I’m having trouble finding a way into this blog. No catchy first sentence. No “gotcha” line to keep you reading. No, none of that. This one is tough because I’m struggling with how to write it or even whether to write it. So bear with me, dear reader, and if you’ve hung in thus far, […]

“They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak.” – The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, I stood at The Cenotaph, together with our Head Girl. I […]

Lala arrived last year.  Nervous, excited, tentative, wide-eyed.  Zena arrived this year, equally nervous but able to benefit from Lala’s reassuring presence.  Lala comes from Tajikistan.  Zena comes from Syria.  Two very different girls from very different countries. But both girls are now part of the Trafalgar Castle sisterhood. We launched our World of Difference […]

They came by the hundreds, creating a long, snaking line of visitors – a line so long that it wrapped around the front of the Castle and edged towards the main gates.  Over 900 people waited in groups for more than an hour at a time, packed inside a hot, crowded dining hall, all to […]

Oh, yes she did! Last Sunday, Taylor Swift tweeted out her intention to vote democrat, urging her 112 million followers – yes, you read that number right – to register to vote in the upcoming U.S. midterm election. In the 24-hour period following that tweet, more than 65,000 young Americans (ages 18 to 29) had […]

This weekend, I will host my family and loved ones for a Thanksgiving meal. It will be a lively and loving affair, slightly dysfunctional by all normal family standards, and together, we will create another collective and cherished memory. Growing up in the Salvation Army, my introduction to Thanksgiving was as a Christian holiday. I […]

“Love and compassion are necessities not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive” – Dali Lama The white T-shirts are for the supporters – family, friends, colleagues, anyone who feels a desire to help.  The pink T-shirts are for the survivors – those still in treatment, those finished treatment, those whose hope grows with every day […]

The phone rang at 11:30 p.m.  I’m not exactly sure how my daughter, who was nine at the time, snuck out of the cabin, past the supposedly watchful eye of the camp counsellor.  Who knew she had the wherewithal to make a collect call.  But there she was, standing at a payphone, tearful, homesick, and […]

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence, and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” Those words by Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Office of Facebook, incapsulate what it means to be a Prefect at Trafalgar Castle School. It is not about “who’s in charge” or “who gives the orders”, […]

There’s a debate going on in many schools across North America.  Educators, students, and parents are questioning the value of Advanced Placement (AP) courses.   The debate, long taken up by educators, is gaining broader momentum, spurred on by a recent Washington Post article jointly written by the heads of eight, elite Washington-area private schools.  The […]