& Leaders LearnersLearners The official magazine of the Canadian Association of School System Administrators Association canadienne des gestionnaires de commissions scolaires Winter 2025-2026 Leading the Way in STEM Education Excellence Canada Post Mail Publications Agreement Number: 40609661Winter 2025-2026 5 | Winter 2025-2026 | Winter 2025-2026 PUBLISHED FOR: Canadian Association of School System Administrators / Association canadienne des gestionnaires de commissions scolaires 1123 Glenashton Drive Oakville, Ontario L6H 5M1 Tel: 905-845-4254 www.cassa-acgcs.ca PUBLISHED BY: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. 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MESSAGES 7 A Message from the CASSA/ACGCS President 9 A Message from the CASSA/ACGCS Executive Director FEATURES 10 From Listening to Leading: Our Journey into Scholastic Esports 12 Streamlined School Improvement: Planning for Student Success using a SAP Template and Monitoring Tool 16 Leading the Way in STEM Educational Excellence: STEM Innovation Academy 18 It Takes a Village: Embedding Indigenous Education into Schools 21 Engaging and Empowering Gifted Learners: 30 Years of Innovation at Westmount Charter School LEADERSHIP LEARNING 24 Leading for Flourishing: Transformative Leadership in Complex Educational Ecosystems 26 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS Contents On the cover: This issue’s cover features students from the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) all girls Sparkanovas team working on their robot, an exemplar of ISTEM in action. Turn to page 16 to learn more. Photo courtesy of Joanne Higgins.Winter 2025-2026 7 I hope you are all doing well and ready for another exciting opportunity to read and learn from colleagues from across the country. Our Winter issue of Leaders & Learners is filled with many great articles and has something for everyone. In November, I had the opportunity to take part in the Canadian Schools Mental Health Network meeting. The meeting focused on screen time for youth and was animated by MediaSmarts. The session was thought-provoking, and I am going to share some of the elements and thoughts that I took away from that session. The ubiquity of digital technologies has transformed the developmental landscape for contempo- rary youth. Screens – whether in the form of smartphones, tablets, or computers – are now central to education, socialization, and leisure. The heavy use of technology has prompted much debate regard- ing the implications of screen time on cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. While concerns about excessive use remain valid, an exclusively restrictive approach risks oversimplifying a complex phenomenon. Instead, what is being discussed is the need to have academic discourse around agency and autonomy in young people’s interactions with media. We know all too well that social media platforms have been implicated in reinforcing social com- parison and identity pressures. In many cases they become an addition with adverse effects which we are currently trying to counter. With that said, some digital environments also afford opportunities for creativity, knowledge acquisition, and civic engagement. The critical question is not whether youth should engage with screens, but how they can do so in ways that promote intentionality and self-regulation. Agency and autonomy constitute foundational principles in developmental psychology and media literacy. When students exercise informed decision-making regarding their media consump- tion, they develop metacognitive strategies that extend beyond the digital sphere. The notion that we work on frameworks that encourage reflective engagement. For instance, interrogating the affective and cognitive dimensions of media use – through questions such as “What motivates your engage- ment with this platform?” – can foster critical awareness and mitigate passive consumption. There is still a need for guidance by adults as they serve as models for balanced practices and establishing collaborative norms. Working with schools and families is critical to support the student. The theoretical shift from control to empowerment aligns with contemporary pedagogical paradigms emphasizing learner-centered approaches. Thinking of our students as active agents rather than passive recipients reframes media engagement as a site of identity construction and participatory culture. Encouraging goal-setting, self-monitoring, and evaluative reflection operationalizes autono- my in practical terms, fostering resilience in an increasingly digitized society. In conclusion, as we deal with cell phone restrictions and litigation against social media plat- forms, it is also important to be thinking about the impacts on our students’ mental well-being. Their future is with technology in hand. Mike Helm President, CASSA/ACGCS Michael Helm CASSA/ACGCS President | Message from the CASSA/ACGCS President | Motivating Engagement and Critical AwarenessWinter 2025-2026 9 | Message from the CASSA/ACGCS Executive Director | Reg Klassen CASSA/ACGCS New Executive Director This past fall as I went south and spent nine days golfing. The weather was pristine, the courses were beautiful, and I was in heaven. This has become an annual trip for me and a buddy of mine, even though my golf game has never been much to talk about. However, my continual love affair with the sport is unending. The serenity of a perfectly struck shot, the quiet of a morning on the course, and the camaraderie among players, those pieces I love. But there are the shanked shots, missed putts, and the endless reminder that perfection is fleeting, that is what I hate about the game. Jack Nicklaus captured this beautifully: “Golf is not, and never has been, a fair game. But that’s why we love it.” Consider Bobby Jones, the legendary amateur who dominated the 1920s. Jones once remarked, “Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball where it lies.” His career was filled with moments of brilliance and heartbreak, none more famous than the 1925 U.S. Open when he called a penalty on himself for a ball that barely moved. No one else saw it. No official called it. But Jones did. He insisted on a penalty stroke against himself, a decision that ultimately cost him the championship. When praised for his hon- esty, Jones famously replied, “You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank.” Golf has always been a game of contradictions. Walter Hagen, the flamboyant star of the 1920s, embodied its joyful side. He would arrive late to tournaments, sometimes partially dressed and looking like he had a wild night, yet dazzle crowds with his fearless play. His philosophy was simple: “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” Hagen’s carefree resilience reminds us that life, like golf, is not about perfection but about savoring the journey. Hagen’s resilience – often recovering from disastrous starts to win major titles – reminds us that setbacks are not endings but opportunities for comebacks. Then there was Ben Hogan, a story of struggle turned triumph that hard to comprehend. His career nearly ended in 1949 when a bus accident shattered his body. Doctors doubted he would walk again, let alone compete. Yet Hogan returned to win six more majors, his steely determina- tion summed up in his mantra: “The most important shot in golf is the next one.” His story is a testa- ment to resilience, showing us that setbacks can be the soil from which greatness grows. My love-hate relationship with golf is not a flaw – it’s the essence of the game. From Jones’ honesty to Hagen’s joie de vivre and Hogan’s grit, the legends of earlier eras reveal that the struggle is the point. Golf teaches patience, humility, and resilience, offering lessons that extend far beyond the course. And perhaps that’s why, despite the heartbreak, we keep coming back, because in its unending struggle, golf teaches us how to live. Golf as the Ultimate Teacher CASSA Board of Directors President Michael Helm Past President Kevin Kaardal President Elect Clint Moroziuk CASS (Alberta) David Keohane and Reagan Weeks LEADS (Saskatchewan) Ben Grebinski and Stacy Lair MASS (Manitoba) Barb Isaak, Jenness Moffatt, and Dan Ward OSCOA (Ontario) John Kostoff and Lorrie Naar NWTSA (Northwest Territories) Souhail Soujah ADGESBQ (Quebec) Cindy Finn AAESQ (Quebec) Evelyne Alfonsi and David Chisholm RNDGÉ Andrée Newell NBSSA (New Brunswick) Pamela Wilson NLASSA (Newfoundland and Labrador) Kirk Smith BCSSA (British Columbia) Gino Bondi and Cheryl Lenardon AASA Eastern Rep Kirk Smith AASA Western Rep Kevin Garinger PSAANS (Nova Scotia) Tim Simony Directors at Large Tracy Beaulieu (Prince Edward Island)Next >