The Nest Issue 8 - March 2026

WOR K

Bannockburn Independent School

WORK WORK WORK Famous Montessorian

featuring Alexander Graham Bell

Inside the Work of our

Exclusive

ALUMNI Interview

with Naio Martin

THE NEST MAGAZINE, ISSUE 8

Theatre Director Aquarium Expert School Photographer

The Nest is a thrice-yearly publication published by Bannockburn Independent School to highlight our school community.

A leading Montessori school, Bannockburn is recognized throughout Toronto for its outstanding academic standards, its steadfast commitment to Montessori education, and its deep respect for the potential of every child.

Bannockburn Independent School is fully accredited by Montessori Canada a member of the Conference of Independent Schools (CIS) an approved candidate school for the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) For questions or concerns about this magazine, please contact Erica Fyvie at e.fyvie@bannockburn.ca.

Issue 8 March 2026

Writer and Editor Erica Fyvie Designer Hetvi Gandhi We would like to thank all of the contributors for their time and enthusiasm on this project:

Alexander Graham Bell Ingrid Camhi Aliusha Dayani Jason Fonseca David Goldberg Ashmi Ghogale Naio Martin Easton Meyer Jacqueline Richman Elizabeth Zha

Bannockburn Independent School

The Nest

Bannockburn Independent School Magazine

3080 Bayview Avenue North York, ON. M2N 5L3 (416) 789-7855 www.bannockburn.ca

Table of Contents 1

2

3

Letter from the Head of School

One Question:‌‌ W‌ork

Alumni Interview:‌‌ N‌aio Martin

5

7

9

What Makes Up Your Workspace: F‌rench

Inside the Work: Theatre Director

Inside the Work: Aquarium Expert

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15

Inside the Work: School Photographer

Famous Montessorian

March 2026

Work For our school magazine, we choose a theme for each of our three issues in the school year. The themes are intended to highlight a specific feature or goal of our school, but they should all work in concert with each other. In December, our theme was wonder. What comes after the wonder stage of cultivating question after question?‌‌ It is time for this issue's theme: work. Work has a different meaning in Montessori than in the general population. In Montessori, work is any meaningful activity that a child chooses and engages in with purpose.‌ As long as a student has had a lesson on a particular concept or material, they are welcome and encouraged to select what to work on throughout the day. Additionally, lessons are taught throughout the day, which then leads to follow up work on a material or concept.

Children take their work very seriously in Montessori, while at the same time, their work brings them much joy, satisfaction, and leads to great self-confidence.

In this issue of ‌The Nest‌, we share some of the ways that we are constructing ourselves as a community. Interviews with our school photographer and aquarium expert shed light on all of the work required to do their jobs well.‌‌

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Bannockburn Independent School

A look back at a very hard worker in history, Alexander Graham Bell, is an enlightening one to read, as you will learn about his profound respect for Montessori philosophy. And, of course, talking to some current and former Bannockburn students about what they work hard at is the reason we do the work we do.

In the words of Maria Montessori herself, “It is not that the [person] must develop in order to work, but that the [person] must work in order to develop.”‌‌ Warmly,‌

Jacqueline Richman, Head of School

PR: Easton

LEL: Ashmi

UEL: Elizabeth

“I work hard at pin punching to do it carefully. That’s how we learn the shape of a country.”

“In math, I really like the peg board because it’s fun work and good for focus because otherwise it’s easy to get lost. In language, I like the work of the skyscraper material— finding the synonyms and antonyms.”

“I work hard in math, volleyball, and piano. I feel like all of that contributes to a wellrounded spirit! Math is my passion, so I’ll always work hard at it. I like piano to relax and refresh my mind. And volleyball is a fun athletic activity in which I get to have fun and bond with my teammates.”

What do you work hard at?

The Nest Magazine

02

Alumni Interview with

Naio Martin better memory retention, yet not many schools teach it. For Naio, she likes being able to write in different styles for different needs.

“For long English paragraphs and essays that we’ve been handwriting on paper this year, I’ll write in cursive because I find it faster and more fluid for me.

But if I’m writing smaller, like annotating a text or something like that, I’ll usually write in print.”

The gifted athlete that Naio was here at Bannockburn is growing and thriving at Havergal.

In the present world with so many ups and downs— global conflicts, rising costs, the stock market, technology—it is such a pleasure to be reminded that the future is in excellent hands when you speak to a young person like our alumni profile this month. Naio Martin, Grad of 2022, is remembered from her time at Bannockburn as a studious, curious, talented student with lots of joy and energy. What a delight to find out that she still is.

“I remember Ms. Tesfai and Ms. Edgar. I remember the writing we would do, practicing our cursive. And I remember these boards where we could practice zippers and buttons … tactile things. I think it’s so cool that that was something we got to do.”

The flowing cursive handwriting that she learned and practiced here was surprising to her friends after leaving Bannockburn, as so many alumni report.

Cursive handwriting is a skill with a long list of benefits, including improved fine motor abilities and

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Bannockburn Independent School

“I’m still playing a lot of soccer at school and I’m on a team outside of school as well. I play on the school soccer team in the fall term and I’ll do ultimate frisbee in the spring. And I’m teaching skiing on the weekends.”

After graduating from Bannockburn in Grade 6, Havergal was her first choice. “I like it a lot. The facilities are amazing. I love it personally because there’s so much community focus like at Bannockburn. For example, we just had our Spirit Week and each day there’s a different theme in your grade and you’re competing against other grades the whole week. Monday you dress up as “Late for School,” and when you’re in a uniform all the time, a dress-down week is really fun. And we do grade cheers—you create a cheer, practice it the whole week and there’s three or four kids representing the grade and they make the cheer and the dance and then they do it in front of the whole school.”

Currently in Grade 10, she has an eye toward the future, but is keeping her options open. “I’m not totally sure about what I want to do in the future, but I’m doing two sciences and I like bio and chem, and

I’m doing three years of a language so I can keep U.S. schools open as well, especially for soccer opportunities, if that becomes available.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly as an athlete, she fondly remembers the track and field events at Bannockburn, but she also smiles at the thought of her former teachers.

“I remember connecting with all of my teachers at Bannockburn. For UEL I had Ms. Roushani and Ms. Ashworth and they took us on the grad trip, which was so much fun. That was really cool because I had never been on a trip like that before, with school and not my family.”

With all of her activities and academic goals, there is one skill that she mentions being truly grateful to have learned as a young person.

“I think I got something from everything, but also the way we worked in the classroom helped me with my time management a lot as a skill, because I remember we would have things due at the end of the day and the week and assignments due at the end of the month, and in the school day there would be built-in times to get the short-range and longrange things done. I loved returning to activities at my own pace when I was there.”

In an issue dedicated to work, it’s so refreshing to hear a high schooler openheartedly talk about how hard she works and why the work is important to her.

“I like to be the best at whatever I’m doing,” she smiles. “In soccer, my position requires scoring goals, so I want to be the best goalscorer in the league. I’m very passionate about achieving that goal because it’s such a big thing in my life right now. I have four practices—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday— and games scattered throughout the month. I want to be good at it so I can hopefully keep playing. And school as well, of course.”

She loves seeing other Bannockburn alumni at school competitions and events. When asked if she had any advice to current students, she offered the growth mindset that continues to serve her well.

“Take advantage of everything that’s going on. I remember doing Act One and I’m not still doing theatre—I’m not in any of the school plays—but back then it was a core memory. Everyone was doing it and we thought it was so fun to perform. So, I’d say, even if you’re unsure about trying some stuff, it’s a great time to dip your toe in and see what it’s like, and even if you don’t continue on with it, the memories are still there.”

Our memories of Naio and her two brothers—Ben and Cameron, also alumni—are still here at Bannockburn, too. She promises to stay in touch because it’s possible that she understands just how much her journey means to us, too.

The Nest Magazine

04

Aliusha Dayani, French Teacher

io n t c u d IntroSound of t Objecing h M a tc xes Bo

Paragr co m pr e a ph h e n sio n

Classical Cards

La Conversation

R e a d in g io n com prehen s

Primary Basket

Verbs!

WHAT MAKES UP YOUR WORKSPACE? 05

Bannockburn Independent School

Introduction of Sound “Most beginning lessons start with me introducing a different animal to hear the sound that its name represents. Here it is renard, which is the French word for fox, so the students identify the “r” sound and see how it is written.”

La Conversation “The children enjoy choosing a partner or two and practicing conversational French in a group. I go from group to group and join them!”

Object Matching Boxes “Once they know the sound, they begin to build their vocabulary by matching the sound to the word, and then the word to its object and in a sentence.”

Paragraph Comprehension “The next stage in the learning process is to build reading comprehension with short passages and connecting the image with the story. I also ask them to read the passage aloud to me to work on correct pronunciation.”

Primary Basket “This is my basket full of lessons for the Primary classes. I have finger puppets for games and songs, and cards on the days of the week, months of the year, and different kinds of weather. Even very young children get comfortable describing these details with joy. We have a lot of fun singing songs together so that they can hear the sounds.”

Classical Cards “Les Cartes Classées series gives them more word and sentence practice, and then writing practice as well because they copy their new words into their notebooks.”

Verbs!

“Students use the game piece to choose the correct verb and then record it in their notebook for more writing practice.”

Reading Comprehension “For this lesson they sometimes use the words they know as keywords to unlock the meaning of the sentence.

This is such an important part of reading comprehension, to understand the part to gain meaning of the whole.”

The Nest Magazine

06

Inside the Work

David Goldberg, Theatre Director

“The whole point of our program is that you’re not there to become a star, you’re there to gain confidence, to work together on a team, to learn your lines together, to help each other when things don’t go exactly as planned, to get up on that stage, to present in front of a group … all those things.”

David Goldberg, Act One Theatre Director, has been a fixture at Bannockburn for over a decade. His interest in drama as a child changed the course of his life.

“My boss, Alex Moses, started Act One about twenty-five or thirty years ago. He ran the theatre program at Camp Wahanowin, the camp I went to as a child. Then I worked at the camp for many years, and got to know Alex.”

After attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York City, David returned to Toronto and began working with Alex at Act One. “Twenty-five years later, I’m still here!”

David thinks of Act One as a tool for gaining important life skills, not necessarily as training for life as a future performer. He speaks as someone who feels dedicated and grateful for the work he gets to do.

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Bannockburn Independent School

Knowing that you’re part of something bigger is an important lesson. And they love to work together to see how the scene comes along.

“I always say that we’re in a safe space here—no one is judging you and no one will laugh at you. ‘Be the character! Put on that voice! It’s going to be great.’ It brings me great pride to see the joy on their faces.”

The Act One classes here at Bannockburn come together with a lot of planning, but also by being flexible and agile. “Alex and I discuss options for the productions and then sometimes I ask the kids to give me three choices that they’d be interested in. I choreograph the group numbers and the dances.

Then we often tailor the script depending on the number of kids involved. For this recent production of Aladdin at Bannockburn, we sent the script out and then I got to the first rehearsal and thought, ‘Oh! I think we need more.’ So I went home and I redeveloped the script based on the kids in the rehearsal. Heather reprinted all the scripts for me at the last minute and I totally appreciated it. The support I’ve gotten at Bannockburn over the years from Jaci and Heather and everyone who works there has just been phenomenal.”

When asked about favourite moments as a Theatre Director, there were too many to list. “What I like best is when former students come back and reminisce with me about the shows and it brings back memories for me. That it mattered enough to them to remember is meaningful to me. It’s important that they know that their work matters.”

David is also super thankful to the parent community here at the school.

“The parent body, too, they give us so much support—between helping the kids learn their lines to putting together fantastic costumes and cheering them on —there is so much support at Bannockburn.”

Since this is the work issue, we were interested in the program as a whole. He works at an average of five schools a day, including lunchtime programming.

This term he has 17 productions in the works. Some classes happen at the Act One Academy at Bathurst and Eglinton in the evenings.

The Nest Magazine

08

Work Interview

Jason Fonseca, Aquarium Expert As for the work he does here, he describes it as comparatively simple.

For Bannockburn, I come here every other week, clean the glass, do a water change, which resupplies the tank with minerals, and then I clean some of the plumbing pieces to ensure that they’re working well. I also clean the filter. The secret to keeping a reef tank successfully is lots of coral and only a few fish, which you have. The coral absorbs so much of the waste, so waste is not a problem. It’s not a fish tank, but a full ecosystem.”

When people first enter our school’s foyer, many are drawn to the aquarium. It is large, colourful, and peaceful.

Throughout the school day, there is often a child standing nearby, staring in wonder at the marine life inside.

We decided to go behind the scenes (behind the glass?), and speak to Jason Fonesca, owner and operator of GTAquatics, and the longstanding carer of our aquarium. He started working at Bannockburn 10 years ago after being recommended by Greg, our former aquarium expert. In that time, his business has grown exponentially. He currently maintains 70 aquariums, half of which are freshwater, and the other half saltwater. Is there one that he prefers?

“Coral is my focus and what I’m really passionate about. They exist in aquariums like this one, a saltwater reef tank. People forget that corals are animals—they think they’re plants or rocks—but corals are some of the most sensitive and delicate animals.”

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Bannockburn Independent School

So many of our Bannockburn students have a favourite fish, and Jason is the same. It seems fitting in our work issue that Jason’s favourite fish is the melanurus wrasse, the only one with a real job in the tank. It eats pests that bother the coral. The students often refer to it as Purplelicious, which is, obviously, also a great name.

His site, GTAquatics.com, mentions a passion for marine life. When and how did this begin?

“I always loved the water and was the happiest there.

The coral obsession happened a bit later when I met Greg and was just starting my degree. I saw the tanks that he had and was shocked by how beautiful the corals were. I always liked a challenge growing up, and by far, in animal husbandry terms, corals are the most difficult.”

Part of the challenge is that coral is in a fight against climate change, a fight it is, unfortunately, losing. For experts like Jason who love coral, protecting it has taken on new and urgent meaning.

“In the wild, corals are probably the most affected by climate change. We’ve lost about 80% in the last 30 years. They are unique animals in that they are really reliant on their ecosystem. You can imagine if you are a super sensitive animal very reliant on your environment and you come from the tropics, which historically has little seasonality, change will be significant.”

The result can be coral bleaching. “What makes the coral live are the algae in their tissues. They’re single-cell algaes and when the temperature’s too high or the water is too acidic, that algae becomes a nuisance to the coral.”

rainbow reef, and if you speak the language, the animals will try to communicate with you. The coworkers that I can have the biggest issues with are fish!”

It seems like a unique and wonderful thing to have work that grew out of a childhood interest sustain and flourish in adulthood. For Jason, the most satisfying part is the appreciation for a tricky subject matter.

“Corals are hard animals to take care of, but when they do well, that’s the nice part. One professor refused to talk to me about them. He said to me, ‘Over my 40-year career, I’ve seen them all die, so I don’t want to talk about them anymore.’ Hearing that made me think that more people should know how to care for these beautiful animals. Other animals are really colourful for two reasons: they’re either trying to find a mate or they’re poisonous. Coral is neither. It’s just because.”

Jason is touched to hear how adored our Bannockburn aquarium is by children and adults alike.

“I’m from Mississauga and didn’t go and see coral in the wild growing up, and I got into this industry because of aquariums. So I wish everyone realized how good they are for inspiring kids. Very few people knew what they wanted to do when they were eightyears-old, and I feel very lucky to be on this path.”

Jason’s interest and appreciation for marine life started when he was a child. His dad loved aquariums, so he helped take care of them, which led to working in every aquarium store in Mississauga.

From there, it seemed a natural extension to study sea life formally, and he got a bachelor of science degree in marine biology from Dalhousie University.

He also did a degree in aquaculture. For the uninitiated, aquaculture is breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants—farming in water. He’s worked on various boats, as well as oyster and trout farms. One ship he worked on was for environmental research, to catch poachers.

“After graduating from Dalhousie, my first job was at Ripley’s Aquarium. I was the Tropical Gallery Lead for almost four years, and then I started my business, GTAquatics. I went back to Ripley’s recently and one of the animals I trained, a porcupine fish, recognized me through the glass. I used to take care of the big

Special thanks to the BPA for helping to support the aquarium’s care with their fundraising efforts.

The Nest Magazine

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Inside the Work

Ingrid Camhi, Photographer

moment captured. For me, it’s an honour to photograph the Bannockburn kids and to have that window of time and to connect with those families.”

She studied graphic design in her native Mexico City many years ago and had the opportunity to have a specialty with her major. So, she spent three years working on photography and fell in love with it. As she says, “I fell in love with capturing the essence of a person rather than simply asking them to pose. A photograph can reveal something real and lasting.”

That philosophy guides every part of her process, especially the careful planning that happens long before the camera comes out. “Who is a half day?

Who takes naps? Who are the siblings? I plan everything ahead, respecting the kids’ time. About three weeks beforehand I work with the staff to coordinate the schedule. The actual photos in the school happen over four to five days. I’m very flexible because it’s a lot of juggling! A specialist class, someone isn’t feeling well, there’s Terry Fox or a fire drill, or any number of things that require working with all the moving parts.”

Ingrid Camhi is likely a familiar name and face to most Bannockburn parents, as she has been our school photographer since the 2006-2007 school year. Her three children attended and graduated from Bannockburn—Rebeca (2007), Andrea (2009), and Joseph (2011)—and she loves using her impressive photographic skills to capture our students.

Her connection to Montessori education shapes the way she sees her work.

“I think Montessori helps to think outside of the box,” she says. “You can address one subject from many angles, like my photos. Parents who are drawn to the Montessori program may be more open to exploration, even with photography. It’s not the regular photo day with clouds or a blue background and set poses. Sometimes their child isn’t even smiling, but the parents get it, they appreciate the

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Bannockburn Independent School

Her respect for the classroom schedules and children’s needs is one of the things she appreciates the most about Bannockburn.

“I like that it’s a calm, peaceful environment. I think that’s very important for the kids’ wellbeing and development. The respect that the teachers have for the kids and the kids have for their teachers extends to me and everyone who comes into the school. When I enter the school, it’s an orderly, clean place which creates order and safety for the kids. The guidelines are well established and maintained with love. When I take their photos, I get to benefit from all of that. I feel at ease in an environment like that myself.”

To further that sense of calm, she introduces herself in stages to the children.

“I like to enter the classroom with my camera in hand so the children can see it and become familiar with it. I show them the buttons and let them understand that it’s safe. That way, when they see me outside later, I’m not a stranger, I’m someone who is part of their environment.”

And if a child isn’t ready?

“That’s something I really value about Montessori—you respect the child as an individual. If a child doesn’t want their photo taken that day, that’s okay. Maybe they’re tired or not feeling their best. I always build-in time to try again. I never want a child to feel pressured or uncomfortable. The teachers know their students so well, and together we decide what feels right.”

Her work motto is a beautiful one and reiterates her goal to capture the essence of her subjects.

“The best picture is not the one in which you’re smiling and looking right at the camera necessarily, it’s the one that makes you smile when you’re looking at it. That’s my motto.”

The days spent photographing everyone is only part one! Part two happens when she begins the lengthy process of editing the thousands of photos she takes.

“I do my first selection, the first filtering, which I do to establish which retakes I need to do. I’m very strict with myself. I like to deliver the best of the best.

Because I get a real sense of the kids, I know if one has an uncomfortable pose or a relaxed face. Then I filter all the photos again. Then I select them and do a fast colour and light edit. Then I send them to parents. That process takes me about a month at least.”

She offers a meaningful example of how to appreciate growth in photography, rather than the pursuit of perfection. “Sometimes parents see a bandaid or a scratch or a bruise on their child’s leg and think, ‘Oh, I wish that wasn’t there,’ and I tell them that that is a healthy, active kid! When they look at those photos later when they’re older, those things make it even sweeter. Everything in that photo has a memory and will create a history. Everything the camera catches tells a story, even if it’s a band-aid.

Sometimes they have on the wrong shoe! You laugh about those things later and that’s the story.”

Ingrid is grateful that her work is meaningful to families. “Parents see them as a treasure. These images are a sometimes nostalgic, beautiful reminder of where their children were and where they’re going.”

The Nest Magazine

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Famous Montessorian

Alexander Graham Bell

a teaching job in Boston at a school for the deaf. He taught “visible speech,” which entailed teaching with a series of illustrations that showed how sounds were made, and also worked with vibrations in an effort to “feel” sound. In 1873, he began tutoring a deaf student named Mabel who later became his wife.

When not teaching, he researched the electrical transmission of sound, which ultimately led to his invention of the telephone.

Montessori education, with its emphasis on the phonetic approach, was instantly appealing to both Alexander and Mabel Bell. In Montessori, the student explores the specific sounds of language, isolating each one.

Sandpaper letters that correspond to the sound are traced, connecting two sensory experiences. From there, the movable alphabet is introduced, in which the letters and sounds are used to build words. This, ultimately, leads to reading and writing with a profound understanding of language.

For most people, when you read the name “Alexander Graham Bell,” a single phrase pops to mind: “the inventor of the telephone.” But Bell’s life, accomplishments, and profound interest and promotion of Montessori education makes his life story so much more interesting than a single fact.

Born in Scotland in 1847, Bell was raised in a family in which both his father and grandfather were experts in the fields of speech and elocution (pronunciation and articulation). In 1835, his grandfather published a seminal work, The Practical Elocutionist, which was based on the symbols of language. When Alexander was 12-years-old, his mother began to gradually lose her hearing. The combination of his family’s expertise and Alexander’s need to communicate with his mother in new ways led Bell to study acoustics.

In 1870, his family emigrated to Canada, after the death of his two brothers from tuberculosis. They settled in Brantford on a farm, but in 1871, he began

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Bannockburn Independent School

In 1912, the Bells read about the Montessori curriculum in McClure Magazine. They went to the first Montessori school in the U.S.A.— in Scarborough, New York—within weeks of learning about the program. They opened a Montessori school in Washington, D.C., and established the first Montessori school in Canada at their home in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Alexander and Mabel established the Montessori Educational Association, an early Montessori-promoting organization, in 1913.

Below is a letter he wrote to Maria Montessori, extolling the virtues of Montessori and inviting her to join their new association.

Dear Dr. Montessori, On behalf of the Montessori Educational Association, I am honored to inform you that we have chosen you as an honorary member of our Association, as a way of expressing our deepest gratitude for your great work in the service of humanity. The Montessori Educational Association has just been formed (with Mrs. Bell as President) to promote and develop in America an educational movement based on its philosophy.

The organization is growing remarkably, due to the great interest and enthusiasm aroused mainly among parents, whose children have attended, throughout the winter, the class that Miss George has carried out at my house. The development and growth of children has been so favorable and the experiment has been so inspiring, that people from all over the country have become convinced of the value of its teachings and the advantages to American education that would be followed from a general adoption of the Montessori Method.

Maria Montessori and the founder of McClure Magazine on her trip to America in 1913.

The High Commissioner for Education has agreed to form part of the Association and one of the daughters of the President of the United States has been very interested in the Method and we hope that she will also participate actively in the Association.

We would be greatly pleased if you agree to be an honorary member of our Association. We believe that the Montessori Method with the powerful support we are giving it, can extend very favorably throughout the United States.

If you could visit our country we would be pleased to give you the warmest welcome as we consider it one of America's top beneficiaries.

Sincerely, Alexander Graham Bell Washington, April 29, 1913

For those who may be wondering, “Did she take them up on their offer and visit?,” the answer is yes.

Eight months later, in December 1913, Alexander and Mabel Bell hosted a large reception in her honour. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for those conversations!

The Nest Magazine

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Cultivating Curiosity Nurturing Potential Empowering Independence

Bannockburn Mission Statement Bannockburn develops responsible, nurturing, peaceful young people with self-esteem and respect for others. Bannockburn graduates are selfmotivated, intellectually curious students who love learning and who achieve academic success.

Contact 3080 Bayview Avenue, North York, ON. M2N 5L3 (416) 789-7855 | www.bannockburn.ca | reception@bannockburn.ca