June 7, 2010

As I ended my previous "Dragon’s Tale” blog, I left you on the first tee of our first Annual St. George’s Alumni Golf Tournament.  Well, the day turned out to be perfect – sunny and 18° C. Thanks to Don Belec and Janice Peotto (Alumni Relations) and their team of volunteers including Jason Prizant, Class of 2002, Anthony Wolfe, Class of 1980, Risa Lukofsky, Class of 1982 and to our many sponsors including Mirko Wicha (tournament Grand Marshall) - $15,000 was raised for our “Adopt a Student” Financial Assistance programme. Our Alumni theme continued with a Class of 2005 Pub Night Reunion Friday evening, our Alumni basketball games Saturday (Paul Macdougall and Cameron Folkerson) and our Class of 2000 reunion at the High School Saturday night (my goodness our grads are doing well).  The Alums were very happy to see the likes of teachers Tori Cattell, Francis Plante, Bill Nevin, as well as Administrators Kathay Carson, Nathalie Bossé and I guess me as well – or at least that is what they politely indicated. Once again thank you Janice and Don for this most successful Alumni weekend.

The following week was about as busy as it gets.  We hummed (band and music concerts), we sang and danced (Glee), we were warrior-like (Robotics competition) and we gave and received accolades (awards ceremony).

It all began Monday, May 17th, when we were treated to an evening of the sweet sounds of our High School bands (with two guest grade 6 artists from our Elementary School, Jordan Altman and Ethan Gabert).  They wowed the crowd with traditional tunes and a “far out” musical tribute to John Coltrane (talk about working without a net). This level of engagement can only be inspired by a passionate and enthusiastic music instructor who makes an emotional connection with his musicians. That person is otherwise known as Donny Kennedy – teacher extraordinaire.

Highlights of our May 18th Board meeting included my tribute to Don Belec, outgoing Assistant Head, Advancement:  “You don’t need to thank me – but be sure to thank the others”. This is how Don Belec has responded, over the years, at any number of functions and special occasions that he has organized and made successful. Last week, Don accepted what he called “a dream job of a lifetime”. He had been approached earlier in the month by a “head hunter” and Don eventually received an offer that he could not refuse.

Don will be working for a Canadian non-government organization that provides medical supplies to “hot spots” around the world. He will be working out of Montreal and will travel extensively. For those of us who know him well - that’s probably what sealed the deal for Don. However, he will be trading the all inclusive Club Med resorts that he normally travels to for camels and tents in Afghanistan - just like Anderson Cooper (Don is also a CNN junkie).

During his 10 year St. George’s career, Don has brought a sense of professionalism and propriety to the public presentation of our school. He has transformed our Alumni network, from a box filled with hand-written or typed Alumni contact points, to a state-of-the-art database, easily consulted and cross-referenced. During his tenure, millions of dollars have been raised to support programmes and student aid (most recently our very successful “Adopt-A-Student” initiative). Our Admissions materials are admired by other local schools and our newly launched updated website is state-of-the-art.

However, for all of the wonderful contributions that Don has realized at St. George’s, he will be best remembered as an affable, respectful and truly engaging individual. Personally, I will miss the self-deprecating sense of humour that he often used, to keep both his feet, and mine, securely placed on the ground. Please take the occasion, the next time you bump into Don, to wish him well. He much prefers a more discreet recognition of this “milestone event”. 

We are reviewing the job description of this rather complex position with members of the Advancement Team and the Leadership Team. The Board received the news with mixed feelings – happy for Don and sad to see him go.

I also took the occasion to report to the Board on a proposed partnership with a prestigious Thai school (more details to follow). As well, I provided an Admissions update. Enrollment is encouraging. Although sadly we are losing some kids from our grade six class, we have accepted 36 students from other independent schools (perhaps our highest total ever) into several different grades. We are presently receiving applications from impressive international student candidates and continue to receive applications from local parents (both public and independent school backgrounds). All in all we are very busy but also very motivated by several interesting projects going forward including the possibility of establishing a virtual school component (a “brick and click school”).

Our Board meeting was followed by Wednesday, May 19th and Thursday, May 20th evening performances of Glee…just wait until you see the video of same (the genius of Candace Grynol) and our Wednesday evening grades 3, 4 and 5 spectacular Elementary School concert (Patti Payne and her several teacher colleagues).

Meanwhile back to academics (we do try to fit them in amongst the several parallel extra-curricular engagements). Our annual Academic Awards ceremony took place Friday morning May 21st, in our High School Gym.  Several parents were also in attendance to witness this very special and “featured” event at St. George’s.

But wait, there were also robots, “there must be robots”. Sean O’Neill’s merry band of robot masters hosted a Sumo Robot challenge (May 18th).  According to Sean, “the kids built eight remote controlled hovercraft, two robots for the CRC competition, a robotic dragon for the CRC competition as part of the kiosk, one motorized chair and ten sumo robots.  That is by far a record year.  In addition, LCC, The Study and Loyola decided to join us for the Sumo competition.  The level of competition was the highest ever for our little competition.  A small contingent from ECS also came to view the Sumo Robot challenge.”  In the end, good triumphed over evil - yes our team won - not that winning is everything. Danielle Delhaes was absolutely inspiring as our grade 5 Expo Robot showcased their original and collaboratively designed machines the following day at our elementary school.

From May 26 to May 28 the weather was perfect- just ask the kids from our grades 3 and 4 classes who thoroughly enjoyed the bucolic setting of La Ferme d’André, near Ormstown Quebec. The Grade 4 students enjoyed leadership and trust building activities with their grade 3 friends. I am told that teachers Anna Sampogna, Danielle Delhaes, Laura Officer, Aidan De Jean, Hillary Goddard, and of course our venerable leader Mr. Tim had a great time as well (many thanks).

The beautiful planting weather of June 4th helped to make our Annual Elementary School Earth Day a great success. Students from all grades and including some of our grade 7 students from the high school, were mixed into family groups who rotated through activities designed to educate our leaders of tomorrow about how their actions will change the world. From the local, (beautification of our many perennial gardens and the planting of our vegetable and herb garden) to the global (student driven initiatives to help our sponsored aid orphans in Tanzania) students from all grades lived the St. George’s founding principle of “learning comes from doing”.

Witnessing the lives of nocturnal animals was the objective behind the Kindergarten sleepover at the Ecomuseum on May 27th. Touring the grounds of the outdoor animal park in the middle of the night was something our youngest students will not soon forget. Students returned to school on Friday exhausted but enriched with a better understanding of the evening adventures of the animal kingdom.

The Month of May ended with our most important annual event– the Graduation Ceremony, which once again took place at The Oscar Peterson Hall, Concordia University. Our Grads were magnificent as they spoke, sang, played instruments and otherwise dazzled the capacity crowd of family, friends and relatives. They were confident, creative and most impressive in their presentation. Our Board Chair, Louise Anne Poirier presented to the Graduates an emotional and heartfelt address. Both Michel Lafrance and I also had the occasion to speak to the Grads and to offer our congratulations to this special group of students and their families. To conclude the ceremonies, Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman (Mark and Linda) and Joanne Berman announced that this year’s parent graduating gift had been designated to support our financial assistance programme.

My wife and I, along with several faculty and staff members, then joined the Grads at the Hotel Intercontinental for the Grad dance. The girls were lovely, the boys well behaved and the overall ambience was most inclusive. The Grads have since “returned to earth” and are studying hard for their exams.

So there you have it folks, all the news that is fit to print bringing us to the month of June. Please stay tuned for my next report.

Regards,
James A. Officer
Head of School
514-937-9289 ext 214
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