It's a big week for Discovery! In early December, every RLC student proposed three ideas for their discovery projects to be completed in May and June. They were asked to think of things that are important to them, things they’d like to explore in some way, in order to extend the learning they’ve been doing throughout the year. They began with the question: "What would you dare to do if you knew you couldn't fail?"

That’s what Discovery at RLC is all about: thinking big, taking healthy risks, and making learning meaningful. It’s a journey, and December was the beginning of that journey. This week students shared their proposals and received feedback from peers. The ideas are fantastic, from creating new products, to investigating systems, to running a deli for a day, to planning a literal trip of discovery on the Appalachian Trail.

This is all part of a very long tradition at RLC. While it wasn’t identified as a discovery program decades ago, students have always been encouraged to take their curiosities, their interests, to the next step. One student started a business in the early 1970s and he’s been running it ever since, now a prominent landscaping business in Toronto. (It has the same name as when he began it in Rosseau: Mr Landscape.) More recently, a student wanted to pursue her interest in fashion design, so Mrs. Bissonette reached out to designers in Toronto, getting her connected to others who could encourage that curiosity. Last year, Angelica Colucci ‘08 managed the team responsible for the new British Airways uniforms. 

It’s exciting. Not all students will start businesses, or begin careers. Some will, but that’s not what we intend. We want them all to learn about themselves, their passions, to apply their curricular learning, and maybe some things they don’t love, too. The photo here shows students offering their Discovery feedback this week. They will take this to develop their proposals, which are due in March. They’ll then complete their Discovery projects in June, and then reflect on all that they’ve learned along the way. We can't wait to see what they dare to do!

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