A new semester at the Cortes Island Academy

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Academy kicked off its second year with a ‘meet and greet’ barbeque on Tuesday, September 5. Students and homestay parents met with some of the people working behind the scenes. School started the following day.


“Right now, the students are just going back into the classroom after being in Carrington for the last four days on a camping trip that started on the weekend and went into the week.  They are still in the  outdoor education fundamentals getting to know each other part of the semester,” explained Manda Aufochs Gillespie, the Academy’s principal Board member.


“This semester we're trying a number of new things with the Cortes Island Academy. We learned a lot from last year, the successes and the things that we could improve upon. One of the things that we're doing this year is more consistent facilitation throughout the whole program.”


“We are so, so excited to be welcoming Michael Detora as the new principal at the Cortes Island School,and also our new lead school teacher. All the students who come to the Cortes Island Academy now are registered as students in the school.  It's his job to help keep us on track as far as getting the kids their high school credits and assessing the resources and skills available through School District 72. So, if they're getting an English new media credit, and they have to learn the skills of basic composition and being able to analyze text in a particular way, we have to figure out a way to do that, to prove that we've done it and he helps us make sure that we're doing that.” 


“He's a neat guy: young, vibrant, full of new ideas with a background in experiential education, particularly for rural and remote communities. He's written two books, and produced a hip hop album.”


“Let me tell you a couple of things that are super, super exciting. We still are doing the block method as part of the Cortes Island Academy and in the block method, you deep dive into a particular subject. These are long days, a lot of project oriented material. We are also weaving through this year, more of the outdoor education and physical education parts, the leadership and the careers and helping us make sure that there's continuity. We have Kai Harvey leading us,  coming in at least once  and sometimes many times a week.” 


“Kai and Tosh Harvey are leading this first block, which is a deep dive into science. Before the science block, they're leading what they're calling fundamentals, which is really about team building, getting to know deeply the local place around them before they start with all the science tools and principles.”


“After the science, they are doing a deep dive this year into a First People's block and they will be led by Michael Detora.  They'll also have in the classroom with them a number of different local knowledge holders, everyone from Kai to Odette Auger and Rex Weyler, et cetera.  Then Reel Youth will also be there as students learn the basics of documentary filmmaking and work with elders in the community to interview and bring out some of  their stories.” 


“The third block is the English new media block, which the students also participated in last year, where they learned the basics of truth telling,  or what we usually refer to as journalism, but how journalism has come about through time and our ideas of truth telling  and our tools for truth telling have changed over time.”