Students from Fort McMurray’s Westwood Community High School participated in a NORCAN event which brings students from Norway and Canada together.
There were four students from Norway, two from Oshawa, Ont. and three from Westwood.
NORCAN is a research partnership-mindful leadership for learning in Mathematics.
The goal of NORCAN is to establish a network of schools in Canada and Norway committed to improving student learning in mathematics informed by commitment of excellence through equity.
Here at Westwood, it all started with a group of students and their interest in math.
Adithi Madireey is in grade 11 at Westwood and got involved with NORCAN through their math leaderships group.
“Most people think that math is a tough subject and they look down upon it,” said Madireey, “I just want to make everybody feel that math is not that hard and it is really fun and easy to do.”
Benita Greenwood is a math teacher at Westwood and the leader of the schools NORCAN group.
After the school got invited into the group Greenwood thought it would be a great idea for Westwood to join because it gave them the opportunities to share ideas from different schools in different countries.
“They don’t speak English in a math class but I walked in and knew exactly what they were teaching because it’s mostly the same,” said Greenwood,” We cover all the same basics, we just approach it a little differently.”
Jan Martin is a math and science teacher from Norway and was very impressed by the exchange with Westwood.
“Math is an international language, probably the oldest and best language that we have,” said Martin, “every culture throughout history had some kind of mathematical system so as a world, the easiest way to communicate is to have a common language and math is that.”
The students started their day by doing a scavenger hunt which had them complete various mathematical problems in order to solve the puzzle. Throughout the hunt they found the supplies needed for their second activity of the day which was to construct a chair.
The chair could only be built using newspapers and tape and had to be able hold the principal of Westwood, Jessica Roy for at least 30 seconds.
The activity gave the students to use their skills learned in science and math and the chance to work through language barriers and build a relationships with their peers from other countries.
The chairs were judged on most original design, comfort and height and all three groups ended up each winning in one category.
“Doing these activities is bringing us closer to other people and building relationships that will last a long time,” said Madireey.
The visiting students from Ontario and Norway will shadow the students from Westwood tomorrow to fully experience what school is like in Fort McMurray, Alta. Then on Wednesday they will be making their way to Banff, Alta where they will meet with other NORCAN groups to reconvene.
