We've got a great group of students again this year, but even with the most conscientious, respectful and thoughtful young people, they are still teenagers and therefore prone to adolescent tendencies and anomalies that often characterize a generation. Here is a series of events that took place last Thursday morning in the span of less than 90 minutes. Thursday was March 1 and a holiday in the canton of Neuchatel as the locals recognize and celebrate their independence day. Since this day fell on a Thursday, many people arranged to take an extended long weekend by taking today (Friday) as a holiday as well. NJC usually organizes school trips during these times and this weekend was no exception. Approximately 40% of our students headed off to explore the beautiful and historic city of Florence, Italy while another 40% began making their way to the equally beautiful and historic city of Madrid, Spain. I wanted to see each group off from the train station in Neuchatel as they left about an hour apart early in the morning. The 'gare' was busy that morning as those who were still required to work on Friday were amongst those setting off on their four day weekend. I met a friend of mine (a fellow Canadian from Ottawa who had come over some twenty years ago to play hockey here, stayed, married a local woman and now has a young daughter) who was heading to his new job in Lausanne (which is in a different canton and therefore does not celebrate the holiday that the Neuchatelois are observing). I also met a gentleman I know from my involvement with the local hockey team whose son I coached in a tournament many years ago here. One of our pension 'Madames' was on the platform taking the same train as our Madrid students on her way to visit her father in London (she is a transplanted English woman who has lived in Neuchatel for many years). And finally, across the tracks on the next platform was one of our students who was going to neither Madrid nor Florence, but was on her way to visit family friends in Dublin, Ireland. So, that was the scene as I arrived at the Neuchatel train station at 7:15 a.m. amid the hubbub and orderly chaos. As the Florence students arrived one by one, as did the two staff members who were accompanying them, a head count was begun. 'We're missing five...oh, here come two of them...and there's another one...let's move to the platform and do a final count...' And so we did, only to learn that with two minutes before boarding time, we were still missing one student. And, of course, it was the student who lives closest to the school and to the 'gare'! From where we were standing on the platform, I probably could have thrown a Lindt chocolate truffle and hit her house, she lives that close! To complicate matters, the teachers had guessed which end of the train our reserved car would be, and had guessed incorrectly. They were at the head of the train and our reserved car was at the back. We were not about to run the length of the platform now to accommodate the CFF authorities. But the game plan for the missing student had been worked out - she would take the next train to Lausanne, change trains and head to Milan and then change trains again to catch up with the group in Florence where she would be met on arrival. I headed back along the platform to the staircase that would take me back to school and to the office phone to call the student's pension family. As I did so, I heard the controller's whistle signaling that the doors to each train car would be closing. Just then, I thought I spotted the missing student standing on the platform talking to the controller. From a distance I couldn't be sure it was her but she recognized me and yelled out to me. I called back and motioned for her to get on the train as the doors were closing. Thankfully, she didn't wait to double check with me that she was getting on the same train as the rest of the group. She hopped on and as I got to the door where she was standing we gave each other the thumbs up and I yelled through the closed door that she should make her way down towards the front of the train where she would find the rest of the group. She gave me another thumbs up and I know she must have felt relieved that she was on the right train! I called one of the staff members (thank God for cell phones!) to inform her that our 'missing' student was no longer missing and was making her way through the train to join them. One group out; one more to go. About a half an hour later, the Madrid group began to appear, in ones and twos, at the station. One of the first to arrive was Ms. Gollert, our Deputy Head of School, who told us about the band which began to perform outside their apartment window at 6:25 a.m.! As she said, fortunately, they were already awake, but we wondered about the poor souls who were wanting to enjoy a lazy holiday morning only to be serenaded at that early hour! We were led to believe that this is a tradition - that bands go from one neighborhood to another playing their music (and disturbing the peace) in celebration of Neuchatel's independence from Prussia. However, earlier that morning, a student had emailed me to tell me she thought she had left her ski jacket at the school the day before. When she looked for it at the end of the school day, she couldn't find it and assumed our concierge had put it somewhere for safe keeping. She realized that although she wouldn't need the jacket in Madrid (it was going to be 17 degrees that day in Neuchatel and more than 20 degrees in Madrid - on March 1st!) she remembered that her credit card, train pass, bus pass, student permit and student card were all in the inside pocket. I met her when she arrived at the 'gare' and told her that we could look through the school buildings again (both the concierge and I had already done so earlier that morning). She accompanied me on the short walk from the train station to the school and as we arrived near the entrance, she remembered that she had gone the day before to the little park in the middle of the apartment complex next to the school to study with a friend. Had she left the jacket there? As we turned the corner of the building and approached the park, we could see what looked like a black ski jacket folded neatly over the back of the bench where the girls had been sitting the day before. With relief and elation, she snapped up the jacket and found all of her valuables and personal items still inside the jacket. Some kind and thoughtful person must have realized that someone had inadvertently left this jacket behind and neatly folded it over the bench where it had been left. The student and I looked at each other and said simultaneously, 'Only in Neuchatel!' As we returned to the train station and recounted the story, another student approached me with the wallet of one of the boys from the earlier trip to Florence. I didn't quite understand how this boy's wallet ended up in the hands of the student who was passing it on to me now, but what I did understand was that there was a student who became ill the day before who was hoping to leave the next day to catch up with the Florence group and who could take this boy's wallet to him. (As it turns out, the student who was sick stayed back in Neuchatel to recuperate, so the boy who was without his wallet would have to rely on his friends and the staff on the trip to help him with money until he returned to Neuchatel.) The second group left without further incident and in the correct car reserved especially for them. As I waved goodbye to those at the window seats with the train slowly making its way out of the station, I became acutely aware of how deserted the train station was now. It was 8:40 a.m. and as I walked back to the staircase that would lead me back to the school, the last train in the station pulled away leaving all seven tracks empty. Even the mass of humanity that filled the 'gare' only minutes before had dissipated leaving a lone controller on platform seven, a smoker in the enclosed smoking room on platform four, and me. I had seen 80% of our students off in an hour, accompanied by four staff and one spouse, and I suddenly felt very alone. I needed a coffee! One might think that after reading these stories, our students are not good travellers or are forgetful or are careless. But, anyone who has travelled a lot, particularly with young people (and even with not so young people) and especially with groups, will know that things like this happen all the time. We all learn from our mistakes. Fortunately, in all three instances, no harm was done - everyone left on his/her appropriate train; lost articles from the day before were all found intact; and a wallet, although needed in Florence, was not lost but rather sitting in the possession of the Head of School awaiting the return of its owner. Now, admittedly, I am not traveling this weekend with either group, so I don't yet know what other mishaps might occur...hopefully, none. But, such is the reality of traveling with groups of students...there is never a dull moment!
After a rather different year last year-my wife, Colleen stayed home to deal with a personal family matter that required one of us to stay in Canada for the entire school year - this year has started in a much better way for me personally as Colleen has been able to return to Neuchâtel and mee this year's students. In fact, on her second day back, she joined us for dinner as my Advissee group had the first of their Advisee dinners for the year. The personal family matter has been attended to and all is well again.
Now that Colleen is here with me, we both realize how much we miss our dog, Apollo (and our two cats). Apollo made the trek over with us in the summer of 2009; however, it was quite an ordeal. As we were preparing to make the move from Ontario to Switzerland, I discovered that Air Canada will not fly animals during the summer months, unless they are tiny animals that can ride in the cabin with you. Apollo is a big dog. He is a rescue dog and we were told that he was an 'Akita', a Japanese shepherd. However, afer doing some research, I am not convinced that this is his breed. He has a German Shepherd head and the colouring and body type of a Belgian Shepherd. And he came into our life at either four months or sixteen months of age - two documents we received could not agree on his birth date. The month was the same (November) but the year was different. I believe the latter document is the correct one because when we got him, he seemed fully grown and really has not changed in size since that time.
In any case, since Air Canada would not fly Apollo to Switzerland, we turned to Swiss International Airlines. Because the Europeans love their pets (sometimes, it seems, more than they like humans) I was certain that they would agree to fly him over here. I was right. However, the next challenge was that Swiss did not fly out of Toronto (they do, but the Toronto – Montreal leg is through Air Canada, so I was back to the original problem). So, I contacted Via Rail and was just about to purchase our tickets for our train ride to Montreal when a second Via Rail agent informed us that their policy on transporting animals in the summer months was the same as Air Canada’s. Okay, so now what?
This really left us only one option – rent a van and drive to Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport in Montreal. This is what we did. Everything that day seemed fine…the drive, the check-in at the airport, the flight…until we landed in Zurich. A most unfriendly customs officer informed us that we were missing a document from our veterinarian and until we produced it, Apollo was not getting into Switzerland. Fortunately, there is a veterinarian centre at the airport – I suppose for such occurrences. The people there couldn’t have been more helpful and friendlier. Colleen and I left Apollo behind with them, although I am sure he was quite anxious and confused, and we headed for Neuchâtel. Our plan was to fax the missing document, a blank copy of which had been provided to us at the Zurich airport, to our vet in Canada, have it completed and faxed back to the authorities at the Zurich airport, all in the same day, so that we could return that very day and retrieve Apollo. We had landed at 6 a.m. in Zurich, so even getting to Neuchâtel later that morning meant that, with the six hour time difference, we still had to wait awhile for the vet’s office to open back home.
Fortunately, we were able to get all of this accomplished later that day but then the challenge was to get back to the Zurich airport (normally a two hour drive from Neuchâtel) before the Veterinary centre closed at 7 p.m. It was already late afternoon and the rush hour traffic around Zurich can be as daunting as in any large North American city. I phoned the vet several times to give him our location en route and to let him know we were coming and that we desperately wanted to pick up Apollo that day. Again, he and his staff could not have been nicer. We arrived about 20 minutes after 7 p.m., but the vet had very kindly waited for us. We signed the outstanding document, retrieved Apollo, who was so glad to see us, loaded him in our car and headed back to Neuchâtel. This was, as you can imagine, quite an exhausting day. We had begun our journey at 6 a.m. Toronto time, driven to Montreal, flown to Zurich, driven to Neuchâtel, back to Zurich and finally back to Neuchâtel. All in the same day and without much sleep, save for what we were able to get on the flight over.
So, you might ask, how is it that Apollo is back in Canada? Well, after spending the 2009-10 year here with that class and enjoying them very much, Colleen and I thought it was too much to expect to be back in Canada for four or five weeks in the summer and to leave Apollo in a kennel for that length of time (even though we had found a kennel he liked very much here called ‘The Dog Palace’! He was always the oldest male when we boarded him there during school trips, and so he was the ‘alpha’ male, and in charge of all the other dogs, according to the proprietors). So, in April of that year, I brought him back to Canada, via Montreal again on the return ticket with Swiss International. We stayed in a hotel near the airport in Montreal (Apollo was a hit with the staff – although it took some doing to find a hotel that allowed pets) and took a taxi to the train station the next morning to catch our Via Rail train to Toronto (it was April, so Via Rail permitted pet travel in cargo). I was in the train car next to his and he was clearly unhappy as I could hear him barking the whole way.
He got home finally and after deciding that this kind of travel was too hard on him, we made the decision that he would live with our sons when we returned for the following school year (last year) who were delighted to have him. Then, at the end of the summer, we had to make another decision about Colleen staying in Canada to attend to this personal family matter. So, last year, for me, as I said, was a different year – no Colleen, and no Apollo.
Apollo turns ten years old in November, and we are told that big dogs do not live as long as smaller dogs. When we see people here in Neuchâtel with their dogs - and many have them – we miss him even more. I have found that people who do not have pets, especially dogs, do not quite understand this emotional connection. It is uncanny how attached we get to our pets and how much they become a part of our lives. We miss Apollo very much, as I am sure our students who have pets at home miss theirs. He is living with my son and daughter-in-law who themselves got a puppy just a few months ago. Yes, Colleen and I have a grand-puppy. I am not sure how enamoured Apollo is with Stanley (a bichon-terrier, named after the Stanley Cup!) as he has lots of energy and wants to play with Apollo non-stop. Apollo tolerates Stanley, but only just. We look forward to seeing them both on our next visit home. Oh, and our sons and daughter-in-law too.
The high calibre of students who are attracted to our school continues to impress me year after year. Not only are they academically motivated and keenly interested in the world around them, but many of them take on challenges which others routinely ignore. The Swiss Group of International Schools recent cross-country meet is an excellent example. Six students, four girls and two boys, signed up to compete in this event not having trained for several months. But most have athletic backgrounds, and it showed. Teams were comprised of four participants in each age group and by gender, so unfortunately, Graeme F. and Etienne L. could not qualify for team medals and had to be satisfied with their individual sixth place and seventh place showings, respectively. Very impressive. The girls however did qualify as a team and with two top ten placings, Lauren N. fourth, and Fiona M. seventh, and assisted by two other top twenty placings, Ella B. and Kate S., the NJC girls finished second overall! With fourteen schools represented at the meet, this was an amazing accomplishment! But why should we be surprised? NJC students have a history of high performance, whether academic, artistic or athletic. Still, every year I am proud of the way our students come together not knowing one another prior to arrival in their new country, and bond as one. That's part of what makes being at this special school so interesting and so much fun.
What kind of student attends NJC? Well, the exercise of trying to describe the typical student is difficult, if not impossible. Students come to us from across the country and indeed from around the world. So, to intimate that they are all alike would be foolhardy.
However, there are often characteristics that are shared by NJC students: adventurous, risk-takers, courageous, academically capable...these are just a few descriptors that could be applied to pretty much all of our kids. One adjective that does not get mentioned as often, but should, is entrepreneurial. An example:
Erika from Ontario and Marissa from B.C. came to see me one day to ask if they could put together a group of dancers and participate in the first ever Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS) Dance competition. There was no one on staff who had this skill in their repertoire, so Erika and Marissa were left to organize, supervise and choreograph the NJC entry into this tournament. They were able to rally ten other girls, many of whom had never danced before (beyond high school proms.) They were also able to convince a local fitness club to allow them to use their dance studio without adult supervision. And finally, they were able to persuade all of the participants to adhere to a rigorous rehearsal schedule, without negatively impacting their school work or their European travels.
Impressive, you say? Please wait.
The day before the competition, the girls were asked if they would perform the two group dances, one in the hip hop category and one in the contemporary category, at our assembly (Erika would also perform a solo dance in the competition). They did and they were impressive. But, please wait.
The next morning, the girls headed off to the host school's venue in Montreux (yes, the same Montreux made famous in the rock classic 'Smoke on the Water') accompanied by our Deputy Head of School and her husband. There were several schools involved and nearly 150 competitors. Late in the afternoon we received word that the girls had won a silver in the hip hop dance, a gold in the contemporary dance, and Erika had won gold in the solo dance competition. Impressive? Wait.
Recently, Erika has come back to see me to ask if the girls can keep on dancing and prepare for a presentation to our other students and staff at a future school event. These two young 17 year olds had the courage to follow their passion, inspire others, and perform at a very high level. Now they want to continue the pursuit of that passion having been inspired by these two leaders, and perform, this time, for their friends and classmates, now that their confidence has been elevated to a higher level. Impressive? You bet. Perhaps this is another adjective to be added to the list when describing the kind of student that attends Neuchatel Junior College. They are indeed impressive.
I was asked recently how we can create community here at NJC when our students attend only for a year – some for only one semester. There is no question that this is a challenge. But, if you could just spend a week within our environment, whether on campus, in the town of Neuchâtel, or on one of our school trips, you would soon see that a strong sense of community has certainly been created amongst our students, staff, parents and alumni. This was never more apparent than on our recent mid-winter trip to Zermatt to ski or snowboard near the Matterhorn. Many parents, friends, siblings and even alumni joined in this exceptional experience with our students and spent time getting to know each other’s families. It truly is a bonding experience as our students share their first semester experiences with those who have come to this magical place in southern Switzerland. One student’s mother shared this story with me: she asked her son, while in Zermatt, to indicate which of the students are his friends. His response was simple: ‘Mom, you don’t get it…they’re all my friends!’ We are a small school of about 80 students. It is not too difficult to get to know them well. We spend every weekday together and several weekends as well, on international trips exploring fascinating historical sites. We also do many of the activities to create community that other good schools do, such as weekly advisee group meetings and weekly assemblies with all students and staff. Community is created here at NJC quite easily on a daily basis. But, it is heightened on such special occasions as the annual Zermatt family ski week.
Why teach? This is a question every teacher faces at some point in his or her career. Here is another question: ‘What is education?’ There have been long debates about what this word really means and how it translates to a school’s curriculum. I recently attended a conference whose theme was ‘Ethical Issues in Education’. The conference was hosted by the oldest international school – The International School of Geneva - and one of its presenters was Professor Bart McGettrick from Edinburgh, Scotland who suggested to a roomful of about 200 educators that ‘education should be about liberating the heart and service to others.’ So, let me tell you a story…
Two students came to see me in my office recently – the first day back to classes after the Holiday Season, and after their return from our school trip to Kenya with Free The Children. Jordan and Marissa, from either end of our country, were ebullient. They would have talked for hours if I had let them about their trip to Kenya and how it has impacted them. They were so moved by the people from the village where they were building a school library. They were amazed at how happy the local women and children were, even though they had far less ‘material wealth’ than Jordan and Marissa were used to. They were amazed by how routine and arduous the long walk to collect water from the river was – and even though these students did it once, and were exhausted from that trek, the girls from the village did it five times a day! They were amazed at how inventive the women of the village were at finding creative ways to help each other, one at a time, to build a home for their families. Finally, Jordan and Marissa were so appreciative of the things they take for granted – a warm bed, good food, clean water, and an education. The young people they met in Kenya were so happy despite the fact that their homes were often not much more than a mud hut, or that the water they collected repeatedly from the local river had to be boiled each day to eliminate the potentially dangerous bacteria, and that going to school was such a privilege, not a chore as it sometimes seems to be for young people from so-called ‘developed countries’. These two students cannot stop talking about their experience. They want to do a presentation at an assembly here at NJC; they want to do a video to share with us; they want to talk to next year’s NJC students about why they should consider participating on this special trip. It is clear…these students are changed.
This kind of rich conversation is representative of the reasons that those of us who teach do so. These two students are excellent examples of what we value in our programme. These students ‘get it’. It is so gratifying when this happens. What we did, as our mission states, was simply to provide the opportunity for our students to participate in this unforgettable experience which complements our curriculum and supports our raison d’être, not only as a school but as human beings. I think their hearts were liberated by the service to others.
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