Evan Hardy Collegiate Open House

[Music] one of the things that stands out is the kindness of the students and the receptiveness and excitement to learn thing that was new for me when we would wrap up a class and i would say that's it have a great day they would leave and say thank you and be excited to come back again and just very kind gracious people i find students and staff at evan hardy very accepting of each other it doesn't matter what their background is doesn't matter what home life they come from doesn't matter what they're eating for lunch doesn't matter what they're wearing that day everybody includes everybody and gets to know each other ever since i started at hardy i probably would have described it as a welcoming place especially from the students they seem to embrace you with open arms especially if you're doing things like extracurricular i i have been directing the musical now since i started here and that group has just embraced me so so openly i feel like the building is it's it's involved the thing people are missing by not having an in-person open house this year is seeing how many of our students are back here for that night just buzzing around the building doing stuff and so we have such a good core of students that are they're heavily involved in in all aspects of the school life i was really excited by the the close-knitness very like family orientated as opposed to like a business so that was really really awesome experience it's a friendly place i just think the kids are so wonderful so polite so friendly and same with the staff when i think about evan hardy i think about excellence and you know when we talk about excellence it's really easy to think about things like math contests or athletic championships um but i think that evan hardy is about excellence everywhere whether you're a student who's struggling you know we try to help you to achieve you know excellence in your own lane um so i think excellence is the first word that comes to mind but that's not just a thing for people that are winning awards that's a thing for people that are striving to all kinds of things [Music] i've been at evan hardy for four years the arts here are really spectacular i found that it was the one way that i could contribute to a better world and especially through drama and the arts and i found a lot of joy in being that kind of influence on young people i think our teen years are so formative and there's so much to learn from teenagers and i hope to be a positive impact in in some of our students lives i've been here 22 years and this is home for me dad taught here at the end of his career i grew up in the neighborhood so i've been exposed to this building since i was 10 years old i only ever saw myself being a music teacher in fact in grade 6 i told my beginner band teacher that i was going to be a band teacher i'm one of the lucky ones that didn't think one time about any other career and here i am year 25 still doing it i i did a work placement program thing through regional employment development i got a chance to work at inner city schools with some young kids underprivileged kids that i've made a lot of connections with princess alexander and white buffalo here in saskatoon and and just those connections just seeing you know the way they worked and and the help that they that they needed really made me want to get into education and i was always good at art and so i figured put the two together work with kids and create some art i got into education because i really enjoyed my phys ed teachers in high school they were strong positive female role models in my life well my parents are both teachers my dad's a math teacher my mom's a math teacher um her teaching assignment at evan hardy was she taught math in room 217 and computer applications in room 218 and my first teaching assignment was i taught math in room 217 in my later applications in room 218. i got into education after high school i determined from previous jobs that i really enjoyed helping people and kids and education i saw where i could include some of my passions of sewing cooking being active having fun and i figured that was a way i could include them both is through teaching kids we've got a really awesome community of artists from visual artists to musicians to actors and writers and producers i'm always always blown away with the talent at this school it's so professional like it's it's hard to describe but i every time i watch students perform or put their art together i'm like this is not what most people expect at a high school level it's beyond that and it just seems to be the nature of things here there's no pressure to be at that level they just are well as soon as you walk into evan hardy you can feel the warmth it's a very warm place kind everyone is kind staff students you can tell that people really care about each other and want them to succeed but also there are very bright people in this building both students and staff you can feel the energy and the eagerness to learn just look at our wall of fame this building is academic we challenge kids the ap programming that we're bringing in and we're pushing kids to to achieve as much as they possibly can and i think the last one is it's just got a good feel to it's a home and a little bias because of how long i've been here and how long i've been part of the building but when you look at our extracurricular and the teams that go through here those groups of kids become become a community of their own and it goes on beyond the time that they spend here very diverse you got a little bit of the whole world here basically which is really awesome accepting is definitely another word everybody is able to be their own person here i went to media school and i decided to stay at evan hardy partially because of the program and the vibe it brings to the building but also just because i fell in love with the school community and i really found a place here where i was comfortable being who i am and where i felt like i belonged i feel like i know her teachers because they have really connected with her and she has been able to pass those experiences on to me anytime i've sent an email it's been replied to quickly and i really feel like they understand my daughter and her educational experience and have really contributed to it what i love about eal is getting to learn a lot about different people's cultures and that's really the best part i think is there's so many different people in one room getting to learn from one another and everybody has a common goal learning english and just yeah learning more about canadian culture and society i think the biggest thing at evan hardy is we are a bit of a smaller school a bit of a smaller collegiate and i definitely think it's easier to build relationships whether it's with their peers or with their teachers i know a lot of teachers want to build those relationships with their students and we're able to because of the smaller numbers and oftentimes we can know most of the kids in our in our school and like any family you know we've got a lot of people with a lot of different interests and needs and one of the cool things about evan hardy is i think that we meet a lot of those needs you know we've got everything from sports teams to musicals to bands media school advanced placement programs so you know we really try to make our students have a lot of opportunities and we also try to support them you know in a very sort of family style setting i think as a grade a grade 8 student you should think about coming to evan hardy because we are very caring we offer so many opportunities for kids to be involved our athletic programs feature kids from grade nine to twelve and the soccer program i'm involved with we actually have a team that is grades nine to 12. in the fall we have cross country and football soccer and volleyball in the winter we offer wrestling and basketball and curling and then in the spring we have badminton track and field and golf programs that aren't offered you know at any other schools are where they're very different from other schools i have nothing but good things to say about the teachers they've all been very helpful very supportive they really want to make sure that you do the best that you can and evan hardy has a really great arts program which has really been a great way to express my creativity and connect with other people who feel the same way that's not just limited to optional classes i think you can pursue many different avenues of expertise here and i think i think that's one of the strengths that that hardy really does have if you want to be really academic we have those options for you if you want to be really artistic we have those options for you if you want to work on practical skills we have those options for you too an energetic vibe i think to our school a positive atmosphere the teachers are supportive i would say that evan hardy collegiate is a school to choose if you want to try new things and be supported in trying that the teachers enjoy teaching students and helping students learn to their best of their ability and hopefully you fall in love with the building and the people in it the same way i did well as a parent of a young one who had to choose a high school i remember the nervousness and the anxiousness about being lost in the building and nobody really gets lost here there is something for everyone if you don't want a place that's you know available option too so there's lots of activities um no matter what you're into i think you can find your place here and that's what's really great about evan hardy so if you're a student who's looking to broaden your horizons this is the place for you you know it's a great building for that and the other nice thing is that we're all learning together all the time you know your teachers will make mistakes you will make mistakes but because it's a supporting place those mistakes are okay i was just talking to a student today and he is new to evan hardy and he said he loves this school he finds that everybody cares about him it's fun and he's just much happier here than he has been in the past but i know that evan hardy has given me a really good foundation so i feel prepared for whatever comes ahead this place is home kind excellence relationship building diverse fun energetic welcoming optimistic and hopeful inclusive it's academically challenging warm positive friendly creative learning diverse bright accepting provides opportunities collaborative and supportive media school is offered to saskatoon public school students in grade 11 for a semester it integrates credits such as active living fitness leadership ela 20 and communication media 20 and 30 through the lens of filmmaking [Music] each student filmmaker showcases their short films in an oscar night complete with awards [Music] for our senior souls looking for additional academic rigor evan hardy collegiate offers the most advanced placement courses in saskatoon these courses challenge students beyond the regular curriculum and offer the opportunity to take an exam which could earn them university credits [Music] welcome to the autism resource program or arp students who are enrolled in this program have additional supports to meet their personal and academic goals here at evan hardy collegiate this room is their support class but students are also enrolled in classes throughout the building this exciting space is home to our functional life skills students the fls class can often be found helping around the school with initiatives such as recycling or changing the letters for the evan hardy lawn sign students here learn many skills [Music] have you ever wanted to learn more about woodworking this room buzzes with the sounds of students and machines creating beautiful objects this environment fosters creativity and a hands-on setting and the best part is that you keep what you make [Music] what could be more practical than learning how to feed yourself with healthy ingredients these kitchens allow students to practice cooking and meal preparation skills and yes you can eat what you make if that isn't enough there's the opportunity to learn how to sew hand stitching as well as learning how to properly use a sewing machine are skills which will benefit you beyond high school [Music]