Igniting Curiosity

Passion-Driven Teaching at STS by Dr. Michael Simmonds

History may not always repeat itself, but it often rhymes. This explains why Marc Boulianne's passion for teaching Social Studies and IB Diploma History is grounded in his belief that students are responsible for understanding other people's stories and perspectives. Where possible, Marc connects aspects of the curriculum to social justice, highlighting past inequalities, inspiring critical thinking, and empowering students to recognize and address contemporary issues. Marc exposes students to historical viewpoints through primary and secondary sources that broaden their understanding and allow students to find aspects of history that resonate. By making history relevant to current events, personal experiences, and broader social issues, Marc ignites a passion for many of his students — he knows that when students see the relevance of history in their own lives, their interest and engagement in the subject grows. Every other August, as part of the European War and History Tour, Marc takes Senior School students to Vimy Ridge, where Canadian forces achieved a significant WWI victory. Visiting historical sites in this way personalizes history, helping students grasp the gravity and impact of the past in a real way. Marc feeds his passion for history through constant reading. He provides students with curated reading lists that allow them to delve deeper into historical events, figures, or periods. This opportunity enriches their knowledge and encourages students to analyze historical events critically, draw connections to contemporary issues, and engage in thoughtful debate — approaches to learning that Marc nurtures in his students over time.

Suzanne Piechotta and Mark Race teach Visual Art and Design, respectively. Suzanne’s passion for art extends back to her childhood — she was always making things. Mark's passion for design stems from his interest in how technology can be used as a tool to augment the creative process to create new objects and/or improve the design of existing ones. While art is often perceived as a medium of personal and aesthetic expression, design is typically associated with functionality and problem-solving. However, the boundaries between these two disciplines are fluid. Art inspires design by injecting creativity and innovation into practical solutions, as evidenced by an interdisciplinary project conceived by Suzanne and Mark for their classes. Grade 10 students blended creativity with functionality by breaking traditional discipline-specific boundaries to craft symbolically meaningful and beautiful objects. The art students created a deck of playing cards by developing images thematically grounded in ‘Time and Place.’ Colourful portraits of Persephone, Medusa, Artemis, and Aphrodite depict the four-suit of clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. Students discovered through their research that Greek goddesses were often vilified in classical mythology — depicted as jealous, vengeful, and manipulative. Additionally, ancient Greek society was patriarchal, and the gendered myths reinforced societal norms and power dynamics, leading to the demonization of influential female figures.

Other Grade 10 artists painted high-top branded basketball sneakers used for the five clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades — date-stamped with the year they were manufactured. With the Design Cycle and a human-centred design approach as their guide,

design students navigated the iterative inquiry, ideation, creation, and evaluation process to create six cases for the decks of playing cards their visual artist peers created. This project, a testament to the power of passion-driven collaboration, saw art and design converge to inspire creativity, innovation, and excellence under the guidance of Suzanne and Mark.

Purpose-driven teachers care about their students' overall development, knowing that education is more than meeting curricular outcomes. They encourage critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, empathy, resilience, and social responsibility. Like many of their STS colleagues, Marc Boulianne, Suzanne Piechotta and Mark Race have the capacity, interest, and passion to engage students in learning experiences that expand and connect their thinking.