Extracurricular Activities
When I think of a vibrant learning space, I think about learning that extends outside the classroom. This could be sports, the arts, and other types of clubs. Often, when I have former students visit me they reminisce about the activities they took part in and the teachers they connected with. When teachers are also part of the extracurricular, students see their teachers in a different environment and have the opportunity to make a connection. During the height of the pandemic, my school cancelled extracurricular activities. Students were in class for a little more than an hour a day. They only came for this one class period; otherwise, they had to be out of the school. In retrospect, we really see how detrimental this was for students. While learning is important at school, there are so many other domains such as social connection that keep them healthy and happy. As a counsellor, I had many students come and see ...