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik as a teaching tool to help explain 3D geometry. 🌈 2. It has an enormous number of combinations A standard 3×3 Rubik’s Cube has about 43 quintillion possible configurations (43,252,003,274,4

“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” — Plato For decades, ADHD has been framed as a disorder, a deficit, or a limitation. It is often discussed in terms of what is lacking, what is difficult, or what needs to be corrected. But what if this framing is incomplete? What if ADHD is not a flaw to be fixed, but a form

“Become who you are.” — Friedrich Nietzsche The story of Joshua Bell playing incognito in a Washington, D.C. subway station has become a modern parable. A world class musician, performing on a multimillion dollar violin, goes largely unnoticed during rush hour. The takeaway is often framed romantically, suggesting that genius surrounds us and we simply fail to notice it. In mentoring contexts, whether in classrooms, youth programs, or workplaces, this interpretation can quiet

Sunflowers are a striking symbol of beauty and resilience . Here are some interesting facts about sunflowers 🌻: Heliotropism : Young sunflowers exhibit heliotropism, meaning they track the sun across the sky from east to west during the day. Mature flowers, however, usually face east permanently. Native origins : Sunflowers are native to North America, where they were domesticated by Indigenous peoples around 4,500 years ago for food, oil, and dye. Height record : The tal

DAY 1 Finding Meaning... “Mentoring is the antidote to the Sour Kangaroo — it protects unseen potential from the voices of doubt.” In Horton Hears a Who! , the Sour Kangaroo represents: Cynicism Social pressure Groupthink Mockery of belief in unseen potential Mentoring does the opposite: Sees what others don’t see Stands firm in uncertainty Amplifies quiet voices Provides courage before confidence exists Beyond the Strength-Based Approach https://www.netminder.ca/resources "S

“A young person not embraced by the community will burn it down to feel its warmth.” This African proverb captures the reality of today’s youth: without guidance, mentorship, or meaningful opportunity, disconnection breeds frustration, disengagement, and even despair. We are living through what global leaders have called a restructuring of the global economic order. Supply chains are shifting. Geopolitics is reshaping markets. Capital is consolidating. AI is accelerating chan

“We are measuring people against goals they never chose.” -Ray Bennett Recently, our new Minister of Education asked a deceptively simple and deeply provocative question: “Why are teachers unable to work?” Only sheer ignorance or rare brilliance can produce a question that clean. I would add another: Why are so many children refusing to go to school at all? We talk endlessly about burnout, absenteeism, an

“The poor are not poor because they are lazy, but because they are powerless.”— Martin Luther King Jr. Around this time each year, North America’s industry leaders ascend on the nation’s capital for the annual Cannexus Conference. It is a gathering of some of the sharpest minds in career practice, workforce development, innovation, and policy. Industry leaders, thinkers, builders, problem-solvers, and innovators come together to focus on what is often framed as society’s most

Becoming a child and youth care (CYC) worker is one of the most challenging and rewarding careers you can choose. The work is deeply emotional, often messy, and rarely straightforward. Here are 11 hard truths about the job that no one really tells you before you step into it. 1. You’ll Have to Give Bad News Delivering bad news is part of the job, and it’s never easy. Children in care have often faced constant instability, moving from placement to placement, struggling in scho

My dad never counted shots. What he did do was drape me in Montreal Canadiens attire. I played out for the first couple of years, but...

How One Person Can Make School Matter "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people...