From the Middle School High School Principal

The Campfire

This week our learning spaces in Middle School and High School continued to be updated.  Some of the significant upgrades were in Fraser and Fyvie, which we use for professional learning, break-out sessions, grade level sessions and clubs.  One of my favourite areas in the room is the campfire area.  

Campfires are an archetype at the heart of community.  It is hard to overstate just how important campfires have been for humans over time.  Campfires are where we build community and tell the stories that give us identity and meaning.  Historically they are where we reflect.  After a long day's hunting, or gathering, humans would gather around the campfire to exchange stories and wisdom.  We often talk about the importance of 'reflection' for learning, and this is where it started.  Fires kept animals at bay at night, and metaphorically and literally kept us feeling safe and warm.  When we feel we have lost this feeling we say we are 'burned out'.  That fire lingers in our language long after we no longer have literal campfires nightly.

There are other places where the idea lingers in our language.  When we say we are focused, or a room has a 'focus', we might not realise we are saying we are staring into a fire.  The word focus comes from the word fire, and its use to mean attention is metaphorical.  In Italian, the word for fire is still 'fuoco' and is related to the word for an oven 'forno' - just for the next time you order your pizza or pasta 'al forno'.  It always amuses me when estate agents say 'The fire really gives a focus to the room'.  Which is literally saying the fire gives the room a fire to look at.  Which is of course true!

Growing up, I was aware that this part of the world was only re-inhabited by humans after the ice retreated around 10,000 BC, and their key tool was using fire and furs to endure the cold.  Campfires let us go to new places, and thrive.  It took a long time for me to realise this was not really the only story, and that campfires also massively expanded what we could use as food, as it killed bacteria in 'bad meat' found on the ice or softened otherwise inedible foods.  Campfires have been at the absolute heart of the 'north' for more than ten millennia.  It's a sobering thought, just how many generations have gathered around the campfire to reflect, share stories, eat and feel they belong, in all of earth's diverse habitats, but particularly here.

In the wider sense, the campfire represents our desire to belong, and I am proud we have a large inclusive campfire now, both literally and metaphorically.

Have a great weekend.