Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School

     Monday I had a pleasant morning visiting groups of Grade 7/8 students at Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School in London.  Since the visit required an early start, and a drive through Toronto rush hour in the early morning was just a stupid idea, we decided to go to London on Sunday and stay over.  Driving through the big smoke we tuned into AM 1010 and heard Mayor Rob Ford's not-so-mea-culpas.   I couldn't believe it. You can't make this stuff up.

 We spent the night in London, saw Shirley's old house, and thanks to the Writer's Union Writers In The Schools (WITS) program, we had enough subsidy so we could afford the little luxury of a nice hotel.

The school was very friendly and well-organized. I had been invited by the Teacher/Librarian Mrs. Popovic, to talk about Leaving Fletchville, which they had in the library, and also Canadian Disasters. Mrs. Popovic is the friendly kind of T/L that has all sorts of people coming to her library just to hang out and say hello and get lessons ready.  She warmly welcomed me and helped me find the electronics.  My laptop wouldn't connect to their system, but after some frantic moments and last minute sage advice, we got started.

As I was getting ready I also noticed the principal. Old school. He was standing centrally, greeting, observing, being friendly and knowing kids' names.  My old supply-teacher instincts told me I would have a good day here.  And I did.
Besides the active and welcoming principal, there was a relaxed staff and well mannered kids.  They even laughed in all the right places and perhaps heard of a few books which would appeal to reluctant readers.  I got a chance to use my new iphone 5 and do the panorama shot you see below.

Two groups came and we had fun.  A few disabled kids were integrated into and a socially strong part of the class.
So, yeah, sometimes I miss it.
A great day.