Guelph Schools Return

We first told you about the visit to the hostel of the school groups from Guelph (Ontario) three years ago. (See: “The DaVinci Program” entry of November 8, 2008.)

As the heading of this entry implies, this is not the first visit of students from Guelph Area High School’s to our hostel. We have hosted two previous  groups in 2008 and 2009.

This is the  “DaVinci Program” that incorporates some of the top grade 11 students of the Guelph area high schools.  What is this program? For one thing, it is rather hard to describe.

Suffice to say it is a different type of learning.

The program lasts a single semester and it is a limited access program. There are a maximum of 24 students who qualify for this unique learning experience. As mentioned and as you might expect, enrollment in this program draws on the top students from various schools.

The pupils spend the semester away from the traditional classroom environment. Nature, Art, Science etc., are approached “experiencially”; which is to say that learning is more a matter of experiment and experience as opposed to academically by rote.

Confused? So are we. That’s because we are not pedagogues – you know, educators; instructors; teachers.

On a two-day, one-night field trip to Toronto, the group took in a performance of MacBeth at the Bathurst Street Theatre followed by an interactive discussion with the cast and director.  They paid a visit to the Art Gallery of Toronto (AGO) and likely met interesting backpackers/travelers from all over the world.

In our previous entry, we remarked how well-behaved the students of this program were when they visited before. The 2010 group was no exception and an absolute pleasure to host.

We think the quality of students is a strong indicator that the program is, indeed, an example of progressive education.

There is an obvious synergy to this “DaVinci Program”: Good  schools + Good teachers + Good students = GREAT PROGRAM!

The “DaVinci Group” of 2010