About the Conference
Clikbait, sharebait, retweets, likes. In a world in which Facebook is the news gatekeeper, in a world in which we are more willing to share news than read it, and in a world in which fake news is real news, how do we encourage students to understand the world and their place in it? Headline surfing has always existed, but now the headlines and articles that are most widely read aren’t even from media outlets. We get our news from social media. Our shared political and social values are being shaped by what we casually share and retweet…hoping for likes.
 
The silver lining? We love stories. 
 
In our classroom we can inspire imaginative thought and encourage creativity, and we can do this while pushing our students to read about and question the motivations, actions and decisions of real people: from politicians who tweet to women who declare ‘me too’, we certainly are living in interesting times, and now, more than ever, we need our youth to be empowered with knowledge and independent thought.
 
Creative non-fiction encourages students to engage with the real world. People and stories become immortalized in art; poetry, paintings, novels and photographs take on lives of their own, but they are inspired by the stories of the world beyond our schools’ walls.  Let us use this genre to empower students to learn stories about refugees, missing and murdered women and the growing impacts of technological advancement. Let us use this genre to push students to investigate and challenge facts, explore the media, and come to their own conclusions. Let us use this genre to teach empathy. Let us use this genre to motivate creativity.
 
This year, students were asked to select a recent or current event  - local, national or global – and use it to inspire a piece of creative non-fiction. We thank Krystal Lunardo, Creator and Editor in Chief of Dauphine Magazine and her sister, Lauren Knowles, VC alumnus, Class of 2017, for sharing their insights as a publisher and a Ryerson Journalism major respectively to the winners of this year’s InCITE publication. We thank Tristan Bronca, VC alumnus, Class of 2009, Editor for the Medical Post and freelance writer, and Brendan Kennedy, Toronto Star investigative reporter, for their contributions in the panel discussion. We thank Jan Wong for sharing her work and her heart in the world of creative non-fiction writing. We thank the English educators who facilitated workshops and shared their expertise in non-traditional modes of reading and writing. And we thank those teachers who participated and who will use what they learned at this conference to engender in their students a passion for exploring themselves through creative non-fiction.
 
The world is our classroom.
 
Christine Doyle and Sally Mastromonaco
CITE Conference 2018, Villanova College
​
2018 CITE Conference and Workshop
Villanova  College, King City, ON
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Where the most
influential English teachers
within the Conference of Independent Schools come
to learn and discuss teaching and learning strategies that engage young people to think critically and creatively about the world.
Workshops

12
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Partipants

Teachers and Students
​of CIS Member Schools
coming together for the love of creative non-fiction!
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Facilitators

14

Speakers
Jan Wong
​Writer and Professor
Krystal Lunardo
Creator and Editor in Chief - Dauphine Magazine

RSVP and Register Today!
Join the most innovative English educators.
​See you there!