This week's Student of the Week is Victor K!

Victor is one of KG's many "Boomerang Students". He decided to leave in grade eleven for "greener pastures" (Kits I believe) but soon returned to us at King George (it's a common occurrence). I think KG is definitely where he belongs. He's like the stereotypical KG kid (and not JUST because he is Eastern European): charismatic, loud, personable, friendly, and funny.

One thing I must acknowledge about Victor is the tremendous improvement his has made in Math - especially in his grade 12 year. Sometimes in grade 10 and 11 Victor let his "strong social skills" take away from his math work. But this year, he is doing a great job staying focused in class and getting good marks (in a harder course, no less). In fact, I have heard other teachers at our school comment on what a great job Victor is doing this year as well (way to go, VK!!). 

Perhaps not everyone would agree however... Although it happened very recently, one of my all-time favourite memories will have to be the Natasha Tar / Victor Klinkera Dodgeball Incident from mere weeks ago. I was privileged to have this story related to me by Natasha herself, at bookclub. It was utterly hilarious. It was me and about 12 girls and I'll never forget them all bonding over their frustration with Victor's (and, to be fair, other boys too) painful Dodgeball shots to the neck and face. And then, when I asked Victor about it in class the next day, he seemed so authentically embarrassed and sorry about the whole thing (he really did, Natasha!!!). 

I've never played Victor in a game of Dodgeball but I have taught him on three different occasions (PreCalculus 10, 11, and 12). And I have to say that he has never been anything but totally cheerful, polite, and warm with me. He's one of those (kind of rare, though not so much at KG) students who ALWAYS says "hello" and "good-bye Mr Wadge" and often even "thanks" (which kind of surprised me in grade 10 and 11 when I wasn't sure what he was thankful for sometimes). With Victor, you can tell that he really means what he says. There is nothing fake or "put-on" about him. It's for this reason that his daily greetings are especially appreciated!

Thanks Victor, for coming back to King George. I have always enjoyed having you in my class. I will always remember your expressive face (inquisitive. Confused. Delighted. Annoyed. You are an easy person to read!) which, for the most part, always had a big smile on it. May you always remain your warm and jovial self. All the best to you!

Thanks Molly!

This week's Student of the Week is Braque H (photo please!)

Where do you start with this guy? By now, you all know what a talented guy Braque is. But I didn't know him at all when I first taught him in grade 10. After a chapter or two it became clear that Braque was a good Math student... a REALLY good math student. Then I assigned a project: students had to create a flag (for the mythical land of Mathlandia) using trigonometry. I promised that the best flag (as voted on by my grade 8's) would be displayed at the front of the class all year.

Well, when I was marking and came to Braque's I was like "WHAT!!! How can this guy ALSO be such a good artist??". Not surprisingly, his flag won (and is STILL hanging at the front of the class). Since then, I've seem more of his art work (including an unbelievable pointillism portrait of Ms. E) and they are absolutely extraordinary. Doesn't seem fair that someone can be such a good scholar AND artist... but Braque is.

Weird Braque story: a few years ago, relatives of my wife's came to Vancouver (from Quebec) to spend a year. They rented a place near King George (the kids actually attended KG) from a family who were away for a year of travel themselves. We went over quite a few times to their place for dinner, etc (it was in the same building as Mr Warrington's place). Anyway, fast forward to this year when Sophia and Braque were doing a group project together. They met at Braque's house and, afterwards, Sophia was telling us what a weird sense of deja vu she had at his house. Then we figured it out... that's right, I've eaten at Braque's house multiple times... and never knew it until years later! hahaha

The thing that I am most thankful of, when it comes to Braque, is that he chose to take Foundations 11 and 12, instead of PreCalculus. I mean, this guy is one of the strongest students in the entire grade. Him taking Foundations kind of gave credibility to the whole course. His classmates couldn't really use the "It's only Foundations" excuse to give a poor effort, when Braque is sitting in the same classroom. If Foundations was an easy, joke of a class (IT IS NOT IN ANY WAY!!!) Braque wouldn't be taking it at all, would he? I honestly believe that his mere presence, as well as the incredible work ethic he displays in class (big shout out to Lucas S. who sits with Braque and works just as hard), has played a large part in making these last two years of Foundations a truly rewarding experience for me. 

Thanks, Braque, for trusting me and taking Foundations these past two years. You have truly made a difference. And, thanks, also for everything you do at our school. We are very lucky to have had you at KG over the past five (well, actually four, right?) years. I know you have big plans for yourself and I don't see what could stop you from achieving them. May you remain such an enthusiastic, personable, and warm-hearted person... and I'm sure you will!