Swansong, Materialized

By Edmund Lo, S.J.

Credit: Mother Teresa Middle School

My interest in origami has been previously documented. Throughout the past six months, I have had the privilege to share this interest with the students in the form of an after school program at Mother Teresa Middle School (MTMS) in Regina, Canada. Origami can be a highly individualistic pursuit: grab a piece of paper, follow the instructions, and voilà, a new creation made. While I was quite content with teaching the kids different designs and such, I also wanted them to learn more than just folding things for themselves. That was why I decided to swing for the fences with the kids: we began an ambitious yet different origami project together.

Don't Be Afraid to Try: Ogres and Poetry

By Eric Hanna, S.J.

We've all had that moment of fear when asked to do something creative.  Fear tells us that if we risk expressing something we are not quite sure of, others will tear it down simply because they don't understand.  This pattern leads us to avoid trying new things.  It is a pattern that students at Regina's Mother Theresa Middle School are trying to break.

When I first started helping out with an after-school program of creative writing and poetry, some students were quite eager to try expressing themselves.  But there were always a few who froze.  They wrote nothing at all, or non-committal phrases about safe topics: movies they'd seen, videogames, etc.