Mentor College

For two weeks during the March Break a hardy group of 15 High School students and four staff worked at a community service project high in the Andes mountains in Ecuador. As members of the Take Action Group (TAG), the students first raised funds to complete the work in the adopted community of Gulaguayco, a village Mentor College adopted through the Free the Children organization. This three-year project continued the school building started by Mentor students in 2009 and this most recent team finished school walls, built (by hand) the foundation for a latrine and made the adobe bricks for construction. Working at altitude was challenging and this amazing, cohesive group continuously persevered. Travels to Quito, the cloudforest and other destinations rounded the trip into one of work and experiential learning.

The annual Mentor College Fashion Show took place on April 16. Having raised funds for various hospitals and charities for the past 15 years, this year's executive committee decided on the SickKids Foundation and the Credit Valley Hospital Foundation as beneficiaries of the $60,000 raised. This year's show, "Tour de Couture", took the audience on a tour of 4 major fashion centres around the world: New York City, London, Tokyo, and Paris. "Tour de Couture" is the result of 7 months of hard work and commitment on the part of a very dedicated team of students, staff, and parents! Congratulations to student organizers, Katrina Kairys, Gillian Barker, and Sofia Corbo, who, along with chief staff sponsor Ms. Maynard and the Moms' Committee, put on a truly memorable show! The show has raised nearly $300,000 to date for local hospitals.

Each year, our grade 5-8 students (and various high school students as well) have the opportunity to enjoy a four-day visit to our Outdoor Education Centre. Located on 135 acres of land near Gravenhurst, the property hosts a variety of habitats, including lakefront, field, stream, marshland, old growth forest and Canadian Shield. The cost of the trip is included in the annual tuition. Our hands-on approach allows learning through education and recreation. Educational activities include vegetation identification, animal habitat study, geology/soil study and meteorological graphing, while recreational opportunities include cross-country skiing, orienteering, canoeing, native games, winter survival, campfires and night hikes. A 5000-square foot cabin hosts up to 40 students, and is staffed by two full-time outdoor education teachers and a chef.

Mme Jean's mission as Governor-General was to break down the solitudes in Canada (specifically the French/English and South/North ones) and she did this by encouraging those in the majority (English, South) to make a greater effort to reach out. Early in her speech to Mentor/TEAM Grades 8-12 students, she lauded the school for embarking on trips all over the globe in the past decade helping others. Mme Jean stressed the importance of also looking around closer to home to see what young people can do to make a difference. Students learned (many perhaps for the first time) about the need for more resources to be focused on northern Canada and how Canada is the only northern nation wothout a university located within the Arctic Circle. She was gracious with her praise and compliments but very "to the point" of what ELSE a person, group or country could be doing.