A Peek at the Canvas: January
by Frank Caracciolo
The most recent episode of The Blank Canvas with Frank Caracciolo is out now. Released on January 17th, the episode features a conversation with Horizon High Schools’ Principal Ben Matlin. They speak about creating opportunities and how Ben’s school’s momentum is changing lives. A brief conversation about his team at the school and how the alternative approach to teaching is leading to success for the students.
Frank Caracciolo: Hi, Ben, good morning. Thanks for coming in.
Ben Matlin: Morning, Frank. Thank you very much for inviting me.
Frank Caracciolo: Yeah, so listen, I know you, but our listeners – some of our listeners – might not know you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the history of yourself with the Lester B. Pearson School Board.
Ben Matlin: Yes, so as you hear, my name is Ben Matlin. I’ve been in the education, this is my 25th year in education, it’s my 15th year in administration. I’ve been with the Lester B. Pearson School Board for 17 years, I did start at a previous school board, and then I moved my way to this great school board where I just enjoyed it very much.
I’ve worked in many different schools as a teacher. I worked at Beaconsfield High School as a vice principal, I worked at John Rennie High School as a vice principal, I worked at LCCHS where I got to meet Frank, which was a great meeting. Got a lot of good connections there, worked very hard with all the kids. I also worked as a principal of elementary, which was Christmas Park Elementary, and now I’m at Horizon High School and all the alternative networks, which is a school that I actually really always wanted, and I requested and they granted me my request, and I’m thrilled to be principal of this school.
Frank Caracciolo: Yeah, and so I work a lot with you. I come in and out. I work with the EdVenture Program. We have our colleague, Myron Weeks, who works at the school now, and I work with him, and your teachers are amazing.
So, tell our listeners a little bit about, like, what is Horizon High School? Like, what’s the basis of what happens on a, you know, in that school? Like, what’s it for?
Ben Matlin: So, our Horizon High School is the only alternative school within our Lester B. Pearson School Board. Within it, I have a high school, so a grade 7 to grade 11 program.
I also have specialized programs: we have a transition program for kids with special needs that need services and we work with them to get them to other programs, and our EdVenture program, which is from kids from 17 to 21, and we work on life skills. They’re right now in the process of creating all stuff, which we’re going to have open to sell like goods and stuff for holiday season.
But Horizon High School is really the school where a lot of people focus on. So we have what we call a junior program, which is our grade seven, grade eights, they do courses year round and we work hard with them, and then we have our senior program, which is 9, 10, and 11. And those programs are based on semester, it gives the kids a chance to, you know, have a lighter load so we don’t have to give them all the heavy academics all at once.
They’re able to, be successful. And if they’re not, they just redo it, gives them multiple chances. And our kids, as a lot of the kids we have here, came from other schools. So they’re referred from other schools, based on… because they don’t have the ability to navigate the larger settings. Their behavior sometimes, it could be school avoidance, it could be all sorts of things, which you see in all schools, but in my school, we have the ability to work with these kids and really try to engage them in school to show them that it’s not a punishment.
You’re not coming to Horizon because it’s a good chance, it’s a good opportunity to learn how to be a person.
Working with Frank, with Frank and Myron, we do a lot of art projects here. We do murals on the walls. We bring our kids to many, many things outside. We want them to see the outside world.
I offer them lunch because I believe in feeding kids. A hungry kid’s not a happy kid. You feed the kid, it’s all great. And through there, they pick up their lunch and they wash their dishes, they learn different things.
And we’re really trying to help the kids learn that they can be something, that respect goes everywhere, honesty goes everywhere. But they’re really great kids and have a lot to offer. They just need to be shown the way and given the right choices.
Frank Caracciolo: Yeah, and I think it’s a really great program. I enjoy it. And I used to work at the LOVE program and that’s how you and I met.
Hear the full interview here:
or here:
