Blog 5 - Mr. Holland's Opus - A Compass

“A teacher has two jobs. Fill young minds with knowledge, yes. But more important, give those minds a compass so that that knowledge doesn't go to waste.” - Principal Helen Jacobs, Mr. Holland’s Opus.

Mr. Holland’s Opus, a 1995 drama film directed by Stephen Herek, centres around Mr. Glenn Holland, a music appreciation teacher at John F. Kennedy High School, who struggles with his job and with teaching his students to appreciate music. To begin with, he tries very little and employees little strategies to find connections between each individual student and music. But a little farther into the film, Mr. Holland is confronted by Principal Jacobs, who insists that Mr. Holland isn’t being the compass he needs to be (see quote above). After this proclamation, Mr. Holland gradually improves, taking time out of his afternoons to help students and becoming the teacher that the students, when much older, would remember fondly. This blog post will describe Mr. Holland’s job throughout the film and my personal opinion about the quote and Mr. Holland’s slow-but-steady attempts to heed it.

As mentioned above, in the beginning, Mr. Holland doesn’t try very hard to encourage his students to feel a connection to music. Instead, he gives them a lot of paper work about music theory, which isn’t very effective and just makes the students like music even less. He focuses on simply teaching what he needs to teach, which is only one of the two jobs a teacher must do. This continues until Mrs. Jacobs reprimands him, after which Mr. Holland offered to help Gertrude Lang, a student who has trouble with playing the clarinet. Instructing her to ignore the sheet music and simply “play the sunset” encourages her connection to music and marks Mr. Holland’s first step in the right direction. As the film progresses, Mr. Holland helps numerous students after hours, becoming a popular teacher and a good friend to staff members, including Mr. Meister, the gym teacher, and Principal Jacobs. Mr. Holland begins to understand what his role as a compass for students really is: guiding and helping students to achieve their goals, no matter how impossible they seem. At one point Mr. Holland takes his job a bit too seriously and his wife, Iris Holland, complains he spends more time with his students than his own son, Cole. Mr. Holland is also tempted to leave for New York City with a singing prodigy, but refuses at the last minute with a kiss. After these incidents, Mr. Holland tried to balance his work life and home life, giving time to his wife and son, and being a compass for his students.

By the end of the film, Mr. Holland strives to help, advise, and guide his students towards their goals like a compass, along with teaching the expected curriculum. He truly surpasses Mrs. Jacob’s expectations, and touches hundreds of lives. The celebration at the end of the film alone is evidence that by the end of the film, Mr. Holland has become everything he needs to become, done everything he needed to do. By the end of the film, Mr. Holland has become a compass.

Blog 4 - What is the wisest gift to give to one you love?

Recently in class, in the spirit of the upcoming holidays and time of giving, we read The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry. The story tells of a poor, young couple who each secretly sell their greatest treasure in exchange for a gift to give to the other for Christmas. Della sells most of her lush hair to buy a chain for Jim’s watch, and Jim sells his watch to buy combs for Della’s hair. Neither of them realise this until Jim comes home and sees Della’s short hair. They both ended up with gifts that neither of them could use, but they realised how far they were willing to go to show their love for each other.

After reading this story we were asked to write about what we thought was the wisest gift to give to one we love. First, I thought it would be best to give a loved one their favorite game, movie, book, or something of the sort. If you asked them what they wanted first, and then got it for them, they would probably be happy and enjoy the gift. But then I thought that was a little materialistic and decided to think a little deeper.

In The Gift of the Magi, Della and Jim gave up what they most valued for each other, implying that their love for each other was greater than any treasure. This led me to believe that the wisest gift you can give the one you love is everything you are able to give; the greatest thing you can give that the one you love will enjoy having. If the greatest thing you can give is a book, then so be it. If the greatest thing you can give if time, then give some time to that person. In my opinion the gift differs depending on your values and giving capabilities, and also on depends on the nature of the receiver of the gift.

For example, let’s say one were to give a really old, valuable book to someone they loved. But if the person doesn’t enjoy reading, and doesn’t appreciate the value of old books, the gift is meaningless to them. The book could’ve been the greatest thing the giver had, but unless the second person shared the value of the book, it wouldn’t be the wisest gift the giver could’ve given. This proves that both people have to value the gift for it to be a wise one.

To conclude, I believe that the wisest gift that one can give to one they love is the greatest thing the giver can offer and the receiver can enjoy; both must value it for it to become a wise gift.

I hope this blog post gave some insight on wise gifts to give this winter.

Happy Holidays!

-Chaitanya

Blog 3 - How would Joey have affected me?

     War Horse, written by Michael Morpurgo, tells the emotional tale of a farm boy named Albert and his horse, Joey, who are separated by World War I but find each other again in the end. Morpurgo gives the reader a very interesting perspective on the war through a horse's eyes, which I personally found a welcome change from the usual soldier's-point-of-view.

     One of the first things that struck me about this book was the extremities of Joey's journey, seeing hundreds die, being captured by the Germans and then the British again, and in the end, going through the horse bidding. I realized that Joey showed an enormous amount of bravery and strength, but I also realized that many other horses or soldiers could have gone through the same thing. It really put things into perspective.

     I believe that if Joey was my horse in the war, he would have given me strength in the war, because whenever I'd see him, a horse, fighting a human battle with unbelievable courage, I too would find courage. Joey was also a good friend and a good listener, so I could confide in him when I couldn't in other soldiers. If I had to go to battle, I'd want a horse like Joey by my side; lending an ear, courage, and strength to his rider

-Chaitanya 

Blog 2 - Why do we have Remembrance Day?

     Remembrance Day is the day on which all Canadians stop for two minutes and honour the brave, Canadian soldiers who fought for our country. It's an anniversary of the day when, 95 years ago, the guns fell silent for the first time in four years. Many beautiful poems and songs are listened to to celebrate this day, but my favourites are Flanders Fields and a Pittance of Time. In this blog post I will be mainly talking about the first.

     Flanders Fields, written by John McCrae, puts the soldiers' innermost fear to words: that the soldiers will die for nothing and will not be remembered. But when the war ended, we promised to remember, and remember we do every November 11th. That is why I feel we have Remembrance Day; to remember those young, brave souls that risked their lives for our country. The two minutes of silence gives us time to think about all the soldiers did for us, and allows us to feel thankful. The song, a Pittance of Time, describes how two minutes is so little to give for defenders of our country, and that for that time we should put aside our petty problems and show the peace that the soldiers fought for.

     I hope that this blog helps you to understand why we celebrate this day, and why we should be thankful to the soldiers that fought for us in the war.

-Chaitanya

Blog 1 - Should Grade 8s Still Go Out for Trick or Treating?

This is the first blog I've ever written. I hope I don't rant too much and get straight to the point. The question, as stated above, is Should Grade 8's still go out for Trick or Treating? I believe that it depends completely on the opinion of that specific Grade 8. If that's what they want to do, then that's what they should. You can't really make a decision for hundreds of Grade 8's when everyone wants something different.

Trick of Treating was never a required thing (I hope). If you wanted to, you went. It was that simple. I think that its still the same in Grade 8. If you want to spend your Halloween night going down streets knocking on doors and getting candy, go for it. Its fun, and I can completely understand your decision.

If you don't want to, because you think you're too old, or you're new to your neighborhood, that's fine too. Instead you could stay home and watch a movie or play video games. It's one of those questions where there isn't a right answer. It doesn't really matter whether or not you go, it's your decision.

To conclude, I think that the answer to the question above depends on the individual Grade 8 the decision is being made about. Whether they want to go out for Trick or Treating or not, it's their choice.