CDS Hosts CITE English Conference
By Sarah Williams
CDS hosted the CIS Ontario’s CITE Teachers of English Conference for the second year in a row last Friday. This year’s theme was “Crossing Boundaries,” suggesting ideas about taking risks and encountering the unfamiliar—ideas about defying rules and flouting conventions.
The day began with a keynote given by award-winning author Andrew F. Sullivan whose latest book, The Marigold, was a finalist for the Aurora Awards, the Locus Awards, and the Hamilton Literary Awards, and named a Best Book of the Year by Esquire, The Verge, Book Riot and the Winnipeg Free Press. He co-wrote The Handyman Method with Nick Cutter, a novel about home improvement gone wrong. Andrew is also the author of the novel WASTE, a Globe & Mail Best Book of the Year, and the short story collection All We Want is Everything, a Globe & Mail Best Book of the Year and finalist for the ReLit Award.
The day began with a keynote given by award-winning author Andrew F. Sullivan whose latest book, The Marigold, was a finalist for the Aurora Awards, the Locus Awards, and the Hamilton Literary Awards, and named a Best Book of the Year by Esquire, The Verge, Book Riot and the Winnipeg Free Press. He co-wrote The Handyman Method with Nick Cutter, a novel about home improvement gone wrong. Andrew is also the author of the novel WASTE, a Globe & Mail Best Book of the Year, and the short story collection All We Want is Everything, a Globe & Mail Best Book of the Year and finalist for the ReLit Award.
Conference workshops had many of these ideas in mind. They considered various types of boundary crossing: disciplinary and curricular boundaries; cultural and national boundaries; boundaries related to justice and racism; boundaries being dissolved by shifts in AI and technology. Attendees were asked to consider as they progressed through the day’s events: What boundaries should we be crossing ourselves? What boundaries must our students cross—now or in the years to come?
Students from CDS and other CIS schools participated in writing workshops with Andrew Sullivan in preparation for sharing their winning entries to the Spring writing contests after lunch. A staunch believer in writing about what matters to him, Andrew shared during his keynote that his writing career took off after his university advisor pointed out that he had been avoiding writing about what he knew—prompting a pivotal shift in his approach.
Land Acknowledgment
The Country Day School wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. Our nearest Indigenous Nations are now the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Chippewas of Georgina Island. The Dish with One Spoon Wampum covenant is often cited as an example of the shared responsibility for caring for these lands among the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples who would call these their traditional territories. CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection to this land can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for the land and waters for future generations.
School Information
Junior, Middle and Senior Schools
13415 Dufferin Street, King, Ontario L7B 1K5
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
13415 Dufferin Street, King, Ontario L7B 1K5
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
