A Waterdown teacher is combining education and helping to break the pandemic blues by having fun with flags.
Nathan Tidridge, a history teacher at Waterdown District High School, has been holding what he has dubbed “The Great Waterdown Flag Challenge" ever since the pandemic began, and recently crossed the 50-day threshold.
Each day, Tidridge raises a different flag from his personal collection up the flagpole in the backyard of his Mays Crescent home, tweets a photo and shares it with his students as part of his online lessons. Students must identify the flag and post one random fact about the area it represents on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s online hub.
“The first person that guesses it gets a little prize that my daughter Sophie draws for them,” Tidridge said, adding that while it started with his students, it has since expanded and former students are taking part through Twitter, as well as people in the community.
“We’ve got a little sign that we put outside the house, because the dog walkers and the people walking by, they take part, too,” he said. “We even get requests now, so people will post requests on the sign of the flag that they want.”
Tidridge said the most winners they have had in a day is six, and over the course of the contest they have given out 160 prizes.
The flags represent countries, provinces and states, as well as cities and people. Tidridge said the most obscure flag he has featured in the challenge is Blackbeard’s flag – which was donated by his neighbour – as well as the flag of Nepal, the only national flag that is not a square or rectangle.
He had hoped his collection would outlast the pandemic, and while most of the flags have been souvenirs from vacations or gifts from friends or students, he has recently begun supplementing the collection.
“To bolster the collection, I’ve ordered a number, so we get a steady stream from Amazon now,” he said. “My hope was the collection would outlast the pandemic.
“I’m still hopeful that will happen. I think I’ve got about 100 – I haven’t actually ever counted.”
He said his favourite flag in the collection is his New Zealand flag, which he took with him while backpacking, and he will often fly it if a student visits New Zealand. However, he has some obscure flags in his possession — in fact, Tidridge said he will one day put up the flag of Pitcairn Islands, a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean, which was a gift from someone on the island.
Tidridge said he has always flown flags on his backyard flagpole, but has increased the frequency due to the pandemic.
“The best thing is little notes that people will leave, or students that come out of the woodwork online,” he said. “Kids that I haven’t seen or heard from in about 10 years, reaching out or putting in requests – it’s kind of nice.”
From an educational standpoint, Tidridge said, he is just trying to engage the students through the COVID-19 pandemic, adding he gets guesses from each of his classes daily.
“Whatever works to make them feel a part of something is a good thing, I think,” he said. “I’m trying to stump them, too.
“So the ones I’ve been ordering, I’ve been trying to get more and more obscure.”
To follow along with the Great Waterdown Flag Challenge, follow Tidridge on Twitter at @tidridge.
A Waterdown teacher is combining education and helping to break the pandemic blues by having fun with flags.
Nathan Tidridge, a history teacher at Waterdown District High School, has been holding what he has dubbed “The Great Waterdown Flag Challenge" ever since the pandemic began, and recently crossed the 50-day threshold.
Each day, Tidridge raises a different flag from his personal collection up the flagpole in the backyard of his Mays Crescent home, tweets a photo and shares it with his students as part of his online lessons. Students must identify the flag and post one random fact about the area it represents on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s online hub.
“The first person that guesses it gets a little prize that my daughter Sophie draws for them,” Tidridge said, adding that while it started with his students, it has since expanded and former students are taking part through Twitter, as well as people in the community.
“We’ve got a little sign that we put outside the house, because the dog walkers and the people walking by, they take part, too,” he said. “We even get requests now, so people will post requests on the sign of the flag that they want.”
Tidridge said the most winners they have had in a day is six, and over the course of the contest they have given out 160 prizes.
The flags represent countries, provinces and states, as well as cities and people. Tidridge said the most obscure flag he has featured in the challenge is Blackbeard’s flag – which was donated by his neighbour – as well as the flag of Nepal, the only national flag that is not a square or rectangle.
He had hoped his collection would outlast the pandemic, and while most of the flags have been souvenirs from vacations or gifts from friends or students, he has recently begun supplementing the collection.
“To bolster the collection, I’ve ordered a number, so we get a steady stream from Amazon now,” he said. “My hope was the collection would outlast the pandemic.
“I’m still hopeful that will happen. I think I’ve got about 100 – I haven’t actually ever counted.”
He said his favourite flag in the collection is his New Zealand flag, which he took with him while backpacking, and he will often fly it if a student visits New Zealand. However, he has some obscure flags in his possession — in fact, Tidridge said he will one day put up the flag of Pitcairn Islands, a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean, which was a gift from someone on the island.
Tidridge said he has always flown flags on his backyard flagpole, but has increased the frequency due to the pandemic.
“The best thing is little notes that people will leave, or students that come out of the woodwork online,” he said. “Kids that I haven’t seen or heard from in about 10 years, reaching out or putting in requests – it’s kind of nice.”
From an educational standpoint, Tidridge said, he is just trying to engage the students through the COVID-19 pandemic, adding he gets guesses from each of his classes daily.
“Whatever works to make them feel a part of something is a good thing, I think,” he said. “I’m trying to stump them, too.
“So the ones I’ve been ordering, I’ve been trying to get more and more obscure.”
To follow along with the Great Waterdown Flag Challenge, follow Tidridge on Twitter at @tidridge.
A Waterdown teacher is combining education and helping to break the pandemic blues by having fun with flags.
Nathan Tidridge, a history teacher at Waterdown District High School, has been holding what he has dubbed “The Great Waterdown Flag Challenge" ever since the pandemic began, and recently crossed the 50-day threshold.
Each day, Tidridge raises a different flag from his personal collection up the flagpole in the backyard of his Mays Crescent home, tweets a photo and shares it with his students as part of his online lessons. Students must identify the flag and post one random fact about the area it represents on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s online hub.
“The first person that guesses it gets a little prize that my daughter Sophie draws for them,” Tidridge said, adding that while it started with his students, it has since expanded and former students are taking part through Twitter, as well as people in the community.
“We’ve got a little sign that we put outside the house, because the dog walkers and the people walking by, they take part, too,” he said. “We even get requests now, so people will post requests on the sign of the flag that they want.”
Tidridge said the most winners they have had in a day is six, and over the course of the contest they have given out 160 prizes.
The flags represent countries, provinces and states, as well as cities and people. Tidridge said the most obscure flag he has featured in the challenge is Blackbeard’s flag – which was donated by his neighbour – as well as the flag of Nepal, the only national flag that is not a square or rectangle.
He had hoped his collection would outlast the pandemic, and while most of the flags have been souvenirs from vacations or gifts from friends or students, he has recently begun supplementing the collection.
“To bolster the collection, I’ve ordered a number, so we get a steady stream from Amazon now,” he said. “My hope was the collection would outlast the pandemic.
“I’m still hopeful that will happen. I think I’ve got about 100 – I haven’t actually ever counted.”
He said his favourite flag in the collection is his New Zealand flag, which he took with him while backpacking, and he will often fly it if a student visits New Zealand. However, he has some obscure flags in his possession — in fact, Tidridge said he will one day put up the flag of Pitcairn Islands, a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean, which was a gift from someone on the island.
Tidridge said he has always flown flags on his backyard flagpole, but has increased the frequency due to the pandemic.
“The best thing is little notes that people will leave, or students that come out of the woodwork online,” he said. “Kids that I haven’t seen or heard from in about 10 years, reaching out or putting in requests – it’s kind of nice.”
From an educational standpoint, Tidridge said, he is just trying to engage the students through the COVID-19 pandemic, adding he gets guesses from each of his classes daily.
“Whatever works to make them feel a part of something is a good thing, I think,” he said. “I’m trying to stump them, too.
“So the ones I’ve been ordering, I’ve been trying to get more and more obscure.”
To follow along with the Great Waterdown Flag Challenge, follow Tidridge on Twitter at @tidridge.