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The Freedom to Write By Jhadiva Elliott, current Compass member

Very strange, don’t you think: starting your first year of high school and already near the end of the first semester, you hate it? That’s how I felt before I went to Compass. It began a year ago on my first day of high school and believe

DirectionsAs Jhadiva’s parents attest, Jhadiva is a rather private person. Because of this, I was a little hesitant in asking her to write for the newsletter; I did not want her to feel as if anyone was trying to breach her privacy. I needn’t have worried because Jhadiva knows how to take care of her needs. I see this every day she’s here when she takes time for herself between classes to decompress. She is a calm, gentle and consistent presence here. Throughout the past six months, we have observed Jhadiva growing more comfortable by her increased joking with her peers and ability to assert her opinions and needs. Compass seems to be an excellent fit for her: she goes to many of the classes, has a math tutor (as many of the teens here do), and is increasingly willing to try new things. She has a strong interest in the humanities, enjoys wordplay, and is a great fan of both Shakespeare and superheroes. We appreciate her humor and I’m always especially interested to hear her film reviews. Jhadiva has a strong writing voice and I’m happy that you get to experience it below.

-Abby Karos, Co-director

continued on pg 2 continued on pg 3

Snapshot: 6 months in By Abby Karos and Andre Morson, Co-directors Compass has taken off with a flying leap. We have doubled our numbers since our launch in January. Many of the teens who started by signing up for a day or two have increased the number of days they attend. Everyone who has started with us has stayed with us. We have 17 one-on-one tutorials per week for 12 teen members. The tutorials include: Japanese, cosmology, ancient Greek, photography, engineering,

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math, sculpting, reading, and creative writing. We offer 18 classes per week including media literacy, drumming, mythology, debating, biology, self-defense, conceptual physics, drawing, yoga, taking things apart/putting things together, science, herbalism, gardening, journalism, and programming. Next year expect to see such classes as “Powering Our World” and “History of Social Movements”, among many others. In our book club, teens alternate choosing the book and leading the discussion and the environment club’s latest goal has been to petition the Bronson Centre to put bike racks in front of the building. Shortly before the publication of this newsletter, we learned they were successful.

Events and outings for the pilot program have included the performance of an original play; visits to both the library and a local bookstore; participation in the “Idle No More” youth-led march; volunteering at The Otesha Project, a national youth-led organization; a visit to an art gallery; and four outdoor education days which consisted of trips to nearby wilderness areas where we studied the local flora and fauna, learned survival skills, and appreciated the natural beauty of our region. For future years we envision international service-learning trips in addition to the many field trips we already take.

Over the course of the pilot program, we have had 31 volunteers teaching our teens, many of who will be returning next year with class ideas in mind. Our volunteers are passionate about what they teach. Among

them are science teacher Dahlia Tanasoiu, who spent 10 years as a science educator at the Museum of Nature; journalism co-teacher Brielle Morgan, who is finishing her last semester in a Master of Journalism

program at Carleton; and drama co-teacher Amber Matin, who is a novelist and playwright and directs at the University of Ottawa for an organization called Unity for Action. Amber Matin co-wrote the script, along with fellow teacher Nayha Rizvi, for the play that Compass teens recently performed entitled “Malibu Barbo”. The phone keeps on ringing with potential volunteers on the other end of the line.

Our board is supportive and invested. Every single one of our board members has volunteered at Compass;

some do so on a weekly basis.

Our founding families have agreed to sign their teenagers up for an untested, bold, and unconventional program. They teach, donate, drive, photograph, create newsletters, offer expertise, bake, and spend hours organizing fundraisers. Compass is a strong community.

The teens themselves are thriving in this dynamic community. Volunteers come and

go throughout the day, teens are free to go out into their community to buy pizza, check out a gaming store, or simply take a walk. They can be connected to the world around them and use the resources of the wider community to interact with, learn from, be a part of. Within our community at Compass we have weekly community meetings, “crew meetings” where we talk about our current projects and goals, one-on-one advisory meetings, and “annoyance meetings” where staff and teens learn to communicate with each other over issues that are real and immediate. Oscar Wilde famously quipped that the problem with democracy was too many meetings. In that sense, we are well equipping our teens to be engaged citizens of a community – and helping them learn a good deal about themselves in the process.

Snapshot - continued

Making masks One-on-one tutoring

Drumming

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it or not, I was excited. During the first semester, things went pretty well and it was also the semester where I found what I most enjoy doing now: drawing and writing. In my first month of high school, my classmates and I were given an assignment to write a three-page short story. At first I found it difficult to do because I couldn’t think about a topic to write about, but for some reason the topic of superheroes wouldn’t leave my mind. I started working on it right after school and I handed in my finished story neatly and on time. A few days later, the teacher gave us our marks for our stories and much to my surprise I got a good mark. That experience made me realize that I wanted to write more.

But as time went by I forgot about my desire to write more because I was constantly focused on assignments and homework that didn’t matter to me. Worst of all, I had a depressed attitude because I felt I was the “black sheep” of the class. While all the other kids had groups of friends, I had none. Every time there were partner activities in my class, I was always assigned a partner because I didn’t try to find one for myself. Anyone who I was partnered with seemed reluctant to be with me and most of them were noisy and disruptive while I was quiet and well behaved.

On the last week of the first semester, my dad and I had a talk about how school was really going. I told him about how I felt like I was constantly ignored in my class - a loner if you will. So he suggested that I quit school and homeschool instead. At first I was unsure about the thought, but I took some time to think about it and eventually I said yes.

During the end of the holidays, we got ready for my new start at Compass and I went to the Bronson Centre to see how I would do there. I had a good first day and started to go more often. At first I was the only girl there, other than one of the instructors, Abby. This situation lasted until Raven came; she is very nice and loves photography and, like me,

loves to write and/or draw. Since coming to Compass, I have started to feel happier because I’m doing the subjects that best suit me and I feel free to speak my mind and express myself.

Anyway, what I think about Compass is that I recommend it to any teen who feels they’re not getting enough out of regular school. It’s fun, the people here are nice and who knows - maybe you’ll make new friends here too.

Freedom to Write - continued

As time went by I forgot about my desire to write more because I was constantly focused on assignments and homework that didn’t matter to me.

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Compass member Raven has a keen interest in photography. She has been working with a photography instructor for the last few months. This is a sample of some of her recent work.

1 Friends

2 Bike Love

3 The Race

4 Gardening

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Compass on the Move

Gatineau Park

Heading to the library

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A New Start at CompassBy Jhadiva’s parents and step-mom: Andrew

Elliott, Avril McIntosh, & Sylvie Gervais

Jhadiva’s first schooling experience was at a Montessori school. She was engaged, enjoyed learning and had lots of friends. Unfortunately, we were not able to keep her at Montessori and Jhadiva continued her schooling in the regular school system. She was a good student and enjoyed her elementary and middle school experiences.

We have always taught Jhadiva to think for herself, to make her own decisions, to take action and be her best self - the way she chooses to be. Jhadiva is a very quiet and private teenager. She gets her strength from spending time on her own, her private time. She is also a very caring person and enjoys taking care of others. She loves the humanities, especially film and drama and enjoys science as well. Her knowledge of cinema is unbelievable, and her approach to it is not only as a spectator, but also as a creator.

Last September, she started high school. Given her private nature, we, like many parents, worried about this new step in her life. At this point, we started to research homeschooling and alternative learning models. In spite of our fears, the first few months were great and, as Jhadiva mentioned in her article, she was engaged and discovered the world of writing short stories and their link to the cinema. But Jhadiva’s behavior was slowly changing: she was not as interested in school and it was clear that something was changing for her. She was struggling in silence without letting us know how school was affecting her. She was feeling increasingly alone, isolated, and left out by her peers. She was losing interest, retreating into herself, and becoming less and less engaged and angrier. Although it may be typical of teenagers to retreat from their parents and want to explore on their own, we realised that she was not happy. Suddenly, her

grades started to slip, even in her favorite subject of drama. She was losing interest; she had almost lost the joy of learning.

We were keeping a very close eye on her: her moods and well-being. One evening, after a series of events, it became obvious to us that we needed to take her out of school and look at other alternatives.

This is when we discovered Compass through the homeschooling network. Wow, what a change – Jhadiva is almost back! Since going to Compass, she is has once again become more engaged and open to learning. She explores various subjects, allows herself to be exposed to different ways of learning; she’s making friends and is more and more assertive in her choices. In short, she loves going to Compass. When she does not like a subject, she tells us that it is not in her best interest to pursue it further. But for us parents, the most rewarding aspect is that she is happy and is regaining the joy of learning. She is able to make choices around when and how she wants to learn. Thank you Abby and André for making Compass a great learning space.

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Instructor Profile: Amber MatinAmber Matin is a volunteer Drama instructor at Compass. She and Nayha Rizvi worked together with Compass teens to stage a production of an original play entitled “Malibu Barbo”.

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a teacher. I’d take the leadership role and pass on as much knowledge as I could. Before my teenage years I wrote fiction as a hobby. Then in sophomore year my best friend dragged me to sign up for the after school drama program with her. That was the day I fell in love. The stage isn’t just a place to perform but a place for self-expression. To me, theatre is where I can bring my scripts and literature to life.

I started my freshman year at Carleton University taking English and Linguistics, but that didn’t last very long. I am currently a student at Algonquin College studying Media Communications and Advertising. I’ve also taken courses in creative writing and illustration. In regards to drama, I was fortunate enough to co-write and co-direct with Unity for Action. They are a non profit student run organization at the University of Ottawa who connect, motivate and inspire individuals to use their passions to create positive change in society.

I found out about Compass through the Ottawa Volunteer page. Initially, teaching hadn’t even crossed my mind. There were so many options available. I just crossed my fingers and emailed everybody. Compass was the first one to reply back to me and I’m so glad they did too. Without them I would have never met Nayha Rizvi. Co-teaching with her for the past three months has been the best. The environment at Compass is truly different from a public school. It’s not just a place of learning but a second home. These teens come together in a way that makes them look like a family. It took commitment, aspiration and solid teamwork to make the production of Malibu Barbo possible. I wish I could write down all their names to thank them individually because they are the reason I want to return next year. I can’t wait to do another show with them.

Fan MailChristiane Zeithammel, parent

...I wanted to mention that Joshie had a great first week at Compass. He is pumped and motivated. Haven’t seen this little person like this for a long time. I am happy to see him that way!

Five months later:

Joshie continues to flourish at Compass. Every day he is excited and cant wait to get to the centre. Joshie especially enjoys his freedom and the nurturing environment. He is again a happy, bubbly teenager. A big thank you to the Compass Team!

Amber Matin (left) and Nayha Rizvi, volunteer Drama instructors

Joshie

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Taking Things Apart, drummed with a volunteer named Krishnan, made sushi in Cooking, discussed the ramifications of invisible cloaks in our Current Events class, and explored mythology, computer programming, biology, conceptual physics, logic puzzles, and drawing, among other subjects. We also went to the park and played frisbee. Teens at Compass went to the above classes voluntarily. The first of our Seven Principles is that “young people want to learn” and we put this principle in practice by trusting our teens to make choices that are right for them.

If we expect teens to become engaged democratic citizens, we need to allow them the freedom to practice making real choices for themselves, to learn how to become self-advocates, and to become involved in their communities, not just after-hours behind a fast food cash register. In short, to learn who they are, what they love doing, and how to go about seeking the life and community they desire. Another one of our core beliefs is that “structure communicates as powerfully as words – and often

more so.” What kind of citizens are we teaching our youth to become by requiring them to attend institutions where they have no real freedom? The structure of traditional schools speaks volumes about the low level of trust we have in our teens, something that does not escape them.

We trust that children can learn to walk and talk, but then suddenly lose faith in humans’ innate ability to learn once they reach school age. Why do we not listen to the brightest minds of our species who tell us repeatedly, to quote Albert Einstein that “…the holy curiosity of inquiry… this delicate little plant,

Self-Direction Takes Rootby Abby Karos, Co-director

We have nearly completed our six-month pilot program here at Compass in Ottawa, the first self-directed learning centre in Canada. We offer no grades or diplomas at Compass and hold no custodial power over the teen “members” who use our space. Our teens are legally considered homeschoolers. Some come from families that were already homeschooling, while most leave the school system and come to us for a variety of reasons. Some were academic stars in school; others were not. Our teens are not easily pigeonholed and neither is Compass; we are not “Last Chance High”, nor are we an academic academy.

The common denominator among our teens is that they all wanted to leave school (unless they were already home-schooling), were willing to do so, and had parents who were willing to let them at least give us a try. Each teen has an appointed staff mentor with whom he or she meets regularly to discuss how things are going. At Compass the reasons why a teen did not finish an agreed-upon assignment or go to a class she was looking forward to are just as important and interesting as the actual completed assignment or the contents of the class.

In the past week our teens have taken apart and reassembled an egg incubator in

Taking Things Apart with André Morson, Compass Co-director, (centre)

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aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom…”?

As adults, we expect things of teenagers that we do not expect of ourselves. Adults are not required to excel in topics as divergent as physics and writing, drawing and math, music and history. Yet we dangle the carrot of high grades and the stick of failure in front of teens to coerce them to run through the gauntlet of required courses. If I, as an adult, choose not to attend my book club this month because I did not have time to read the book, my fellow book club members do not berate me and threaten me with a low mark. Yet, we expect teens to be invested in subjects that hold little interest for them and will do virtually nothing to further their future careers, let alone their intellectual or emotional development.

If taking all of the required high school courses was nothing more than a waste of teenagers’ time, then perhaps it would be just that: a sheer waste of time and taxpayer money. However, the real crime is that it subverts their natural curiosity and makes learning seem for outward gain and, all too often, downright tedious.

As adults, we allow ourselves the luxuries of making mistakes, of missing out on something interesting and then regretting it; of choosing the wrong university major, the wrong career, the wrong life partner. The stakes rise as we get older. Imagine if we allowed teenagers more freedom to make mistakes during a time in their lives when the stakes are lower

(less money wasted on expensive university educations for starters) and when they have a support system of family and mentors to guide them.

Not holding a high school diploma is not a barrier to entering university. If they choose to go on to university, Compass members would typically be admitted in one of three ways: as a homeschooling applicant, by enrolling in an open university, or as a mature student if they wait until after a certain age to apply (usually age 21). Most universities have a page on their admissions webpages targeted specifically for the homeschooling applicant.

After the first few months of Compass’ opening, I took an informal poll of members’ impressions:

“I like how you can do as much learning as you want and when you need to, you can take a break.” “In a normal school, they insist you pay attention to people telling you something you already know.” “I like how you can choose what you want to do rather than having someone choose for you.” “Amazing, wonderful, I don’t think it can get any better than this.”

Compass reads with Abby Karos, Co-director (centre)

Compass Centre for Self-Directed Learning

Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Ave #224

Ottawa, ON K1R 6H5

Tel: (613) 916-6303

www.compassteens.org

Email: info@compassteens.org

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