Optimism and Adventure: Donna Miller Fry’s P3
- Noa Daniel
- May 8, 2018
- 5 min read
Donna Miller Fry is the Assistant Director of Education for the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District. She moved to Corner Brook nearly a year ago, after many years in the Ontario Public K-12 System. Donna was the Provincial Lead for Leading Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching, with the Student Achievement Division of the Ontario Ministry of Education. In that role, she supported education leaders in using collaborative technologies to learn and share practice. As well, she supported the Renewed Math Strategy in northern Ontario through the design and implementation of projects like the Math Leadership Network, and #notabookstudy with Dr. Cathy Fostnot and VoicEd Radio’s Stephen Hurley. Donna has over thirty years of experience in publicly-funded schools in Ontario as a teacher, administrative head, online instructor, alternative education teacher, vice-principal, and principal. She served as an Education Officer with the Curriculum, Assessment & Policy Branch - eLearning Ontario.
Donna’s work as an educational leader is vast and wide. She has served on OSAPAC (Ontario Software Acquisition Program Advisory Committee), was the co-founder of OSSEMOOC (Ontario School and System Leader Educational Technology Massive Open Online Community) with Mark Carbone. Their goal was to promote leaders in starting to use digital technology in their practice. One of the things that Donna said she is proud of is that , “At the end of that, Harvard Graduate School of Education looked at it as one of the international examples of personalization of learning at scale…” Donna is a former Vice-President of ECOO, and she served as a teacher mentor for Teach For Canada. As well, she continues to teach Additional Qualification courses at Queen’s University in eLearning and Technology Integration mentioning that she even had two students who were FaceTiming or participating in Google Hangouts from England. She is also on the Advisory Board of the EdCan Network. Donna’s experience in education is extensive.
Education is provincial, and skills aren't always transferable, so the learning from each new experience can be profound. When reflecting on the her transition to Newfoundland’s education system, Donna said, “It [would] be interesting to be able to compare systems across the country and think about where the strengths are, because I’d love to see a role sometimes bringing all of those strengths together across the country.” Donna would be the perfect candidate for a role such as this. As she left Ontario for Newfoundland and is learning so much about their strengths, she has been on a journey, and her Personal Playlist Podcast is reflective of that. Each of her songs represent something about this grand adventure, both real and figurative.
Donna’s nostalgic song is from a band that shares her coast, but it is more about her travels there with her children, and it also connects to her many roles as an educator. She and her husband spent a lot of time commuting when their kids were young. They would often spend summers road tripping out East. Donna recounted, “...doing things like throwing the kids in the car in the summer and just driving across Canada, and we kept ending up in Newfoundland. I had a thing about East coast music and Newfoundland,” and that’s the time that this band became well known.” The song is one originally recorded by R.E.M. This band’s version has the same exact lyrics with all of the verses, yet their version is a minute and a half shorter because of their swift tempo. Donna has even put out a challenge to the lead singer, Allan Doyle, to out pace him on this track. The other aspect Donna reflects on is the song as a theme of her work in school. She said, “Every single day something has changed, so we can’t rely on the status quo.” Here is End of the World by Great Big Sea:
Donna’s identity song is one she has loved from a band that she always adored and still listens to while running. She connects to this song in both personal and professional ways. Donna refers to the lyrics and the falls from a pinnacle in the band’s life relating that, “When you feel like you are on top of everything you are doing- really exciting work and you’re really getting traction, and it disappears from your life, there can be a bit of a grieving process...when I hear this song, it does kind of make me feel that I had to regroup and refocus what I want to do with my life.” It may have taken her the long way around, but, as Donna said, “There are no straight lines in life.” She is certainly who views each day as a new opportunity to meet and learn from different kinds of people, as well as to try and experience new things. “I really look forward to being able to use what I’ve learned in education to go to places that are exciting places to work with exciting people, and beautiful places in the world, and learn from those experiences....you can experience life in such a rich way.” Here’s Long Way Around by The Dixie Chicks:
Donna’s pick-me-up song is a classic of Canadian music. “This is song that my kids and I’ve danced to many many times when we’d see Spirit of the West live, and it would be in our house all the time..,when we’re driving down the highway, when we’re headed to BC. It didn't matter; we would play this song all the time and we’d sing it from the top of our lungs.” The lead singer, John Mann, has early onset Alzheimer's, and this song was recorded my many great Canadian artists spearheaded by Alan Doyle by in his honour. “He was able to bring together so many of my favourite musicians from across Canada to record this song in a bathroom.” Their goal is to raise the money that he needs, and there is a Go Fund Me page. This version of the song is performed by Spirit of Canada- an ensemble of Canadian greats reflecting the power of unity as they rally behind their friend. John Mann is even there, dancing in the video. Donna recently lost her nephew to ALS. For her, it’s all a reminder that, “... every single day that we have is a gift, and we should treat it that way.” Considering the big picture, I felt compelled to leave the entire song in the podcast. Here is this important version of Home For a Rest:
When looking back at the choices of her songs for her P3, Donna stuck with her original selections. She did, however, mention U2’s Beautiful Day as one of her mantras. While she expressed being happy with her playlist, Donna noted that this was quite the critical thinking activity. She warned me that these songs are ear-worms, but I genuinely welcome that feature of the show. Saying that she has been listening to some of the other Personal Playlist Podcast episodes, Donna added that it’s “... really fascinating how we’re able to get into the lives of some of the people that we only know online, and that’s been the neat part. Sometimes, when you are only getting to know someone through social media, you are seeing a very two dimensional side of them, but this podcast has certainly helped me really see what makes people tick.”
Donna has published articles in the Canadian Education Association Journal, Connections (CPCO) and K12 Blueprint, and she contributes to conversations about education on her blog, Learning About Learning as well as through her work at the EdCan Network. She leads collaborative learning projects and courses for education leaders, working always to encourage and enable educators to become connected leaders. You can reach out to Donna through various social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Linked In. If you want to know more about Donna’s professional portfolio, you can go to her website.
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