At Collingwood School, we believe the passions of our students will help build a better world. That’s why we emphasizes authentic, real-world educational experiences and a personalized approach to learning for all students.

A great example of this approach occurred last spring during an innovative social studies project at our Wentworth Campus. One of the big ideas explored in Gr. 1 social studies is that we, as a community, shape our local environment. At the same time, our local environment also shapes who we are and how we live. Students in Ms. Hadley’s class spent several weeks learning about how bridges change the world around us and, specifically, how the construction of the Lions Gate Bridge changed and shaped our local community.

Throughout the project, students learned about the construction of different bridges around the world. One of the class favourites was the story about how the Brooklyn Bridge was weight tested with 21 elephants from Barnum’s Circus. The bridge project culminated with students working in teams to design and build their very own bridges with masking tape, string and paper towel rolls. Once completed, the students were given the opportunity to weight test their bridge with 21 objects of their choice.

“The students were incredibly excited and proud to weight test their bridges. They were highly invested in the collaborating with their peers and celebrated their success as teams,” said Ms. Hadley.

Just as bridges help communities grow and evolve, this innovative learning opportunity helped Collingwood Gr. 1 students better understand the community around them.