Football is More Than Just a Game

Posted on December 14, 2016 by admin

Noah_Chazonoff It’s hard to put into words the feeling you get when you play football. You think to yourself, “All right, who am I covering? What’s the play call? Are they passing or running? How many receivers are lined up on my side?”

I know to some of you those words mean absolutely nothing. But to me, football actually goes beyond just this.

In elementary school, I was only into drama. In grade 5, I was Sebastian in the Little Mermaid and in grade 6, I was Woody in Toy Story. And then, when I came to LCC everything seemed to just fall into place.

In grade 8, I joined the football team. I figured, “Hey, they seem to be encouraging kids to play a sport every season, so why not try it out?” Little did I know, it would change my life.

For those of you who have ever been in Mr. Carlyle’s English class with me, you know I love to bring up LCC’s football championship in every oral presentation to prove that I am a bit athletic. So most of you know that in 2013 LCC won the championship, beating the first place team Selwyn House in the finals. And from that moment on, I never looked back.

For the next three years, football wasn’t just a sport, it was my entire fall season. This year, I was not on the team at the start of the season because I felt that work would consume my entire semester. But little did I know that within a few weeks I would come crawling back to Mr. Carlyle to be back on the team. And boy, am I happy I did that.

I loved all the practices after school with friends, sometimes ones that had to be taken seriously and others where we could lay back a bit and crack a few jokes. But I can honestly say that nothing has had a bigger impact on me in my entire life than football has.

I went from being a guy who was really, really, really bad at sports, to a guy who was still not great but a bit better. In all seriousness, it helped me grow as a player and as a person.

I can’t quite describe the feeling of a player running full speed at me and only having half a second to decide how I’m going to tackle him or where I’m going to tackle him, but I can tell you that most of the time it’s too late because he’s already knocked me down and scored the touchdown. But knowing that for two hours a day I can put everything else aside and fight for the guys on the field and on the sideline, makes every injury, every practice, every tackle, worth it.

When we break down in our huddle before each game, we use LCC’s classic cheer, Pride on 3. And why wouldn’t we? As LCC students, we’re full of pride. And we deserve to be.

I’m full of pride because I know that every guy who puts on that jersey at the end of the week is going to fight his hardest for me and my other teammates.

I’m full of pride because I know that even if we lose, we handle it with dignity and proper etiquette and come back hard in practice to prepare for another week.

I’m full of pride because I know that for those precious minutes we have to play the game we love, we can put aside our differences and become brothers.

I’m full of pride because I’m an LCC Lion.

So why did I write this? I wrote it when I got home from football a few weeks ago after suffering a heart-breaking loss which knocked us out of playoff contention. But my message, I hope, is clear. When I came to LCC, I started out as an unathletic guy who barely knew how to catch a football. And now? In grade 11, I leave here with 34 other guys I can call my brothers. You may not be into sports. I was like you at a point in my life, but no matter what co-curricular you decide to join at school, whether it be football, glee club, baseball or robotics, I can promise you the memories you form are life-changing.

So why not give it a try? Go join that team you were too afraid to try out for. Go sign up for that club you were too shy to join. Because the odds are, it may turn into something much more meaningful than just another team. – Noah Chazonoff ’17

Grade 5 Students Take Global Learning Out of the Classroom

Posted on November 9, 2016 by admin

Amélie_Kelly Perhaps the best indication of LCC’s success as a leader in developing open-minded, empathic and engaged citizens of the world is when students, on their own initiative, cross cultural and linguistic boundaries to gain new perspectives and a better understanding of one another. That is precisely what happened when Amélie and Kelly met in their grade 5 class.

New to Montreal and to LCC, Kelly befriended Amélie and the two girls quickly realized how much there was to learn from each other. An agreement was struck at recess: Amélie would teach French to Kelly and Kelly would teach Mandarin to Amélie. Both girls took their commitment seriously, creating well-conceived lesson plans that even included homework. Excited by the potential of this relationship, the girls then decided to share their respective cultures, and each will visit the other’s home for a typical French or Chinese meal.

Véronique, Amélie’s mother, can relate to Kelly’s experience, having immigrated to Quebec from France at the very same age. She says that she has taught her daughter to be open and welcoming to people from other countries but she also credits LCC for its promotion of global education. “LCC creates and nurtures an environment where students are encouraged to take these types of initiatives,” she says. “The school’s culture is truly in line with its vision to be an inclusive community of globally-minded learners.”

Kelly’s father, Rocky, is enthralled by his daughter’s drive. “This is very exciting to witness because of the cross-cultural component,” he says. “And I am hoping that Kelly will have an easier time picking up French as a result.”

Véronique doesn’t necessarily expect Amélie to become fluent in Mandarin but is impressed by her daughter’s and Kelly’s mutual willingness and desire to broaden their minds. She hopes that the relationship will evolve and that these newfound friends will continue to value diversity and each other’s unique identity.

Social Courage and Holding to Your Convictions

Posted on November 7, 2016 by admin

News_Item_Plante What do our students have in common with former NBA basketball star Wilt Chamberlain and Habs’ goaltending great Jacques Plante? They have all been held back by social conformity, more commonly known as peer pressure. This is not about teen anxiety and the pressures of fitting in with the latest trends. It is about something bigger.

Psychologists and sociologists tell us that social conformity has a huge impact on adults as well. In fact, it is probably the single greatest factor that inhibits people from being innovative or open to new ideas.

Let me illustrate with two simple examples. November 1, 2016, marked the 57^th anniversary of the first time that Jacques Plante wore a mask in an NHL game. Plante had already taken many pucks to his face and subsequently developed the first protective facemask. But he only wore it in practice. Canadiens coach Toe Blake refused to let him use it in games, thinking it would obscure his vision and probably because it wasn’t considered “manly” and might portray the team in a negative light. Blake wanted to conform to the league norm; he did not want the Canadiens to be mocked by other teams or the media. But after being stitched up after a shot to the face against the NY Rangers, Plante insisted and Blake reluctantly agreed. That piece of equipment has since protected thousands of players and is now a critical part of every goaltender’s gear. The resistance to integrating Plante’s innovation is an example of the restrictive power of social conformity that prevented basic protection and safety.

Another example is outlined by sociologist Malcolm Gladwell who tells the story of Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain, one of the greatest professional basketball players of all time. Despite his extraordinary achievements on the court, he too was held back from even greater performance by peer pressure.

At seven feet two inches, Chamberlain dominated more than any player in the contemporary game of basketball. He is the only player in NBA history to have scored 100 points in a game, a record that most experts believe will never be matched. When Chamberlain retired in 1973, the NBA record book for that year listed 128 records that he held. As of last year, 98 of those records still stood, decades after his departure.

Despite his achievements, Chamberlain was also a victim of peer pressure. As Gladwell reminds us, it takes significant social courage to be truly exceptional at anything. It is hard to defy norms or conventional practices and the pressure to conform holds us all back every day.

So given Chamberlain’s achievements, how did he succumb to peer pressure? It happened at the free-throw line. Chamberlain’s teammate, Rick Barry, showed him that throwing underhanded was a more natural motion and would lead to more baskets. Chamberlain did that for a while but was mocked. People said he looked ridiculous.

So Chamberlain went back to the overhanded shot and his free throw percentage diminished notably. Despite setting records, he probably could have been even greater if he wasn’t concerned about peer pressure and what people thought of him.

What are the key takeaways? Simple. In so many domains, if you want to stand out, if you want to try to be unique or innovative, you have to have the courage to defy peer pressure and social norms. Otherwise you will likely only be working around the edges of tried-and-true practices.

I asked our high school students to think about how and where they can try to innovate, despite social norms. This also applies to student learning habits, especially when in groups. Students need the courage to be less concerned about what their peers think in a classroom setting, particularly when they develop a unique idea or when wrestling with a problem. It’s asking a lot, but with practice, students can build their confidence and take pride in developing their own ideas that may vary from the perspective of the majority. – Chris Shannon, Headmaster

Le grand nettoyage du canal Lachine

Posted on November 2, 2016 by admin

2016_2017_Community_Clean_Up_004 Malgré le froid et la pluie, nous étions 19 pour la 5^e édition du grand nettoyage des berges du canal Lachine. Cette année, nous avons eu la joie d’avoir des élèves du Junior School.

De 10 h à 12 h, nous avons ramassé: mégots de cigarettes, capsules de bouteilles, sacs en plastique, câbles métalliques et manches à balai…

Voici quelques commentaires des élèves :

J’ai appris pendant cette expérience que les poissons mangent les mégots de cigarette décomposés et puis on mange les poissons alors on doit nettoyer l’environnement pour le bien des animaux est de nous aussi.

I liked doing this community service activity because it felt good to clean up the area and help the community.

You know what you did is good when people stop by to say thank you!

Despite the rainfall, the amount of trash on the ground was more saddening.

I was really amazed at what people put on the ground without realizing that they shouldn’t do that.

J’ai trouvé qu’il y a trop de personnes qui ne s’occupent pas des déchets.

Photos

Where Art and the Environment Intersect

Posted on October 31, 2016 by admin

2015_16_JS_Butterfly_Garden_011 With pollinators like bees and butterflies in dangerous decline and our reliance on them for almost 90 per cent of the world’s plants, a crisis is brewing and LCC students responded with fervor. Last spring, students from grades 3 to 11 literally rolled up their sleeves and got down in the dirt, creating a garden on the LCC grounds to bring back the butterflies.

The result was not only a garden with a variety of plants to attract pollinators. It was also a beautiful display of milkweed and towering sunflowers that were sure to draw the attention of the artist’s eye. And they did.

Sylvia Tracy’s grade 3 art class had already studied Van Gogh, so a newly planted garden with blooming sunflowers just steps away was serendipitous. “It was a great opportunity to observe the sunflowers and see how they look from up close,” says Ms. Tracy.

The students first did observation drawing, emphasizing the shapes that they saw in the leaves. They were asked to draw what they saw and not rely on any preconceived ideas of how they thought the flower appeared. They learned how to observe, focusing on the texture of the flower, its stem and petals.

In the following class, students turned the drawings into relief prints, recopied the flower onto Styrofoam printing plates and then printed them on different coloured paper. These vibrant creations now adorn the walls of the Junior School hallway. “It’s a wonderful thing to be able to take advantage of nature right here at our school, in the middle of the city,” says Ms. Tracy.

As for the butterfly garden, Jean-François Maurice, Social Science Teacher, is working toward having it recognized with an official certification from monarchwatch.org. “This one project has brought together students from Junior, Middle and Senior School,” he says. “It has served an environmental purpose as well as inspiration for our budding artists. What a success.”