Adrienne Chong, Rob Cotey, Mark Melnyk

Year: 2009 – Province: Ontario

Certificate of Achievement Recipient

Markville Secondary School
1000 Carlton Road
Markham ON L3P 7P5

Principal: Steve Bewcyk
School Tel.: 905-940-8840
School Fax: 905-940-8895
School Website: www.markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

Subjects and Grades Taught: Canadian and world history, world politics and world religions in grades 10 to 12

Sometimes the teaching team of Adrienne Chong, Rob Cotey and Mark Melnyk get so excited about their students' work that they stop class to show it off. They also encourage students to push themselves and reward their efforts by celebrating their successes with programs like the Markville International Relations Online Journal. Students, in turn, recognize the support the teachers gave them: four recent valedictorians asked the team to introduce them at graduation because they had worked so closely with them over the years.

Teaching Approach

This teaching team strives to create a learning environment in which students are increasingly challenged to take power over their education. Striking a balance between the use of technology and human interaction, the teachers give students a voice while equipping them with the knowledge they need to become responsible and active citizens in both the school community and the world.

Outstanding Achievements

• The Markville history department's comprehensive website has proven to be a valuable resource for students, parents and other educators. This portal is the hub of the team's Classroom of the Future. This paperless environment pushes the teachers to try new teaching methods, conceive new learning experiences and offer exciting collaborative projects. The team puts all its lessons up on the site, as well as assignments and exemplars. Students report that the resources available on the site keep them on task, help them meet deadlines and lead them to further learning.
• The team encourages students to use a variety of technology to present what they have learned. Some recent examples are a video on World War II, a multimedia presentation about Marie Antoinette, a clickable concept map about imperialism, a photo essay on Prohibition, a poster analyzing anti-Semitism, as well as online newspapers and electronic portfolios.
• In April 2009, the team and some of their Grade 10 students represented the school at the HP Blueprint for Change Symposium, demonstrating the technologies the team has integrated into their various history courses. This school's history department also won the nationwide HP Mindshare competition in 2009. This competition challenged teachers and students from around the country to illustrate the role technology plays in their classroom with a video.

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