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PAGE 10, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1988 Quest: Emphasis on research, creativity ByVERONICA COLANGELO In September, 1987, Quest Private School moved to its permanent location on Baldwin St. just north of Taunton Rd. inBrooklin. Previously known as the Harlander estate, the 45-acre property boasts a beautiful treed country setting, cross country ski trails and a professional potters' studio. Quest is a unique school for bright and gifted children. Ruth Banks, director and founder of the school, has worked for many years in the field of education for the gifted. As supervisor of education for gifted children for the Scarborough Board of Education, she helped to establish the full-time program for these students there. She was principal of Churchill.Heights Public School in Scarborough where this special programislocated. Banks says -Quest is unique because it not only educates those children whose IQ's are in the top 2 per cent of the population and are .referred to as "gifted" but also those children who are classified.as "bright." Banks maintains that given the right environment, bright children can become brighter. The school's philosophy is to equip students for living in the world as it exists and will exist in the future. Thinking and research skills are top priorities at this school and students are trained to research information and use it creatively. Banks points out that memorizing reams of facts is not necessarily education, and always knowing the answer is not critical. Knowing, however, how to search out infor- mation and find the answer is im- portant, she feels. While children at the school cover basically the same curriculum as in other schools, the approach is somewhat different. Problem solving is emphasized and children are encouraged to develop self con- fidence and adopt a positive self- image by involverment in projects that relate directly to what is hap- pening in theworldaround them. An example of this took place recently when the Grade 4 class students, discovered a mouse in their room. They wanted the mouse caught and removed but it was not to be killed! The problem was given over to the Grade 6 class, charged with the task of solving the problem with the criteria set out by students. The Grade 6 students held a "Think Tank" exercise in which various options were explored and possible solutions to the problems were considered. They each resear- ched and designed various options. Banks said that one of the students, did, in fact, design and build a trap that accomplished what the "client" groupwanted. The mouse was caught and removed from the classroom unharmed. This was a "real life" problem, and the students were encouraged to solve it using thinking and creativity skills. Such innovative fearning exercises wouldn't likely be found in a teaching manual. However, Banks states that ap- plying these skills is important if children are to cope with the changing world around them. Recently, ten Grade 8 - 9 students spent a week at the Epcot Centre in Orlando, Florida as part of a program sponsored by the Dufferin- Peel Board of Education and the Creative Problem Solving Institute of Buffalo State University. Forty students from Southern Ontario participated and Quest was the only privateschoolinvited. The theme of the week was "I Touch the Future" and was designed as a leadership training course in future problem solving. Students attended classes from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily and spent the afternoons at Epcot meeting with specialists in various fields. Then the child is tested by a psychologist to determine into which of three categories the child fits --bright, gifted or exceptionally gifted. This testing determines at what level the student is currently functioning and assesses the child's potential for future development. A reading test is also involved. Banks points out that bright children tend to be early readers, they usually read well and they read alot. Education is provided for studen- ts at Quest up to Grade 13 and children are accepted as young as three years of age: Banks stresses that at this age the program is not a nursery school or a day caré situation, and that the child is put in- to a learning environment im- mediately. Class size is limited to 16 students and the current enrolment is 140. Enrolment is underway for the 1988- 89 school year and Banks states that it is expected to be limited to 200 pupils. Students are now housed in por- tables, but construction of.the new school is.scheduled to start this year. -The firm of architects, Moriyama & Teshima, ha~ve designed the permanent Quest building. This firm was responsible for the design of.the Scarboroqgh and Whitby municipal building&is wellas the Ontario Science Cente. Information regarding Quést Private School can be obtainedby callingBanks at655-3328.