In thIs Issue: CentennIal RevIew

the Class of 2006

From One Century to Another

School

fall 2006 • st. MIChaels unIveRsIty sChool

Outstanding preparation for higher learning and for life.Kimbell Hall and David Heffernan are the Centennial Year Head Girl and Head Boy.

See page 6 for details.

A New Century of ExcellenceSt. Michaels University School has shaped the lives of a century of students by giving them

the opportunity to find their excellence. As an alumnus, you now have the opportunity to shape our next century by helping us connect with prospective students in your community.

Consider becoming a SMUS ambassador to your local area, supporting the Admissions office in their efforts to spread the word about our school

and find candidates who will benefit from the SMUS tradition of excellence.

For more information, contact the Admissions Office at (250) 370-6170 (toll free in North America at 1-800-661-5199)

or send an email to admit@smus.bc.ca Financial assistance available • Visit our website at www.smus.bc.ca

• Co-educational • Day School - Grades K-12 • Boarding - Grades 8-12 • ESL - Grades 8-10

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School Ties is distributed to more than 5,700 members of the St. Michaels University School community, including current families, friends, and current and past staff and students. The goal of the publication is to communicate current activities and initiatives and provide articles and reports on the alumni community. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this publication, please contact Louise Winter at (250) 370-6176 or e-mail: lwinter@smus.bc.ca

Published by the Advancement Office at

St. Michaels University School, 3400 Richmond Road,

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8P 4P5 Telephone: (250) 592-2411

Admissions: 1-800-661-5199 e-mail: info@smus.bc.ca School Ties magazine and

archive copies can be found in the publications section of the school

website: www.smus.bc.ca

Editor: Jenus Friesen

Alumni Editors: Louise Winter, Cliff Yorath

Contributors (in no particular order):Robert Snowden, Susan Saunders,

Robert Wilson, Ian Hyde-Lay, Brenda Waksel, Janice Iverson, Donna Ray, Kevin Cook, Xavier Abrioux, Louise Winter, Cliff Yorath, Jeannie Fuller, John Reid, Linda Rajotte, Campbell

Hall, Patty Davis, Evelyn Zapantis, Sean Hayden, Laura Authier, Peter Leggatt, Rea Casey, Jennifer Walinga, Terence Young, Taylor McKinnon, Alan Jones, Gord More, Julie Fossitt, Keith Jones,

Maria Goncalves, Donna Johnson, Donna Williams, Cam Culham,

Michael Symons, David Angus, Greg Marchand, Larry Devlin, Mike Lambe,

Michelle Jones, Heidi Davis, Margaret Skinner, Jennifer White.We apologize for any omissions.

Photography: SMUS community members

Cover photo: Eric OnasickInside back cover: Evan Effa

Production: Reber Creative

Printing:Lithographed in Canada W

by Hillside Printing Ltd., Victoria, BC

If you are interested in attending school events, call (250) 592-2411

for further details, or visit the school’s website Calendar of Events:

www.smus.bc.ca

Editorial – School Ties Fall 2006

A new school year has begun and what a year it will be! The School House restoration is nearing completion as I write, including seismic and life safety

upgrades to current code standards and improved office and classroom spaces. The Barker Library has been expanded to approximately four times its original size, and will include a new addition, mezzanine, atrium, and clerestory. School House will resume its role as the centrepiece of our school in October, and everyone will move back in again – you can only imagine the excitement and anticipation felt by all. Over the summer, handsome common rooms, additional accommodations, and laundry and health services facilities were constructed on the Richmond Road campus.

A new Community Service programme has been added to the curriculum, introducing awareness and charity through a number of outreach activities. Additionally, we have expanded the rowing programme, thus bringing greater athletic opportunities to our students. Many of these great strides are due thanks to your generosity, through your involvement with the school and the Annual Fund.

In this celebratory centennial year, we look back down the road we have travelled. Thousands of alumni, friends and family – old and young – from every corner of the globe, joined together this year to celebrate the �00th birthday of this great school.

Sit back, read and enjoy this newly designed volume of School Ties magazine. Many people have contributed their ideas and energy to bring this issue to you today. Take a browse through some of the exciting initiatives and accomplishments as we enter our second century. Vivat!Jenus Friesen, Editor

About the cover: Eric Onasick captured this vivid photo of Jennifer Fraser, Senior School English teacher, at the exciting Centennial Saturday event, held May 13, 2006. Jennifer is sporting two tattoos – the crest of St. Michaels University School, and the Blue Jaguar, the mascot and symbol for our sports teams. There was a liberal sprinkling of temporary tattoos on faces, arms, legs and more throughout the crowd.

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have this small fact at my fingertips. This conclusion also coincides with work we have been doing at the school over the past few years around the idea of what is becoming known as “experiential education.”

Mark Twain would have said that education was largely experiential, whereas one wouldn’t necessarily say the same thing about schooling. What do we mean by “experiential”?

Over the past few years, several of our teachers have made it a focused part of their work to explore the merits of experiential education for our school. At a recent retreat during the summer, Becky Anderson, the teacher who is currently guiding this work, gave a presentation describing experiential education thus:

Experiential learning is the process of actively engaging students in an authentic experience that will have benefits and consequences. Students make discoveries and experiment with knowledge themselves instead of hearing or reading about the experiences of others. Students also reflect on their experiences, thus developing new skills, new attitudes and new theories or ways of thinking.

She displayed a slide showing a picture of a cat with a bamboozled expression on its face, accompanied by this description:

A cat who sits on a hot stove, once burned, will never sit on a hot stove again. But it will never sit on a cold stove either, because it did not extract all possible learning from the experience. Experiential learning gives us the opportunity to be wiser than the cat.

Interestingly, this thought is stolen from Mark Twain, who said in his �897 book Following the Equator:

We should be careful to get out of an experience the wisdom that is in it… lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-

lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again – and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one any more.

So what we are talking about is not new.

When we began to look at experiential education, our staff conducted an audit to identify the extent to which our programme was already experiential. After all, the school has always proposed to educate the whole student and – through the students’ experience of athletics, extracurricular activities, service and residence life – has strived to teach students lessons that can only be learned by these activities outside the classroom. As we discovered, there were many examples of this kind of active learning in many parts of the programme, including in the academic programme, where there are frequent and extensive field trips to the ocean shore, to hospitals, to universities. We also discovered that there were many other parts of our broader curriculum – both in and out of the classroom – where

we could think about introducing more experiential opportunities.

Some learning is naturally intellectual, built on abstract principles and reasoning that require the traditional scholarly concentration and private application of one’s abilities to resolve questions. This will not change. It is true, though, that all learning requires the application of the intellect: to observe,

Experience and education

Robert Snowden, Head of School, beside the cornerstone of School House.

from the Head of School

N ever let schooling interfere with an education.” This phrase,

attributed to Mark Twain, distils a reservation about schools that certainly was not new when it was written. Twain wasn’t being anti-intellectual here, because he did care deeply about education. In a similar vein: a couple of years ago, Pat Basset, the director of the National Association of Independent Schools, told us of a study that compared the university success of independent school students with the success of well-funded suburban high schools. The study discovered that independent school grads had an 80% chance of finishing their degrees, whereas the suburban high school grads had a 40% chance. But it was not superior academic preparation that caused this success. True, the academic preparation did get the students into university in the first place, but what led them to stick it out was the ability, learned at an independent school, of dealing with complex demands, full or overfull schedules, and the stresses of a busy life. Most of our schools insist, like SMUS, that students lead a life full of academics, sports, arts, and service to their community, and that they aspire to roles of leadership and responsibility while they are doing it. We do this because we believe in the education of the whole student, but it appears to have practical consequences in university also.

At this point, some readers will be scratching their heads, wondering why it took the work of a researcher to draw this conclusion. Regardless, I am glad to

“

The learning of leadership grows naturally out of the

soil that is our school, but it is not simple, and takes the

contribution of many people.

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sort, reflect, create and communicate. Just as many would say that one learns best by doing, it is also regrettable to have an experience and learn nothing from it. In T.S. Eliot’s words, we must not “have the experience but miss the meaning.”

As our thinking took shape, it dawned on us that our real subject was leadership. In our planning, it became clear that what we were planning was the development of leadership and responsibility in our students. We do believe that we teach leadership in our broad programme, but in thinking about it further, we observed that the learning of leadership at the school is widespread but haphazard. This compelled us to consider leadership in its true variety, rather than as a narrow ability possessed, for instance, by those who can sway crowds easily or rise to the top of the political heap. In this context, we provisionally defined leadership as the ability of young people to take responsibility for the world around them and, through their words, actions and example, to make the world a better place. This definition reflects our belief that all our students are learning leadership – they are all learning to take responsibility for the world around them, and they are all learning to make the world a better place, through their words and actions. The learning starts when they enter the school – right from kindergarten, if that is the case.

We focused our discussions this past year on producing some concrete initiatives. A good number of the ideas fit well into existing programmes, such as Outdoor Education and Service.

Our discussions identified five areas where we would focus our work on experiential education: Outdoor Education, Service, Global Literacy, Sustainability, and the Principles of Leadership. Along these five paths we will be trying to pursue a developmental curriculum, in which experiential education plays a key part, and which explicitly teaches students the qualities and skills of leadership.

Why these five paths or streams? First, to speak about global literacy.

Our school has a conscious and deliberate international perspective. Our boarding students come from all over the world. In our day community, we also possess an incredible diversity, as we witnessed during Centennial Weekend when over a

hundred parents put on our international food fair. By global literacy we mean more than global awareness; we also mean the knowledge and skills to understand the complexities of the global world we live in, with all its cultural, political, religious and economic diversity. We also want our students to contribute to making that complexity in the world a positive rather than a negative thing.

With respect to sustainability, our students – and all the adults in our community – are very aware of the difficulties of preserving the world we live in. There are some clear and well-advertised issues that seek our time and attention: global warming, pollution of water, soil and the atmosphere, forest management, feeding the world’s population with farmed fish instead of fewer and fewer wild fish – or feeding them with less meat of any type at all. We have just established a link with the Sierra Club to create projects and activities that will support the goals of both organizations.

We already have many students involved in service to others outside the school. Most of the world is less well off than Canada, and even within Canada and Victoria, there are many whose lives would not be bearable without the assistance or support of others. It is a paradox of life at our school that the entire design of it – to create opportunities for students to discover and develop their own individual qualities and talents – may have the terrible consequence of conveying to them that the world is always arranged this way, with them at the centre. Anyone who has lived much knows that this is not the case. We also know people – perhaps even friends and family members – who have suffered a desperate fate, whether at their own hands or the hands of an obdurate world. This fate might be an addiction, it might be a tsunami. We believe it is necessary for our students – for all our students – to be engaged in some activity of service outside the school every year. This is a large goal, but one that we are going to undertake.

We have a well-established and admired Outdoor Education programme. The encounter with the wilderness is a central fact of Canadian history and culture. While this encounter is not unique to Canada, the Canadian version of it is an attraction for people from

many countries. There are moments, when paddling into some remote inlet or scaling some quiet and windy mountainside, that feelings of humility and awe supersede all other emotions. In our time, in the 2�st century, we are not the first humans to set foot in a particular place, but these encounters suggest to us the world the way it was before humans altered it, and most of us come away with a belief that this untouched world needs to be preserved. On a more mundane level, our students’ encounters are as much about discovering themselves as about discovering the outdoors. These encounters are also about discovering other people, one’s place with them, and one’s place in the world we all live in. The outdoors doesn’t discriminate at all. Rain falls equally wet on all comers, and wind blows equally hard, and temperatures are equally hot or cold. In the face of this reality, one isn’t made or unmade by

continued on page 4

Experiential education at work: Makiyo Qiao helps the Junior School Die Fledermaus cast with their stage makeup.

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ScHool NEwS

Violinist Kevin O’Riordan (Grade �2) had the performance of his life after he was selected by the Victoria Symphony as special guest musician for the August 6 Symphony Splash. Kevin performed the third movement of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with the Symphony from a floating barge in Victoria’s downtown Inner Harbour before thousands of people.

Kevin began his musical studies on the piano at the age of � and on the violin when he was 5. Violin quickly became his favourite instrument and after passing his Grade 8 Royal Conservatory exam, he stopped his piano studies to focus exclusively on violin with his teacher Yasuko Eastman.

Kevin has been the recipient of numerous solo awards at the Greater Victoria Music Festival, and recently won the Open Recital Strings Competition. As Intermediate Strings Representative, he competed at the Provincials this spring and was a runner-up. Last year, Kevin won the Louis Sherman Competition for Strings and played a full Mozart concerto with the Victoria Chamber Orchestra. In December he will play the entire Bruch

what happens, but by one’s response to what happens. Students do have to take risks, so that they learn some judgement; learn to be critical in the face of the data before them. The element of challenge is important, too, to teach skills students will need regardless of what the future looks like.

Leaders are carriers of values, spreading them like pollen. We begin with the notion that we want our leaders to do good. Powerful and effective leaders have also been perpetrators of great evil, and still exist today – sometimes even grabbing headlines, even finding their apologists in some magazine column or other. Virtues are sometimes divided into private and public; the virtues that make one a good person, standing alone, and the virtues that make one a good citizen. It is perhaps old-fashioned – and certainly out of fashion – to promote the values of liberal democracy: respect for others, tolerance, the preservation of the rights of minorities and various freedoms such as freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press. The list can go on, and it does. But is it so old-fashioned, or out-of-fashion? It can easily be said

Experience and educationcontinued from page 3

Kevin o’Riordan plays the Splash

that all democracies are liberal democracies; to argue against the word “liberal” is really a quibble, and the differences one might propose are nuances. I can’t think of more than a dozen countries whose unbroken history of democracy is over a hundred years old; therefore in the sweep of time since civilizations began to govern themselves, democracy is still a noble and perhaps fragile experiment. In the sweep of time, it is actually cutting edge, and worth advocating.

The learning of leadership grows naturally out of the soil that is our school, but it is not simple, and takes the contribution of many people. During the coming school year, we will be implementing some initiatives, but we will also be engaging many more people in the discussion of how we will give our students the opportunity to influence their world. We will be bringing together staff, students, parents, and alumni to help weave together the threads that will be an essential fabric of the school. The evolution of the school has made this a natural and possible goal. We want schooling and education to be one and the same.

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Scottish Fantasy with the Civic Orchestra of Victoria.

Kevin has enjoyed playing chamber music since performing a piano trio with his parents in a recital at age 4. From age 5, he played violin duos with his cousin, Evan Hesketh ’05, who is two years his senior, and who inspired Kevin to choose

the violin. Together they won the Victoria Symphony Foundation String Duo Award three times.

Kevin’s first orchestra experience came at the age of �0, when he was invited to perform in the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra.

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Hot Mikado, a contemporary Broadway take on Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, was this year’s offering from the SMUS summer Musical Theatre programme. Hot Mikado marks this credited programme’s seventh consecutive season and many alumni from past shows came out to support it.

This year’s production featured students aged �� to �8 from SMUS as well as other schools throughout Victoria. The programme, which does not require auditions to get in, gathers a group of performers with varying degrees of experience and teaches them new skills to enhance their musical theatre performance abilities. Classes were augmented by visits from local theatre artists, a Taiko drum expert, and an ESL class from Japan, who took part in an interactive workshop and saw a sneak preview of the show. The highlight of the programme each year is taking the production to the Victoria Fringe Festival, and this year the company appeared on the Family Fringe Stage at Market Square and the preview night at the Victoria Events Centre. This talented group was continually successful in getting all of their audiences to snap along to the well-delivered Cab Calloway-style tunes.

Selection of next year’s show is now under way and the course will, as always, run mid-August to early September. Directors Donna Williams and Cam Culham invite those interested to get in touch with the Education Extension office at (250) �70-6��7.

Hot Mikado gets audiences snapping

Actresses Rosanna Harris ’08, Emily Stevens (Oak Bay High ’07), and Laura How (Reynolds ’09) starred in this summer’s

musical theatre production, Hot Mikado.

W ho comes to school during the summer? SMUS students

were out in droves, not to study, but to help other students learn English while experiencing Canadian culture firsthand. Education Extension hosted three large groups from Japan, with 50 students from nine countries living in Harvey/Symons House in July and August.

Having Canadian students in classes alongside English-language learners is one of the many unique features of the SMUS International Summer Programme. International groups find that having student buddies present in classes is one characteristic that makes our programmes so popular with their students. When international students come for a two-week stay, their official purpose is to study English. In such a brief period, however, it is difficult to achieve significant distance on the long road toward language proficiency. Rather, the students are looking for the opportunity to practice

A bustling summer Graduating fine artists start promising post-secondary studiesNine of our 2006 graduates will go on to study visual art: Ivy chen, Jeremy Evans, Sae Rom Jung, Faith lau, callum Mcclure, Mavis Song, Jessica Tara, Daryl wong, and Jennifer Yan. This is a significant number for a school of our size. This extremely talented group has received acceptances and scholarships from among the most prestigious art schools in North America, including the Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons School of Design, Otis School of Design, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and three universities in the UK. Due to the quality of their portfolios, these grades had many options. Their areas of study will include architecture, motor sport engineering and design, communications and advertising, design, and interior design. We are looking forward to seeing their work in the future.

their language skills by interacting with other youth their own age.

The role of the ESL teacher is essential, but one of their primary jobs is as a facilitator, to encourage students to dialogue with one another and get down to the real business of communicating in another language and learning firsthand about their host’s culture. SMUS students helped visitors with class work, participated in games and activities, and acted as conversation partners. At break time, they played soccer, basketball, badminton or other games. They also accompanied the international students on field trips. What other summer job allows you to take a dragon boat ride, go to the water slides, watch an IMAX film, or go for a hike at Goldstream Park? Every student who participated went away feeling enriched – the Canadians for having fulfilled the role of cultural ambassador, and the guests for having had so much fun at a summer camp.

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Tenacious athletes compete

T his June, SMUS took a team for the first time to the 6�st Annual

Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association championship in St. Catharines, Ontario. The regatta, which draws more than �50 schools from across North America, is held on an international standard course and this particular course was host to the �999 World Championships. Three SMUS crews participated in the regatta, each of them rowing in the doubles category. Doubles are made up of crews of two, each rowing with two oars. We entered the junior boys and girls doubles, as well as the senior doubles. While our team rows in the fall season, these six individuals continued to

row into the 2006 spring season with the CSSRAs as their final goal of this year.

At the end of our weekend efforts, SMUS was ranked ��st overall, 2�st (just behind Brentwood) for women and �9th for men. The junior girls team of Angharad wylie and Richelle leonard claimed first place and the Ontario Rowing Association Trophy. The junior boys team – Derek Stedman in bow and louis Hayes in stroke seat – earned fourth place overall in a very close race. The senior girls team of channelle Sawyer and Angharad wylie (replacing an injured Margot Bishop) fought a hard race but had to settle for fifth place in the six-boat semi-final, not enough to advance them to the finals.

The coming years look very promising for these tenacious athletes! SMUS rowers will continue to race during our regular fall season, training at Royal Roads and racing at the Gorge, Elk Lake and Brentwood College. As well, forged by Louis, Derek, Angharad, Richelle and Channelle, the path to the CSSRAs is now wide open for those keen to test their mettle in the coming spring. Read more about our performance at the CSSRAs in the June SMUS Review at www.smus.bc.ca/news_cal/smus_review.html

O ver the past two years, there have been many successes in the school’s creative writing programme. Students have read their work publicly, published

their poems and stories in a variety of journals and won many awards. Recently, though, one student in particular has shown the kind of tenacity and love for her work that suggests a notable career in the making. Taylor McKinnon has become a poster child for all precocious writers everywhere. In her first year in Writing �2, she won the lucrative Ripple Effect Fiction Prize, a prize that awarded her $500 as well as publication. She was also short-listed for the poetry component of the same contest, demonstrating an ability to be successful in more than one genre.

In recent months, she has become a familiar byline in Victoria’s local paper, the Times-Colonist, reporting with insight and humour on youth-related issues (see the reprint of her “Diploma Diary” Times-Colonist article on page �� of this issue). Taylor, however, is not one to rest on her laurels. Her love of fiction continued throughout the year, and this past April, she won the Abebooks-sponsored Claremont Review Fiction Contest for her story, “The Girls,” winning for herself another $500 and a place in the magazine’s fall issue. True to form, she also won honourable mention for her poem “Nine Lives.”

Her post-secondary plans are also writing-driven. Newly graduated in June, Taylor will be attending Ryerson’s school of journalism in the fall, and we wish her continued success.

New grad sets out for promising writing careerSc

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Student wins performing arts festival awardElizabeth Fenje (Grade 9), a clarinettist, placed joint first in the Junior Woodwind category of the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, and received a monetary award from the donor RBC Investmensts, Private Trust. Elizabeth is a private student of Jennifer Christensen, a professional clarinettist and member of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra.

Team of the year recognizedCongratulations to the Senior Boys soccer team and their coaches, Steve Kerr and Peter leggatt. This group, by virtue of a �9-�-� season last fall, and by winning ISA, City, Island, and BC AA titles, were named by the Greater Victoria Celebrity Sports Awards Committee as 2005 High School Team of the Year in Victoria. This is the first time a SMUS team has won the award. Steve and Peter attended the celebrity dinner in June on behalf of the team.

Taylor McKinnon ’06 is pursuing a career in journalism.

SMUS rowers competed this June in St. Catharines, Ontario.

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C ornell University has recognized St. Michaels University School

teacher Margaret Skinner as an Outstanding Educator and has offered a scholarship in her name to a SMUS student studying at Cornell in 2007.

Cornell’s Merrill Presidential Scholars Programme honours the top �% of the university’s �,600 graduating class, and in turn, asks its star students to recognize a high school teacher and a professor who has most inspired his or her scholastic development. Mrs. Skinner’s name was put forward by her former student, Clarence Lo ’02, who took math and calculus from Mrs. Skinner while in Grade �� at SMUS.

As a Merrill Presidential Scholar, Clarence – who graduates this year with top honours in her degree in biological and environmental engineering – is recognized for her outstanding scholastic achievement, strong leadership ability and potential for contributing to society. Her many accomplishments while at Cornell include co-discovering the rolling

circle amplification method for branched DNA creation.

As Clarence embarks on her career as a biological engineer with Conoco Phillips, Margaret Skinner will continue to keep in touch and watch her progress. “I told Clarence in an email that I’m no longer her teacher – I’m her friend now, and she should call me Margaret,” Mrs. Skinner says. Lo’s response was indicative of the place Margaret Skinner holds in her life: “I like to call you Mrs. Skinner. My dad taught me a Chinese saying, ‘Once a teacher, a lifetime a teacher.’ You are always my favourite teacher whom I respect a lot.”

As part of its recognition of Margaret Skinner as an Outstanding Educator, Cornell has set up a scholarship of $4,000 in Mrs. Skinner’s name for an outstanding St. Michaels University student studying at Cornell in 2007. Read more about Margaret Skinner’s Cornell experience in the May SMUS Review at www.smus.bc.ca/news_cal/smus_review.html

Margaret Skinner recognized

The Grade 5 class took theatre goers on an amazing journey with the June �� Junior School production of Johann Strauss’s beloved opera Die Fledermaus. Music teacher Duncan Frater translated and directed his cast of young singers in a production that featured stunning arias, beautiful costumes and a full orchestra.

How many chambers are in the human heart? When will Halley’s Comet next return?

Twenty-four teams from across BC – including Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Mission, the North Shore, Vancouver Island and the BC Interior – vied for the province’s Reach for the Top title and a spot in the national finals in May. SMUS team members ably responded to the challenging series of brainteasers and knowledge-based questions in the televised contest. They placed third overall in the province – a substantial accomplishment.

Junior opera

Reach for the top results

SMUS boasts one of the leading K-�2 music programmes in Canada and some of our accomplished music students were recently recognized. Johnny chang (percussion) and Felix Hu (alto sax) were accepted into the BC Honours Concert Band and Nick chang (percussion) was accepted into the BC Honours Orchestra in the spring.

Tip top honoursSenior School 2006 major winners

(front row, l-r): Dan Christensen, Brin Porter, Alex Reid, Kevin O’Riordan, Michael van der Westhuizen, Campbell Bryson, Andrew Crow, Alex Saunders, Mark Featherstonehaugh(back row, l-r): Peggy Hogan, Nicole van der Wal, Emily Sapsford, Alastair Crow, Alice Lee, John Humphries, Kimbell Hall, Bianka Saravana-Bawan

“Die Fledermaus was a logical choice for this kind of project,” Duncan says. “The music is great, the story is funny and there are lots of main characters. Plus, it’s great exposure to opera, a genre that is often thought of as too pompous or complicated for children.”

[l-r] Clarence Lo ’02, Margaret Skinner and Clarence’s sister Cynthia Lo ’07

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O n September 2, seven SMUS students, accompanied by Mr.

Liggett, made the long journey to Thailand to participate in the US Model Congress Asia 2006, hosted by Harvard University in Bangkok. St. Michaels University School was one of �6 international schools invited to attend the conference, a programme designed to encourage students to develop a new understanding of the institutions and processes that shape our world politically.

Before the start of the conference, we had the opportunity to explore the remarkable city of Bangkok. To unearth Thailand’s cultural richness, we visited numerous temples and monuments that showed the Thai people’s religious devotion to Buddhism. Even though Thai culture permeated the city of Bangkok, we were struck by how modernized it had become. Even before the conference, the effects of being a “global community” were evident. It seemed strange to see shacks right next to soaring skyscrapers and vendors selling local fare only a few blocks from well-known fast food restaurants.

Soon, however, we had to tear ourselves away from the thrilling world of Bangkok to immerse ourselves in our roles as delegates and reporters. Upon entering the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok, where the model Congress was being held, we felt a sense of excitement and purpose. Not only would we experience the inner workings of democracy firsthand, but we would do so in a place that was meant for that very purpose.

The conference started out with key-note speaker Cholthira Satyawadha, the director of Thai-Asian Studies at Rangsit University. She encouraged us to open our minds, not only to the US definition of democracy, but to the flaws in it, for it is only by recognizing the flaws that we would be able to overcome them. Her speech generated applause from the audience and many squirms from the Harvard executive board.

Within the model congress, four of the seven SMUS students were assigned to the World Economic Summit, which was implemented to deal with trade and other economic issues on an international level. SMUS delegates were also involved in the House of Representatives, the

National Security Council, and the Press Corps programmes. The House of Representatives showed how having two parties – Republicans and Democrats – with clashing viewpoints could create difficulties in coming up with a law. The National Security Council dealt with an emergency crisis involving terrorists in Peru, while the Press Corps gave updates on the activities of the various programmes.

Though it was hard work drafting treaties, plans and articles, we definitely had a great time and learned a tremendous amount. The international composition of the Congress was, admittedly, a little daunting at first. Meeting people from all over the world with different viewpoints and ideas demonstrated just how difficult and yet how wonderful democracy really is. Although it can become frustrating at times, coming together to create laws and treaties has a special charm of its own. At the end of the conference, we were proud of the results we had created, both the legislation we passed and the friendships we made.

While we never completely threw caution to the wind, by the end of the trip we were able to relax and enjoy Bangkok fully. Our bargaining skills improved, we no longer had to constantly check the state of our belongings as we explored the streets of Bangkok, and túk-túk rides became our favourite means of transportation as we adjusted our perspectives on what speed really meant.

It is hard to explain what exactly has made this trip so amazing, but a big part of it has been the people involved. The seven of us – Andrew Johnson, Dani Ward, Paul Davison, Kathryn Wizinsky, Liz Guilbault, Allen Hsu, and myself, Terry Kho – each brought a unique dynamic to the group. Another factor that made the trip so amazing was our fearless leader, the director of academics at SMUS, John Liggett. He was able to hold the trip together while becoming an integral part of the group.

I know that I speak for all of us when I say that coming to Bangkok was altogether an amazing experience. It helped us push boundaries and experience life in a completely different culture. We made new friends, had an amazing time, and truthfully, we didn’t want to leave.

SMUS at the US Model congress in Asiaby Terry Kho, with input from the participating students

Why have students taken part in an American Model Congress run in Asia? Because the diversity of backgrounds represented at the conference set the perfect multicultural stage for critical discussions and experiencing firsthand the difficulties and rewards in dealing with major world issues. I knew prior to departing that it would be a valuable experience, but having witnessed the many and varied opportunities for learning made available to our students during the trip, I can now classify the trip as a truly exceptional experience.

Lasting impressions include the incredible and completely immersive nature of the Harvard Congress, the dynamism of the bustling Thai economy, and of course, my own rousing version of a classic Eagles song at our Karaoke event! Most impressive however, was the conduct, performance and dedication of our own students during this conference. Each and every one distinguished themselves with an excellent performance in their respective roles amongst the approximately 200 delegates attending from Kuwait, Mexico, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, India and of course, Canada.

In all of our many and varied activities on the trip, our students distinguished themselves and moved many steps forward towards becoming globally literate citizens, each in their own way. Most importantly in my opinion, they took up the challenges presented by attempting to forge a consensus amongst a set of vastly different cultures, not as individuals, but rather as a cohesive, tolerant and spirited group. I could not be more proud of their efforts and their conduct. – John Liggett, Director of Academics

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A number of recent graduates were recognized for their academic excellence, creativity and achievements with substantial scholarships to study at some exceptional universities. Major scholarship winners include [l-r]: Campbell Bryson, Daniel Ming, Stephanie Klak, Laura Faryna, James Bridger.

The University Counselling Department is delighted to announce the 2006 graduating class as being the most

successful yet in their scholarship quests, having amassed over $� million in offers. Most notable are Lindsay Borrows’ 4-year scholarship to Dartmouth College, and Daniel Ming’s 4-year scholarship to Vassar College. As well, Laura Faryna and Campbell Bryson each won significant scholarships to UBC. Other winners include James Bridger (St. Francis Xavier), Stephanie Klak (Huron University), Yoon Ji Kim (Cornell University), and Callum McClure (University of Sunderland, England).

The quest for scholarships begins as early as Grades 9 and �0, with students starting to involve themselves in community service and focusing their passions in athletics, the arts and academics. Activity continues to heat up throughout Grade �� as students begin to apply to universities that accept applications from Grade �� students. In Grade �2, when scholarship applications are most relevant and the need for financial support for post-secondary education becomes more apparent, activity reaches a fever pitch.

Students may pursue a variety of avenues in their quest for scholarships. As they apply for university admission, almost all of them indicate that they would like to be considered for merit-based, entrance scholarships that range from $500 to $4000. Other students, who have well-rounded résumés, opt to apply

Million-dollar mark surpassedfor major renewable scholarships that can provide for tuition and accommodation throughout a student’s tenure at a university. Many of them seek additional funding from various private donors who have established their own scholarships.

The value of scholarships goes beyond money. True, scholarships provide students with much-needed cash to see them more comfortably through their undergraduate studies. Beyond that, though, they provide an incentive to students to continue with their education. They are a reward for a job well done – monetary recognition for having maintained their grades and for working in their communities. All of the students greet their scholarship wins with great pride and a feeling of accomplishment.

Congratulations are in order to a great many people who are involved in making the scholarship quest a lucrative one: to the students for their efforts; to parents who provide the sort of home life and encouragement it takes to foster stellar students; to the coaches, music and dance teachers at SMUS and in the community who help our students maintain balance in their lives; and to all of the teachers who foster a love of learning in our students and who find time to write numerous letters of reference. The scholarship quest is indeed a team effort that is a fine tradition at St. Michaels University School.

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ceremonies, the grads built a birthday cake of styrofoam bearing the message “Happy �00th SMUS.” As they crossed the stage with their diplomas and stopped to shake Bob Snowden’s hand, each graduate presented Mr. Snowden with a party hat or balloon, or they fumbled in school blazer pockets to retrieve a single birthday candle, affectionately planting it in their homemade cake.

Their contradictions, their outstanding achievements, and their strong starts toward promising futures ensure the class of 2006 a lasting place in our school’s history. Congratulations to our �00th graduating class.

T hey were talented, strong-minded, and they blazed their own

unique trail at St. Michaels University School. The class of 2006 may have left us in June, but their legacy looms large as the �00th class to graduate from SMUS.

“The thing that struck me about this graduating class,” says University Counsellor Greg Marchand, “was that they were incredibly well-rounded.” As proof, Mr. Marchand points to a recent photo from Cornell University’s newspaper, showing 2006 grad and freshman Cornell science student Quinton Stedman playing the piano in a jam session with new Cornell president David Skorton on the flute. “For me, that picture says it all – there was such a unique combination of talents and skills in that class and this one photo is so representative of what makes them special.”

Besides creating future scientists with artistic bents, the class of 2006 produced an unprecedented number of artists – visual artists, actors, writers and musicians. At least �5 members of the class of 2006 are pursuing careers in the arts. The class of 2006 will also be remembered as the group that captured more than $� million in university scholarships, a major milestone for the school in its Centennial year (see “Million-dollar mark surpassed” on page 9).

When asked how she would characterize her most recent graduates, Senior School Director Kath Roth pauses to think, then goes to look at the framed

montage of Grade �2 photos that is sitting on the floor of her office until it can take its place in the nearly-restored School House. She sits on her heels as she intently studies the �4� faces, eventually declaring it impossible to find a single word or phrase to adequately describe such a diverse group. As for their accomplishments, the one that stood out for Ms. Roth was the student-led reinstatement of the house system, which had faded from school tradition more than a decade ago.

For Ms. Roth, it was remarkable that they cared enough about the idea of a house system to try to revive it; then all the more remarkable that they made it happen. As a result, the usual two solitudes of the day- and boarding-student populations have been brought together under house banners, and school spirit has increased markedly.

If they were notable for their interest in reconnecting with certain school traditions, they were also unusual for flouting other school conventions. Greg Marchand brings up the tradition of handing an object to the Head when grads shake his hand at the closing ceremonies. These parting gifts are typically humourous – meant to tell a last good joke before leaving forever. However, when this year’s class got together to plan their finale, Mr. Marchand recalls how “they actually discussed it and came to the conclusion that this year was special and that they weren’t going do this particular tradition in the same old way.” For their closing day

The 100th graduating classThe class of 2006 poses for their end-of-year photo flourishing their grad bears, a gift from the Alumni Association.

Head of School Bob Snowden applauds the 100th graduating class at the 2006 closing ceremonies in June.

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5:15 am Why am I up? For a split second, through my swollen, sleepy eyes, the five on my digital clock looks like a nine. I feel jumpy and anxious; I want to wake everyone up and start the day. I’m like this on Christmas morning, too. I turn on some television downstairs and stare blankly at the screen.

7:00 amMy parents are finally awake. They laugh at me for waking up so early. “You’re going to be a zombie by the afternoon” my mom says. My dad whips up his usual morning lattes (double shot in mine, please!) and we open a few graduation gifts over omelettes. They want me to practice my valedictorian speech one more time, but I don’t want to jinx it. I think I’m ready. My appearance, however, is not: time to attempt to make myself look like I haven’t been up and pacing the empty halls of my house since the break of dawn.

7:40 am My friend Felicia appears to be frantically calling my cell and home phone lines at the same time. “Do you have a spare kilt?” she shouts before I can even say hello. Our school doesn’t wear gowns or hats for our graduation ceremony – a hot topic of discussion amongst the girls: “I would have liked to wear a graduation gown, but I wonder if we could have, like, belted them to make them a bit more flattering or something?”

Kilts are extremely mandatory. I remind her that she still hasn’t returned my spare kilt that I lent to her ages ago. She’s off to the school to rummage around in the Lost and Found. We have to be at the UVic Auditorium at 8. Ha, ha.

8:15 amMy dad and I drive to UVic. It’s a gorgeous day and we put the top down and listen to Queen’s “Under Pressure” and Simply Red’s “Holding On.” I let the realization of what’s actually happening sink in. Of all the June mornings I have driven to

these prize-day ceremonies and played music with my dad, this is the last one.

8:45 am The grads are lining up in the lobby before we make our grand entry into the auditorium. When the ceremony begins, we walk, procession-style, through the aisles and onto the stage while the bagpipes play. It’s a surreal moment, something I have watched from the audience countless times but never imagined I would actually take part in. For the first time as I walk through that auditorium, I feel like I’m old enough to graduate. In front of me, Felicia is buttoning up her kilt as she walks – she finally found a friend, albeit a notoriously late one, who could bring her a spare. Absolute chaos. Typical.

9:30 amA special section is reserved for the graduating “lifers” – students that have been at St. Michaels since kindergarten or Grade �. A small group of us sit in the top corner of the seating section and whisper and laugh through the first slew of awards. After all these years, we know each other pretty well. We may have all gone down different paths since those early days (we’ve got a rugby player, an actor, a writer and a few party girls among other things) but we can still hold a pretty amusing conversation. These are the people I’ve grown up with. These are the people I would have wanted to sit with most.

10:30 am An hour has passed and it’s time for us to line up backstage before we walk across and accept our diplomas. I watch my friends graduate one by one and listen to the graduation announcements of where they will be studying next year, what they plan to do with their lives. The announcements feel like they belong to other people – it’s hard to believe that these are my wild, immature, ridiculous friends walking across the stage. Backstage I clutch a balloon with my name written on it and wait for my name to be called. It feels like a big moment but I’m not thinking much once I’m out there in those bright lights. I don’t hear what the speaker says about me. I receive my

diploma along with a “lifer’s” engraved mug. The jokes about “putting our mugs to good use” that night start up before we’re even back in our seats.

11:30 amMy classmate Dave and I wait in the stage-wings once again. This time we’re doing our valedictorian speeches. We’ve read them to each other countless times, but Dave’s delivery is his best yet. I stand on the stage listening, hoping mine will go as well. When I say my first word into the microphone and hear my voice fill the silent, packed auditorium, I’m shaking. I get through it, though. I’ve said everything I wanted to say.

12:00 pm We sing our school song – we’ve sung it so many times that it’s a second nature, like breathing – for the final time and walk out the same way we came in, as graduates this time. Outside we pose for pictures in our blazers in the scorching sun (no way those things are coming off now!) I keep my arms around my best friends for half an hour while the parents shout for “just one more” photo. We aren’t complaining. There’s an unspoken knowledge that this moment will soon be gone forever, so we don’t mind staying a little longer, taking one more shot.

3 pmAfter a grad luncheon at the school, some friends and their families come back to my place for a backyard celebration. We’re physically and emotionally exhausted – my mom was right about my conking out before the day is done. I’m where I want to be, with the people I want to be with, and we doze off in the sun. Some much-needed rest for the evening ahead – the future may be uncertain, but one thing’s for sure; there’s a lot of celebrating to be done.

Diploma diaryby Taylor McKinnon

The following article was published in the Victoria Times-Colonist in June 2006. Reprinted with permission from Taylor McKinnon ’06.

Dave Sanders delivers his valedictorian address while Taylor McKinnon waits in the wings.

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Centennial Year Memories

SMUS International Festival of Sport a resounding successT he SMUS International Festival of Sport, part of the SMUS Centennial celebrations, held a �2-team rugby and field

hockey extravaganza in April, consisting of a full week of non-stop action both on and off the field. The event featured six teams from Scotland, Ireland, England and New Zealand and six local teams, who faced one another in 2� matches.

In a week of many highlights, the opening ceremony stood out. A crowd of some �200, comprising the SMUS student body, school staff, competing teams and numerous guests, enjoyed a beautiful afternoon capped by speeches and a pipe rendition of Highland Cathedral. SMUS and The High School of Glasgow then treated the gathering to a highly entertaining match, won eventually by the Scots �2-22.

Needless to say, not all the action took place on the field. Indeed, the visiting teams took part in a mixed volleyball tournament, went whale

watching, sea- and white-water kayaking, visited both Vancouver Island’s west coast and the Boeing factory in Seattle, played paintball, skated, bowled, shopped and took in the many sights and sounds of Victoria.

The Festival week came to an end with a closing dinner. Some �70 players, coaches, referees, parents and guests were in attendance, with the Rector of The High School of Glasgow, Mr. Colin Mair, wrapping up the proceedings with an appropriately witty speech and then leading the gathered throng in a rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.”

Photo courtesy Greg Eligh. The International Festival of Sport, held at SMUS in April, brought together 12 rugby and field hockey teams for an extravaganza of non-stop action. Members from all 12 participating teams posed together for this photo.

The SMUS International Festival of Sport surpassed all expectations. Throughout the week there were some simply wonderful field hockey and rugby matches, with all involved competing hard but with great sportsmanship. Athletes and coaches from all over the world made new friends, represented their schools and countries with distinction, and enjoyed themselves. Quite simply, the week showcased all that is good about sport, and so was a fitting tribute to our Centennial year.

Yianni Mavrikos on the charge vs Wimbledon

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Marilyn came to the school in �978, when she was hired to teach French at the Junior School. At that time, SMUS was a boys-only institution. When the Middle School was created in �988, she moved to its location at the Racquet Club to be the assistant director. Within a short time, she became the director and oversaw the Middle School move in �992 from the Racquet Club back to the Richmond Road Campus. She did a superb job as director at the Middle School and was well-known for her great organizational skills, often seen burning the midnight oil. In �995, she decided to make another move, and this time, she moved across campus to head up the school’s CAPP programme. Her new responsibilities included creating and overseeing student timetables and supervising school and provincial examinations.

Marilyn has been a loyal and hard-working servant of the school and she will be greatly missed. We wish her well in her retirement at Tumbler Ridge, where she plans to relax and play some golf.

Evan began his career at the Junior School in �987, but within a year, he had moved to the Middle School and spent a further wonderful �7 years in which he made an indelible mark upon students and fellow teachers alike. Evan was a great athlete and, amongst other things, played in the Canadian Football League for the Winnipeg Bluebombers and represented Canada in rugby. His love of sport and his great sense of fair play were lovingly passed on to the students. His enormous sense of fun made being in his class a real joy and the students responded enthusiastically. The Middle School faculty loved the camaraderie he helped engender. None who attended will ever forget the laughter whenever he was in charge of social events. Evan is larger than life and he will be missed by all.

Marilyn Levitt stands on the Challoner steps with her long-time colleagues Peter Tongue, Peter McLeod, and Jean Ives.

Nancy Mollenhauer and Evan Jones run with Middle School students on Dallas Road for the Terry Fox run.

Farewell to our retirees

Marilyn Levitt

Evan Jones

I n the past, the school has fostered a very vibrant cadet corps. Today,

although there are no corps in the school, a number of students are actively involved in cadet programmes. A number of them are in the 89 (Pacific) Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron.

For most students, June spells the end of another school year, but for a few, this is not the case. During the last school year Flight Sergeant Kyrle Symons ’07, great-grandson of K.C. Symons, St. Michael’s School founder, was trying to obtain a scholarship to attend the Glider Pilot course at CFB

Comox. After having written his ground school exam and gone through a review board selection process, he was awarded a full scholarship to attend the Regional Gliding School (Pacific) at CFB Comox. In all, approximately 400 cadets try out for this honour but only about 50 make it to Comox, and of this number, only 42 graduate. Kyrle had the honour of obtaining the highest mark in BC on his Ministry of Transport Glider Pilot exam. To top off the summer, he was awarded the parade position of Wing Warrant Officer (�rd in command) for the graduation parade.

All the other SMUS air cadets who applied for summer camps also successfully completed their courses. Cadets are paid $60 per week training allowance to attend camp.

Student obtains glider wings

Flight Sergeant Symons receiving his wings from Brigadier General W.J. (Bill) Neumann, CD.

At the end of the past school year, four long-serving members of the faculty started their retirements.

continued on page 14

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Just before the end of the past school year, Heidi Davis announced her retirement after �9 years of outstanding service to the Junior School. Hundreds of her former students will testify to the fact that she was more than just a French teacher. In her own inimitable style, she introduced French language and culture in an infectiously humorous way. Her Grade 5 French/Art plays, in collaboration with Anna Forbes, were brilliant highlights in a colourful career. The work of these two fine SMUS teachers continues to be recognized by educators across North America and the pinnacle of their success were invitations to perform with their students at the Seattle Art Museum in 200� and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC in 2004.

Heidi will be remembered by the students for many things, such as standing on her head to advertise the Junior School Talent Show and for brandishing the “hook” to remove underachieving performers during the very same event. Her students loved to go to her home to bake bread in preparation for one of her superb cultural celebrations; such occasions make for lasting memories.

For many years, Heidi produced her own Carnaval, complete with pancakes and maple syrup, canoe and snowshoe races, and of course, Bonhomme, who always made an appearance, much to the delight of the male teachers chosen to be stuffed into the stiflingly hot costume!

Heidi grew up in Massachusetts and came to Victoria when her geophysicist husband, Earl, was appointed to a position at the Ocean Sciences Centre in Saanich. It was the great good fortune of SMUS that she headed our way. Both of their children graduated from SMUS, Whitney in �997 and Taylor in �999.

We wish Heidi good luck in her retirement, which will no doubt comprise house renovations and work in her magnificent garden.

Farewell to our retirees

Eiko Larsen taught at the Junior School for �5 years and for part of that time, she was shared with the Middle School. Eiko will be remembered for a significant contribution to the

school’s superb Japanese programme. Her approach to the teaching of Japanese was very much culturally based. Her students were immersed in that amazing culture by celebrating many of Japan’s special days. Eiko led Junior School trips to Japan and hosted groups from Morioka as well as from other areas of the country. She even organized SMUS groups to sing at welcoming parties for Japanese dignitaries visiting our city, as well as participating in the Victoria Day Parade. As always, our children were at the centre of it all and it may in fact be many years before the appreciation of all that has been learned sinks in.

Eiko met her husband, John, in Japan and soon after their marriage moved to Victoria where he established a music

company (Larsen Music). They have two daughters, both of whom are graduates of SMUS – Kanoux ’98 and Aya ’99.

Art plays a very important part in Eiko’s life; she is a very gifted artist. She has also published a book in Japan entitled The Day Canada Became my Home. She embarked upon this project because she felt that there was a need for mutual understanding of our cultures. Eiko has a fine sense of humour and will be missed by her colleagues at the Junior School.

On the closing day of the Junior School year, Eiko and Heidi Davis decided to wish the students a special goodbye. They climbed onto the roof at the back of the school and proceeded to bombard the astonished students with water balloons. A memorable farewell. Good luck Eiko – we wish you well in your retirement.

Heidi Davis Eiko Larsen

Doyennes of culture and style: Heidi Davis and Eiko Larsen made a lasting mark on the Junior School.

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continued from page 13

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I n the world of service, there are a myriad opportunities, in fact, the needs far outweigh our ability to meet them. With

these ever-increasing needs in mind, St. Michaels University School is leading the way to a new stage of community service. The notion of giving of your time and your talent to others is not new to the school, but we are taking an active role in providing more opportunities for all of our students to take part in meaningful service experiences.

While the initial intent of service is to help those in need, experience shows that students and staff involved in service work often receive much more than they ever give. It is the perpetuation of this giving philosophy (which stems from a belief of abundance), that is the essence of service, rather than the philosophy of taking (which comes from a place of scarcity) which permeates much of our world.

The new Community Service programme expands on and formalizes the excellent work already done at each of our schools, where events such as the World Partnership Walk and Cops for Cancer head shave have been hugely successful and have provided opportunities for our community to learn, participate and support others within our world. Using the very successful SMUS Outdoor Leadership model as a guide, we will be creating opportunities for students to plan, act, reflect and evaluate service programmes for members of our school and community. We have also formed a core Service Leaders group, which is in the process of charting the student-led direction for the future of our Community Service programme. Many of these students have been involved with the Victoria Foundation’s Youth in Philanthropy and Free the Children – Youth in Action programmes. They have a passion for working to help others and have gained an understanding of the areas of greatest need. The areas of focus they have already identified include education, environment, health, the homeless and disadvantaged, children and youth, special needs and multicultural groups. All of the areas will be explored at the internal, local, national, and international levels, as we look out of our world with our concerns and closer to home with our actions. In this way, our programmes will remain consistent with the mission “to develop leadership skills and character traits through meaningful service to others.”

The structure of the programme is evolving and will include long-term partnerships with specific organizations within each area as well as student/staff-generated issues of immediate concern and interest. To this end, the school has established a partnership with the Sierra Club that will utilize the assets of each organization to create a more globally aware society. The expertise and experience of the Sierra Club combined with the passion and energy of our young people will enable us to be informed citizens, confident in leading discussions involving important world issues.

In closing, I return to my original thought, that the needs outweigh our ability to meet them, and offer a quote by Mohandas Gandhi: “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” It is with the understanding that we, as citizens of the world, carry the responsibility and duty to serve the needs of our fellow citizens as we endeavor to build a global society that will truly enrich the world.

SMUS expands its commitment to service leadershipby Kevin Cook, Director of Community Service

“Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life...”

–Marian Wright Edelman

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Ryanne Johnson puts a fresh coat of paint on the walls of the Hope of a Child Orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

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What a year of celebration we had! What would the founders of University School (1906 – Rev. W.W. Bolton, J.C. Barnacle, and R.V. Harvey) and St. Michael’s School (1910 – K.C. Symons) have witnessed if they had been with us last year?

For starters, they would have been impressed by the strength and character of each student, staff member, alumni, and friend of SMUS. They would

have marvelled at the facilities and programmes available today for SMUS students from all over the world, and they would have been proud of the way we have kept and built on school traditions that prepare our students to go forward into their local and world communities.

From the first event in September 2005 through the Centennial Gala Dinner, the International Festival of Sport, and the Centennial chair David Angus ’62 flanked by his

wife Susan and Brian Graves ’41.

SMUS at 100 Years - A Centennial to remember

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wrap-up Centennial Weekend, this was a year to remember.

I would like to take this last chance to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the Centennial celebrations a success. There were official committees who planned, organized, and completed the thousands of tasks required for such a huge undertaking – thank you for all you did for your school. And there were hundreds of others who contributed to

this success – I thank you for all you did.The Centennial celebrations helped build relationships amongst all the communities that make up St. Michaels University School. The celebration provided an opportunity to have fun, review our past and get SMUS ready for the next 100 years.

David A. Angus ’62Chair, Centennial Committee

Main photo: Team Canada is led onto the rugby field by Junior School students.

Above left: The International Marketplace featured students dressed in traditional costumes.

Above right: Art Club students show off the banners they made especially for Centennial Weekend.

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Main photo: The game of our century, featuring a SMUS Invitational XV against Canada’s Senior Men’s team, kicked off after Junior School students released one hundred helium-filled balloons into the air.

Left: Centennial Chair David Angus [left] and Head of School Bob Snowden [right] present a cheque to Wendy Shergold [centre] for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Gate proceeds from the Saturday Showcase along with other fundraisers that ran throughout the day netted more than $18,000 for the Victoria Chapter of the CCCF.

Above left: Old Boys from the class of 1966 and earlier gathered at Reynolds House on reunion night to kick off the biggest Alumni Weekend gathering ever. In addition to the Reynolds House gathering, an all-class reunion was held under a marquee set up on the playing fields (see class reunion reviews on pages 20 and 21).

Above right: The International Food Fair featured dishes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, Greece, India, Italy and many others. Parents’ Auxiliary members worked tirelessly throughout the day and evening to ensure Centennial Weekend guests enjoyed an enormous feast.

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Above left: Many people donned hard hats to see the renovations under way in School House. A centrepiece of Centennial facilities plans, the School House restoration project attracted many donations under the banner of the Annual Fund, which were matched by an anonymous donor.

Above middle: Anthony Bryson and Dan Christensen, playing with their band Kombat Wombat, entertain Saturday Showcase goers. Warming up the crowd before the big rugby game, Kombat Wombat was part of a day of mainstage entertainment that included the Timebenders.

Above right: The Saturday Showcase ended with a spectacular fireworks and multimedia display. A video showcasing 100 years of history was projected onto a huge screen set up on the patio of Wenman Pavilion. Then, as fireworks burst overhead, the crowd sang along to a special recording of the school song made by John Reid’s music students.

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Thirty years is a long time, especially when you have not seen someone in that many years, and so when nearly a dozen fellows from the class of �976 gathered for their �0-year reunion, the table was set for much reminiscing and travels down memory lane together.

The evening began for several of us on the playing fields in front of School House, one of the few remaining buildings from our days at the school. Then we moved ourselves down to a pub in Oak Bay Village where several more guys from our class joined us for dinner and suds. We included Marcus Endean ’77 in our band of brothers when he told us that he couldn’t find anyone from his own class at the school reception.

Thanks to Rob Oswald, Simon Chow, Bruce Moore, and Collin Yong, who made the journey to Victoria for this get-together, and thanks as well to the local fellows who came out: Bill Hope, Hans Cunningham, Mike Jawl, Xavier Abrioux, Monty Locke and Alex Galitzine (man, has he changed – none of us recognized Alex as he paced back and forth at the pub!). Perhaps the highlight of the evening occurred when Rob, Marcus, Bruce and Mike started to dig into their memory banks and pulled out some of the great stories about rugby tours to England and Wales in the early �970s, along with other stories of the great times we shared around the school so long ago.

Photos of the evening are posted on the alumni website. I want to thank everyone who joined us and encourage those who could not make it here for the �0th to try to get here in 20�6, if not earlier!

Vivat class of ’76 – all the best!

On Sunday, the class of ’8� was welcomed into the home and amazing backyard of Andrew and Irene Bekes, where families enjoyed swimming in the pool, socializing with old friends, and a barbeque catered by fellow grad Tom Southwell.

How successful was the weekend, you ask? So successful that we decided to hold a mini reunion on September 2nd and the prospect of a �0th reunion abroad (maybe Jordan, maybe London!) is a distinct possibility.

Congratulations to the class of ’8� and our shoulder grads for making this 25th reunion special. Vivat!

centennial class reunion reviews

The class of ’8� had a very successful 25th reunion weekend with grads attending from all over the globe: England (George Spentzos and Sam Malin), Jordan (Khalid Nahhas), Japan (Mark Robinson), the US (Cindy Matuga, Enrique Ruiz, Michael Lambe) and all over Canada.

On Thursday evening, a thirsty group of 25 or so met at the Canoe Club and ended the evening respectably at closing time.

The main event took place Friday evening at the Ocean Pointe Resort with the shoulder years of ’79, ’80 and ’82 as well as faculty in attendance (Mr. Featherstone, Mr. Jones and Mr. Peach to name a few). The evening was a huge success with more than �00 attendees.

On Saturday, we attended the SMUS Centennial Weekend celebrations on the school grounds, with entertainment by the Timebenders (Tom Watson ’80), a Jumbotron tour through the school’s �00-year history and a spectacular display of fireworks accompanied by the school’s song. The evening concluded for many grads at the Penny Farthing Pub in Oak Bay.

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The class of 1976by Keith Jones

The class of 1981by Mike Lambe

The Class of 1976 celebrated their reunion over Centennial Weekend. (left to right): Keith Jones, Hans Cunningham and Xavier Abrioux. Keith is now associate director of Advancement at SMUS, and has a son in Grade 11; Hans is a Victoria surgeon who has three sons attending SMUS, and Xavier is the director of Middle School with a daughter in Grade 9.

The class of 1981, along with a few welcome additions from the classes of ’79, ’80 and ’82, gathered at the Delta Ocean Pointe for their 25th reunion.

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V isit the School Chapel and see the intricate, symbolic details and dazzling colour of the

newly dedicated Colin Skinner window.The Centennial Weekend Chapel service on

May �4 included the dedication of a new stained-glass window in memory of Colin Skinner. Colin taught at SMUS from �975 until 200�. He passed away in 200�. He was an inspirational and outstanding drama teacher, fondly remembered by countless students – particularly those who performed in his school productions. Colin was also well known in the Greater Victoria community as a versatile and highly accomplished actor.

During the Chapel service, former student Andrew Sabiston ’82, a fine actor and writer in his own right, gave an entertaining and appropriate address in memory of Colin.

The window was designed by Tom Mercer of Orillia Glass Design, a local man with a fabulous reputation for this type of work. The window is a fitting tribute to a man who, through his amazing talent and charisma, had such a tremendous influence on so many students.

colin Skinner window

What a fabulous weekend! The class of ’86 really lucked out with our 20th reunion coinciding with the school’s Centennial. Aside from the obvious outstanding party thrown by our school, the Centennial celebration helped bring about a third of our graduating class home. Alums came from all over the world – Brian Kelly might claim the prize for coming the furthest (all the way from Bangkok), although Lindsay Hunt came from South Africa, so it could be a tie… but Stacey (Jessiman) de Nanteuil surprised us all by flying in from Paris with her new baby girl at the last minute!

Friday night started off under the marquee with cocktails at our beautiful alma mater. We wore our nametags (it had been 20 years, after all) and chatted about what we’d been doing and how some of us looked completely different and some of us exactly the same – especially Daymon Eng (the guy hasn’t aged a day since Grade ��!). Then it was on to the Beagle Pub (must support our SMUS grads!) where we laughed and talked like no time had passed. Dave Craig said, “This is just like high school!” When the pub had had enough of us, some grads went back to Jane Rees’s house where she managed to dig out our old “mixed tapes” – where on earth did you find those, Jane? Can we get copies? Or at least song lists?

Saturday found us a little hazy, but unlike days of old, many of us had families along and had to suck it up! It was a beautiful day, and it was wonderful to meet everyone’s children and the partners that didn’t come the night before. We gained a few more alums on Saturday as well. One of my favourite memories of the day was watching the kids making and flying their kites out on the backfield – they had so much fun. There were so

many fantastic things going on – the rugby game, the food fair, the market, the archives, the Timebenders, the fireworks, and of course the beer gardens… I know everyone had a wonderful time. After the fireworks, the class of ’86 (along with a few stragglers from the class of ’87 – nothing’s changed!) went back to my place for a house party, where the last person left after the Sunday newspaper was delivered and the sprinkler system had been on and off – who says we’re getting old?! Many thanks to Conrad Gmoser who couldn’t join us as he was cycling in Japan (what an excuse!), but sent some of his outstanding beer from Steamworks Pub in Vancouver to help us celebrate.

A huge thank-you to everyone who was able to make it – it was you who made the weekend such a success and it wouldn’t have been the same without you there. All the best, and see you in 20��!

Left to right: Chris Dunlop, Stephen Barrett, Simon Smith, Bryan Pullman, Nelson Ko, Susan (Leach) Ko, and Bryan Feir.

The class of 1986 by Michelle (Greene) Jones

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A description of the symbolism of the Colin Skinner window can be found on the inside

back cover of this issue of School Ties.

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HISToRY

A little pageantry from the pastBy Rob Wilson

The Centennial Weekend Saturday afternoon programme was

supplemented by a surprise – a short and nostalgic event performed just before the main rugby game. Unheralded and welcome, it featured the University School Drum and Bugle Band, made up of alumni from the �950s and �960s.

For almost all of its history, University School had a cadet corps, and the corps always included a band. The bugles and drums were the mainstay instruments, and additions included cymbals and – in the �960s – a glockenspiel. Marching in front of the band was the flamboyant drum major.

During my time with the University School Cadet Corps from �958 to �965, the training and practices were always under the direction of the student bandleader. Each year, this created a small independent group of young men with

a deep sense of pride and dedication. In fact, it was a student-led enterprise for much of the corps’ existence. Earlier Black and Reds show that Mr. Scarrett (headmaster of the day) supervised the band in the �920s, while in the �950s, local resident Capt. A.G. Higgs gave his expert and valued assistance.

Each year, the cadet corps held its annual inspection and the band was featured prominently in the general salute, inspection and march-past. Also, the inspection programme included other events, one of which was always the band display. Other band commitments included participation in sunset ceremonies at the legislative buildings, and on more than one occasion, I recall the band participating downtown in the annual Victoria Day parade.

The cadet corps was disbanded in �970, but it can now be reported that

its band was briefly revived �6 years later by a devoted veteran group, under the leadership of Andrew Timmis ’65.

After his energetic and enterprising contribution at the 2005 Alumni Weekend, Andrew focused his 2006 efforts on this band project. His task was formidable – he had to bring together band members, most of whom attended University School over 40 years earlier. Seventeen members were encouraged/enrolled/conscripted/press-ganged into the 2006 edition! The oldest was Larry Devlin ’59 and the youngest, Barney Angus ’68.

The next challenge for this assembled group was to find time to prepare and practice: to reach back several decades in the hope that some distant memory would enable them to perform as they did in the good old days! Would the drummers still have that impeccable dexterity and timing? Would the bass drum be too big and cumbersome for Bruce Gibson to handle? Could they still march in formation and in step? These were the enormous challenges for those brave and intrepid volunteers. To their credit, practice time was arranged and they performed in admirable fashion.

Meanwhile, and before the day, Andrew had a few more administrative and challenging problems, the most pressing being to find band instruments. This problem was eventually solved and not without a certain drama. Local contacts, including collectors, militia and cadet units, were a help, but Andrew still had to order some drums from Aldershot, England. They arrived just in time. Another item – and one that gave Andrew some cause for concern – was that the drum major’s mace had gone missing at the school. This problem was solved, thanks to the efforts of Chuck Holm ’65, who devotedly and expertly constructed a handsome replica. So, after a thrilling and challenging tussle with time, Andrew was able to provide all the necessary equipment.

And the rest is history! The 2006 band turned back the clock and gave a short, emotional and commendable display,

The University School Drum and Bugle Band, 1958

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Other band history from this era (1956-1969)Here is a list of drum majors and bandleaders from the past – those who gave the leadership and maintained the spirit and continuity of the band.Drum Majors I/c Band�956 Chris Pollard Band Sgt. Wally Watson�957 Michael Whittaker Band Sgt. Bryan Price�958 John Storr Band Sgt. Fred Allen�959 John Storr Bandmaster Fred Allen�960 Michael Stephen Band Sgt. Barry Phillips�96� Barry Phillips D.Major Barry Phillips�962 Ian Dykes D.Major Ian Dykes�96� Jim Mousel D.Major Jim Mousel�964 Dan Singer Bandmaster Dan Singer�965 Andrew Timmis D.Major Andrew Timmis�966 Rodney Filtness WOII Colin Dykes�967 Rodney Filtness D.Major Rodney Filtness�968 Barney Angus D.Major Barney Angus�969 Rod Miller D.Major Rod Miller

much to the delight of the crowd which, ironically, was the largest audience they had ever played for.

This enterprise showed that brief glimpses of past activities and traditions

could be informative and entertaining, and show something of the roots of a school that has now embarked upon its second century!

The participants in the Centennial Weekend display were:

Larry Devlin ’59Michael Stephen ’60Barry Phillips ’6�David Angus ’62Chris Collins ’6�Marcel Fisher ’64John Herpers ’64Don Macdonald ’65Chuck Holm ’65Don Speers ’65John Teagle ’65Andrew Timmis ’65Bruce Gibson ’66John McIntyre ’66Colin Dykes ’66Grenfell Featherstone ’67Barney Angus ’68

Part of the display was a colour party, which carried the University School Cadet Corps flag – a gift of the Seattle Ladies Auxiliary in �964. The colour party included: Michael Symons ’6�, John Williams ’54, John Wenman ’59, Bob Chaworth-Musters ’65. Chuck Lenfesty ’65 provided commentary.

The University School Drum and Bugle Band reunited for Centennial Weekend’s Saturday Showcase.

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Hist

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I n �957, the school week went like this: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

Thursday – Cadets.Cadets was sure

to be a rainy Friday, with potholes in the quad waiting for new boys who were trying to tell their left foot from their right. Also preoccupied with this distinction were our NCOs and officers, all of whom seemed to have inherited the longstanding military challenge of whipping

recruits into fighting men within days.We were slow learners. Most of us

had never been closer to the military than a scout pack.

Faced with the prospect of learning to march in step while balancing a dummy Lee-Enfield rifle (8 lbs.), the wiliest new boys volunteered for the band. Band service also avoided the punishment of running around the quad with your rifle over your head – an exercise meted out liberally.

After distinguishing between left and right, the second challenge in

September was getting your kilt to hang properly. The cadet corps was affiliated with the Canadian Scottish Regiment – a proud and famous regiment – whose reputation did nothing to help your kilt hang squarely. It was particularly difficult for boys with the normal adolescent fat distribution which produced a kind of rounded, “motherly” soldier type – not at all fearsome. Wearing kilts also brought up the inexhaustible question of what to wear under them. Most of this discussion I cannot report.

By October, however, we had formed up into companies, complete with officers and NCOs. Don’t think, though, that we just marched around. Our training included signals (practiced with Boer War flags); physical training (using a curriculum model from �9�7); first aid (with no kits); the Bren gun (which we did have but never came apart); map reading (Nanaimo and District); internal combustion engines (the school tractor); and most importantly – shooting.

We used live .22 calibre shots, which made a very acceptable crack, as we lay prone on the lumpy sandbags that made up the floor. Not only did we have our own range, but several times a year we were transported to Heal’s Range in

Central Saanich to fire real .�0�s at human silhouette targets. Shooting badges like Marksman or First Class were the most prized of all in the corps and wearing the crossed gold rifles on your uniform sleeve was cool (to use today’s language) because it meant you were a sniper.

By the final rainy Friday in November, we all knew that a bigger day lay ahead – Inspection Day. Inspection Day was second in importance only to Speech Day. In May �958, the inspecting officer was Col. Cecil Merritt, a Canadian war hero and winner of the Victoria Cross for bravery at Dieppe. He was also a school governor and Old Boy. Mercifully, it did not rain.

In �959, our school was big – 2�0 boys. This made for four companies of a respectable size and a drum and bugle band of 24. Headed by a drum major complete with sash, sporran and mace, and led by a cadet captain with a

The cadet corps: Battalion #170by Larry Devlin ’59

Col. Cecil Merritt VC ’20-’23 inspects the cadets, 1958

Larry Devlin ’59 recently returned to SMUS for Centennial Weekend.

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recreated its essence of drums and bugles. What he couldn’t pre-plan was the pride – pride in the school and pride in the corps. But that was there too in spades as the band marched out on familiar grounds once more.

For me, the most magical moment was when the large crowd began to clap. ”My God,” I thought, “they remember.”

Perhaps that is what SMUS is ultimately about. A shared history of proud memories and strong values, which we hope will endure.

pasts, advances in review order and a general salute. There were training demonstrations such as rifle drill, and the inspecting officer, Brigadier J.W. Bishop, saw the corps do its signals, shooting and assault tactics. There was also a band display and a hollow square.

Our cadet captain in �959 was Wilf Lund, who was also head boy. Like many others before and after him, Wilf went directly from school to a distinguished career in the military and retired as a captain in the Royal Canadian Navy. He was one of Canada’s first submariners. True to today’s ethos of lifelong learning, Wilf also completed his PhD in military history during active service.

The corps is no more.

But there was a Camelot-like experience during the recent Centennial celebrations when Andrew Timmis

swagger stick, we looked quite impressive (numerically). More importantly, we had begun to feel a real sense of personal and collective pride in ourselves and in the school. Several cadets had what we today would call physical disabilities but they marched with the rest of the corps.

In preparation for Inspection Day, we had already done several public ceremonies and reviews in downtown Victoria. We formed up at the corner of Government and Wharf and marched past the Empress Hotel to the lawn of the Legislature, where we beat the retreat as part of the sunset ceremonies during which the provincial flag was lowered. The return march up Government Street was always greeted by applause, and by the time we reached our assembly point, the entire corps was ready to enlist after graduation.

May 6, �959 was the 50th Annual Inspection of the Cadet Corps, #�70 Battalion (which was actually established in �907). The programme included ceremonial activities such as march-

The cadet corps band on the lawn of the BC Legislature.

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The vision of St. Michaels University School is not only to become one of the foremost schools in Canada, but to be considered one of the foremost schools in the world. The realization of this vision requires us to complete our facilities master plan, to attract the finest teachers and to attract the great young minds of Canada and the world. Attracting outstanding students will require the creation of a world-class endowment. To that end, we have developed a plan to increase our endowment significantly in order to achieve our objectives. The Timmis Scholars initiative is a major step in this direction.

The McGillivray GiftWe need endowments to attract the best students from all walks of life. Without scholarships, schools become too elitist, often missing out on purely great talent. The longer-term issue is that schools which are not endowed cannot weather economic downturns.– Hugh “Leader” McGillivray ’64

Recently, the J.J. Timmis Scholars Endowment was significantly enhanced by a major contribution from Hugh “Leader” McGillivray ’64, in honour of the spirit of leadership shown by J.J. Timmis, Headmaster of University School from �948 to �970.

The $500,000 gift will be the catalyst that attracts a further $500,000 to the J.J. Timmis Scholars Endowment. Accordingly, all alumni will be asked for their support – particularly alumni from the Timmis years – as part of the 2006-2007 Annual Fund campaign. We have declared an initial goal of $� million to be secured by June �0th, 2007. The long-term vision for this endowment is the funding of two Timmis Scholars, one boarding and one day, for each Senior School grade in perpetuity. To fulfill this vision, an endowment of $5 million is required. The first two Timmis Scholars will enter Grade 9 in the 2007 school year.

The University School rugby team met the Duke of Edinburgh while on tour in London in 1964. Hugh “Leader” McGillivray ’64 is to the left of Prince Philip.

The Timmis ScholarsMens sana in corpore sano

The Timmis Scholars, as recipients of the school’s most prestigious award, will be carefully chosen. The over-arching guide for selecting students will be the school motto “mens sana in corpore sano.” St. Michaels University School seeks to attract the finest students to the school, regardless of financial means. The school’s policy is that finances will not be an obstacle to any student who is offered a Timmis Scholarship.

In October of each year, advertising for the annual Scholarship Day in November will be placed on our website and in the Victoria Times Colonist. All applicants will be invited to tour the school and attend Scholarship Day, during which potential students will sit a rigorous set of examinations as well as an interview. It is anticipated that a significant number of applications will be received annually. The interview panel will include alumni of the school.

The Timmis Initiative Great schools are blessed by great endowments. Eton, Harrow, St. Paul’s, Exeter, Andover and Geelong Grammar School are all able to attract outstanding students, regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds. The endowments of these great schools generate revenues that ensure financial support – in many cases for more than one-third of their enrolment. Endowments can also provide long-term security, serving as a safety net in adverse circumstances. The Timmis initiative is the cornerstone of our campaign to create an endowment that will allow us to take our place among the best schools in the world.

Making a Planned Gift to the J.J. Timmis Scholars EndowmentPlanned giving can help you make a major contribution to this important endowment while providing tax- and estate-planning benefits. You may want to consider any of the following planned gifts:

• a bequest in your will,• making the Timmis Scholars Endowment the beneficiary of

a life insurance policy or the residue of your retirement plan• a charitable remainder trust that benefits you during your

life then donates the remainder interest to the Timmis Scholars Endowment, or

• a gift of securities for the specific benefit of the Timmis Scholars Endowment.

If you would like to discuss any of these planned giving options, please contact the Advancement office. We would be pleased to assist you and your professional advisors in structuring your planned gift.

The J.J. Timmis Scholars Endowment

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Alumni receptionsJoin representatives from the SMUS community when we host an alumni reception in your area.

Friday, October 6 New YorkWednesday, October 11 TorontoThursday, October 19 Montreal Friday, November 10 San FranciscoTuesday, November 21 KelownaWednesday, November 22 EdmontonThursday, November 23 CalgaryThursday, December 21 Christmas Homecoming - all alumni welcome!Thursday, January 25 VancouverWednesday, February 28 PortlandThursday, March 1 Seattle

As we get closer to these reception dates, we will mail out invitations to alumni living in the vicinity. For further information, please contact Cliff Yorath (cyorath@smus.bc.ca) or Louise Winter (lwinter@smus.bc.ca).

Bob and Joan Snowden hosted the annual London alumni reception on July ��, 2006. The following alumni were in attendance: Brian Graves ’4�, Alexandra Richie ’8�, David Chmiel ’9�, Andrew Mitchell ’92, Paula and Simon Carter on behalf of Anthony Carter ’7�, Jenny Huston ’90, Adrian Beeston ’87, Jules Benkert ’87, Michael Talbot ’86, Jasie Leekha ’9�, George Spentzos ’8�, David Horne ’79, James Latham ’86, David Wingrove ’8� and Catherine Jones ’89.

Special thanks to Dr. Alexandra Richie ’8� for sponsoring the event at the Oxford and Cambridge Club.

london reception AlUMNI NEwS

Mrs. Dorothea Kenzlers and two other parents kindly organized the first annual continental SMUS alumni and family reception, held at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden, Germany on Saturday, July �5, 2006.

Front row (l-r): Dr. Marianne Liedtke-Maier, Katrin Kenzlers ’05-’06, Mrs. Dorothea Kenzlers, Ms. Karin Baier-Wellems, Mrs. Joan Snowden, Julia Borns ’04, Mrs. Anneliese Schleyer, Martin Schleyer ’04-’05, Max Weis ’04-’05, Mr. Robert Snowden. Back row (l-r): Dr. Alois Maier, Mr. Frank Tobias, Vanessa Claessens ’05-’06, Daniela Higuera ’05-’06, Dr. Georg Claessens, Jan Wellems ’05, Alexander Isphording ’04, Dr. Dieter Schleyer, Dr. Reinhold Weis.

Germany reception

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Distinguished Alumni AwardsO n the Friday evening of Centennial

Weekend, several hundred alumni gathered to honour graduates of our school who have represented Canada at their chosen sport. These awards were the first of the Distinguished Alumni Awards, initiated this year by the Alumni Association. Twelve of the 24 award winners were present. Some awards were accepted by friends and relatives on behalf of those who could not attend personally. St. Michaels University School is extremely proud of its athletic traditions.

The Awards Committee of the Alumni Association chose to honour athletes this year. In future years, additional individuals who have made significant contributions in their chosen fields will be celebrated.

Nominations for the 2007 Distinguished Alumni AwardsThe Awards Committee of the Alumni Association would like to receive nominations for the Distinguished Alumni Awards to be presented at Alumni Weekend (May 4 – 5, 2007). Please submit your nomination by faxing or emailing to:

Alumni Association Awards Committeec/o Cliff YorathSt. Michaels University School3400 Richmond RoadVictoria, BC V8P 4P5Fax: (250) 519-7517E-mail: cyorath@smus.bc.ca

The 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award winners were:

Basketball Steve Nash ’92, Dan Boticki ’99Boxing Jelena Mrdjenovich ’00Cricket Reg Wenman ’2�, Jim Weaver ’��,

Jim Wenman ’66Field Hockey Meggan Hunt ’96Rugby Ken Wilke ’66, Rob Frame ’79,

Gareth Rees ’85, Andrew Heaman ’85, John Graf ’87, Bob Ross ’87, Jeremy Cordle ’9�, Rob Card ’9�, Ed Fairhurst ’97, Mike Danskin ’98, Mike Pyke ’02, David Spicer ’0�

Soccer Martin Nash ’9�Tennis Reider Getz ’58Track and Field Percy Williams ’22, Lynn Eves ’58

October 2006Santa Barbara, CASan Francisco, CAOakland, CAMarin, CASMUS Open HouseSeattle, WA

November 2006Saudi ArabiaMunich, GermanyHamburg, GermanyKöln, GermanyBerlin, GermanyKelowna, BCEdmonton, ABCalgary, AB

December 2006Vancouver IslandTerrace, BCKitimat, BCPrince Rupert, BC

January 2007Cayman IslandsBahamasVancouver, BCWhistler, BC

February 2007Mexico City, MexicoGuadalajara, MexicoSMUS Open HouseOlympic Peninsula, WASeattle, WA

March 2007Prince George, BCWilliams Lake, BCKamloops, BCKelowna, BCPenticton, BCWhitehorse, YKJasper, ABBanff, AB

Admissions visitsSusan Saunders, Director of Admissions, and Gregor Klenz, Associate Director, will be visiting the following locations over the coming year. If you are interested in arranging a visit to your community, please contact the SMUS Admissions Office.

The first recipients of the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Awards.

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Mile Erlic ’81

At his graduation from St. Michaels University School in �98�, Mile Erlic was awarded the Ker Cup. The Cup has

been awarded at the school since �92�. With this, Mile joined an elite company of outstanding students who exemplify all that is excellent about our graduates. As a student, Mile excelled at the sciences and clearly it was a path that he intended to follow after graduation. Apart from his academic successes, he was heavily involved in the sporting life of the school. His main contribution to school athletics was as hooker on an exceptional First XV rugby team that won the coveted BC Independent

Lotus Vermeer ’86

S ince her graduation from St. Michaels University School

in �986, Lotus Vermeer has been incredibly busy picking up bachelor and master’s degrees in biology from McGill University, as well as another master’s degree in marine resource and environmental management from the University of the West Indies, Barbados.

In 2000, she was awarded a PhD in marine ecology by the Department of Biology at Dalhousie University.

Lotus was project coordinator of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project (�996-�999) and was the subject of a �998 Discovery Channel documentary profiling her work. In �989, while she was completing her undergraduate work at McGill University, Lotus began working on the project. By �996, she was fully in charge. She literally and single-handedly turned around the ecology of sea turtles in Barbados, changing an environment of poaching and exploitation into one of conservation and preservation. In the process, she created a model of environmental conservation for the school children and tourism industry of Barbados and developed an eco-tourism attraction that is actively promoted by the Government of Barbados and nurtured by the inhabitants and tourist hotels of the island.

Martin, Lily, Mile and Jure Erlic, enjoying the Saturday night Centennial celebrations, just after the fireworks.

FocUS oN AlUMNISchools Championship in �98�. Mile was one of six players that year to be awarded his rugby colours.

Upon graduation, Mile headed off to Queen’s University to study mechanical engineering. Four years later, with degree in hand, he worked for a number of years in Europe and North America before deciding that post-graduate study was beckoning. At this point, he returned home to pursue his master’s and then doctorate degrees at the University of Victoria. He received his PhD in electrical and computer engineering in �994, specializing in non-linear robot control. That year, he became the founding president of Precision Micro Dynamics in Victoria. The company has grown steadily since that time. Mile’s brother, Tom Erlic ’88, is the CEO of the company and they have �2 employees, most of whom have come from the excellent Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Victoria. Precision Micro Dynamics produces software and circuitry for precision tools. Mile travels extensively, most recently into the Asian market to investigate opportunities for his company.

Mile’s wife, Lily, writes children’s literature and also develops board games. The Erlic family connection to St. Michaels University School has been further strengthened over the past few years with the enrolment of their three sons, Martin (Grade ��), Jure (Grade 9) and Joseph (Grade 7). Mile can be spotted frequently around the school these days, supporting the boys at the side of the rugby field or in the gym cheering on the basketball teams.

Following her work in Barbados, Lotus became the programme director for earth and marine sciences at the Earthwatch Institute in Boston. A year later, she added director of research to her portfolio with the same institution.

In 200�, Lotus moved to the Pacific coast to work for the Nature Conservancy as director of the Santa Cruz Island Project, an environmentally complex, 62,000-acre island among the Channel Islands off the California coast. The position has regularly put her in the public spotlight – the project demands a high level of practical and theoretical natural resource management, skills in public policy, communications and finance, as well as the development and implementation of science-based strategies for biodiversity conservation. The ongoing, multi-million dollar project involves the removal of some 5,000 non-native wild pigs from the island. In so doing, the native foxes and nine rare plant species might be saved. The wild pigs have attracted golden eagles – predatory, non-native birds – to the island. This has, in turn, caused the near extinction of the Santa Cruz Island fox, now an endangered species. The work on the restoration project is ongoing, with a mission to save the rare species found only on Santa Cruz Island from extinction.

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Two SMUS alumni and one much-loved staff member were recently

chosen to help guide the Canadian Women’s Cricket Team to a berth in the World Championship Tournament. The journey began on Labour Day weekend when the national team faced a challenge from Bermuda to win the right to participate in a qualifying tournament to be held in Ireland next summer.

Meara Crawford ’02 and Clare Abbott (Ostick) ’9� were chosen to play for Canada in the best of two-out-of-three game series with Bermuda, which they lost by one game. Both Meara and Clare play in Victoria for the Wicket Maidens cricket club and are useful all-rounders (for the uninitiated – they can bowl and bat equally well). This game marked the first international match (for men or women) to be played in Victoria that has been sanctioned by the International Cricket Conference.

The national team appointed Tony Cordle to coach Canada for the three-game series with Bermuda, and I am sure the players were excited about receiving such expert coaching. Tony has, of course, been around SMUS for many years following a highly successful 22- year professional cricket career playing for Glamorgan in the English County Championship.

Canadian women’s cricket

Tony Cordle, and alums Meara Crawford and Clare Abbott were chosen to lead the Canadian Women’s Cricket Team.

Just think…By Heidi Davis

Just think how amazed I was, in the middle of Paris at the Rodin Museum, to hear a voice call quietly through the crowd of visitors, “Madame Davis? Is that you?”

Christina Moser, a 2006 SMUS graduate, with her mother, Mrs. Sylvia Moser, was on a cultural expedition in the City of Lights in March, when she spotted my husband and me in the foyer of the Musée Rodin. We all uttered the obvious “incroyable!” (en français, bien sûr!) almost simultaneously, and then Christina quickly added that taking in great art that day was definitely her preference, since just an hour earlier, they had literally fled from the centre of the massive student riots just metres away!

In reflecting upon our meeting later that day, I decided that it wasn’t really so amazing after all. In our years at SMUS, teachers and students all learn by making connections that stimulate our

curiosity, enrich our knowledge and expand our horizons. Ultimately, we all try to imagine, but never can we ascertain precisely which of our learning experiences and combinations of connections ultimately inspire and motivate us to pursue areas of special interest. When I saw Christina at the museum, I couldn’t help but wonder if her role as Vincent van Gogh in the Grade 5 French/Art play so many years before might have been one such connecting moment. Just think…

Incogs win colonist cupThe Incogs, a cricket side made up of SMUS staff, students, alumni, parents, and sometimes special guests, has for the second season in a row won the Colonist Cup, awarded to the league champions of the Victoria and District Cricket Association. The Incogs now advance to play for the Tomalin Cup and the British Columbia team championship.

A more detailed insight into the Incogs will be provided for the next edition of School Ties.

C h r i s t i n a M o s e r played Vincent van Gogh in the Grade 5 French/Art Play.

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The 70sMarcus Endean ’77 was in attendance for Centennial Weekend in May. He wrote us after the celebration: “The anniversary celebrations were a triumph and extremely well organized. I was very touched and glad to be there and had a great time.

On the work front, I am still doing storyboards and production design for feature films and television commercials in Vancouver and the United States. I usually work from home and send the finished storyboards to my clients via email.”

The 80sAs vice president of the Rental Owners and Managers Association (ROMS), Andrew Bekes ’81 was asked to sit on the national board of CFAA (Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations). He headed to Ottawa for the national conference in June. He took some time on the last day of the �-day conference to meet up with former classmate Tien Fothergill-Payne ’81. Tien is currently single and works in senior management for the federal government. She seems poised to be promoted higher in the ranks. She spends her spare time and money restoring her recently purchased heritage house in Ottawa. She says it seems all her extra time is used up working. She is not in regular contact with anyone from the school but enjoys receiving news from the class ’8� committee, and she promises to come to the �0th reunion in 20��.

Tim Fisher ’81 was recently promoted to full professor in the department of Earth, Ecological, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toledo in Ohio (and yes, he has seen Klinger!). He and his family (wife Kathy – a mathematics lecturer also at Toledo – and sons Paul �2, and Ian �0) moved to Toledo in 200� after nine years in Valparaiso, Indiana, where Tim was a faculty member in

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

The Alumni Updates section is a very important part of our School Ties magazine. It is a fabulous way to keep in touch with fellow schoolmates and also a great forum to share the interesting and enriching experiences and ideas of your lives after you leave SMUS.

Please take a moment to tell us what you are doing. Better yet, we encourage you to register on our alumni email directory, if you haven’t already done so. It’s simple! Visit this link on the school’s website and follow the prompts:

http://alumni.smus.bc.ca/

If you would prefer to give us a call, Cliff Yorath can be reached at (250) 5�9-7508 and Louise Winter at (250) �70-6�76. Many thanks for keeping in touch!

cliff Yorath Director of Alumni Relations cyorath@smus.bc.ca

louise winter Alumni Relations lwinter@smus.bc.ca

alumni updatesthe Geosciences department of Indiana University Northwest, serving as department chair in his last two years.

Now at the University of Toledo, he is working with students on two main projects. The first is trying to understand how the levels of the Great Lakes have fluctuated since the last ice age, in particular distinguishing between climate change and other geologic signals. The second project involves reconstructing a large glacial lake (Lake Agassiz) that covered much of central North America at the end of the last ice age and has been implicated in dramatic climate change events when it drained through several outlets.

Tim has fond memories of giving the farm report in Mr. Wilson’s Geography classes and enjoyed attending the class reunion and Centennial Weekend this spring.

lindsey Pollard ’85 was nominated for a Creative Emmy Award for her animation work on the cartoon “Camp Lazlo.” The winners were announced on August �9, 2006 and “the Simpsons” cartoon won (which was expected), but Lindsey had a wonderful time and said it was quite an experience to attend the award gala. It will add to her many experiences in the cartoon industry. Her next involvement will be with the first full-length Simpsons movie where she will be one of two assistants to the director at Roughdraft, which is doing half the movie. She is very excited and looking forward to this new challenge.

Tim Fisher ’81 in northern Saskatchewan working at -38°C.

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Rosemarie (Neroutsos) Bushuk ’84-’87 attended the Centennial celebrations in May with her brother, Rob Neroutsos ’86 and her cousin, Brian Kelly ’86. Rosemarie went on to graduate from Mount Douglas High School in �989 and completed a degree in occupational therapy at UBC in �994. She married Don Bushuk in 2000. Rosemarie is now living in Winnipeg and is working as an occupational therapist.

Jason Yang ’89 sent an update in May: “After graduating from SMUS, I had gone on to study industrial design (thanks to Headmaster Schaffter’s recommendation and Mr. Alan Jones’ encouragements) at one of the best art schools in the US (Rhode Island School of Design). After graduating from RISD, I worked for GE/Fitch (one of the top design companies in the world) and Acer computers for several years before establishing my own design company just a few years ago in Taiwan. Our design company (www.pointgrey.com.tw) has won many design awards, including the prestigious International Product Design Award (IF Design Award) a couple of years ago. I also created my own brand-name golf accessory company (www.jellygolf.com) just last year. We design and manufacture golf accessories and sell them to Japan and Europe at this time.”

The 90sAngela Dunbar ’92 wrote to us in August: “Alumni updates is always the first section I browse through when I receive School Ties, to get the scoop on where everyone is and what people are up to, almost �5 years now since we were at SMUS!

After graduating, I studied an innovative programme, the first of its kind in North America, called health information science (HINF) from the University of Victoria. HINF is a merging of the fields of health and computer science; the study of how computer and telecommunications technology can be applied to support healthcare processes. This field has been growing rapidly over the past �5 years as the need for more effective and efficient health systems increases in tandem with the functionalities of new technologies. Coming close to the end of my degree, I had the urge to travel around Europe, and not being the backpacking type, I joined an international software company with a newly established development office in Barcelona, Spain. It was a perfect fit and provided me with the opportunity to live in Europe, learn a second language, and visit most of the western European countries. I quickly fell in love with Barcelona; the pace of life, sun, surf, culture and great food, and a short-term decision turned into a long-term one – I’ve now been living in Barcelona for almost �0 years.

I earned my MBA from the OUBS in the UK, and currently work for the World Health Organization running the e-Health programme for Europe. We bring together the ministers of health and ministers of technology to establish information and communication networks for health covering all of the 52 European member states, including western, central and eastern Europe, covering all the countries from Greenland to Uzbekistan. Information and communication technologies can be used to support decision-making in all levels of the health system, from the front-line doctors and nurses to the health authorities. We essentially connect health

professionals who need timely, accurate and complete information with those that have it. Working in international emerging markets is exceptionally rewarding as it provides an ever-evolving richness in diversities of cultures and perspectives.

It’s nice to see that more and more SMUS alumni are settling in Europe and I look forward to the next European alumni reunion. For those of you who plan to come for a visit, look me up, but be aware that Spain is a wonderful place to live and you may find it difficult to leave!”

Michael (MJ) welwood ’88-’90 sent this update in July: “I went to SMUS as a boarding student from �988 to �990 (Grades 7 and 8). I graduated high school from St. Stephen’s Episcopal in Austin, Texas in �994. I did some college on and off. Then I started a contracting company with my father in Florida. After ten years as a construction manager, I decided to return to school and pursue a professional degree in architecture (MArch). I am just about to transfer into an AIA accredited programme somewhere in the states and I am beginning my portfolio. I will probably move back to the Pacific Northwest in a few years and I will definitely come up and visit SMUS as soon as I can.”

chris liu ’95 sent this update in August: “I can’t believe it’s already been �� years since graduation. For some reason, SMUS seems not so distant and I can still remember distinctly the faces of my old classmates and teachers. After graduating from SMUS, I pursued

Jason Yang ’89 and his wife Kate Tsai Chris Liu ’95

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an electrical engineering degree at the California Institute of Technology, better known as Caltech, in Los Angeles. Then I decided to pursue a master’s degree at Cornell in Ithaca, New York (distinct contrast, eh?). At that point, I still hadn’t decided on a particular focus within electrical engineering. But within weeks of enrolling in the programme, I found an excellent advisor along with a PhD topic that kept me riveted for the next six years. My thesis examined the topic of three-dimensional integrated circuit (�-D IC) technology, which can become vital for the silicon industry in the next ten years as the constraints of transistor scaling are reached.

I had a little detour in life over the past year. After successfully defending my thesis this past December, I found out that my irregular heartbeat, steadily worsening over the last two years, required immediate attention. My parents quickly scheduled a catheter heart surgery in Taiwan. I no longer have any excuses for my poor score on the 2400. I must add that I am extremely grateful to my family and friends who have helped me through this tough time.

After completing the surgery and visiting relatives in Taiwan, I returned to Ithaca and began working in a startup company founded by one of my professors at Cornell. I knew my professor well and had very strong faith in the technology. Joining his company was really a no-brainer. The company is called Achronix and we make high-performance circuits known as field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

Our company is expanding rapidly, and last month, my boss decided that it was a good time to continue our success at a place more conducive to high-tech exposure. Before I know it, I’m back in sunny California, but this time in the Bay Area. I’ll always remember writing this update for School Ties, because as I’m writing this sentence, I’m sitting in my hotel room in San Jose with no car and no place to live yet. I really look forward to my new life here. Best way to reach me is by email: chrisliu22@gmail.com. Keep in touch!”

Jennifer (De Haan) Deacon ’97 married D’Arcy Deacon in May. She sent this update: “I will complete my BSW in December 2006. I’m currently in Bella Coola doing my final practicum at the hospital here as part of a programme called IRPbc. I came here with a group of students from different professions such as nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy, the idea being that we would learn about interdisciplinary practice in health care, specifically in rural areas. So far it’s been great, and Bella Coola is a hidden gem!”

Yusuf Harsono ’97 wrote to us in April: “Well, I have lived in Indonesia now for more than three years, in the city of Surabaya-East Java. Here, I am working in a cosmetics company called Viva Cosmetics (www.vivacosmetic.com) in the department of marketing and distribution. The situation in Indonesia is very unstable – the tsunamis, a new government and its new policies. Oil prices increased by more than �20% in 2005; however, the good side of that is that I learned to deal with many things in just a short period of time. I was married in September 2004, to Sherly Matandi. In 2005, I received the most prestigious award in Indonesia called the Indonesian Best Brand Award and the Golden Award. These awards are given to the company that best survived during the second crisis period after the Asian crisis

in �998. One was given to the company that I worked for because the company sold the most products in one category, which is the facial care category.

Anyway, I thank all my teachers at SMUS who helped me during my five years of stay, and to my fellow grads of �997. I hope that you are all well and I hope to hear from all of you soon.”

Jacqui Hudson ’97 graduated as a doctor from UBC in May 2006. After a five-week break spent climbing in Peru, she joined the staff at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, BC, where she will intern for two years before specializing in anesthetics for a further three.

chantal (Nowak) Schauch ’97 sent this update in August: “It’s time for an update! So much has happened in my life in the past couple of years, I don’t even know where to begin. Actually I do: with the happiest day of my life – July �5, 2006 – my wedding day!

Michael Schauch and I got married at St. Ann’s Academy followed by a reception at the Laurel Point Inn, here in Victoria. The weather was perfect, as well as the company and everything else. We couldn’t have wished for more.

For nearly three years, we have lived in downtown Vancouver, but more recently, my new position as director of marketing and events for LifePilot (a not-for-profit organization initiated by Century 2� Real Estate Canada founder Peter H. Thomas) has left me commuting between our two places in Victoria and Vancouver. Since graduating from business school, I have been fortunate to gain experience in various industries from assurance with PricewaterhouseCoopers, to insurance with the TU Group, to financial services with CIBC Wood Gundy, to my own part-time consulting business, to my current not-for-profit work. My main focus and specialization for the past three years has been consistent in marketing communication.

In my spare time (which is hard to come by these days), I absolutely love to hike and I am trying my talents at some

Dr. Jacqui Hudson ’97

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climbing as well. The best achievement to date is the Nevado de Colima in Mexico at 4200 meters. I also enjoy community involvement and currently sit on the board of directors of the Vancouver Chamber Choir; I was a founding member of the UVic Business Alumni chapter in Vancouver, I’ve been a team leader for the CIBC Run for the Cure over the past three years, and I love to mentor and coach current business students through the world after your BCom.

On to the actual reason I am writing: I would like to take this opportunity to make a tribute to several teachers at SMUS that have left an impressive footprint on one of the most challenging crossroads in my life to date.

My family and I arrived from Switzerland in �992 – I was �� and only knew the basics of the English language. I certainly had never heard of the word “slang” and couldn’t comprehend most of the words in the English dictionary. Not to mention the cultural change and so on and so on…. It was enough to knock every bit of security out of me and make me ill every morning before school for three months. There were, however, two very special teachers at Middle School at that time, who knew just exactly how to handle this little case of insecurity. Enter Mr. Pollock and Mr. Manson-Blair. The former understood the fine line between patience and challenge, and through his teaching ability taught me the English language faster than anyone else could have; the latter was a daily guide and confidence builder, quietly watching my every move, providing the necessary assistance, punch-line, or mentorship as required. Then there was Senior School and none other than Mr. Johnson who was able to teach me the beauty of the English language. Well dear sirs, whether you believe it or not, I am deeply thankful for your skill and most importantly, your caring – you have left quite the mark at a very important time of my life. Today, I would like to recognize and thank you

for everything some sixteen years later. Teachers like you have made SMUS what it is today and it would not be the same without you.“

Kim Emsley-leik ’98 sent this update in July: “I finished a BSc (Hons) degree at the University of Alberta in physiology and developmental biology, then spent a year in Japan travelling after my undergraduate degree. I am currently doing my master’s at The Prostate Centre, Vancouver General Hospital (UBC), and I am highly involved in federal politics. I volunteered on David Emerson’s campaign during the last federal election and am currently running operations and organization in BC for Michael Ignatieff’s leadership bid for the Liberal Party of Canada. Over the past two years, I have grown to understand exactly how important politics is, how decisions made in government affect our lives every day, and I actually wish I’d gotten involved earlier. The type of education you get from getting involved in this type of thing is invaluable, and I think more young people should consider volunteering on campaigns.”

David lynch ’98 wrote to us in May: “I figured it was high time I sent in an update… so here it is: After graduation, I spent several months in Québec and Bénin on a Canada World Youth exchange before heading to the University of Ottawa to study political science and history. In Ottawa, I had the chance to work as a co-op student with CIDA and INAC and had a lot of fun helping to organize the annual National Student Commonwealth Forum. Last August, I completed intermediate/secondary teacher training at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL. I fell in love with Newfoundland, and had a blast student-teaching in the communities of Conception Bay South and Grand Bank.

In the fall, I substituted at SMUS before landing a job as a project leader for Katimavik, based out of Port Alberni. In July, I’ll be starting as a volunteer for Right to Play in Kampala, Uganda, which should be a really exciting experience!”

The 00sNatalie lisinska ’00 graduated in 2004 with a BFA in acting from Ryerson University’s Theatre School and in her 4th year was honoured to receive the Gladys Shibley Mitchel Award for excellence in and dedication to performance. She signed with Edna Talent Management (one of Toronto’s foremost talent agencies) upon graduating, and landed her first series, “The Office Temps” on Global that fall. She has been lucky enough to work professionally ever since. Other credits include “Kevin Hill” on UPN (series), Rebirth by Ryan Ward (independent feature), “Above And Beyond” on CBC (mini-series, still in post-production), and the series lead in Ken Finkleman’s “At the Hotel” on CBC (mini-series). She was recently flown down to LA by 20th Century Fox to test for a pilot, and also went to New York City to test for “All My Children.” She didn’t book either job but loved each experience (“such a rush!!”), acquired LA representation, and will be going down south for pilot season 2007. She is about to go into production on a movie-of-the-week for the Lifetime Network entitled “The House Next Door,” starring Lara Flynn Boyle and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and then will be playing the title role in a short produced by the Canadian Film Centre. She has been featured in Elle magazine, Post City magazine, the

Natalie Lisinska ’00

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Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Sun, among others. She has been interviewed by Star TV, CBC and Rogers “Your World This Week.”

Natalie still remembers that the moment she decided she wanted to be an actor was onstage during Colin Skinner’s Grade �� production of Playing For Time by Arthur Miller. Natalie considers herself blessed to have been Mr. Skinner’s student, as he was instrumental in believing in a rebellious teenager who decided that she didn’t want to high-jump anymore, but wanted to try this “scary acting thing.” His incredible encouragement, energy, and never-failing bravery left her with an incurable love of theatre and performance. She will be forever grateful for having had the chance to study under that giant of the stage – theatre professors and directors in general are an extraordinary group of people, and yet she has never met someone with such a gentle, beautiful nature and such a huge, commanding presence. Colin Skinner will live within every character she ever plays. Natalie lives in Toronto, in a big old house in the Annex with her sister. She sends her love to the entire class of 2000.

Paul Speed ’00 is now in Tokyo, and sent this update: “Last time I wrote to you, I was living in a small fishing village in Aomori Prefecture (Honshu – Japan’s biggest island its most northern prefecture and a place very famous for apples and crazy summer festivals) working as a coordinator for international relations on the JET programme. Two years in Aomori have given me not only another chance to sample life in Japan (my fifth time), but more importantly, it gave me an opportunity to experience life in ‘the sticks,’ so to speak. What I came to discover was that Japan is basically divided into two separate entities:Tokyo (economic splendor) andnon-Tokyo (economic stagnation)

That is not to say that the non-Tokyo side to Japan is awful (in fact, I believe that the non-Tokyo side is the true Japan, minus the economic aspects).

At any rate, with my experience of living in a variety of locations across Canada (from

the small town of Sussex in New Brunswick to the metropolis of Toronto, Ontario), I have come to realise that I’m a city boy at heart. With that in mind, I decided to hold off renewing my JET contract for a third year and return to the crazy cement jungle that comprises Tokyo.

I was very fortunate to snag an internship at the Canadian Embassy and am currently working in the Trade Commissioner Office. This job will last until the end of August. Once this stint is over, I’ll be heading over to Ginza and working as an associative consultant at an executive search consultant firm called WallStreet Associates.

During (and prior to) the JET programme, I knew exactly what I would be doing and for how long. From this point forward, I’m not exactly sure where my path will take me. It’s quite an exciting time in my life, but it also makes me look back in life (SMUS springs to mind) and think to myself, “this ain’t Kansas anymore!”

Kathleen Jones ’01 sent this update in July: “I completed my diploma in health service administration from Dalhousie University in December, and graduated with distinction from the School of Health Information Science at UVic in June. That same month, I moved to Calgary to start my career in the IT department at the Health Region. Between my involvement with music in the community, work,

preparing for my master’s degree, and of course, Stampede (among other culturally enriching activities), I am certainly keeping busy; but I always have time to meet with other SMUS grads and show off my new hometown!”

corrina Mick ’01 wrote to us in August from Spain, where she enjoyed a wonderful summer vacation: “In April of 2006, I graduated with distinction and first-class standing with a BSc in mechanical engineering with co-op from the University of Alberta. During the course of my degree, I was fortunate enough to be able to travel throughout Canada and work in areas such as automotive and electrical design, and oil and gas.

Following graduation, I headed to Europe and have spent the last four months travelling throughout the continent with a focus on Spain and Greece. In September, I begin working as a reservoir engineer for Shell Canada. I will be based in Calgary and will take occasional trips to the Netherlands for further training.”

Nurrachman liu ’02 graduated this spring from UC Berkeley, with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and computer sciences. He writes: “Living in the Bay area these past four years has been an incredible experience. Like Berkeley, it is a unique environment with very diverse culture, and wonderful weather. I have always enjoyed seeing the breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge and

Corrina Mick ’01 Nurrachman Liu ’02

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the San Francisco skyline while strolling through campus or gazing out the window of my freshman dorm room.

I will begin my graduate studies this coming fall, pursuing a PhD in the MS/PhD track in electrical engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In particular, I will be focusing on circuit design. I am very excited to move to Ann Arbor, but having never lived in places colder than Victoria. I am preparing to brave the cold, cold climate!”

There were bells...Jennifer (Taylor) Stubbs ’88 married Matthew Stubbs on May �8, 2006, in Beacon Hill Park.

Dr. Kristian Gustafson ’92 married Ms. Christina Demetriou at the Church of Panayia Evangelistria in Lefkosia,

Cyprus on July 22, 2006. In attendance were Peter Rowand ’92 as best man, and Kristian’s sister, Dr. Kjerstin (Gustafson) Howie ’9� providing moral support.

Jasie leekha ’93 wed Shaila Khan on June �0, 2006 in Vancouver, BC. SMUS alums in attendance included Jason Sturgis, Jamie Goodier, and Adrian Campillo (all ’9�), and Jasie’s brother, Peter ’89.

Jennifer Taylor ’88 and Matthew Stubbs were married on May 18, 2006.

Kr is Gustafson ’92 and Christ ina Demetriou were wed on Cyprus in July.

Clare Gardiner ’94 married Tim McPhee in the school chapel on April 22, 2006. Her parents, Jane and Peter Gardiner and her sister Rachel Gardiner ’97 stand beside the new couple.

Jasie Leekha ’93 and Shaila Khan were married in Vancouver in June. Behind the bride and groom are three of Jasie’s former classmates, [l-r]: Adrian Campillo, Jamie Goodier and Jason Sturgis.

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Morag wilmut ’94 wed Michael Ross on June �7, 2006, at the UVic Interfaith Chapel. Keir Wilmut ’97 was a groomsman at the ceremony and MC at the reception afterwards.

Jenn De Haan ’97 was married to D’Arcy Deacon on May 20, 2006.

Yusuf Harsono ’97 married Sherly Matandi in September 2004.

Andrea Horsman ’97 married Michel Lefebvre on July 7, 2006. They live in

Mission, BC, where Andrea works as a medical nurse. Alumni in attendance included Rachel Gardiner ’97, Alisa Cooper ’97, Emily Clough ’97, Jon Horsman ’95, Shannon Hill ’85, Greg Southgate ’84, Kathryn Hill ’99 and Ali Staseson ’98.

chantal Nowak ’97 married Michael Schauch on July �5, 2006 at St. Ann’s Academy Chapel in Victoria, BC.

Emily Huddart ’98 and Mike Kennedy were married on February �8, 2006 in Costa Rica. They were joined by many of

Jenn De Haan ’97 and husband, D’Arcy Deacon.

Andrea Horsman ’97 married Michel Lefebvre on July 7, 2006.

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Morag Wi lmut ’94 and husband, Michael Ross.

Yusuf Harsono ’97 married Sherly Matandi in September 2004.

clare Gardiner ’94 was married to Tim McPhee in the school Chapel on April 22, 2006. The reception was held at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. SMUS alumni in attendance included Clare’s sister, Rachel Gardiner ’97, Elizabeth Wilson ’94, Alisa Cooper ’97, Matthew Pollard ’8�, and Jeanie Norris ’95. There were also several SMUS staff members, past and present, in attendance: Tony Keble, Simone Kuklinski, Sunny and Chris Pollard, Margaret Skinner, and Rev. Lynford Smith, who officiated.

Chantal Nowak ’97 and Michael Schauch were married in July.

Emily Huddart ’98 and Mike Kennedy wed in Costa Rica.

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their friends and family from Canada and Costa Rica, including Christine Wenman ’98. Emily and Mike are working for CUSO until 2008, when they plan to return to Canada.

Taylor Davis ’99 married Nadine Feduk in June, 2006.

clea Adair ’00 married Daniel Booy on July 8, 2006 on Salt Spring Island. SMUS alumni in attendance included Mary-Ellen Glover, Emily Mascall, Jen Thompson, Kate Barry, Jessa Jennings (all ’00) and Clea’s sister and brother – Sarah Adair ’06, maid of honour, and Chris Adair ’02, groomsman.

Mathew Geddes (Franklin) ’93 was married to Lindsay Brooke, on August 26, 2006 in the SMUS chapel. Both work at the school as faculty and houseparents. Mathew teaches Mathematics at the Senior School and Lindsay is the school’s new athletics director. The ceremony was officiated by the school’s chaplain, Keven Fletcher and the reception followed in the new gym with Ian Hyde-Lay as the master of ceremonies. Many staff members and several SMUS alumni were in attendance. From the class of �99�: Demian Monroy (groomsman), Jeffrey McCracken (musician), Tom Doughty, Derek Dolsen and David Hughes; also, Joanna (Holdsworth) Bateson ’96, Kim Lobb ’98 and the groom’s sister Jen Franklin ’98. The couple wish to thank the SMUS community for their generosity, hospitality and support.

OUR SINCERE APOLOGIES for not including the wedding party names in the caption for Michelle Butler and David Wilson, both ’97, published in the last issue of School Ties. Here they are: David and Michelle’s wedding party, a baker’s dozen! Everybody is a ’97 grad except if mentioned otherwise (l-r): Jessica White, Whitney Davis, Rachel Boult, Lisa Hanlon (Michelle’s cousin), Kathryn Wynn, Michelle Butler, David Wilson, Andrew Dooner ’96, Richard Wilson ’88, Edward Fairhurst, John Upton ’96, Rory Grout (Rydal Penrhos College, Wales 97-98 when David was English-speaking Union Exchange Student) and in front, ring bearer Scott Butler (Michelle’s brother). Kathryn Wynn was Maid of Honour, Andrew Dooner was best man and Rory Grout was MC.

Mat (Frank l i n ) Geddes ’93 and Lindsay Brooke.

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Clea Adair ’00 married Daniel Booy on July 8, 2006. The wedding took place at the home of Clea’s uncle on Saltspring Island.

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New on the sceneHamish creek ’81 and his wife, Sarah, welcomed their son Evan in August 2005.

Greg Day ’87 and his wife, Alison, announce the birth of their second daughter: Paige Alexandra was born on April �5, 2006.

craig Elder ’88 and his wife, Donna Dayman-Elder, announce the birth of twins: Samuel and Sandra were born on May 20, 2006.

Jasmine (Siddiqi) Hayes ’89 and her husband, Rhon, welcomed their first child, Mia Pauline, born December 7, 2005.

Philip Quinn ’89 and his wife, Kara, announce the arrival of their second son, Max Graham, born earlier this year.

Jeff Hunt ’91 and his wife, Janelle, welcomed their baby boy, Griffin, on February 25, 2006.

Andrew Mitchell ’92 and his wife, Marissa, welcomed their first baby, a boy, on July 6, 2006. Luke Hahn Mitchell was born in London, England.

Bill Hann ’93 and his wife, Maureen, announce the arrival of their first child: Alexander Charles was born on August 4, 2006, at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock.

Alexander Hoole ’94 and his wife, Lindsay, announce the birth of their first child: Liam Patrick was born on February �0, 2006.

Melanie Scrivens-Sener ’94 and her husband, Dr. Alp Sener, announce the birth of their first child, Ella Melanie. She was born on April �, 2006.

Rubina (Sultan) lyons ’94 and her husband, Todd, welcomed their second daughter, Zara, on January 29, 2006.

colin Riddler ’83 and his wife, Jane, announce the birth of their second daughter. Chanelle was born in early September, 2006.

Mary Mcleish ’89 and her husband, Michael Shaw, welcomed their first child, a daughter. Abigail McLeish-Shaw was born July 25, 2006.

Twins Sandra and Samuel Elder

Luke Hahn Mitchell

Alexander Charles Hann

Liam Patrick Hoole

Ella Melanie Sener

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PassagesDr. John E. Buck ’28 It was with sadness that we learned in late spring about the passing of one of our oldest alumni, John Buck, who graduated from St. Michael’s School in �928. John attended St. Michael’s School in the �920s, and later in life he would often mention how fond he was of Kyrle Symons during those early school years. After St. Michael’s, John went on to finish high school at Brentwood College, where he grew to love rowing. He then attended Edinburgh University in the �9�0s. He joined the British Army during the Second World War, serving in India as a doctor in the parachute battalion. Returning to post-war Britain, John went on to become an orthopedic surgeon until he retired in the mid-�980s. John was a consistent donor to the Annual Fund and corresponded from his home in England with people at the school for many years. In a letter that John wrote in March 2005, he said “Thank you for your letter of 25 Feb with its invitation which I am very sorry to say I must decline on account of my state of physical disrepair – I can call it nothing else.” He concluded with: “the cause of this state of affairs is purely anno domini for which no treatment has, as yet, been found.” John’s letters indicate that he was a man with much goodness in his heart, a trait he surely developed all those years ago at St. Michael’s School. He appears to have lived the school motto to the end of his life: “Nihil Magnum Nisi Bonum” – “Nothing is great unless it is good.”

Glenn w. Fortune ’69 Glenn died after a brief illness on December �, 2005, leaving his wife and two young adult daughters. While Glenn will not be remembered by the school for his academic achievement or his athletic prowess, his peers will remember him for his sterling character, amiable sociability, and his frequent stints of enforced maintenance of the cricket pitch. After his graduation, Glenn went on to a career in commercial real estate and development in Victoria, BC.

Robin R. Dalziel ’57 Robin was born in Edmonton, Alberta in �9�8 and was raised in Northern BC near Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Watson Lake, Yukon. He died on March �7, 2006.

Robin graduated from University School in �957; he excelled in sports, particularly rugby, and became head boy and captain of the �st XV.

Robin went on to study at UBC where he received degrees in geology and law. He worked as a geologist and later for the federal geological survey in northern BC. He began his law career articling with the firm Russell and Dumoulin in Vancouver, later becoming Yukon prosecutor and then maintained a private practice in Whitehorse. In the 70s, Robin was counsel for the BC ministries of Attorney General, Highways, and Fish and Wildlife.

Robin’s first love was the wilderness. He had a lifelong interest in the guiding industry in the Cassiar district of BC. At the age of �2, a family friend bequeathed his herd of horses to Robin and he used them in his father’s outfitting business, Dalziel Hunting. Shortly after that, he started his own guiding operation, Cassiar Safaris. Through guiding, Robin was able to finance his own education at University School and UBC.

In the early 80s, Robin purchased Bonnet Plume Outfitting in the northern Yukon, which he ran for many years with his son, Rush.

Robin will be missed for his wicked sense of humour and kind heart. His passions were rugby, the bush and poetry.

Special thanks are extended to Jim McClaskey ’57 for honouring Robin with a new rugby MVP trophy in his name. The first recipient of this award is Alastair Crow ’06, captain of the �st XV.

Stellar rugby player Alastair Crow is the first recipient of the Robin Dalziel MVP Rugby Trophy. It was presented to Alastair at the Centennial Weekend Distinguished Alumni Awards. Jim McClaskey, former classmate of Robin Dalziel, kindly donated the award.

Archive photo of the US First XV, 1956-57. Robin Dalziel is in the centre of the photo, holding the rugby ball.

Colin Skinner Windowby Greg Marchand

T he Colin Skinner window was dedicated

in the school chapel on Centennial Weekend. The following is a description of its symbolism.

The top left corner of the Colin Skinner window, created by Tom Mercer, depicts a stylized English town during the Blitz in World War II, a pivotal time for Colin. The top right corner shows the emblem of Reigate, the town in Surrey, England where Colin was born. Below that is the crest of Exeter College,

Oxford, Colin’s alma mater. Sitting on the crest is the Reigate imp, a whimsical symbol of the town. Running across the two panels is the piano music to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the “Emperor” concerto, Colin’s favourite piece of music. Below the music on the left is a soaring albatross. Colin once earned his glider’s licence and loved birds. On the right are the comedy/tragedy masks of drama. Below the albatross on the left are the SMUS crests. In the background of the lower panels is a display of the seating plan of the McPherson Playhouse, Colin’s second home for many years. The cerise colour throughout the window is one of the symbolic colours of Exeter College. Finally, in the lower right, is a copy of Picasso’s rendering of Don Quixote, Colin’s favourite role from the musical The Man of La Mancha.

Time Capsule Exhumed

O n a beautiful sunny day in October 1908, the

foundation stone of School House was laid. A newspaper article from the time describes a speech given by Hon. R. McBride, Premier of BC, who tapped the stone into place along with a box containing “a copy of the records of the school to date and the school coat of arms, the various coins of the Dominion as well as a complete set of stamps.” A century later, Bob Snowden, Head of School, and David Angus, Chair of the Centennial Committee, pulled the copper box from its resting place and opened it to examine its contents. Its contents were much simpler than the 1908 newspaper article led us to expect – a copy of the school prospectus, a handful of coins and stamps from that era. The coins, which had been placed in a box wrapped in cotton batting, were very well preserved as were the stamps, which had all fallen off the piece of school letterhead to which they were originally affixed. The school prospectus did not weather its century in a copper box as well – although the paper was relatively unmarked, the pages of the prospectus were fused together by the moist air. The time capsule box and its contents have been on display in the Senior School library since Centennial Weekend.

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