Together We Thrive: The Heart of Collaboration in Yale Secondary's Learning Support Services

I have had the privilege of being a part of Yale's Learning Support Services team for nearly seven years, and that is exactly the word I would use to describe the energy and heart of this department: team.
When working with these vulnerable learners, where programming, success, and growth are never as linear as you'd hope, I believe our educators' biggest strength is their willingness and emphasis on working together to best serve what a student needs.

Diagnoses and designations, programming and parameters all have value and are certainly considered. But at the end of the day, the question we seek to answer is simply this: what will best help this student? What is in our control that we can offer to the situation? Beyond the details of the sometimes-bursting-at-the-seams-files, what does this student need today, and how can we respond to that?

Often, this requires a much more complex answer than the single line of "case manager" on their IEP might indicate, and this is where the village to raise these students comes into play. Our little corner of the school will see students and teachers zipping across the hallway or popping next door to connect and collaborate every block of the day.

"You have a math question? Go ask Ms. Meola!"

"I actually haven't seen that question before!? Let's go talk to Mr. Blades!"

"You didn't eat breakfast? Go grab a snack from Ms. Savage!"

"Ms. Richardson knows so much about that! Let's go up to the Indigenous Room!"

"Looking for some tips on the best AI tools for that project? Go chat with Mr. Wellington!"

"Do you need someone to edit your essay? Ask Ms. Wong, she'll be all over it!"

"You need a minute to decompress? Ms. Hayley has puzzles and fidget toys galore!"

From EAs to Youth Care Workers to our Indigenous team to teachers to counsellors, I would confidently send a student to any room in our LSS department, knowing that even if they've never seen the student a day in their life, they would stop what they were doing, look the student in the eye and give a smile. They would generously and selflessly offer their time, skills, and heart to that student's success. Whether this means a quick 10-minute tutoring session or organizing hybrid programming, the collaboration and whole-student approach makes me incredibly proud to be a part of this team.

Melissa Friskie, Yale Secondary