Christine Ho Younghusband

Political Luncheon

Adrian Dix, Leader of the BCNDP (November 25, 2012)

Always in a state of learning, I attended my first political luncheon at the Pender Harbour Legion with Adrian Dix, leader of the BCNDP, and Nicholas Simons, MLA of the Sunshine Coast.  It was an amazing experience and as you can tell, I had an amazing seat.  Upfront and personal watching both Adrian and Nicholas address a captive audience with their public speaking skills, passion, and conviction.  I loved listening to their personal stories that brought them to politics and their mutual respect for one another.  I must admit, it is much better watching them live, in person, than on TV.  It was an excellent opportunity to  meet Adrian and Nicholas face-to-face along with their spouses.  I connected with several local politicians, familiar faces, and friends.  Along with a book promotion and silent auction, this was a worthwhile fundraiser event.  Did I forget to mention that the salmon/chicken lunch was absolutely delicious.  Thank you volunteers for making this BCNDP event a success.

Can’t Please Everyone

Chocolate with Vanilla or Vanilla with Chocolate?

Yup.  It’s a box of cupcakes.  You have a choice.  However, deep down inside you wished you could have the chocolate cupcake with the chocolate icing.  Well, you can’t.  I guess you could with some serious intervention, but someone else would have to take the second cupcake.  In this situation, you can’t have both.  You could have none…. but you want to pick one.  Well, you can’t please everyone.  What a sucky message.  What I am realizing is… nothing is perfect, I have a preference, and I will not be ashamed of disclosing what I like in fear of what other people may think of me.  I’ve done that for too many years and I started to lose myself.  At one point in time, I didn’t know what I preferred.  I was too busy pleasing other people, worried about what others thought of me, and enacted in ways that was not authentic to me.  My preferences are not wrong.  Sometimes you just have to stand up for what you believe in and be OK with it.  Well, I’m OK with it.  Chocolate with vanilla please… Thank you.

Happy 2nd Anniversary

Principles of Mathematics 11 (2010)

This is a photo of one of my favorite Math 11 classes.  It is also a photo of my last day of work teaching in public schools.  This photo is bitter sweet.  On November 26, 2010 I resigned from a 16 year career teaching secondary mathematics, science, and chemistry.  I did not leave teaching because I didn’t like teaching.  I love it.  I left teaching because there was nowhere to go.  I was stuck.  How many times do I have to recreate my job to remain engaged?  Three.  Establish a continuing contract, work your way up, repost, and repeat.  This is a 5-year cycle.  After a few times, I got it.  What’s next?  Repeat the cycle?  No thank you.  What I love about education is teaching and learning.  However, pursuing a doctoral degree in education leadership was not enough.  I wanted more.  I had to walk away from my career and it has taken me 2 years to redefine myself.  Today, I feel GREAT!  I am an entrepreneur and have my own company where I consult, present, and tutor.  I am a municipal elected official as school trustee in the same school district where I taught.  I love this school district.  I am proud of the contributions I have made so far to public education as an educational leader and look forward to more.  And, I am learning.  That is the best part.  I am learning as a business owner, school trustee, and graduate student.  I feel nourished and restored.  Yes, it took me 2 years to get where I am today and it was worth it.  No regrets.  I continue to advocate for student learning, quality public education, and making mathematics fun for all.  Now that’s cool!

EdCamp Delta 2012

Delta Secondary School (My Twitter Acct is @ChristineYH)

On November 17th, I attended my first EdCamp in Delta.  EdCamp is a hat-trick of professional development I participated in last week.  What can I say about EdCamp?  I have been in the business of public education since 1994 as a high school teacher, parent, and school trustee.  I am also a doctoral student at SFU and I continue to love learning about “teaching and learning.”  EdCamp is probably one of the best, if not the best, professional learning events I have engaged in.  Conference participants could be teachers, students, trustees, principals, vice-principals, superintendents, support staff, teachers-on-call, or parents.  At the conference, no one had a title.  You were just you.  The conference begins with participants putting forward possible workshops or discussion groups they would like to see at the conference.  These ideas are posted and conference participants have 4 post-it-notes to VOTE on which 4 workshops they would like to attend.  Guess what?  All 4 that I voted for were offered and I was able to attend all 4 workshops/discussion groups.  That in itself was absolutely amazing.  It did take some time to organize the framework of the day, but it was an excellent opportunity for participants to network face-to-face or via Twitter.  I chose the latter.  The day begins and one workshop after the other I was engaged, stimulated, and inspired.  All 4 sessions I attended were absolutely amazing and personally relevant.  What was more amazing… the day started with approximately 250 attendees and the day ended with approximately 250 attendees.  That is something to acknowledge about EdCamp Delta 2012.  We are all learners.  We are all teachers.  We are all leaders.  At the conference, I learned about BYOD (bring your own device) schools, philosophized about connected leadership, enamoured by students facilitating a candid conversation about quality teaching and 21st Century Learning, and discussed with like-minded individuals about how to organize our own EdCamp.  The workshops I attended modeled 21st Century Learning with use of technology and face-to-face discussion.  At the conference, there were 28 workshops to choose from and I loved every workshop I voted for with my two feet.  The conference is free.  It is corporate free.  Lunch was donated.  It was paperless.  And, anyone is welcome.  All I can say is… I’M INSPIRED.

Look out… EdCamp Sechelt is coming… professional learning at it’s finest for all those interested in public education.

BCSSA Conference 2012

The Vancouver Conference Centre

On November 15th and 16th, I attended my first BC School Superintendents Association (BCSSA) educational leadership conference as school trustee.  What an event! “Partnerships in Personalization” was a collaborative professional development conference in partnership with other educational partners: BCASBO, BCSTA, BCPVPA, BCCPAC, FNESC, and Ministry of Education.  1200 superintendents, board office staff, school trustees, principals and vice-principals, parents, etc. were represented.  Teachers from the BCTF and Susan Lampert were also present.  Attendees came from different advocacy groups, but we all have one vested interest: our students.  My ‘academic boyfriend’ Ben Levin emphasized in the first plenary that 70% of professional learning occur in informal settings.  This was cited by conference attendees over and over again.  I do not disagree with it.  Seems ironic when we all gathered at the Vancouver Conference Centre to learn in a formal setting.  Some may have criticized the quality of the workshops and plenaries.  But, truthfully?  This traditional way of learning brought us together to learn formally and informally from each other.  We were not passive learners.  Twitter was a flurry.  A tonne of conversations were occurring online as we were in session.  I am guilty of this social media pleasure.  And, I cherished the many conversations I had with colleagues, familiar faces, and new to me folks at the breakfast table, food line up, and workshop setting.  Furthermore, I would not have met my ‘academic boyfriend’ Ben Levin and other plenaries who shared their passion for education with us.  This conference was an excellent way for school districts to celebrate what they do.  I saw workshops facilitated by SD47, SD8, and SD61.  They were all exceptional.  Twitter, blogging, or Facebook cannot express the kind of love and enthusiasm these educators had for student learning.  As you can see, this blog entry itself is trying to express those feelings and doing little justice.  So yes, I can gather information from the internet about new edu-initiatives, but I would not bother.  Personalized learning is the theme.  For me, a conference such as this one allowed me to actively share, collaborate, and provoke my professional learning, formally and informally.  Thank you BCSSA Educational Leadership Conference organizers.  I would do it again… Looking forward.

Think Again!

SFU GSS Professional Development Event

On November 14, 2012, I was peer reviewed and selected to present at the second annual THINK AGAIN! conference at SFU.  This event is organized and sponsored by the SFU Graduate Student Society (GSS).  The intent of Think Again! is to support masters and doctoral students from various faculties by providing them with an opportunity to present, network, and engage in a learning community.  This event is graduate students supporting graduate students.  The topics presented were extremely specific and personalized.  I realized that those who pursue graduate studies are pursuing their passion.  Their excitement and genuine enthusiasm for their research question, methodology, and findings took me a back.  I appreciated seeing familiar faces, meeting new people, and listening to other people’s research.  What I learned is, my research is about my passion and it is unique to me.  It’s not about pleasing others.

Love My Kid

A Sock Monkey My 9-Year Old Daughter Made

One of the things I love about my kid is her creativity.  She loves to sing, dance, and craft.  Last month, she stayed home from school because she was sick.  What does she decide to do?  She decided to craft and made three sock monkeys. She wanted to make one monkey for each member of the family.  In the photo, this is my sock monkey.  I got the first monkey.  I absolutely love it.  Here are few reasons why it’s so awesome.  First, she took my husband’s “single socks” and my sewing kit to craft.  She had no pattern or sewing instructions to follow.  All that she had was a vision.  Second, my monkey has asymmetric eyes, a quirky smile, and removable hat.  The hat even has a hole in it to accommodate for the monkey’s ears (not seen in photo).  Finally, she made it all by herself.  She has never sewn before and did it all on her own.  She got no help from me and she took great pride in her work.  Thanks hun.  I love my sock monkey.

The Right Direction

Paddling in the Dolphin Spirit at Porpoise Bay in the fog

Being at the right place with the right people at the right time having the right conversations to receive the right messages to know that you’re going in the right direction.  Has this happened to you?  Magic happens.  A perfect alignment.  Things happen for the right reasons at the right time.  On the one hand, it seems like a fluke.  On the other hand, it was meant to happen.  There is no good or bad.  It just is.  Friends will come and go.  Opportunities will present themselves or not.  In the end, timing is everything.  It is like paddling in the fog.  You’re not quite sure where you are going but you feel guided.  Listen, learn, and be patient.  Friends are around you to help.  Look around you and see who you are attracting.  This is a crude litmus to see if you are moving in the right direction.  Are you surrounded by people who are absolutely phenomenal or in pain?  Personally, I am surrounded by totally awesome people and I am grateful.

I Am Outstanding

What a whirlwind last few days… I’m not sure what the hell is happening, but what I know is… I am in the midst of change.  What do I mean by this?  No idea.  For the past few weeks, I’ve been having conversations with various people that seem to have a common theme.  I may have mentioned this phenomenon in a previous blog entry, but it struck me in the face last weekend.  I had another conversation with a friend… and BOOM.  WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?  This was a rude awakening.  I thought I was helping my friend, but in return my friend helped me.  You’re a leader… you’re a great teacher… you inspired me... blah, blah, blah.  Are you serious?  I did not realize that people felt this way about me.  I’ve always been striving and never arriving.  Apparently, I have.  If anyone tried to tell me all these good things before, I never heard you.  I guess I wasn’t ready.  Now, I hear you and I have been feeling overwhelmed for the past few days.  I’m a little excited and scared.  I’ve realized, to move towards my goal I have to LET GO of the old ideas of myself.  It’s like saying goodbye to the ‘old’ ME and hello to a ‘new’ ME.  In doing this, I think about Spencer West at WEday.  He has half a body and walks on his hands.  His mantra: REDEFINE POSSIBLE.  So what does he do?  He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.  If he can do that, I can do anything.  I will not limit myself.  My new mantra: I am outstanding.

SD46 Band Camp

Band Camp 2012 @YMCA Camp Elphinstone

A tribute to the music teachers of School District No.46 (Sunshine Coast)… THANK YOU… for all of the work you do to make MUSIC HAPPEN for our students.  I had the pleasure of attending the annual BAND CAMP at Camp Elphinstone with Trustee Lori Pratt.  The Music Local Specialist Association (LSA) orchestrates a band camp for secondary band students from all schools to learn from and work with each other, other musicians, and other music teachers.  I appreciate this community oriented event in partnership with SD46.  Students stay overnight at the YMCA camp, work in specialized groups, learn new music, and socialize with a big dance.  Family, friends, and community members are invited to attend this final event where school groups and the entire camp perform to celebrate their accomplishments.  This photo is the entire band camp and community musicians playing together a piece the students just learned during the camp.  The musicians who joined the band camp finale at the last minute were sight reading the piece.  I was so impressed.  The performance was absolutely amazing.  What a wonderful metaphor for teamwork, expertise, mentoring, and celebration.  I was deeply moved. 

Music teachers make music programs happen in public schools.  The love and passion expressed by the SD46 music teachers remind me that our students will love and feel passionate about music as much as our teachers do.  I feel fortunate that my daughter is and can be a part of this rich learning experience.  Not only does SD46 have both secondary and elementary band programs, choir groups are making a revival at both levels.  Let’s take it further, one of the SD46 music teachers informed me with genuine enthusiasm and pride that there are K-7 MUSIC PROGRAMS for all of our elementary students in all of our elementary schools taught by music subject specialists.  These subject specialty teachers are few and far between.  To have our students in SD46 to be taught by a music subject specialist in all of our elementary schools as prep time teachers impresses me even more.  This is not an easy job assignment. 

Thank you SD46 music teachers, the Music LSA, and community members for making band camp possible for our students and keeping music programs alive in our school district.  This is not an easy feat.  There are no words that can best express my gratitude.  Great job SD46 Band Camp participants.  I look forward to next year’s event.