“When you’re working at the primary level, there’s an intrinsic motivation at a young age,” Champion said. “They’re just starved to learn at that point.”

Eight-year-old Michael Jackman is at that point. He wakes up before dawn to get to 6 a.m. hockey practice, strives to get the top scores in math class, likes to express himself through art and is curious about the other cultures discussed in religion class. Michael is a learning sponge. He said he is interested in learning because a new skill or concept brings about a sense of accomplishment.

“You feel good when you get good grades because you’ve worked hard,” Michael said.

Kathy Seal is a journalist who has always been interested in human behaviour. She has written two books on the subject of learning and motivation. Echoing Michael’s reflection, she said accomplishment is itself a motivator.

“That good feeling from becoming competent spurs us on to learn more things so we can get that good feeling again,” Seal said.

As well, she said it’s a survival instinct to seek out new skills and information.

“Psychologists believe that babies are born curious with a desire to learn,” Seal said. “The way evolution has hard-wired them… (this) ability to learn skills enables them to survive.”

Even at eight, Michael suspects that having some sort of skill set makes him a more popular member of society. He said that one advantage of working hard in school is being well-liked.

“Teachers like you more and you’re more popular because people know you’re good at something,” he said. “People want to be friends with someone who is good at something.”

Champion says that learning for the sake of learning tends to wear off as students reach adolescence.

“(Motivation) starts to become more of a challenge when they get older. In Grades 7 though 9… you need to focus more on engagement,” he said. “By the time kids get to early adolescence their shift really becomes social learning. They’re wanting to connect more with peers.

When he taught Grade 7, he found that he really needed to tap into that social dynamic to focus students on learning.

“When you’re working with older students, you’re going to try and get them working groups and engaged in conversation together,” Champion said. “The trick is… to set up structures to stay on task.”

Champion said another way to engage students is to play to their interests.

“One of the things teachers will try is to survey the students to find topics they want to learn,” he said.

Referring to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, Champion said it is important for teachers to plan activities around different kinds of intelligence. While some students in the class might respond really well to math and logic problems, others will be frustrated. But they might respond really well to activities centered around linguistics or visualizing.

Champion and Seal agree that in addition to a teacher’s attempt to engage students in learning, a child’s home life plays a role in his motivation too. Seal said that young people whose parents are attuned to their needs and feelings tend to be more curious and take more initiative in school and activities.

“When your child has the secure base of your caring and affection, when she knows she will get what she needs from you both materially and emotionally, she’s more likely to venture out into the world confidently to explore it,” Seal said.

Champion said people need to see a benefit to what they’re learning.

“Some kids, if learning doesn’t seem relevent, either to their world today or the world they’re going into, they just tune right out,” he said.

One Grade 8 student at Champion’s school doesn’t see any importance in working hard in school. The student has a brother who dropped out in Grade 10 and now has a job making $15 per hour.

“To the kid in Grade 8, it doesn’t matter. In his eyes, the brother is making a million dollars,” Champion said. “So he’s thinking, ‘Why do I care if I do well in school?’ He can’t see far enough down the road to realise a $15-an-hour job isn’t going to support him for the rest of his life.”

On the flipside of that, Michael Jackman has been raised with the belief that a good education is important so he has always been encouraged to do his best. Michael says he does well in math class because his dad likes math. He likes reading because he can exercise his curiosity all on his own.

“(Independent reading) is a whole new stage,” Michael said. “When you can’t read, you can’t tell what things are. When you can, you can read about all new things you can learn in books and you can read jokes and take up some spare time and it’s fun.”

The climbing tree at the south end of Kew Gardens in east-end Toronto has been a mighty opponent for Mackenzie Scott for some time now. While her friend Maia swings from branch to branch above, Mackenzie prepares for one more try. Clad in a light pink jacket and rainbow toque, she gives each hand a lick to sooth the redness from cold and tree bark and grabs hold of the first branch.

Her mother, Debra Scott, stands nearby – coaching the four-year-old as she pulls her body upwards. Once able to drape her arm across the first branch, she swings one leg over to give herself support. Finally she pulls the rest of herself up until she’s sitting upright.

“You did it!” her mother cries. “All by yourself, you did it without me!”

Mackenzie looks back with excitement and delight. With only a moment’s rest, she is off to join Maia on higher branches.

Along with Scott, Maia’s mother Kari Svenneby is also on hand. The group meets every Wednesday along with other local parents and children. They’re part of Active Kids Club, a group started by Svenneby to encourage children to play outside.

“I just wanted my daughter to have other kids to play with like I did when I was a kid, outside in all kinds of weather,” she said.

In Svenneby’s native Norway there is more of an emphasis on unstructured, outdoor play and its benefits in childhood development. In Canada trends have shifted in the opposite direction.

Child psychologist Dr. David Swanson attributes this partially to increasingly hectic lifestyles among both parents and children, but also pressure from society for children to succeed. The tendency today is a push towards “educational” activities in lieu of playtime.

“If early on they’re pushed too hard and they’re not allowed to just be kids and get out and play, what will happen is there will be a lot of aversion towards having to learn and go to school,” he said.

Scott got involved through Svenneby, initially to give the girls an opportunity to see each other, but after a while she began to understand the play group’s greater significance.

“I had read every parenting book out there, talked to a multitude of moms and early childhood development educators and being outside just did not come up on my radar,” she said. “Kari kept sending me links to more research and after about a year I was a convert.”

Swanson agrees, unstructured play allows young children to develop a range of skills vital to their future development.

“Kids need all of that sensory input. They need to be outside running around. They’re very tactile. They need to get their hands on things. They need to climb. It’s in our genetics that as young children we need to be doing that,” he said. “If we don’t get that, it creates almost this sense of being caged.”

That’s the aversion to learning that Swanson spoke about. Kids often have difficulty adjusting to a school environment when they haven’t had that opportunity to burn through their energy and engage their minds outside, he said.

“These are the children that have a difficult time remaining seated in class and paying attention,” Swanson said. “If we don’t get them outside and playing, we’re not meeting their needs and we’re doing a lot more damage than we are good.”

The benefits of unstructured, outdoor play become very clear in Svenneby’s play group. Both Maia and Mackenzie are constantly running, climbing, jumping and spinning; they’re in constant movement – but they’re also incredibly outgoing, confident and well – happy.

“The beauty of outdoor play is that kids can participate on their own terms,“ Svenneby said. “When children play they learn social skills through experience to be sensitive to others needs and values, how to manage their emotions and to learn self-control.”

“We have also noticed that far fewer fights ensue when they’re outside,” Debra Scott said.

Svenneby and Scott take a backseat to the goings on in Kew Park. They’re what Swanson refers to as “sponsors of play,” offering guidance when needed and pointing out lessons when available, but providing as much freedom as possible for the children to explore.

After Mackenzie and Maia finish their conquest in the climbing tree the two head north in search of the Disappearing Blue Mino – a mysterious monster that makes its home amongst the trees of Kew Gardens. Both Mackenzie and Maia admit to only ever catching a quick glimpse of it, disappearing before they’re able to point it out to their parents.

Please visit www.activekidsclub.com for more information

A christmas delight: Kevin Herod's next show at the Comedy Bar will help get you in the holy-jolly mood.

In Grade 3, Kevin Herod proudly marched to school clutching The Two Detectives, his first movie script. He thought for sure it was grade “A” material. When his teacher handed it back to him, full of corrections, Herod felt like he had failed.

“I was one of those kids that wished the teacher said, ‘Hey this is a good story.’ She only corrected the spelling mistakes, but in my mind it was like the story was bad. But, it actually influenced me to do better the next time,” he said.

From sports to report cards, a child learns that losing and failing are part of life. Stuart Shanker, a research professor of philosophy and psychology at York University, considers losing the most important stepping-stone in a child’s development. From learning to walk, an infant will fall before it can stand strong. A parent cannot always be there to pick up the pieces or protect a child from losing, failing or struggling.

“Whatever the activity is, you have to learn how to do it… you’ve got to take risks. You’ve got to face the fact that you might fail because that is the nature of life,” Shanker explained. “And you may fail over and over. Success and satisfaction comes from picking yourself up and trying again and mastering it.”

While Herod’s strength in dealing with failure may have started with The Two Detectives, the now-seasoned comedian and scriptwriter chose his career despite the risks of getting booed off stage; he loves the hecklers.

“One time I was booed and it actually settled me down,” he said. “I was really nervous and not prepared and having the chance to make a joke at the heckler made me relax and do my show.”

Charles Pascal, an early learning advisor for the Ontario government, has a passion for lifelong learning. He feels the lessons learned throughout childhood form a strong and resilient individual.

“Everything we are as an adult grows from the child we were,” he said.

Pascal believes any mistake a child makes builds confidence. It is the support that a parent gives a child that creates the confidence to learn to lose.

“You don’t want to teach people how to lose, but you want to teach people how to bounce back from mistakes,” Pascal said. “Losing is about learning.”

Shanker and Pascal both agree the most important thing is the effort a person puts into any activity. The worry lies in whether support exists for the child, and if it is the right kind of support.

“Parents protect children too much for fear of harming their self-esteem, but you need to want the child to not give up,” Shanker said.

Carly Hendry, a second year university student deals with stress and anxieties easily. She always had a strong support system from her parents.  Her mother would put any failures into perspective for her. Hendry hates to lose, but finds strength in the lessons she learned growing up.

“My mother helped me see that many things are not the end of the world and made me able to use mind over matter,” she explained. “My father made me question what I did wrong and try to motivate me to do better the next time.”

Though Hendry had two different ways to deal with a problem, she finds that she uses the two techniques even to this day.

According to Shanker, it is the process of learning when it comes to losing that builds a healthy mind and understanding. From this understanding, both self-esteem and perseverance grow.

“It’s struggling with something you find that is difficult and not giving up and moving on to the next thing,” Shanker said.

Hendry had no problem finding the strength to persevere.

“I believe it is the strength my parents instilled in me by helping me and showing me their strength that gets me through a rough time,” she said.

Pascal and Shanker both feel people shouldn’t be afraid of losing, but instead see it as a lesson learned.

Herod feels it created a burning inside he could not ignore. He loves storytelling and will use any medium he can. And failing that first time only fueled the desire.

“I’m glad I didn’t have the ability to do my first feature film script when I was eight,” Herod said. “You know, it’s like that first pancake you make, it always comes out bad.”

The one thing I can do, however, is observe. And through my observations I have seen Meghan battle font sizes, hyphenation and line spacing as she expertly places all of our articles into an inDesign layout. And Michelle is at the end of the row, cursing Photoshop because it won’t let her place an arrow where she wants it on the picture. Luke is to my right. He had been editing a story. Then he helped solve Michelle’s arrow issue, and now he’s preparing our cover photo.

Now Meghan’s got the inDesign handbook out and is flipping pages to find the one dedicated to wrap sidebars. Not quite what one imagines when plans are made to lay out a magazine. Where’s the fun? The creativity? The enjoyment? Well, it’s there if you look hard enough.

We got to bring in a real goat brain earlier for our cover shoot. That was fun, placing it on the anchor desk in the news room for pictures with Katie, who happens to be Meghan’s sister and our cover model. Before that, Michelle and I had to try and fasten both halves of the brain together by hand with a paper clip and a staple.

The people in the computer lab are a lot of fun to be around, and help keep each other laughing through this long day.

Pizza and lasagna and juice was a very welcome dinner.

Meghan just mentioned that this experience has brought us closer together.

Michelle is drinking Meghan’s bubble water. Luke’s outside for a quick smoke. Meghan’s still fighting the good fight against line spacing and font sizes. And I’m blogging.

This is a good team.

“I had read that babies could learn sign language well before they could speak,” Curtin said.  “I had been around a lot of other babies that seemed pretty frustrated and could not get their desires across, so I thought I would try it.”

Teaching babies American Sign Language (ASL) offers parents and hearing infants the ability to communicate with each other well before a baby can learn to speak.

Teaching the child sign language releases the frustration in the household Curtin explains. ASL makes it possible for both baby and parent to understand early “wants” and “needs” and to engage in learning at a very young age.

My Smart Hands, founded by Laura Berg, is an Internet company based in Toronto, offers classes to learn how to sign with their children.

“When it first started out it was more liberal, new age-y types of parents, but now I’m finding parents of all walks of life. Pediatric doctors, dentists, cancer surgeon…” Berg said.

The classes teach parents the alphabet and everyday words through songs and games. After the initial eight weeks, parents can continue to the second level of signing to add to the child’s vocabulary.

Curtin, knowing ASL from her job working with special needs children, taught her daughter the language through repetition started at the early age of six-and-a-half-months. Sepheria began fully signing back around seven-and-a-half-months. She learned 11 signs in total, such as circling a hand over a chest to say please, and squeezing a hand, as though it was milking a cow, for milk.

“There were definitely times where I thought maybe I was crazy,” Curtin said. “Just when I thought, okay, I am just driving us both nuts, she just took right to it like wildfire.”

Laura Berg started My Smart Hands to share the success of teaching her own daughter, Friesse, ASL.

Berg created a YouTube video of Friesse at the age of one, signing over 20 words, such as “Water”, “Eat”, “Mommy”, “Daddy” and “Apple”.

The video made it possible for parents to see the benefits of signing through Friesse’s own progress with the language.

Berg’s background as a certified teacher and her knowledge in curriculum development meant she could use ASL to help teach struggling children to read by teaching the manual alphabet. The association of sound to letter allowed children to put words together on their own.

Much like Curtin, Berg wanted a calmer household and a happy baby. She achieved this when 10-month-old Friesse kept throwing her food on the floor and making the sign for “more”.

“I knew she didn’t want more Cheerios, so I asked her what she wanted. She signed “more cheese.” Berg explained.

For over 35 years, the Hanen Centre, located in Toronto, has helped speech-delayed children. Instead of using sign language, the centre has speech-language pathologists, who use interactive, everyday play and the focus of the parent being the child’s teacher to motivate the child to communicate.

Executive director, Elaine Weitzman, feels the most important thing for a child is to develop naturally.

“I think what is important is what really helps a language develop. And its not teaching and its not counting, it is having fun and having interactions,” Weitzman said.

Weitzman understands why parents may feel inclined to teach their child ASL, but the developmental stages when a child cannot communicate are short-term. The long-term affects of learning sign language are still unknown.

“Sign language gives parents the sense of relieving frustration, but it’s not an evidence-based approach and we don’t recommend it as a learning tool at our centre,” Weitzman said.

Non-verbal communication is part of growing up, Weitzman explains. This stage of learning involves a child pointing at things and making simple sounds. When the child points across the street at a dog, the parent then comments. “Yes, look, there is a doggie across the street.” Eventually, that child will learn to say those words on her own.

“The truth is that language is a perfectly normal kind of unfolding developmental process. And with lots of interaction and lots of communication, it does unfold,” Weitzman said.

Berg strongly believes that teaching babies to sign gives them a head start in learning. She tells a skeptical parent that teaching their children sign language does not hold back regular speech, but rather gives them advantages.

“My daughter is four and still signs. She began to read at two-and-a-half and spell at three. I believe it was the attention that we (Berg and her husband) gave her and the sign language,” Berg said.

Basse never failed a grade in school and to this day she still struggles with reading and writing. While she understands her mother only wanted the best for her, Basse, now 26, still feels it was wrong to let her pass.

“I struggle to this day with reading and writing. It is a constant thing, at work I have to read over emails, to make sure there aren’t any mistakes,” Basse said.

In Ontario, to keep children back a grade no longer really happens. They can make it all the way to high school and still have gaps in their knowledge. The education system refers to it as social promotion. Social promotion advances children to the following grade so they can remain with their peers and continue to have a strong sense of self-esteem.

A study called An ‘F’ for Social Promotion, written by Michael Zwaagstra and Dr. Rodney A. Clifton attacks the issue of pushing children through the system.

Zwaagstra, a Manitoba high school teacher, sees first-hand the trouble with promoting a child.

“I found that there are consequences when you lower standards and you pass students who have not met the necessary standards. The consequences are that students are not prepared for the workplace or for post secondary education,” Zwaagstra said.

Zwaagstra believes there should be more precise criteria, such as standardized testing.

Elementary school teacher, Annalisa Kissoon Singh, thinks promoting a child does not help, but understands the tough decision a parent and child face when it comes to being held back.

“It’s like a catch-22. You see the child growing and developing just like his peers, but his mind isn’t growing and developing. If you hold him back, he will end up being bigger then all the other students,” Kissoon Singh said.

To promote that child, Kissoon Singh explained, will only make it worse.

“When that child gets to Grade 8 science and is still reading at a Grade 2 level, (as a teacher) you have to modify that textbook to be understandable to that child. That takes away from working with the other kids.”

The Toronto District School Board follows a system presented by the Ontario government to ensure success with all students. The Learning to 18: Student Success program allows every student to have the opportunity to learn. Central co-ordinating principal, Mary Jane McNamara said the program focuses on eight different strategies to engage every student.

One of the strategies that help Grade 9 and 10 students is credit recovery.

“If the student almost finished a credit, but did not meet the requirements to pass … they do not need to repeat the whole course over again. They can recover the credit and complete the overall course expectations the following year,” McNamara said.

Student trustee for the TDSB, Gorick Ng, feels the Student Success program is on the right track, but more support systems need to be added.

“I think that the credit recovery program is a valuable one… especially for students who have been pushed through the system,” Ng said.

Ng strongly believes that pushing a student through is not the answer. He wishes the school system emphasized on making sure students graduate not only with the required credits, but with the skills to succeed in life as well.

Ng knows that as a student himself, he offers perspective to his position on the board of trustees.

Ng believes the problem needs to be addressed in elementary school.

“If a student is having difficulties early on and those difficulties are not addressed when they are in elementary school, you end up with students who are being promoted on to high school who do not have the skills and knowledge and the experience to succeed in a high school environment,” Ng said.

Basse knows how it feels to be pushed through the system. Though her daily struggles with literacy persist, she finds the means in her professional life to improve her English skills.

“I picked an industry that would force me to constantly proof read my work,” She said.

When Tchalova moved to Toronto from Russia 10 years ago, she struggled with the daunting language barrier. And while ESL classes were widely available Tchalova, like a large number of immigrants, learned to employ strategies in her everyday life to improve her English skills. For starters, she turned to the tube.

“All the time you’re at home, it should be on,” Tchalova said. “It’s especially good to listen to news channels because during the day it repeats over and over.”

Shahnam Ma, who came to Canada from Iran seven years ago, agrees. In his late 20s, he found that his own learning methods helped him learn English quicker than ESL classes did.

“Whenever I’d see a new word on the closed captioning I’d write it down or look it up right away,” Ma said. “So if you learned one word a day, you learned 365 words a year. The progress is slow but you still learn everyday.”

This method of learning English is not only common among newcomers – it’s encouraged by educators. Helen Kazias, a specialist in teaching ESL, says independent learning is critical to the development of a new language speaker.

“I always tell my students to watch as much television as they can,” Kazias said. “Go to movies and read because that’s only going to help with their acquisition of the language.”

Twenty years ago, when Joseph Kim emigrated from Korea as a child, elements of popular culture helped him break down social barriers and develop his English skills.

“I learned through X-Men comics and stuff like that,” Kim said. “It’s not like it goes over your head because every kid on the playground has them. It’s a social tool.”

And social tools are invaluable when it comes to language acquisition. Tchalova volunteered at her daughter’s school as a way of meeting people and forcing herself to speak English. Ma got a job in retail and Kim found camaraderie with his peers through common interests.

“They really do need to get their ear attuned to the language spoken at a native speaker’s rate,” Kazias said. “It’s important for ESL learners to hear the correct speed at which we speak and the changes we make (in our speech).”

But speaking to someone in person is one thing. Speaking on the phone is a whole other matter. Ma admitted that he hated answering the phone because he had difficulty understanding anyone on the other end of the line. Tchalova, though, found a simple solution: she called offices or government agencies after hours and listened to their answering machines.

“I remember before I went to sleep I’d dial the same number 10 or 12 times until I understood most of what was said,” Tchalova said. “So, it’s really helpful.”

Grace Feuerverger, an OISE professor and ESL teacher, believes that advances in technology make it even easier for newcomers to improve their English skills rapidly.

“Given the reality of the Internet, that’s probably number one for them,” Feuerverger said. “They are learning to navigate the system. That’s making a huge difference.”

Though many immigrants manage to learn English by trial and error, some find that native speakers are often reluctant to correct them when they misspeak. It’s frustrating, Ma said, because so much of the process depends on learning from one’s mistakes.

“It’s a multicultural city and you can communicate fine without knowing proper English,” Ma said. “But it’s not necessarily a good thing. You have to have that level of comfort with others to ask them to correct you, but that helps a lot.”  

Learning, however, is a constant process, and language acquisition is no different.

“Some days you feel up and you can speak easily and understand easily,” Tchalova said. “Then the next day something snaps and words escape you and you have a really difficult time to say things that you could say before. It’s strange but it’s true.”

Still, Feuerverger said that immigrants’ determination to learn continues to amaze her.

“It’s that immigrant motivation,” Feuerverger said. “It’s psychological, like ‘I’ve been given this second chance and I really want to make it.’ It’s fascinating.”

For 20 years Bagley worked as a machine operator for the federal government. When his plant closed and he was offered a chance to go back to school to begin a second career, he leapt at the opportunity. Bagley chose to become a personal trainer.

“I wanted to try something new,” Bagley said. “I was interested in it and I was in pretty good shape so I thought it would be a good thing to do.”

Going back to school in middle age can be daunting. For people such as Bagley, it means returning to a routine they left behind decades ago and a strong sense of being out of place.

“I was nervous because most of the (students) were younger than I was,” Bagley said. “It was kind of unnerving for a bit.”

Shirin Khamisa, who runs a career counselling business called Careers By Design, says many times these barriers are self-imposed.

“Someone might have some fears that can be addressed by student services, such as ways of studying or being reluctant to get back into that kind of rigorous learning environment,” Khamisa said. “If you start tuning into what that fear is trying to tell you, you may be then able to look for some practical solutions that can help you.”

For Bagley, going to school the second time actually proved a positive experience.

“I found that I got better marks this time around than I did originally, because I cared more,” Bagley said. “And when you’re older, you tend to pay more attention and you care about your marks.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that the marks came easily.

“I struggled with subjects like biology. Most of the kids probably had an experience with it, but I’d never taken it,” Bagley admitted. “Reading and studying was not hard, although anatomy and physiology and biology were tough courses.”

And while Bagley toughed it out, others in a similar position aren’t as excited to return to the classroom. Two years ago, Tina Store lost her job de-greasing metal when her auto-parts factory closed. As a teenager, her Grade 9 education was enough to secure her well-paying factory jobs. But at 50, after 35 years of working with her hands, Store is preparing to start anew.

“I did go out and buy a computer after all these years. For what, I don’t know. It’s still sitting there,” Store said.

For Store, with a limited education and little knowledge of technology, a classroom is a very intimidating place. Again, Khamisa suggested searching inside.

“I think that every person has their own learning styles,” Khamisa said. “So when you choose something you genuinely have an interest in, part of the antidote can be the excitement that you feel about building a skill or learning something new.”

One option is to train for a skilled trade. Felix Gelt of Edulocator.com helps people starting over find a private career college.

“It’s shorter in duration, so the cost is much less and you get a lot of skilled trade options and practical knowledge to go right into the work setting,” Gelt said.

Regardless of the route, Khamisa dismisses the idea that an older person can’t go back to school.

“I think there are a lot of damaging myths that we have as a culture and often times we think that the way we are thinking, even if it’s really limiting, is a realistic way of thinking,” Khamisa said.

If David Bagley is any indication, sometimes school can be better the second time around.

“I think it was my approach to studying – listening and not screwing around and taking it home and being serious about studying,” Bagley said. “I think that when you’re younger you don’t realise how a lot of your future depends on school.”

The first rule of Breakfast Club: everyone talks about Breakfast Club. Precisely why sixteen-year-old Malcolm Wyllie stands over a grill in the family studies kitchen at George Harvey Collegiate Institute. He’s palming a fresh loaf of whole wheat bread.

“Sometimes I go through eight of these in a day,” he said.

In all, three grills operate, churning out grilled-cheese sandwiches as fast as possible. Behind Malcolm, students peel and slice apples and prepare juice, stack plates and organize cutlery. Then, the first voices are heard down the corridor leading to the room.

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 stands as the busiest day in the nine-year history of the George Harvey breakfast club. In total, 140 students passed through the kitchen.

Claire White and Cavell Hart, program co-ordinators with Food Share – part of Toronto Partners for Student Nutrition – help provide schools with the tools to start successful breakfast programs. They believe that a nutritious breakfast is one of the keys to helping students succeed academically.

“We know that when kids get something nutritious to eat in the morning they’re more likely to show up. Their grades go up. They’re better behaved,” Hart said.

Heidi Lee, a child and youth worker at James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic Secondary School, helped found the Breakfast Club there. She says that some teachers initially opposed it but, after seeing the results, have changed their minds.

“(Educators) should all be thinking outside the box,” Lee said. “And it’s important because if everybody’s on board, then the kids will do better in school.”

After six years, the James Cardinal McGuigan Breakfast Club boasts a proven track record for student academic success. Cathy Cimini, a teacher at McGuigan and one of the co-founders, says a nutritious breakfast makes a noticeable difference when it comes to a student’s in-class performance.

“They’re behaved and just happier in general,” Cimini said. “They pay more attention and they’re less apt to cause trouble or fall asleep.”

“He likes it! Mikey likes it!”

The breakfast programs at both George Harvey and McGuigan follow the Canada Food Guide, which focuses on dairy, fruits, vegetables and grains in meals designed to help students perform better in school.

“A lot of kids’ diets are very high in salt and added sugar and fat and processed food and we’re really trying to move away from that,” White said.

“We know that protein and fruit and dairy fills them up and helps them concentrate better,” Cimini said.

“Having a proper amount of grains in a day really does help students to learn better,” Hart noted. “It has building blocks in it that make learning easier for kids as they’re growing.”

Using this information as a base, George Harvey and McGuigan have found ways to not only launch, but grow successful breakfast programs.

For 50 cents, students can enjoy a rotating menu of hot breakfasts such as eggs, pancakes, waffles and grilled cheese sandwiches. Fruit, granola bars, juice and milk are always available. And the statistics show the approach is working.
At McGuigan, Lee has had to move to multiple venues within the school to accommodate the growing number of students. And at George Harvey, 2001-2002 records show that 1,507 breakfasts were served that school year. In the 2008-2009 school year: 13,472.

The results are in….

For the last two years, Heidi Lee has conducted an experiment during McGuigan’s annual literacy test: she feeds students involved a free nutritious breakfast.

“The literacy scores have doubled,” Lee said. “The marks went up and the kids talked about how good they felt because their stomachs were full and they were able to concentrate harder on their work.”

And that’s not all. Winnie Gaisie, a Grade 12 student at McGuigan, says a nutritious breakfast made a significant difference in her academic standing.

“In Grade 9 I got honours (75 per cent average) and in Grade 11 I got first class (85 per cent),” Gaisie said. “I’m more alert. When I come early I have time to go over my homework.”

Elizabeth Ojo, another Grade 12 student at McGuigan, says her marks also increased.

“Before, if I didn’t eat breakfast, I didn’t hear anything (in class),” Ojo said. “But after I started taking the school breakfast I could talk in class. I could do activities.”

Lee says teachers also take part in the Breakfast Club.

“The kids come up to the teachers and ask them for help,” Lee said. “Sometimes one will get up and help them with their work and finish their breakfast with them.”

And the results aren’t confined to secondary schools. At Earl Haig elementary school, parent Yasmin Karim says she’s noticed a significant change in her children since they began participating in the school’s healthy lunch program.

“I really find it makes a big difference,” Karim said. “If you’ve got kids who aren’t thinking about being hungry, they’re just calmer, they’re more receptive and they can stay focused.”

Moving forward

“These programs level the playing field for the students,” White said. “If everyone’s getting the same healthy meal they’re on much more even ground to learn.”

Those who have a breakfast program know the results speak for themselves. But some, like Ross Cappellacci, chaplain at Cardinal McGuigan, said many kids come to school without having eaten, sometimes for over a day, which results in needless disciplinary issues and academic underachievement.

“What’s the impact of a child, especially in the morning, getting something in their stomach?” Cappellacci said. “It’s invaluable.”

And the benefits don’t end at graduation. Francis Acheampong, a McGuigan graduate and first year Seneca student said the habits he learned in the Breakfast Club have carried over in the transition to post-secondary education.

“It’s really helped me. My school is far, so I have to wake up early and prepare my food. So it gives me a head start,” Acheampong said.

As a result of the volunteer hours Acheampong accumulated by working at the Breakfast Club, he received two college scholarships – just one of the many ripple effects of the program that Lee and Cimini are so proud of.

“I’m a firm believer that if you feed these kids, they can concentrate better,” Lee said. “And I’m pretty sure that if I decide next year for the literacy test not to give them a snack, the scores will dip.”

Then, with a laugh, Lee added: “We like to think it’s the food.”

“And the teachers,” Cimini said with a chuckle. “They have something to do with it too.”