Post- Kepler Observations
It was very satisfying to be able to go on this Kepler’s STARS journey with my class. In over 25 years of teaching, this was, thanks to the pandemic, the first class I had to myself all year long. With the daily reminders of how we need to work together for the benefit of all, it was an appropriate year to face some of humanity’s challenges through a planetary alter-ego. By design Kepler’s STARS allows us to tackle tribulations a safe distance from Earth’s calamities, bringing in the real-life corollaries when the students are ready to reflect. The added bonus this COVID-constrained year was the escapism inherent in becoming someone else, somewhere else, learning to care for each other on principle. To be able to experience Kepler’s STARS with my students in French was especially sweet, as I had seen colleagues help pilot the program in English and had long wanted to offer the same experience to my French Immersion students. Once again, a pandemic summer presented me the opportunity t
