Into the great outdoors! • georgIan honours

Fall 2010St. George’s School

MANAGING EDITORGordon C. Allan Director of Development

GRAPHIC DESIGNERBruce Elbeblawy

SENIOR COPY EDITORNancy Kudryk

ARCHIVES AND HISTORY EDITOR Elizabeth Knox School Archivist and Historian

GEORGIANS’ SECTIONSENIOR GEORGIANS’ EDITORBryan R. Ide '99 Manager of Georgian Relations

PRESIDENT OF THE GEORGIANS AND THE ST. GEORGE’S OlD BOYS’ ASSOCIATIOND. Scott lamb '79

PHOTOGRAPHERSRichelle Akimow PhotographerGordon C. AllanKyla Brown PhotographyBruce ElbeblawyNeil Piller '85St. George’s ArchivesRod Nicolls '80Alistair Palmer '71 The Dragon is published twice per year, expressly for Georgians, parents, and friends of St. George’s School. It is also distributed to other Canadian independent schools and selected public or private institutions. Comments about any of the articles are always welcome. Address all correspondence to: Gordon C. Allan – Managing Editor, The Dragon St. George’s School 4175 West 29th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6S 1V1 CANADA Phone: 604.224.1304 Fax: 604-224-7066 Email: thedragon@stgeorges.bc.ca Please contact our office to be added to the mailing list.

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DRAGONDRAGONThe The

Fall 2010St. George’s School

EDITORIAl

3 Taking it Outdoors by Gordon C. Allan

SCHOOl lIFE

4 The Natural World by Dr. Tom Matthews

5 Supporting the New Head by Rob Cruickshank

6 Getting to Know Dr. Tom Interviewed by Gordon C. Allan

12 Nature’s Path by Neil Piller '85

22 Outdoor Education Today by Alan Hesketh

24 The Grade 8 Program by Pat Palmer

26 Environmental Sustainability by Greg Devenish

28 A Conversation with Dr. Tony Mercer Interviewed by Gordon C. Allan

30 Saying So long to Colleen Busby by Gordon C. Allan

32 Who Wanted to Build In the Deep Woods In 1912? by Elizabeth Knox, Airlie Ogilvie, and Jay Sherwood We acknowledge the use of material from the Seattle City Archives, the Vancouver City Archives, the Archives of the Society of the Sacred Heart, Montreal and Rome, and Terry Slack. (community historian)

THE GEORGIANS

36 Scott lamb '79: A Reflection on His Time as President Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide '99

40 Rod Nicolls '80: Impacting your World Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide ‘99

42 Farewell to Isaias Garcia by Chris Harker '57

44 Georgians Survey Results

47 Georgian Honours Interviewed by Bryan R. Ide ‘99

54 Into Knight Inlet by Alistair Palmer '71

58 Georgians Events in Photos

60 Saints’ Notes Compiled by Bryan R. Ide '99

“Could it be that, through losing their connectedness with the outdoors, children are becoming disconnected with themselves as well as suffering severe health consequences?

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The theme of this edition of The Dragon is Outdoor Education. In his 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv coined the phrase, “nature-deficit disorder”, a tag line that has since taken on a life of its own as he and others make the case that, for today’s generation of youth, nature has become more of an abstraction than reality.

Similarly, in 2007, The Ontario-based Council of Outdoor Educators (COEO) published a summative research report detailing the values of reconnecting children to nature through outdoor education. Andrea Foster, the author of the report, echoes the concerns raised by Louv and others by asking the important question, “Could it be that, through losing their connectedness with the outdoors, children are becoming disconnected with themselves as well as suffering severe health consequences?” Her report then goes on to answer her question with a resounding “yes”. Foster illustrates how today’s youth are becoming disconnected from others through video games and television and how the importance of free play and time in natural surroundings has been blind-sided by a culture that favours highly-structured activities that are perceived as safer than

open-ended and creative activities which foster self-discovery and self-confidence. As Louv puts it, the trend has been towards the “criminalization of natural play.” For both Louv and Foster, the solution lies in reconnecting children with nature and for educational leaders to become “nature mentors”.

In this issue of The Dragon, we are pleased to profile how St. George’s has long been a “nature mentor”, and how its nationally-recognized Outdoor Education Programs, including its full-year Discovery 10 program, are not only connecting our students with nature but developing problem-solving and survival skills, promoting leadership development, highlighting the importance of teamwork, enhancing personal and social development, and instilling in each participant an appreciation for the power of nature and an understanding of how sustainability and a respect for the outdoors need to become rallying cries.

We would also like to thank Alistair Palmer ’71, for his account of members of the Class of 1971 who went on a nine-day boat cruise north of Desolation Sound on a re-fitted 67-foot ex-seine boat.

Dr. Matthews has arrived! And so begins a new era at St. George’s. Tom arrived in July and his family officially “moved in” at the beginning of August. He has since been spending much of his time meeting with every faculty and staff member, students, and members of the Georgians community. His immediate goal is both simple and daunting: understand what drives the school and what people are passionate about. He also appreciates that this is a necessary precursor to creating a new Strategic Plan that will properly reflect the needs and dreams of the greater school community. You can read more about Tom, his philosophy, and priorities in an interview in this edition.

from the MANAGING EDITOR

Gordon C. Allan Director of Development

Taking It Outdoors

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My recent return to the West Coast has helped reinforce my appreciation for the natural world. Although all places have their own beauty and appeal waiting to be discovered by the curious traveller, British Columbia has a beauty that is indeed the envy of the world. Yet how many of us take time each day to recognize our good fortune? Certainly, my eyes have been opened and I have drawn energy from the mountains views, the salmon-laden rivers, the lushness of the forests, and the riches of the ocean. Even our dog, Mac, appears to share my delight as he forages with relish on the beach and runs in the ocean at low tide, experiencing freedom for the first time in his life.

The vast majority of Canadians live in large metropolitan centers, and all too many people live their daily lives detached from the natural world. I truly believe that we would serve ourselves and our world better if we were to connect with nature on a more regular basis. Only then can we avoid the dislocation observed by the great nineteenth-century English poet, William Wordsworth, who lamented the fact that he inhabited a world divorced from nature and obsessed with material acquisition:

The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Fall at St. George’s is an exciting time. Our campus is alive with learning both inside and outside of the classroom, the Grade 10 Discovery program commences, and a variety of Outdoor Education trips take place. For me, a September highlight was my day at Loon Lake with the Grade 8s. As we canoed together on the shimmering waters of the lake, the boys and I were totally engaged and lost in the moment, enjoying ourselves and the lake. Thoughts of future essays and tests, daily routines, worries, and schedules were set aside as we paddled our canoes and fine-tuned our oar skills.

St. George’s regularly exposes students to the natural world, teaching them skills that will help them to enjoy the outdoors, while encouraging them to venture into landscapes that might challenge their comfort level. The memories of these times spent outdoors will shape their consciousness and provide them with meaningful connections to nature. Indeed, it is my expectation as Headmaster that our students will graduate from St. George’s with the knowledge, skills, and predispositions that will allow them to make many meaningful contributions to the larger world beyond our campuses.

Following their post-secondary studies, many will enter the professions, while others will become entrepreneurs, public servants, or philanthropists. If we provide them with opportunities to connect with the natural world as students, I am convinced that they also will be more inclined to remain connected to the natural world and to be mindful of the need to build a sustainable future for their children and grandchildren. As American President Calvin Coolidge wrote in 1924, “nature is your great restorer.” Even more pointedly, as Chief Seattle declared a century earlier, “Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

As you read through this edition of The Dragon, you will learn more about how St. George’s acts as a “nature mentor”. Enjoy!

from the HEADMASTER

Dr. Tom Matthews Headmaster

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The Natural World

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By the time you read this article, our new Headmaster will be well entrenched in his new role at St. George’s. The Selection Committee, having completed a thorough and exhausting process in recommending Dr. Matthews, has now passed the mantle to the Board of Directors, who made the final selection and now oversees the process of welcoming and transitioning Tom into his role as Headmaster of St. George’s School.

In order for Tom to have the greatest opportunity for success we, the St. George’s community, must be at our welcoming and supportive best. So, if you have not had the opportunity to welcome the Matthews family, please do so.

From the Board’s perspective Tom’s top priorities are: 1. To meet the community, beginning with the

faculty, staff, students, and Georgians, with particular focus on the Grade 12s who he has a very short time to get to know before they move on.

2. To observe and digest the culture, community, process, and structure that is St George’s.

3. To develop our next five-year strategic plan. During the year, Tom will use the knowledge gained through his engagement with the various St. George’s constituencies to build on the work that was completed before his arrival and develop a plan that will take us to the next level in our quest to become a world leader in boys’ education.

During the interview process, one of the compelling things about Dr. Matthews’ candidacy was his clear commitment to, and passion for, boys’ education. He understands the unique challenges and philosophy of how boys are taught and, more importantly, how they learn. In particular, he sees the importance of student-centred learning. Tom was also extremely supportive of the work we had done with respect to our next Strategic Plan and especially liked the concepts of our Renaissance Pillar and 21st century learning.

Everyone has opinions on what should change and what should be left alone. While we expect that, over time, Tom will put his stamp on the evolution of St. George’s, this year, as indicated, will be one of observation, learning, and formulating plans for where we go from here. Tom has already acknowledged the strengths that exist: the concept of the well-rounded boy, and the importance of a program that embraces academics, the arts, athletics, leadership, and service. We expect that our next Strategic Plan will build on our past while embracing a future in which the school evolves into an even more exciting place of learning.

I have mentioned in the past that the Board has three fundamental roles. The first is the hiring of the Head, which we have done. We now embark on the details of the other parts, which include our role in nurturing the Head, working with him to develop the Strategic Plan, and ensuring he has the necessary components to complete that plan. Tom’s success will largely be determined by the support we provide him. I invite you all to be part of that process.

from the CHAIRMAN

Rob Cruickshank Chairman

Supporting The New HeadHelping him to set his priorities

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An Interview with our new Headmaster, Dr. Tom Matthews

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By: Gordon Allan

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You have worked at McMaster University, Upper Canada College, St. Michaels University School, and most recently, Hillfield Strathallan College—all very different places. What was the common thread connecting these experiences? For most of my adult life, the words of the American poet Robert Frost, have been my touchstone—“What is done is done for the love of it or not really done at all.” It was a love of history that led me to pursue my doctorate and to teach at the university level, just as it was a passion for teaching and learning that persuaded me to dedicate the rest of my professional life to independent school education. For me, the greatest strength of independent schools is our commitment to a broad and inclusive education, embracing academics, the arts, athletics, leadership, and service. We are not just preparing our students for their university studies or future careers; we are preparing them for life. One of the most profound experiences I have had as an educator was leading a series of work projects to a remote part of Nepal while I was at UCC. For me, as well as for the boys, it was a defining experience that altered my world view and reinforced my belief that independent schools have an essential role to play in helping to make the world a better place. More recently, in my role as Headmaster, the greatest satisfaction has come from knowing that my efforts have benefitted students. Having helped to raise more than $34 million at HSC, I look forward to returning for a visit and seeing how the new Senior School will enrich the learning experiences of students for generations to come. It’s all about the students and their learning.

What attracted you to St. George’s? About two years ago, I chaired a CESI (Canadian Educational Standards Institute) evaluation of Crescent School, a well-known boys’ school in Toronto. During the process of exploring the school’s mission and its commitment to being an all-boys school, I realized that a lot had changed since my early days at UCC. In those days, we never talked about how boys learn. But today, there is compelling research to illustrate the benefits of an all-boys learning environment. All of this made me reflect on how interesting it would be to return to a boys’ school after a fourteen-year sojourn. When I saw the advertisement for St. George’s, I was very interested in learning more. The opportunity to head Saints became even more attractive when I went through the selection process and learned of the school’s branding work and, in particular, its focus on 21st century learning and commitment to developing its boarding program. Schools often talk of being world schools with global sensibilities, but the workable goals that St. George’s has defined make achieving these objectives possible. I felt that to lead a school with such a powerful vision would be very exciting.

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It’s interesting that, in your previous roles, you have had to defend both the value of coeducational and single-sex learning environments. Given that St. George’s is committed to single-sex education, how do you reconcile the benefits of the two types of school environments? There is no definitive learning environment for every child, and we always have to make sure the fit is right. Also, excellent teaching and learning are still the hallmarks of any good school. Having said that, if we knew in the past what we know today about how children learn, schools would probably not have jumped so quickly on the coeducational bandwagon. This is an exciting time to be at a boys’ school, as our commitment to single-sex education is more deliberate and is grounded in compelling educational research. For example, an analysis of exam results and assessment shows that developmental issues relating to gender do impact overall school effectiveness in key curricular areas. As well, leadership and service are two examples where I have seen first-hand how boys can take a back seat to girls in coeducational environments. I have come to believe that boys are not always as well served in coed schools as we might think at first blush.

You have been here just over two months. What are your first impressions of the school? I have been busy since July 1 meeting Georgians, faculty, staff, parents, and students. What I have discovered thus far is that the school is a welcoming and nurturing place and that it is characterized by a powerful commitment to each boy’s success. I have also discovered that at the heart of St. George’s are important traditions and a strong heritage that serve as its foundation. We also are a very diverse community. It has Georgians who are very proud of their school and an eclectic faculty bringing great depth and passion to the classroom and to the

co-curricular program. We also are blessed with a diverse and cosmopolitan student body with a unique array of interests and passions.

Do you have some immediate priorities? It’s interesting how the arrival of a new Headmaster immediately implies fundamental change. My immediate priorities are not to change, but to learn. I need to get to know the school, its history and traditions, its programs, its people and its priorities. During this process, I will work with everyone in developing a plan for the future that respects and builds on the core of who we are as a school, while embracing the needs of the 21st century learner.

Speaking of the 21st century learner, you, the Management Team, and the faculty recently reviewed the work on the Strategic Plan that was initiated nearly two years ago. Can you give us a sense of your vision for the school, and how the strategic planning process will help you realize that vision? My main job is to gain insight into the school so that I can speak with integrity and credibility about who we are and how we wish to move forward. The planning work done in the past year or two has helped to frame my understanding. I believe the course that is envisaged is the right one. The heart of what has been created to date is in the statement “We build fine young men.” In order to achieve this end, we need to focus on the imperatives of 21st century learning and all that it entails. We must recognize that our students will be entering a very different world from the one we experienced after graduation. While never compromising our commitment to academic excellence, we must embrace a philosophy of education that is truly student-centred, that focuses more on process than on content, that nurtures higher-level thinking skills, empathy, and integrity, and that ensures

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that our students learn how to learn. At the same time, we must work hard to be the very best school that we can be for the benefit of all of our students, both present and future.

You have talked of the needs of the 21st century learner and how schools are not necessarily meeting those needs. What opportunities do you see for St. George’s to better meet these needs? Independent schools, including St. George’s, have done an excellent job of reinforcing key academic skills, including literacy and numeracy. Our AP results also suggest that we have done an excellent job of developing our students’ higher-level thinking skills. However, if we intend to prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities of a more competitive, globally-integrated world, we must continue the process of renewing our programs and our approaches to teaching and learning. Learning must become more authentic, student-centred, and experiential. We must embrace a wider repertoire of instructional strategies and assessment techniques. Moreover, the integration of educational technology is a powerful tool that can enhance student learning by engaging them more fully in the learning process.

Student leadership and service learning also must be factored into our thinking. I am reminded of the old adage that much is expected from those to whom much has been given. Ours is a privileged environment, and we must never forget to give back. As one of Canada’s leading independent schools, Saints has a responsibility to graduate students able and willing to tackle the many complex problems confronting not only our own society, but also the world at large. That’s why I became an independent school teacher more than twenty years ago. As independent school educators, our mandate is to help every student find his calling so that he can go on to make his own unique contribution to making the world a better place. I have no doubt that today’s students will do a much a better job than my generation in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the planet and the survival of humanity.

Two important sets of survey results were recently released, one from the Georgians and the other from the parents. Have these results helped you to shape some of your priorities? Yes. In terms of the results of the Georgians Survey, there is strong satisfaction with the school and recognition of the positive impact it had on shaping individual futures. While events like Remembrance Day are still very important to our Georgians, a number of them did indicate that they do not always feel engaged with the school. As a result, we will need to look at ways to both maximize networking opportunities to keep our

Georgians connected with each other, while developing school-supported functions that are relevant and provide value to our Georgians so that they stay connected with the St. George’s of today. It’s also interesting that, in the spirit of committing to the greater community, a number of Georgians indicated an interest in mentoring our current students. There are huge opportunities here, all of which fit into the needs of the 21st century learner. With regard to our parents, the survey results are currently being prepared for presentation but, again, there was also strong satisfaction with the school. As we move forward, we will want to continue to engage our parents in our evolving vision for the future.

You have had an opportunity to meet with the Georgians Board. In terms of your vision for the school, how can the Georgians help you realize that vision? I see a number of ways. Personally, I will continue to consult with the Georgians so that I better understand the school and its evolution. I also think we need to appreciate that Georgians are our ambassadors–role-models, if you like. Opportunities for them to mentor our boys are huge. As a group, Georgians have the greatest institutional knowledge of the school. We need to tap into that knowledge by asking them for input into ways that we can reinforce key traditions, clarify those aspects of our heritage that define the school, and ensure that we maintain the values that are the underpinnings of the school–values like respect, commitment, empathy, and integrity. We also need to solicit their input for our strategic planning process and, in particular, how we can bridge the needs of our Senior and Junior Georgians.

Your wife, Sheena, is an experienced educator herself, having taught in both the independent and public systems after graduating from the University of Birmingham, McMaster University, and Oxford University. What sort of role does she plan to play at St. George’s? The Headmaster’s Residence is on campus, so Sheena and I, along with our children, are automatically members of the residential community. Sheena will play a key role in supporting me and the needs of the St. George’s community. In addition to volunteering for school-wide events, she will volunteer in Harker Hall, assisting when needed during evening prep. Keen to get involved and to contribute to Saints in whatever way she can, Sheena also will be supporting the Advancement Office with its event planning.

Finally, if someone asked you for your “elevator pitch” on St. George’s School, what would you say? At Saints, we share a common commitment to the well-being of the boys.

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Discovery 10 students camping atop Battle Mountain, Wells Gray Provincial Park, 2007

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By: Neil Piller '85

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To be Canadian is to contemplate our relationship with our natural environment. From our early First Nations ancestors who lived in harmony

with nature, to the explorers and pioneers who struggled to overcome nature’s hardships, our society is founded upon this paradigm of both conquering nature yet at the same time enjoying its splendor. Canadian identity, represented by a range of artistic endeavours including painting, sculpture, literature, and theatre, builds upon this theme and many of our most iconic Canadian masters portray nature as a central element. Even in the busyness of our urban lives, we see the importance nature plays in the physical and mental health of individuals and our larger society. A recently growing awareness of the need to protect this natural environment is part of a healthy progression that takes us from users to stewards of our land. This important shift recognizes our need to protect this important element of Canadian identity both for the people and for its intrinsic natural value.

Since its inception, St. George’s has offered a range of outdoor programs that engage students in embracing the natural environment. While the early programs were largely optional, or part of structured organizations such as Cadets or Scouts, over time the programs evolved to be part of the school’s curriculum. Today, St. George’s offers a dynamic Outdoor Education Program that helps students both define themselves and make sense of their responsibilities as environmental stewards.

Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers Starting in the 1930s, the school became affiliated with the international Scouting Program and the 34th Dunbar Point Grey Scout Troop began. Under the early leadership of Nip Parker and Cappie Robinson, activities included skill development with knot-tying, lashing, and general camp skills. A base camp was erected in the school orchard and outings included trips to Saltspring and Pender Islands, the Sunshine Coast, and other locales. In 1933, Headmaster Douglas Harker even took a turn as Assistant Scoutmaster. The early St. George’s Magazine (later The Georgian) includes extensive detail on the adventures and programs of both the Cub Pack and Scout Troop.

With the exception of a brief hiatus during World War II, the Scouts were an important part of school life. The programs resumed in February 1941 and provided early leadership opportunities for boys, and some later returned to serve as Scout leaders, housemasters, and teachers. Throughout the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s Cadets and Sea Scouts were added to the offerings. Activities included extensive skill development and competitions, day outings, weekend camps, extended summer camps, and participation in District Camporees.

Numerous Cub and Scout leaders’ names appear in The Georgian, including Mrs. Harker, Rev. and Mrs. Parrott, Mr. Lodge, Mr. Lidstone, Mrs. Gervin, Mr. Moir, Mrs.

What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other travel. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature. Former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau

Discovery 10 students cross-country skiing, Hollyburn Mountain, 2002

Overton, Mr. Stilling, Mr. VanGelder, Mr. Bjornson, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Ackland, and Mr. Russell. A notable highlight from 1963 was the selection of St. George’s Scout, F. Easton ’65, to represent Canada at the World Scout Jamboree in Marathon, Greece.

Geof Stancombe ’62, who himself had been a St. George’s Scout, helped run the Scout program as a university student commencing in the fall of 1965 with the assistance of Mr. K. Leith. During the 1970s, weekly meetings were held after dinner and a group of day students would entertain themselves in the unsupervised school block before having dinner with the boarders. In the spring, there were often cook-outs and activities in the Endowment Lands (now Pacific Spirit Park) across from the Senior School. Before these lands gained park status, the boys were free to build fires, erect campsites, and generally make themselves at home in the local woods.

The 1970-1971 school year was significant as, with the hard work of the Group Committee Chairman John F. MacDougall ’44 (father of Jock ’76, Bruce ’77, and Tim ’85) and others, the group managed to purchase a fleet of seven new fiberglass canoes and a trailer. The canoes served for almost two decades and the trailer still rolls today in the form of a bike trailer.

From the late ’60s through to the early ’80s the Scout Troop leaders were mostly boarding staff (many of whom were also Old Boys) and included Terrence Jenkins, Mike Ritch ‘70, Dave Gellatly ’74, Ron Funnell, Murray Peart ‘77 and then-teacher Geof Stancombe ’62. Manning Park was a favorite camping destination and was usually the site of both the Thanksgiving Camp and the Winter Camp in February. Norma Parker, the school nurse, often assisted with the Thanksgiving Camp and the boys always loved the tradition of a big candlelight turkey dinner at camp. District Night Hikes and Camporees added to the experience and offered an opportunity to bring home the odd shield or medal. From the late 1960s through the ’80s, the school’s Cub Pack (Grades 3-5) was the largest in Canada. Under the direction of Mr. F.J. Bisbee, Mr. Jim Pratt, Mr. D. Martin, Mr. Bill Murdoch, Mr. Mike Statham, Mr. John Pozer (father of Shawn ’85) and others, the boys had weekly meetings in the school gym and enjoyed out-trips to Saltspring Island, Evans Lake in Squamish, and other venues. Later teacher Mrs. Sandy Brun and others continued to keep the Cubs vibrant. Over time, the program slowly lost momentum. Despite the best efforts of many, the Cub program came to a close in 1988. I began my career as a Scout leader in the fall of 1985 and assisted Mr. Martin Ford, Mr. John Dunsford ’48 (father of Graham ’88), Mr. G. Corr, Mr. Grover and others in delivering the Scout program.

By the late ’80s the program was waning and it was the enthusiasm of parent Mr. David McLean (father of Sacha ’93 and Jason ’91) that helped reenergize the program. McLean offered his property on Bowen Island as a base camp, purchased new equipment, and helped orchestrate the troop’s visit to the National Scout Jamboree in PEI in 1989. Peter Jones (parent of Gordon ’95, Geoffrey ’98, Graeme ’01, Garth ’03 and Gavin ’06), with the help of Mr. Jim Peerless (father of Chris ’96) and Mr. Hal Hallaran (father of Nick ’97 and Matthew ’01), continued the Scout program at the school until 1991, at which time, because of low enrollment, the 34th Troop merged with the St. Helen’s Troop. In 2008, under the guidance of Junior School Principal Greg Devenish, the 34th Cubs were reborn and a Beaver program (Grades 1-2) added under the dedicated leadership of current parents Mr. Victor Goh, Mrs. Evelyn Siy, Mr. Jim Johnston, and Mrs. Amy Leung. Scouts and Venturers were also reinstated at the School in 2009. The tradition of Scouting at St. George’s is again live and well.

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We’ve often wondered if you knew About the Troop whose shirts are blue; Whose shirts are blue and scarves are green, To be believed they must be seen!

In ’31 this little crush, Was launched with many a modest blush; It doesn’t blush a whole lot now – It didn’t ought to, anyhow!

Last summer—at least they say, They had a camp at Burgoyne Bay; It must have been a beastly sell The Head was camping there as well!

Away with coat, away with gamp, It isn’t really. Never mind, We’ve got to make this last line rhyme.

Excerpt from the 1932 St. George’s Magazine

Out

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In 1968 the 34th had expanded to include the older levels of Scouting; a Venturer Company (Grades 9-11) and, in 1969, a Rover Crew (Grades 11 and 12) were added. Mr. Geof Stancombe, who was now teaching full-time at the Senior School, and Mr. Terrance Jenkins offered the leadership for these two new programs. One of the notable early presidents of the Venturer Company was student and Queen’s Scout Mike Ritch ’70 who later returned to the school as both housemaster and Scout Leader. Stancombe organized many outdoor activities but was also instrumental in emphasizing the service aspect of Scouting. In the mid-1970s his desire to assist needy families at Christmas began what is now the school-wide Hamper Drive.

A highlight of Stancombe’s program was the famous year-end trips. These began as Venturer and Rover outings but soon attracted a broader group of students. Held at the end of June for one to two weeks, these trips usually involved some kind of crazy activity including rattlesnake hunts, whitewater rafting, river tubing, climbing, etc. These trips were usually led by Stancombe with the assistance of teacher Mr. Fred Gass and recent grads like Al Marler ’70 and current teacher Pat Palmer ’80. Trip destinations included much of southwest BC, the Rocky Mountains, northern Vancouver Island, and the Queen Charlotte Islands. The 1974 trip included the Outward Bound base in Keremeos and in 1975 the school’s first trip to Clearwater and Azure Lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park (which interestingly, is now one of the regular trips completed by the Discovery 10 class). In my Grade 11 year, we went to Cathedral and Manning Parks and were ably assisted by Palmer and Reid Parker ’80. In 1983, the 34th Venturers and I proudly represented the school a the World Scout Jamboree in Alberta. The interest in Venturers began to wane, but in 1991 Brad Done, former Scout leader of the 25th, and I combined efforts to form a re-energized 34th Venturer Company. The committed group took on a range of very challenging trips; in the summer of 1992 it completed the West Coast Trail in two days and the full Stein Traverse in three days. The group’s members decided that they wanted to really test themselves in 1993 and chose the Canol Trail in the Northwest Territories. Billed as the toughest trail in Canada, this 350 km hike included grizzly terrain and several major bridgeless river crossings. The group completed the trip and won the National Amory Award given to the group in the country completing the most challenging journey.

Outdoor Clubs As organized Rovers lost favour, Stancombe and others de-formalized programs and the Outdoor Club was born. The programs remained essentially the same, but there

Scouting during the past year has carried on in a quiet and unobtrusive way, fulfilling its purpose, which is to prepare boys for the highest kind of manhood. The seeds of Scouting which are sown in boyhood may develop at any time, but too much is expected sometimes, by parents and others during boyhood. We grown-ups must be patient, very patient, and allow the fruit to develop naturally and ripen.

We cannot hang the apples on the tree. The tree must grow strongly, often through years of faith and patience.

A successful man was asked to what he owed his success in life. He replied, “To two books –my father’s bank book and my mother’s cookery book.”

There are many alive today who would add a third reason for their success and that would be –“To Scouting.”

During these stressful times it has become necessary to suspend Scouting in this School, and devote the time previously given to Scouting, to Cadet training, but do let’s have all the peace we can at home, and it is to be hoped that the Scouts past and present will remember that in the end character is the winning asset, and it is this asset that Scouting produces.

Excerpt from the 1940 Georgian Yearbook

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were no more uniforms or dues to pay to the national organization. When teacher Tim Turner joined the school in 1982, he brought with him a strong love of the outdoors. Between Stancombe and Turner the variety of wilderness opportunities flourished. Weekend trips to the local mountains and oceans became commonplace and Turner always wove his passionate environmental message into all his programs. The Georgians from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s are filled with many of Turner’s stunning images that capture the adventure, camaraderie, fun, and beauty of the extensive outings. Big journeys were also part of the experience, and Spring Break 1987 included a Stancombe/Turner rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. Over the years, a host of staff members helped out with the Outdoor Club outings. In 1992, Mr. Stephen Ziff joined the school and like Turner and Stancombe, he loved to share his passion for the outdoors. In the 2000s the weekend trips became less common, but Spring Break trips, including mountain biking in Moab, Utah (2001) and sea kayaking in Baja Mexico (2002) still captivated the students and engaged their relationship with nature. Service also continued to play an important role and in 2007-2008 a large group of students partook in a humanitarian project to build a school high in the Andes of Peru.

Grade Programs Despite the presence of Scouts and the Outdoor Club, some staff members dreamed that we could share these experiences with more students. By the 1970s the

school embarked on a number of new trips. In 1968, the Biology Department ran a Grade 12 field school to Galiano Island, and in 1972, the Grade 7s went to Camp Elphinstone near Gibsons. It was quickly becoming evident to faculty that experiences outside the classroom enriched and added meaning to the experience presented within the classroom. In the spring of 1979, Geof Stancombe convinced Alan Brown and the faculty that there would be significant merit in taking all the Grade 10 students away for an Outdoor Education experience. Strathcona Park Lodge on Vancouver Island was a newly established outdoor center run by Jim and

The Rover outdoor club seems to have really caught on at St. George’s and again this year consisted of a group of approximately 25 members.

The group is an organization pledged to activities of a challenging nature outdoors and endeavouring to live by the motto of “service to others”.

Geof Stancombe ’62, 1973 Georgian Yearbook

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Scouts Tim MacDougall '85 (far right), and Neil Piller '85 (second from right) work with cubs at the Camp on Saltspring Island, 1979.

Teacher Hubert Wohlgemuth battles the elements on a Discovery 10 trip at Wells Gray Provinicial Park, 2006.

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Myrna Boulding from Campbell River. Chaperoned by dedicated staff, including Mr. Gareth Hill, Dr. Tony Mercer, Mr. John Lawrence and others, the boys stayed at the lodge for a few days and then went on either a hiking or paddling adventure for two nights. The boys worked together, learned new skills, and took on a range of challenges. The early Grade 10 trips to Strathcona were always held in the spring and the mountain trips invariably faced difficult weather, deep snow, and, at times, avalanche hazards. During my own experience to King’s Peak in 1983, we were turned around by avalanche exposure after two days of hard work and snow camping. Disappointed, we returned to the lodge to partake in other challenges. The challenge of King’s Peak always loomed in the back of my mind and on several occasions after taking over the Outdoor Education Program in 2000, we again failed to reach the summit. It was personally gratifying to finally stand on the peak with a group of Grade 9s in 2004.

With the success of the Grade 10 program, the Grade 9s were also presented with the opportunity to visit Strathcona Park Lodge in 1988. For three years, both Grade 8s and 9s made the pilgrimage to the Lodge. In 1991, Turner suggested shifting the Grade 10 program away from Strathcona Park and creating an expedition-style program where small groups of students would explore the mountains and waterways in the Howe Sound to Whistler corridor. Thus, the spring Sea to Sky 10 program was born. The Sea to Sky program, organized by Mr. Stephen Ziff from 1993 through 1999, still continues, and today the groups visit areas throughout Southwest BC and participate in a range of canoeing, sea kayaking, mountain biking, and hiking activities. Sea to Sky is led by a host of part-time professional outdoor instructors, including long-serving leader Chris Lawrence

’84. For one year (1992) the Grade 11s also participated in a Sea to Sky program, but the challenge of finding time away from academics became overwhelming and the Grade 11s were limited to optional Outdoor Club activities. Under the guidance of Mr. Chris Healy and Mr. Daryl Wakeham, the Grade 9s continued visiting SPL until the fall of 2004 when, like the Grade 10s they were given an expedition-style program called Explorer 9. Groups of 10-12 students, each with two instructors, now partake in a range of program choices including hiking, canoeing, and sea kayaking. The Grade 8s also began partaking in an Outdoor Education Grade Program to Camp Firwood, Camp Elphinstone, and Loon Lake, as outlined in a separate article in this issue.

Over the years, Grade Programs were also developed for students in Grades 5 to 7. In the fall of 1989, the Grade 7s headed to Evans Lake near Squamish under the leadership of Mr. Rob Kiddell and Mr. Pat Palmer. Then in 1993, both the Grade 5s and 7s undertook different trips to the Sea to Sky Outdoor School on Keats Island (run by former teacher Tim Turner). In 1992, the Grade 6s returned to Evans Lake. Then later in the 1990s, the Grade 5s moved to a sailing and camping program on Newcastle Island near Nanaimo; meanwhile, the Grade 6s headed off to the Sea to Sky Outdoor School on Keats Island to participate in a program on environmental sustainability and the Grade 7s began attending Strathcona Park Lodge. At this point, all students in Grades 5-10 were involved in some type of outdoor education experience each year, but there were no common objectives or any organized progression of learning outcomes.

In 2000, Headmaster Nigel Toy and Deputy Head John Lawrence had the vision to see the merits of bringing the programs together under a common umbrella. I

Discovery 10 students partaking in a lesson on Azure Lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park, 2008.

was hired as the new Head of Outdoor Education and began working with the various teachers to develop a strategic plan for our programs. What emerged was a set of four common strands that included inter- and intra-personal skill development, environmental awareness and stewardship, academic integration, and outdoor skill development. The results of our work were more clearly defined grade-appropriate outcomes and the addition of new programs for Grades 1-4. Grades 1-3 started day programs to local parks, beaches, and Bowen Island and the Grade 4s embarked on trips to the North Vancouver Outdoor School in Squamish, where they experience First Nations culture and study natural ecology. In 2000, we also moved the Grade 7s to Camp Howdy on Indian Arm and developed a program that was more field-school based and included units on biology and archaeology. Over the subsequent years, the programs continued to develop. In 2005, we committed to hiring an additional full-time outdoor education staff member and Matt Gunn joined the school to assist and run the grade programs. Several other location changes took place, with the Grade 5s moving from Newcastle Island to the Zajac Ranch in Mission in 2006, the Grade 6s moving from Keats Island to Camp Jubilee on Indian Arm in 2008, and the Grade 7s moving from Camp Howdy to Camp Stillwood at Cultus Lake in 2006. When Mr. Gunn left to attend graduate school, Mr. Rick Richardson assumed the role of grade program coordinator for two years. Then, with my desire to shift away from outdoor education, Alan Hesketh was hired as the new Head of Outdoor Education in 2009. Hesketh is now assisted by Ms. Christina Tutsch and, with a team of part-time instructors, they continue to deliver innovative world-class programming for the students of St. George’s School.

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ory All of the boys agree that the outing [to Strathcona

Park Lodge] was very successful despite the wintery weather conditions. In fact, most of us feel that weather was an integral part of the trip and added to its challenges. We know how important it is to be equipped for bad weather in the wilderness, and we can light fires under any circumstances. Of course we all had to wash dishes and were often completely soaked in mud, but we did gain an immense store of knowledge of the outdoors; the most important lesson of all was within ourselves. We discovered how vulnerable we were without each other.

Josef Owega, Grade 10, 1980 Georgian Yearbook

Geof Stancombe and students at Cathedral Provincial Park, 1984.

Discovery 10 During my first year as Head of Outdoor Education, discussions began about the possibility of developing an optional year-long integrated Outdoor Education Program for students in Grade 10. With the support of Headmaster Mr. Nigel Toy, Director of Studies Mr. Robin Baker, Director of Admissions Mr. Bill McCracken, and a team of teachers including Mr. Hubert Wohlgemuth, Mr. Peter Jamieson, Mr. Stephen Ziff, and Mr. Matthew Allan, we designed a program in which students would be together in a cohort group for most of their classes. This created the flexibility for students to engage in approximately 65 days of outdoor programming over the course of their Grade 10 year. A progression was designed that integrated classroom learning and trip-based experiential learning. The success of the 1993 Canol Trail trip convinced me of the importance of a two- to three-week year-end trip, and this outing became a keystone of the program. The first group of students began in September 2001 and, over the years, the program has graduated students who have gone on to be some of the school’s top leaders. Trips usually include a three-day hike in September, eight days to Wells Gray Provincial Park in November, a three-day sea kayaking trip in November, a four-day winter trip in February, a three-day hiking trip to the Stein Valley in March, and the choice of either a sea kayaking trip to Clayoquot Sound or a backpacking trip on the west coast on Nootka Island in April. The year-end trips were originally held in June, but moved to May with the introduction of Grade

This trip is actually pushing us to our outdoor limits like no other trips have done. I can’t help wondering if we have bitten off more than we can chew. For sure, the hiking itself isn’t our main problem [averaging 25 km/day]; it’s the rivers! Our goal right now is simply to get to our food drop and stay alive. Pretty simple.

It is still never getting darker than twilight. We haven’t seen night since Ross River. Can’t say that I miss it, though I do miss flush toilets, milk products and bridges across major bodies of water.

Excerpt from the group Canol Trail, NWT journal, August 7, 1993 (Day 6 of 20, KM 50 of 350)

Discovery has been and continues to be a powerful experience, which has not only opened doors to the outer world but also to inner worlds.

From a 2003 Student Journal

These first days were hard; we often paddled between 50 and 80 kilometres each day. At times, we were almost numb from paddling in the cold water against a frigid and powerful wind off the sheet-ice of the Beaufort Sea (only a few hundred kilometres away). At other times we sat in our tents, afraid to go outside for fear of being eaten alive by mosquitoes… We had contests to see who could kill the most in one hit on someone else’s bug net. The record was 50. Mosquitoes, we discovered, can drive one mad in the Arctic!

The Discovery Program – Arctic Odyssey An excerpt from Ben Paulus’ (’05) Journal

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Neil Piller '85 with Discovery 10 on Battle Mountain at Wells Gray Provincial Park, 2008.

10 Provincial exams. Destinations have included the Stein Traverse, the Southern Chilcotin Mountains, and sea kayaking in the Queen Charlotte Strait. One year, we ventured to the Wind and Peel Rivers in the Yukon and NWT and, for the past six years, have paddled the Stikine River in northern BC and Alaska. Discovery 10 has been an incredible success, and parents and students alike are always amazed by the personal growth that takes place over the course of the year.

Conclusion As I finish my research for this article I can’t help but be amazed by what a significant role outdoor education has played at St. George’s for almost 80 years. The hard work and dedication of teachers, housemasters, parents, and Georgians have made a significant and lasting impression on many young men. From those early Scout Camps to today’s grade programs and Discovery 10, it is stunning how many boys have been introduced to the beauty and challenges of our natural world. If to be Canadian is to contemplate our relationship with nature, then it would appear that St. George’s has offered a great number the opportunity to define their national identity. Regardless of whether these students go on to pursue outdoor activities as hobby or profession, I believe that as educators we have achieved our important task of influencing generations of leaders to both respect and steward our precious planet.

The camping part was interesting. For most of the time, we all worked as a unit. I learned how to take up responsibilities and take care of the others. I cooked almost every meal and I always helped to clean up. I was glad that the other group members saw me as a leader and they cooperated with each other all of the time. Through this trip, I’ve made a lot of new friends and they learned more about me.

Rocky Fan ’04 who, as a newly-arrived student from Hong Kong, wrote this during his first Sea to Sky experience.

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Outdoor Education Today

By: Alan Hesketh

Today, the Outdoor Education Program at St. George’s School recognizes the need for authentic experiential education as part of a well-rounded school experience.

Our primary goals include the development of: 1. Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Skills – independence,

leadership, responsibility, and organization;

2. Academic Integration – opportunities to connect what the students are learning in their classes with their experiences in the field;

3. Environmental Awareness – an appreciation for the natural world;

4. Outdoor Skills – mastery of skills that may be useful to them in the future, such as being properly equipped to be outside, basic cooking skills, and the ability to create a shelter. We view these outdoor skills as being the medium through which to teach to our other key objectives.

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Primary Programs Our primary programs are a gentle introduction to the outdoors and a variety of ecosystems.

• Grade 1 students learn to dress for the outdoors and explore marine systems with a visit to the beach at Spanish Banks.

• At the Grade 2 level, students look at basic outdoor safety and learn about local plant species through a visit to lighthouse Park in North Vancouver.

• Grade 3 students visit the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Delta.

Junior Programs At the junior level, we transition to overnight programs at residential camp facilities.

• Grade 4 students participate in their first overnight program at the North Vancouver Outdoor School where they engage in First Nations cultural activities, examine the life cycle of the salmon, and study the tree species of the Squamish area.

• Grade 5 programming focuses on the use of natural resources through a trip to Zajac Ranch, north of Mission. Students tour forests with a professional forester and visit the Power House at Stave lake to learn about hydroelectricity. This is also our first winter activity and students learn about basic survival skills for the winter.

• The Grade 6 program begins to increase the emphasis on interpersonal skills through a variety of individual and team challenges, including ropes courses and rock climbing. Students also learn about basic navigation and compass skills. This program is changing venues for the spring of 2011.

• The Grade 7 program at Camp Stillwood (on Cultus lake in Chilliwack) has strong connections with Social Studies through an on-site archaeology project and with Science through games and activities connected to ecosystems. Students also begin to learn more advanced outdoor skills, including canoeing.

Senior School Programs • At the Senior School, students begin to

participate in self-propelled adventures that begin with single overnights and progress to multi-day expeditions.

• At the beginning of Grade 8, a program at loon lake, in the UBC Research Forest north of Maple Ridge, serves as an introduction to life at the Senior School and more advanced camping skills, including kayaking, canoeing, cooking, and shelter construction. Beginning in 2011, students will also have the opportunity to participate in optional out-trips in the winter and spring.

• The Grade 9 Explorer program includes an out-trip of three to five days in duration where students hike, kayak, or canoe.

• The Grade 10 Sea to Sky program is the culminating outdoor experience for most students at St. George’s. Trips are five to six days in length and focus on student leadership in self-propelled options that include hiking, canoeing, kayaking, snowshoeing, and cycling.

Discovery 10 St. George’s School also offers a specialized program for up to 21 students in Grade 10. Boys who elect to join the Discovery Program participate in over 45 days of field learning, including trips ranging from one to eighteen days in length. In this program, intensive outdoor skill development is the medium used to teach about independence, leadership, teamwork, and personal responsibility. Students have the opportunity to hike, kayak, canoe, snowshoe, backcountry ski or snowboard, winter camp, whitewater paddle, and rock climb over the course of the year. The students take a number of their classes together, including English, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education (outdoors) and the custom Discovery 10 elective block. They participate in Mathematics, languages and an elective course with the larger Grade 10 population.

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As I write, I am sitting in the Friends and Alumni Cabin at Loon Lake, deep in the UBC Research Forest near Maple Ridge. It is raining lightly, but

the noise of students laughing, shouting, running, and having fun drowns out the sound of the rain.

Loon Lake is the fifth venue used for the Grade 8 Outdoor Education Camp and we are enjoying our third visit to this beautiful facility. This trip is the 19th Outdoor Education trip for the Grade 8s and my 13th as Head of Grade. St. George’s has had grade groups travelling to various outdoor education facilities since the spring of 1979, when former staff member Mr. Geof Stancombe took the initial group of Grade 10s to Strathcona Park Lodge for the first official, grade-wide Outdoor Education experience. Over the intervening years, other grade-wide initiatives were established and the Grade 8 camp soon fell into the pattern of an annual trip.

A BRIEF HISTORy OF THE PROGRAM In the early years the location changed, and we used Sea to Sky Outdoor School on Keats Island and the Coast Mountain Outdoor School at Pemberton, until Mr. Stancombe, the father and driving force behind Outdoor Education, came upon Camp Firwood near Bellingham, Washington and the Grade 8 camp found a permanent home. This wonderful camp was the home for the annual trip for 11 years and saw the trip move from the spring to the fall. While Firwood was a great facility for the Grade 8s, eventually the complexity of crossing an international boarder in a post-9/11 world became too challenging. Spring Camps: 1. 1992-1993 Keats Island 2. 1993-1994 Coast Mountain Outdoor School 3. 1994-1995 Coast Mountain Outdoor School 4. 1995-1996 Camp Firwood 5. 1996-1997 Camp Firwood 6. 1997-1998 Camp Firwood 7. 1998-1999 Camp Firwood

Fall Camps:

8. 1999-2000 Camp Firwood 9. 2000-2001 Camp Firwood 10. 2001-2002 Camp Firwood 11. 2002-2003 Camp Firwood 12. 2003-2004 Camp Firwood 13. 2004-2005 Camp Firwood 14. 2005-2006 Camp Firwood 15. 2006-2007 Camp Elphinstone 16. 2007-2008 Camp Elphinstone 17. 2008-2009 Loon Lake 18. 2009-1200 Loon Lake 19. 2010-2011 Loon Lake

Why Outdoor Education at Grade 8? The primary goals for this program include creating environmental awareness and stewardship, developing intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, and learning outdoor skills.

Consequently, students at camp spend lots of time participating in recreational activities to learn new skills, to develop friendships, and to come to a better understanding of themselves and their peers. The challenges posed by the outdoor activities develop their confidence through adversity and enhance self-esteem. Students learn a range of new skills including flat-water tandem canoeing, hiking, flat-water kayaking, low- and high-rope challenge courses, food preparation and cooking for wilderness trips, operation of stoves, fire starting, wilderness survival skills, knot-tying, and shelter construction.

Since 1999, the camp has been a fall activity. Leaving early in the academic year allows the grade to get away from the school and a considerable amount of bonding takes place. Students, old and new, come to know themselves better. The grade as a whole comes to better understand its strengths, weaknesses, diversity, and potential. Leaders are discovered and cohorts soon established. In short, the grade bonds and the teachers on the trip get to know them much better. It is a great way to begin the year and the boys’ journey at the Senior School.

THE GrADE 8 PrOGrAMOutdoor Education

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MEMORIES

Naturally, over the years there have been a number of wonderful memories developed at camp. Let me recount a few:

• Horseback riding at Firwood – on horses that seemed to have been fed a steady diet of melatonin and an instructor that should have been...

• Swims at Firwood and Loon Lake – both accidental and intentional

• The ‘Blob’ at Firwood – a modest addition to the waterfront activities that enabled some campers to propel others, in various states of control, into the lake. Those who witnessed it will not soon forget Mr. Sayers ’82 being fired into oblivion by a very large canoe instructor.

• The Overnight – introduced in 2000 to the camp routine. All students move from their cabins and spend a night under the stars with only a tarp to keep them dry (or somewhat dry). Each year, the overnight is a worry for those who are not used to camping, but it also becomes one of campers’ best memories of their trip.

• S’mores – a key and most-popular feature of the overnight for many years.

• Meeting a bear – on one overnight at Camp Elphinstone, a camper awoke in the middle of the night to see a bear wandering by the campsite. There was no food about and the bear simply walked by. Nonplussed, the camper rolled over and went back to sleep.

• Campfires in the Rain – on early overnights, the campfire was key. It provided warmth, light, and heat for cooking dinner. On the 2001 overnight, the heavens opened and no one could get their fire going. When the rain woke several groups, Andrew Stancombe ’02, son of Geof, was the hero of the hour, providing heat for several campsites.

• Archery at Firwood – at Camp Firwood, we were able to use their archery course. Campers were most fortunate to have the services of an Olympic archer, Rogelio Duran, to introduce them to this martial skill.

• Treasure Hunt – a challenge activity has been a final element in most of the recent camps. In recent years, this has taken the form of a photo treasure hunt. Over the years, some groups have taken this as a serious competitive event while others have enjoyed a quiet stroll around camp taking pictures. No one quite expected Mr. Sayers to encourage (threaten) his group at Elphinstone quite so vociferously: “Get going you guys, or I’ll open a can of “Whoop-Ass!”

• The Lost Bag – we used to use the ‘elephant’ (the Outdoor Education haul-all pick-up truck) to transport bags to and from Camp Firwood. One year, a bag fell off on the highway and Mr. Stancombe was forced to backtrack to find it. He went from Firwood back through the border and retraced our steps back to Vancouver. Finding no bag, he returned to camp. Just at the camp gates, he received a call that the bag had been picked up and left at the border crossing. He went to the truck crossing only to hear the bag was at the other Blaine crossing. Eventually, the bag and Mr. Stancombe arrived at camp, after six hours of travelling and five different crossings of the border!

• Volunteers – this camp could not run and achieve the success it has without the efforts of a considerable number of student leaders, teachers, outdoor education specialists, and the outdoor education leaders, in turn: Geof Stancombe ’62, Neil Piller ’84, Matt Gunn, Rick Richardson, and Alan Hesketh.

THE GrADE 8 PrOGrAMBy: Pat Palmer ’80

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ENvIrONMENTAl SuSTAINABIlITy

In the words of Anthony Cortese, co-founder of Second Nature Education for Sustainability, an organization that advocates teaching sustainability in all institutions of higher learning, “We are the first generation capable of determining the habitability of the planet for humans and other species”.

Such a responsibility creates huge challenges for a school like St. George’s, which aspires to be a forward-looking educational institution. Clearly, sustainability involves more than just recycling or

partaking in the occasional environmental project. If properly developed, a sound Sustainability Program will change the culture of the school so that each boy comes to understand the concept of

sustainable communities and their impact on the global environment.

For example, one could envisage a day when all our buildings have reduced their environmental footprint by incorporating green roofs, solar panels, thermal heating, and energy efficient windows; when a policy exists in which any new construction project is built with “new forest growth” products, recycled materials, and incorporates sustainable operation systems; and when the school has instilled in every Georgian, parent, student, employee, and Board member the importance of committing to a school-wide focus on sustainability.

While we are certainly not there yet, the genesis of a Sustainability Program occurred in 2008, partly in preparation for the work currently being undertaken for the new Strategic Plan. A committee was struck to look at environmental sustainability at the school. Comprised of seven members from administration, staff, and faculty from both the Junior and Senior Schools, the main objectives of the committee were to:

• Determine a list of key green initiatives;

• Identify obstacles and solutions for success;

• Develop a series of recommendations to frame a more substantial action plan for the future, including a mission statement; and

• Begin the process of inculcating the school with a culture that promotes sustainability.

The committee focused on five key areas and the following progress has been made:

1. Food Services There has been a reduction in packaging and the use of phosphate cleaning supplies. Paper products, plastic bottles, glass jars, and cardboard are now all being recycled.

2. Grounds Pesticides and fungicides are no longer used by Grounds staff. Now, only organic fertilizers are sprayed on shrubs and flowers. There has also been an attempt to reduce water usage by implementing a more coordinated watering schedule.

3. Transportation Through the expansion of a school-subsidized bus program, as well as various incentive programs, students

and employees are encouraged to utilize the school’s transportation network, take public transit, bicycle, or walk to school. To date, these initiatives have resulted in about 30% of the school population using some form of transportation other than personal vehicles.

4. Maintenance Efforts are underway to recycle as much as possible. Environmentally-friendly cleaning products are being used where possible and there is a conscious effort to reduce paper usage. Water usage is being addressed by replacing old toilets with low-flow toilets.

5. Recycling A comprehensive recycling program at both schools has been developed where students take an active part in collecting and cataloguing paper, plastic bottles, batteries, and glass containers for recycling. The Grade 7s initiated an environmental school audit. The students have also extended their participation in community-based environmental programs, including local community clean-ups, the ongoing restoration of Pacific Spirit Park, and Earth Day activities.

All of these initiatives represent a first step towards a more substantial sustainability program that will ultimately reduce the school’s environmental footprint. There is still much work to be done in order to properly develop a more coordinated plan. Specific recommendations include:

• developing a Sustainability Mission Statement for the school;

• ensuring that a sustainability program is a key component of the new Strategic Plan;

• conducting a facility-systems audit in waste and energy;

• implementing a more coordinated recycling program at both campuses;

• creating the position of Sustainability Coordinator;

• adding an additional prefect to Student Leadership who would have an environmental portfolio;

• inviting guest speakers to talk as a means of building a culture of sustainability; and

• publishing an annual Sustainability Report for the St. George’s community.

Moving Towards School-wide

By: Greg Devenish, Principal of the Junior School

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PlACE yOurPIECE!

At St. George’s, we help your son with some of the pieces he needs to complete his puzzle. Empowerment and choice are but two of the pieces Saints provides.

The Saints Annual Fund is an important piece of the St. George’s puzzle; your support is the one missing piece.

Place it today.

Nurturing your son’s growth and development is like putting a puzzle together…

all the pieces have to fit in order to complete the picture.

Make your gift online at: www.stgeorges.bc.ca/onlinegiving

or call the Advancement Office today at 604-222-5884.

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You are originally from England. What brought you to Canada? I completed my BSc in Chemistry at the University of Bristol, England and decided to pursue my PhD abroad. So why Canada? Interestingly enough, my mother’s best friend in high school was a war bride who married a Canadian Airman and moved to Newfoundland. They kept in close contact, and every year I received a small Christmas package full of Canadiana and one of my most prized possessions as a young boy was a Mountie penknife. Perhaps in the back of my mind Canada had always been calling me. In my final year at Bristol, my research project was in crystallography and UBC had one of the most well-known crystallographers in the world, so I applied and was very lucky to be accepted to work with Dr. James Trotter.

You obtained a rather specialized doctorate in X-Ray Crystallography. What caused you to change your career path and move to teaching? Perhaps I’ll explain what a crystallographer does. Take a small crystal of a chemical compound, mount it on a glass fiber, and fire a beam of X-rays at it. The X-rays are deflected by the atoms and by analyzing the pattern and intensity of the deflected beam it is possible to summize what must have been in the way to cause the deflection. From this you can generate a model of how all the atoms are arranged in the molecules. For example, the famous crystallographers Watson, Crick, and Franklin determined the structure of DNA.

Over 30 years ago, once you had the data, you spent a lot of time on a mainframe computer using punched cards—oh, how times have changed. In the end, the process was similar to a crossword puzzle: by filling in the positions of the major atoms it was possible to keep refining the structure until it fitted the data and was accepted as being correct. I did five different compounds for my PhD and once I had the procedure down, I couldn’t see it as a life-fulfilling activity—research science was not for me.

I took the year of teacher training at UBC and had somewhat mixed feedback from my sponsor teachers, as they generally thought that my expectations were too high. By some quirk of fate, Saints had a vacancy for a chemistry teacher in the middle of the summer—otherwise I was bound for the substitute’s bench. Thirty-five years later, I’d like to say I found the perfect match for my high expectations.

You have worn numerous hats at the school. What have you learned from those different roles? The importance of doing something that you love. I was a very competitive and driven individual who rose “through the ranks” and, by the age of 40, was Head of the Senior School. As Saints was a much smaller school back then, it really was a job with a wide-ranging mandate. It involved a lot of organization and planning, which I enjoyed, but in the end, I lost contact with the students – well not all of them, as I was in charge of discipline. Fifteen years in the classroom had convinced me that teaching was something that I loved, and

Head of Science

A Conversation with

Dr. Tony MercerInterviewed by: Gordon C. Allan

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quite simply I missed it. So, after five years I stepped aside and went back into the classroom. These days, I’m Head of Science and I focus on the Grade 12 students. The close contact with highly motivated and intelligent young men keeps my brain fully functional. Is teaching a calling? I don’t know, but if you put your heart and soul into it, it can be very rewarding. I think that is true of everything.

I’d certainly be remiss to not mention my belief in the importance of co-curricular activities. For many years, I coached Rugby, Soccer, and Field Hockey and my 25-year association with the 1st XI and fellow coach Mr. Shawn Lawrence has been a highlight of my time at the school. I feel that contact between teachers and students outside of the classroom is so important for the development of a school community. It is always wonderful to bump into Georgians at the reunions and to see if they remember my classes or the sporting activities. A few days ago, after returning from the ISA Soccer Championships in Victoria, I came upon the Class of ’80 socializing around a BBQ. Conversation quickly turned to the past and the 3rd XV’s rugby season in which we didn’t win a game or the teachers who ended up on crutches after I took them skydiving. For some reason, Physics 10 never came up.

You are also an erstwhile skydiver.What is it about the jump that keeps you coming back? I think people are born for different environments. Mine is the air. As a skydiver the sky became my playground. It provided a freedom that is only limited by the constraints of gravity and time. Most of my jumps were from 12,000 feet which gave 60 seconds of freefall, ample time to join up in small group formations. And that was a significant part of the sport. I rarely jumped on my own and the friendships with my teammates and other recreational skydivers over the years were often long lasting.

I taught a lot of first-jump students, which was exciting at times, trained many instructors, and helped to develop the coaching and training manuals that the national organization still uses. I believe that having a passion is very important to your well-being and skydiving was definitely mine. Oh and while we are talking about being in the sky, I’m reminded of George Clooney in Up in the Air when he reaches 10 million air miles. I’ve flown over one million in the last 15 years, so I’m well on my way.

You are a big promoter of education through world travel. Talk about some of your travels and your philosophy in this area. Is it as simple as “to know a man you have to walk in his shoes”? We are exposed to the realities of the world through the media but personal experience is the only way to gain a visceral understanding. Actually, I’m not certain that the motivation behind many of my trips was primarily educational. Initially, I tried to find places in the world where there was a personal challenge to the activity. I started with the base camp of Mount Everest and then the Inca trail and Mount Kilimanjaro—and that is how I discovered exotic wildlife, through the African Savanna. I hope that

the living Edens of Namibia, Botswana, and the Galapagos Islands served as places and experiences that made the students and parents who went on the trips different people.

As a second generation of staff takes our students to developing nations, I really like the direction in which the school is going: travel with a service component. Recent groups have traveled to Peru and the Dominican Republic where they also spent time working on community projects. What a wonderful idea and experience for the students.

As a traveller, you are also a passionate photographer. Was there any one place or subject matter in your travels that you particularly enjoyed photographing? I tend to vary my travels to create new photographic challenges. I’ve been to Africa several times and gained a great deal of experience at what works with animals. A good digital SLR with a long lens—I have a 300 mm with motion stabilization—the correct light, and animals displaying behavior. And immense patience—waiting an hour to get two hippos, mouth agape in male rivalry, is par for the course.

Trying to photograph tigers in India was difficult, as they are rare and wonderfully camouflaged, as were mountain gorillas in Uganda in the dense low-light forest. I’d like to take more pictures of people but I feel that I am being intrusive—though if you are willing to ask, a surprising number of people say yes.

Our new Headmaster, Dr. Tom Matthews has talked about the importance of addressing the needs of the 21st Century Learner. As Head of the Science Department, what do you see as potential 21st learning opportunities for our students in the area of Science? That is a very difficult question to answer as within the school community we are still discussing exactly what those skills will be. I’ll focus on a couple that science can certainly enhance. We are very fortunate at Saints to have such wonderful science facilities and resources, outstanding teachers, and small class sizes. Our courses are based upon small group experimentation and are decidedly hands-on. This provides an excellent opportunity to learn collaboration and problem solving. In the future, our goal is to make our science labs have less of the “cookbook” approach and be more aligned to problem solving and experimental design. I still believe that high school science can be learned through simple experiments with unsophisticated equipment. There is certainly a place for computer simulations and analysis of data, and this is part of our teaching strategies, but here we have this great opportunity to provide experiential learning.

As a department we would like to increase our use of collaborative technology and provide opportunities to look at problems of a more global nature. The recent addition of a course in Environmental Science is certainly a step in the right direction. I’m very hopeful about the future and our ability to produce thoughtful, problem-solving scientists. The world will need them.

Dr. Tony Mercer

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It was 1975. Pierre Trudeau was leading the country, the Watergate Scandal was dominating the papers, and the United Nations had declared that it was International Women’s Year. It was also the

same year that a young UBC Education graduate named Colleen Busby made history at St. George’s.

retirements

ColleenBusby

Saying so long to

A Junior School legend retires after 35 yearsBy: Gordon Allan

A position for a Junior School Art Teacher had been posted, and Colleen had thrown her hat into ring. The Junior School Principal at the time, John Blackmore, was reticent to consider her application, because it was customary in those days to hire only male teachers, except at the primary levels. But Colleen impressed Blackmore with her enthusiasm and passion and ultimately convinced him to roll the dice. It was a decision he would not regret.

With the support of people like Clive Austin, and with mentors like the Reverend Ted Gale, whose students were already producing outstanding works of art at the Senior School, Colleen rose to the occasion and eventually found her rhythm in the school while she gained the respect of those with whom she worked.

Before the school expanded, Colleen taught Physical Education and Mathematics as well as Art. But it was with the art curriculum that she was able to make her particular mark. As she fondly recalls, “I was given total freedom by the administration to develop my own curricula based on drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage, while very often

incorporating art history. This empowerment kept me fresh, young at heart, and involved in art, which was reflected in the many changes made to the courses each school year.”

A defining moment in Colleen’s career occurred on a Monday in March of 1980 when St. George’s undertook the famous “Big Move”. A group of volunteer Senior School students literally marched desks and assorted classroom supplies to their new home at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, which was to become the new home for the Junior School and Colleen’s art program. According to Colleen, the original plan was to house her classroom in the basement of the Nun’s Quarters, which is now part of the home that is currently occupied by Greg Devenish and his family. But John Blackmore didn’t think the natural lighting was good enough and so, at the final hour, it was decided that Junior School Art would reside in one of the brightest classroom in the new school.

During this early period in the new building, Colleen spent two years as Director of Studies for the Junior School while maintaining a homeroom and a full teaching load. As the school expanded, another art specialist was added. Colleen recounts that, “Over the years, as the arts began to take on a higher profile, I got to work with a number of wonderful art

teachers, including Barbara Elworthy, Claire Dimitric, Mark Sauer, Tina Mears, and Justine Cheung.” She also recalls the many long, but satisfying hours she spent working on the design and production of sets for the school musicals under the directorship of first Clive Austin, and then George Ryan—a time during which, in true Shakespearean fashion, boys played all the parts,

For Colleen, Saints has played a huge role in her life. “Even after I married, had children, and my family grew, I enjoyed watching my colleagues do the same. We became like a family,” she says. And with so many years under her belt, Colleen now enjoys watching the growth of sons of her former students – boys like Rhys French (Ryan ’84), George Tsakumis (Alex ’84), and Thomas Kirkwood (Nigel ’83). In 2004, Colleen was recognized for her years of service to the school with The Robinson Distinguished Service Award, an award which honours men and women employed by St. George’s School who have demonstrated in their careers the qualities of idealism, service, scholarship, and spirit that former Junior School Head, Basil O. Robinson stood for in his time.

“Saints has provided me with great joy. I have been surrounded by happy children, supportive parents, and wonderful colleagues. I have also witnessed the power of the creative process and how infectious it can be,” says Colleen, as she reflects back on her 35 years with the school. And what are her plans for early retirement? Well, for starters, there’s her yoga, workouts, skiing, painting, and travel. But it’s also an opportunity to spend pleasurable time with friends, and family, including children, Bronwen (23) and Tristan (20), as well as partner, Michael Ritch ’71.

We know that Colleen will be passionate about whatever she undertakes during her retirement years. Principal Greg Devenish echoes these same sentiments when he reflects on Colleen’s time at the school: “Whenever I think of Colleen, I think of the word “passion”. Colleen has a real passion for art. She introduced the world’s great art masters to the students and celebrated each boy’s artwork with equal passion by displaying it throughout the school and at other venues.”

The Saints community wishes Colleen much health and happiness. You will be missed, Colleen.

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The Society of the Sacred Heart, founded in France in 1800 by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat (1779-1865) and brought to North America in 1818, flourished as boarding and day schools were opened for girls around the world.

Saint Madeleine Sophie’s educational ideal was “for the children of all times and of all countries…carried out in the light of the Heart of Jesus,…an education serious in its principles, strong in its studies, and rich in a spirit of love and of life.”1

In vancouver, Archbishop Neil McNeil wanted education by the religious of the Sacred Heart to be an option for the girls of his city. He got his wish from the Canadian vicar, who agreed to send six religious from the east, including reverend Mother Mary Gorman from St. Joseph, Missouri who would head the new school.

By: Elizabeth Knox, Airlie Ogilvie, and Jay Sherwood

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After their arrival from Montreal in February of 1911, the nuns taught two students in St. Paul’s Hospital, later moving to a house at 1075 Burnaby Street in the West End and then, when enrollment grew to 56, to the Coleman Mansion at 1221 Burnaby Street.

Anticipating this influx of students, the Religious, with the Archbishop’s assistance, looked at several sites on which

to build their new school. On May 9, 1911, ten acres were purchased on Buckland Road (now 29th Avenue) in the new Municipality of Point Grey from Mr. William Bruggemann of Seattle. It was the right price, had surrounding land, and the bishop assured the Society that he would build his church nearby.

Frances Bartley, one of the first students, remembers her visit to the new property. “Point Grey…was considered to be almost at the other end of the world…We drove by horse and carriage…, through sparsely settled Kitsilano to Point Grey and then down a muddy little road known as “Dunbar St.” to a spot which is now 29th Avenue. There we had to alight and make the rest of the trip on foot over a trail until we reached the property. This trail wound through woods and underbrush so dense that it was only when we reached a little clearing, which now marks the West Gate, that we could see the sky.”2

Who Could Design the 111th Convent of the Sacred Heart “at the other end of the world”? Charles Grayum Badgley could!

Charles Badgley (1868-1915) born in Illinois and raised in Ohio, appears in the Columbus Ohio business directory for 1890 and 1891 as a draftsman. He attended MIT in 1892-1893 and then The Sorbonne in 1894. On his return to America, Badgley made a name for himself with the inventive and beautiful buildings he erected, including Saint Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Fairmont, West Virginia, which has been acclaimed for its unique Mission-Style architecture. His work in the Fairmont, WV downtown historic district has been recognized and is recorded in the National Register of Historic Places.

The industrial wealth of Fairmont kept the city architects busy as the city grew. Charles moved to Seattle in 1907 where he worked with Mr. Breitung on the designs of Holy Names Academy and The House of the Good Shepherd, characterized by a statue placed in a niche—a feature Badgley would later use to display the statue of the Sacred Heart on the convent building. Denny Renton Clay Products would be the supplier of the terracotta used throughout the building. The granite facing came from the Deep Cove Quarry in Indian Arm. Bars were installed on all the ground-floor windows to keep out intruders and wild animals. It was not uncommon to see the odd bear and cougar in the area.

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As the centenary of the building approaches, the urge to confirm the story grows stronger. Patricia Whalen was about 11 in 1912 when the school moved into its new premises. Mrs. Ellen (O’Malley ’50) Riley recalls her mother talking about a time capsule and she mentioned a coin being placed in it. “It was put under the tree nearest the cornerstone.” The tree has long gone and the ground disturbed when the driveway was altered, bringing it further away from the building.We are still searching and hope to have some concrete evidence in time for the centenary celebrations.

Time Capsule Buried Near the Cornerstone?

An advertisement for the Company that provided the Terra Cotta Stonework.

The Contract Engineer Magazine of September 20, 1911 states that “S.J. Lund, 319 Empire Building, Vancouver, BC, is the lowest tender, $300,000 on the convent to be erected at Point Grey for the sisters (sic Religious) of the Sacred Heart, C.G. Badgley, 318 Pender Street West, architect; general contract includes all minor contracts, specifications, slate roofing, steam heating.” Charles had opened an office to be closer to what appears to have been his last major work. His niece recalls her father mentioning that his brother was ill for some time before his death in 1915.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart—June 14, 1912—was chosen as the day to lay the cornerstone. “A pretty feature of the ceremony was the presence of about forty girls dressed in white, who were drawn up in lines in front of the building. The sun was very hot…and two of the little ones fainted.”3

During her “Journey Round the World” to all 111 convents, Superior General Janet Erskine Stuart, rscj visited her newest Convent of the Sacred Heart, Point Grey (April 11-15, 1913). “The only ‘ceremony’ of those days was the planting of a cedar….”4 The two cedars that used to stand on either side of the main entrance dated to this visit. Mother Stuart recorded in her diary that she took long walks in the forest, “and excursions into the no-man’s land around them.”

And so began the life of “a building in the woods”.

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Imagine fishing for coho salmon in a stream that used to be inside the west gate. In 1908, a huge run of coho made its way to the spawning ground located where Bean Town coffee shop now stands. One of the tributaries of the huge creek, called Kh’ahtsulek by the First Nations, ran through the property that was to become the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Kh’ahtsulek means ‘meet you when the salmonberry flowers again’. Early loggers in the area called it ‘Head of the Lake Creek’.

As spawning coho like to be near a source of fresh water, it is likely that there were excellent underground springs feeding this tributary of Head of the Lake Creek. In 1912, the springs were probably a good source of water for the new convent school and laundry building.

The Head of the Lake Creek made its way to the North Arm of the Fraser River at the junction of Johnson Road (Blenheim St.) and the North Arm Trail (SW Marine Drive).

Head of the Lake Creek ran below the farmhouse, to the left of this 1912 photo. The farmouse was to become St. George’s School in 1931.

Development and subsequent logging of the forest had affected the upper watershed and the creek was now a rushing torrent. In 1911, the wooden culvert installed under the road made no provision for the up-stream passage of fish. They were stranded in the fields of what is now Southlands. Many of the estimated 5000 fish were used by the farmers for fertilizer.5

Coho in the Convent Stream

Notes: 1. Adapted from Rev. Mother de Lescure, rscj, Life at the Sacred Heart

(St. Louis, Mo., AASH National Office, 1954)

2. The Gleam, Yearbook, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Vancouver, B.C. 1955: Frances Bartley

3. The Daily Province (Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, June 15, 1912)

4. Maud Monahan, Life and Letters of Janet Erskine Stuart, Superior General of The Society of the Sacred Heart 1857-1914 (September 1922)

5. As reported in the Point Grey Gazette December 1, 1912, from “ Vancouver Old Streams” Journal of the Vancouver Aquarium Volume 3, Number 1, First Quarter 1978

Time Capsule Buried Near the Cornerstone? c.1914 Modern conveniences had reached Buckland Road—telephone and

wooden sidewalks.

Carole Badgley, Charles’ great niece, in October when she visited the school

Laundry and boiler house

Nuns’ gallery at the rear Study Hall, now the Junior School Library

Scott Lamb '79 will retire from the presidency of the Georgians on November 11, 2010. Before he steps down and hands over the reins to his successor, we sat

down with him to reflect on his tenure as President.

SCOTT lAMB '79

A reflection on His Time as President of the Georgians

Interview by: Bryan r. Ide '99

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What did you enjoy most about your tenure as President? Without a doubt, I most enjoyed meeting Georgians from all backgrounds, occupations, and interests. The Georgians are a truly amazing group of men with great career achievements and success who also show tremendous depth of character and commitment to their communities.

Georgians are found in national politics, as leaders of the military, as successful artists and musicians, as leading professionals, and as great athletes competing at all levels of sports. In short, Georgians are an interesting and diverse fraternity of men.

But I am also struck at how deeply Georgians care about their school and what it has meant in their lives. It has been very rewarding to see that commitment among the Georgians.

What do you think were the biggest challenges? There were a number of challenges during my term as President but the most important was to ensure that there was a smooth transition from Mr. Nigel Toy to Dr. Tom Matthews as Headmaster. The Headmaster is the focus of any great school and a change in Headmaster always creates anxiety and concern among the alumni. St. George’s is no different.

I undertook to ensure that the Georgians suitably saluted Nigel Toy on his tremendous record of achievement and we had our voice heard in the selection of the new Headmaster.

Nigel Toy has been celebrated by the Georgians as he was inducted into our fraternity as an Honourary Old Boy and we look forward to a long association with Nigel as one of us.

The Georgians Board also took steps early in the process to involve ourselves in the selection of the new Headmaster. We met with the consultant of the recruiting firm working for the Headmaster Search Committee and with the Chairman of the Board, Rob Cruickshank, individually, as a group, and in an open town hall meeting forum to ensure that the views of the Georgians were well represented in the process. Three Georgians also served on the Search Committee and the Georgians Board also participated in drafting the terms of reference for the qualifications for the Headmaster’s position for the Search Committee.

A position for a Junior School Art Teacher had been posted and Colleen had thrown her hat into ring. The Junior School Principal at the time, John Blackmore, was reticent to consider her application, because it was customary in those days to hire only male teachers, except at the primary levels. But Colleen impressed Blackmore with her enthusiasm and passion and ultimately convinced him to roll the dice. It was a decision he would not regret.

With the support of people like Clive Austin, and with mentors like the Reverend Ted Gale, whose students were already producing outstanding works of art at the Senior School, Colleen rose to the occasion and eventually found her rhythm in the school while she gained the respect of those with whom she worked.

Before the school expanded, Colleen taught Physical Education, Mathematics, as well as Art. But it was with the art curriculum that she was able to make her particular mark. As she fondly recalls, “I was given total freedom by the administration to develop my own curricula based on drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage, while very often incorporating art history. This empowerment kept me fresh, young at heart, and involved in art, which was reflected in the many changes made to the courses each school year.”

A defining moment in Colleen’s career occurred on a Monday in March of 1980 when St. George’s undertook the famous “Big Move”. A group of volunteer Senior School students literally marched desks and assorted classroom supplies to their new home at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, which was to become the new home for the Junior School and Colleen’s art program. According to Colleen, the original plan was to house her classroom in the basement of the Nun’s Quarters, which is now part of the home that is currently occupied by Greg Devenish and his family. But John Blackmore didn’t think the natural lighting was good enough and so, at the final hour, it was decided that Junior School Art would reside in one of the brightest classroom in the new school.

During this early period in the new building, Colleen spent two years as Director of Studies for the Junior School while maintaining a homeroom and a full teaching load. As the school expanded, another art specialist was added. Colleen recounts that, “Over the years, as the arts began to take on a higher profile, I got to work with a number of wonderful art teachers, including Barbara Elworthy, Claire Dimitric, Mark Sauer, Tina Mears, and Justine Cheung.” She also recalls the many long, but satisfying hours she spent working on the design and production of sets for the school musicals under the directorship of first Clive Austin, and then George Ryan—a time during which, in true Shakespearean fashion, boys played all the parts,

For Colleen, Saints has played a huge role in her life. “Even after I married, had children, and my family grew, I enjoyed watching my colleagues do the same. We became like a family,” she says. And with so many years under her belt,

Colleen now enjoys watching the growth of sons of her former students – boys like Rhys French (Ryan ’84), George Tsakumis (Alex ’84), and Thomas Kirkwood (Nigel ’83). In 2004, Colleen was recognized for her years of service to the school with The Robinson Distinguished Service Award, an award which honours men and women employed by St. George’s School who have demonstrated in their careers the qualities of idealism, service, scholarship, and spirit that former Junior School Head, Basil O. Robinson stood for in his time.

“Saints has provided me with great joy. I have been surrounded by happy children, supportive parents, and wonderful colleagues. I have also witnessed the power of the creative process and how infectious it can be,” says Colleen, as she reflects back on her 35 years with the school. And what are her plans for early retirement? Well, for starters, there’s her yoga, workouts, skiing, painting, and travel. But it’s also an opportunity to spend pleasurable time with friends, and family, including children, Bronwen (23) and Tristan (20), as well as partner, Michael Ritch ’71.

We know that Colleen will be passionate about whatever she undertakes during her retirement years. Principal Greg Devenish echoes these same sentiments when he reflects on Colleen’s time at the school: “Whenever I think of Colleen, I think of the word passion”. Colleen has a real passion for art. She introduced the world’s great art masters to the students and celebrated each boy’s artwork with equal passion by displaying it throughout the school and at other venues.

The Saints community wishes Colleen much health and happiness. You will be missed, Colleen.

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The Georgians Board has welcomed Dr. Tom Matthews to the school and acquainted him with our history, traditions, and the Old Boys themselves. To that end, we have hosted Dr. Matthews to a Board Reception in January, a lunch with senior Georgians in August, and a BBQ with the Board in August. We also plan to have further Georgians events with Dr. Matthews as he moves forward into his first year, not only in Vancouver but also in Toronto and New York.

I would like to thank Dr. Matthews for his generosity with his time in a very busy and hectic schedule as he gears up for his first fall term. This commitment shows an understanding of the importance of the Georgians to the long-term success of the school.

As you look back over the last two years, what would you say were your greatest accomplishments? The key goals I set for the Georgians Board were to improve the calendar of events that we host during the year, develop a Year Captain system, and establish Georgians Chapters in major centres in the world.

I am glad to say that our events, despite the recent economic troubles, were nearly all better attended than in previous years. The Annual Dinner for the past two years has been acknowledged as among the finest and most memorable of the school’s history, filled with good humour and camaraderie. Particularly memorable were the Georgians Award to former Headmaster Alan Brown '54 and the induction of Nigel Toy as a Honourary Georgian.

We have our Year Captain system up and running. We hope to utilize it to its maximum potential over the coming years to increase the engagement of each graduating year by having leaders in each class be a focal point of contact for Georgians and school events.

We have established a Georgians Chapters in Toronto, New York, and Hong Kong with a local President and a small calendar of events taking place each year in those locations. The Chapters are important as St. George’s graduates go to university and pursue their careers more and more often not only outside Vancouver, but also outside Canada. It is heartening that there is also keen interest for Georgians events in Ottawa, San Francisco, Victoria, and London.

Simply put, the Georgians organization must grow and go where the Georgians are—which is all over the world—if we are going to keep them connected to each other and the school itself.

It is my hope that when a Georgian living in, say, Toronto or New York, is thinking of where to send his son to school he will choose his own school, St. George’s—and he does so because of his on-going engagement with the school and the Georgians over the years, even though his career has taken him a long way from Vancouver.

Why are you so passionate about St. George’s? My passion about St. George’s is the same for many Georgians. The memories of school days are often warm,

sometimes poignant, often humourous, and generally recognized as key to our development as men and of success later in life.

The passion is also stirred by what can be seen in the school today as it emerges as one of the truly great schools in Canada and shows its promise even among the very best boys’ schools in the world.

What advice do you have for your successor? My successor will have a great job for the next two years—and my first piece of advice will be to say—enjoy it! My second piece of advice will be to build on what has been accomplished with the Georgians in my time and before me. We are on the right path—give it all you have for the next two years.

In the end, it’s about building a great fraternity of men engaged with a great charitable institution of education and human development. I say, keep your focus on that.

Your son, Dugald, started Grade 8 at Saints this fall. Other than being an alumnus of St. George’s, what were the factors that motivated you to send your son to the school? What thoughts would you like to share with those Georgians who want to send their sons to Saints? Like many graduates of the school, I went abroad to university and ended up starting my career elsewhere than Vancouver. As a result, when I got married and started a family in Toronto, I assumed that my son would go to a school other than St. George’s. But after moving back to Vancouver and becoming engaged with the Georgians, I was re-introduced to a very special school. Not only does it still have the heart and soul of the old school I knew, it has moved forward to new levels of achievement in academics, athletics, and the arts.

While it is widely recognized that the school is better than it ever was, this does not mean that the school is not accessible to the sons of Georgians. The concerns about the costs to send a boy to the school and the competition to meet the academic entrance requirements are sometimes heard among Georgians. However, these are met by the simple fact that a record number of Old Boys applied last year for their sons to enter the school. Each year more and more sons of Georgians are attending the school.

If a Georgian wants his son to enjoy the same great experience that he had at St. George’s or to learn more about what the school has to offer, I strongly suggest that they contact the Admissions Office.

You have served as President during a unique period in the school’s history, namely the transition in Headmasters. What advice do you have for Dr. Tom Matthews? What direction do you hope the school will take in the future? Dr. Matthews is fortunate to inherit a school in a position where it is recognized as a great school in Canada. But there are opportunities for important improvements.

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For example, he will need to ensure that graduates are prepared to succeed in a world that is getting smaller and more competitive. It will become more and more important to be comfortable and succeed internationally in whatever careers that graduates choose. St. George’s can play a key role in preparing young men for this future.

The results of the Georgians Survey have been shared with the Old Boys community. What would you say are the immediate and long-term priorities for the Old Boys Association? In the short term, the Old Boys’ Association needs to improve its communication and engagement with Georgians both locally and with Georgians Chapters in major centres. The infrastructure of the Year Captains is also an important part of this mix.

However, it was interesting to see in the Georgians Survey results a strong desire among Georgians for more career mentorship and networking. There are many opportunities and program that the Georgians can put into place working with the school in this regard.

Long term, the Georgians priorities should be to focus on ensuring that deserving boys, regardless of economic background, have the opportunity to be educated at St. George’s School. This means we need to support a much larger endowment program so that scholarships and bursaries are readily available to such boys. After all, at its heart, St. George’s is a charitable institution founded on the great British public school traditions, where the goal is to provide the best education possible to boys of diverse backgrounds.

On a final note, I want to thank my Board of Directors for their support during my term as President and for all of their dedication and hard work which has made the Old Boys’ Association a success. I also want to thank Headmaster Nigel Toy, the senior administration of the school, and the Society Board Chairman, Rob Cruickshank, for their support of the Old Boys’ Association and of me personally. And finally, I would like to thank all of the Georgians who have shown support for the Old Boys’ Association, whether it be organizing events, making a donation to the school, or simply showing up to a Georgians or school event with the generous and open spirit that marks our great fraternity.

Where did you get the idea to start Urban Impact? I did not start Urban Impact, my wife Nicole did, so it’s her fault! I bought out her partner in 1992 when we had one truck and no employees. While she was still at UBC, she founded the company to prove that businesses could effectively recycle glass, metal, and plastic. She started it because she was passionate, not because she wanted to find a way to make a living.

What sets Urban Impact apart from other recycling or waste management companies? I think there are many things, but I will focus on two. The first is that we look at every transaction from the customer’s perspective and think, “Is this the best thing for them? Is this efficient? And, is this how I would want it done?” Ultimately the golden rule is a good one! Secondly, when we started we were so inexperienced that our solutions to problems were never bound by convention. We always looked at new and innovative ways to serve our customers because we did not know the conventional way, so we were just pragmatic. As we have become more sophisticated we still try to look for the best way rather than thinking that this is the way it has always been done.

IMPACTING yOur WOrlD

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Interview by: Bryan r. Ide '99

rod Nicolls '80 is the Co-Founder of urban Impact, a market-leading integrated recycling company, delivering sustainable waste management services including, paper recycling and cardboard recycling, through to total waste management solutions.

Georgian Profile

Why are you so passionate about recycling and sustainability? My mom always told me to leave a place in better condition than when you found it. The same applies for the environment. Seriously, though, I have my degree in economics and the concept of the efficient use of scarce resources really resonated with me. The best recycling make it less expensive to recycle waste than to throw it away. That is the ultimate sustainable value proposition and by being really clear on this, we’ve grown our company. I believe that recycling is a good, efficient business practice and we show customers the truth in that statement.

Why do you feel it’s important that we all become a little “greener” and how do you encourage others to make sustainability a regular part of their lives? It is a terrible cliché, but I have four kids and we have to look into the future and consider how our collective actions will impact their lives. The other thing is that it is so easy to act in a sustainable, responsible way. We all need to be intentional in our actions. The very notion of thinking about the downstream effect of your decisions makes for better decisions and, in a business sense, this can mean being more profitable and more productive by considering the total life-cycle costs of your decisions.

How do you walk your talk in your own personal life? Being green is constantly top of mind in our house. A small example is that our family of four kids and two adults generates less than one can of garbage per week. Once they are out of diapers, that will go way down—yes, we use disposable diapers, unbleached, chlorine-free, but still disposable. Two working parents can’t do it all and pragmatism beats the hell out of guilt. I carpool when possible (three to four days per week). One minor thing is that Nicole and I have a deal that you cannot use a disposable cup, ever. If you forget the refillable, you don’t get that take-out coffee!

You’ve been able to take your passion and build it into a highly successful company. How did you do so? We really believed that we had a better way to do things. We feel that if you look after the customer in the best way possible, that somehow it will work out to everyone’s advantage. I really love solving problems, creating new systems and techniques, and driving our industry to be efficient, conscientious, cost-effective, and honest. If you treat your customers, employees, suppliers, and even competitors with fairness and respect, it is amazing what you can achieve. I am lucky to have an equally passionate business partner in Nicole and we found a way to work together well. We divide responsibilities and stay out of each other’s “sandbox” so we are able to focus on more of the things we both love to do and we don’t have to do as much of the things we hate to do.

Do you have any advice for those looking to pursue their business dreams? What about any advice on building a successful venture? Have no fear. Believe in yourself, your ideas, and your own expertise. If you are crazy about something and think about it all the time, chances are you are an expert! Risk is a funny thing and if you are skilled and passionate, things that look risky to others are a sure thing for you. I would have liked to have started with some more capital, but the reality is that lack of capital makes you frugal and creative, both great entrepreneurial traits. Adopt this phrase as your mantra: Do it now, do it now, do it now!

Are there any lessons from your time at Saints that you apply in your everyday business? What impact did Saints have on your life? I was not what you call a model student, but Saints had a big impact on my life. Many of my closest friends to this day are from my time there. Honour and integrity are virtues that were ingrained in me at Saints. A high pain threshold from all the canings helped, too! Probably the most important lesson that has carried through is to believe in yourself. Somehow, I took away from Saints a real appetite for knowledge, an appreciation of serving others, and an ability to be sceptical of almost everything. It challenged me to become more independent and develop greater self-discipline to achieve difficult goals. I think healthy debate is something inherent in the culture of St. George’s and building a business requires a lot of healthy debates! The athletics and the emphasis on being a well-rounded person are also things that contributed to my development. I often use the analogy that a business team is like a rugby team where everyone has their specific role that arises out of their specific attributes, talents, and shortcomings; some players receive more glory, but that glory would not be possible without the supporting players contributing greatly.

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Rod and Nicole

When Isaias Garcia was hired as the Assistant Janitor for St. George’s in early 1957, those of us in Grade 12 suspected that his tenure would be a short one. Axel Mortenson, the school’s Janitor-in-Chief for many years, was an exacting taskmaster. Assistants hired to help him with the ever-increasing job of keeping the school clean and maintaining its frequent disintegrations had never come up to his exacting standards. Some lasted a month or two; others only a week. Isaias was slight, much younger than Axel, seemed hardly to know one end of a broom from the other, and spoke very little English and not a word of Swedish, Axel’s mother tongue. We gave him a few weeks at best.

But, somehow those two clicked. Isaias was a hard worker and a fast learner. He also had that certain ability to notice what needed to be done and to get on with it without having to be asked. He became a fixture in short order, though we never saw him as a “buddy” of Axel. Part of the problem was language. Axel was a taciturn chap who spoke only when he had to and Isaias couldn’t speak English.

Perhaps because his quarters were above the Prefect’s Common Room, he gradually turned to us for companionship. We were closer to his age than was Axel and we were drawn to someone we considered to be a worldly adult whom we didn’t have to call “sir”. Isaias was friendly and anxious to learn English. We accommodated him by teaching him a number of very inappropriate words and then providing him with innocent translations. His subsequent expletives to various staff members were naturally traced back to us, which led to a tongue-lashing from the Headmaster who stated that he “didn’t expect this from his prefects”.

Isaias had an excellent sense of humour and continued to be a fixture in our common room. We taught him more appropriate expressions, some current slang, and tried to get him to smoke as nearly all the rest of us did in those days. He refused to do so; nor would he explain to us the fine art of seduction which, at that point in our lives, seemed to be of vital importance. Perhaps language was a barrier here but it is more likely that Isaias was a gentleman and we had yet to aspire to that status.

In July 1959 he married Maria, the girl he left behind, in a most unconventional way as she couldn’t get to Canada and he couldn’t afford to go back to the Azores. They married by proxy with his brother standing in for the absent bride. Although both the wedding night and honeymoon defied convention, there is no doubt that the ceremony bonded the kindred spirits of Isaias and Maria, who shared their love for over half a century. When Axel graduated into retirement in 1967, Isaias moved into his position and retained it for the next 30 years.

As only 18 of us were in that Grade 12 class, we had become a pretty close-knit group. Although we all went our separate ways, we held a successful 20th reunion and then a 30th. We invited Isaias and Maria to both and they came back again to our 40th and 45th. By our 50th in 2007, Isaias was considered such a regular that we presented him with a plaque declaring him to be an Honourary Member of the Class of '57. He was kind enough not to use any of those first words we taught him in his acceptance speech.

We will miss him, and several others no doubt, if and when we meet again in 2017.

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On March 25, 2010, Isaias Garcia, who served in the Maintenance Department for over 40 years and was much loved by former students and staff, passed away. The following is a tribute from Chris Harker '57.

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A snapshot of the

GEOrGIANS SurvEy rESulTS

In November 2009, an alumni survey, which was designed in consultation with, and approved by a sub-committee of the Georgians Board of Directors was distributed to all Georgians,

either electronically or by regular mail. Reminder messages were distributed through early May 2010. In total, 834 Georgians completed the survey.

Of this group, 96% chose to identify themselves on their form.

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There were six main goals to this survey:

1. To evaluate the school’s performance in terms of connection, participation, giving, and satisfaction of the Georgians.

2. To develop a detailed and quantitative understanding of the Georgians, including their attitudes about past student experiences, perceptions of the school today, demographic background, and philanthropic patterns and motivations.

3. To determine the needs and interests of the Georgians with respect to the school.4. To help the school design better and tailor-made programs, services, and

communications targeted to the different constituency groups within the Georgians community.

5. To determine key factors that drive involvement and perceptions about reputation and giving, and to devise ways to track them on a personalized basis from within the database.

6. To better understand the feasibility of particular fundraising programs prior to their launch.

The results of this survey will be used by the school and the Georgians Board of Directors as they consider future directions from various perspectives, including mission-related, strategic, and (for those 800 participants who identified themselves) ongoing customization.

A complete Executive Summary of the Georgians Survey will be posted on the Georgians section of the school’s website.

What follows is an abbreviated version of this document.

A snapshot of the

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5 1

Highest lowest

HIGHlIGHTS OF THE SuRvEy RESulTS (Where references are made to a measurement scale, the scale is a five-point scale:

• Total number of surveys completed: 834• Overall satisfaction with the St. George’s student

experience: 4.4• Highest rated programs: academic program at 4.5

followed closely by the athletic program at 4.3.• Respondents who agreed with the statement “I found

my years at St. George’s transformational.” outnumbered those who disagreed by a ratio of 15.9 to 1.

• 88.4% reported that there were faculty, staff, coaches and/or administrators who were strongly favourable in their influence on the St. George’s student experience.

• Overall satisfaction in the relationship with St. George’s as an alumnus was 3.2.

• Georgians who agreed with the statement “St. George’s today is an excellent educational institution.” outnumbered those who disagreed by a ratio of 39.1 to 1.

• Asked to assign levels of priority to where St. George’s should be placing its emphasis, respondents rated stronger leadership programs and opportunities and a stronger academic program the highest.

• Respondents who agreed with the statement “I look forward to receiving and reading The Dragon magazine” outnumbered those who disagreed by a ratio of 8.8 to 1.

• Among Georgian events, Remembrance Day received the highest satisfaction rating at 3.9 followed by the Annual Fair at 3.8.

• Of potential alumni programs described, an online Georgians business directory received the highest rating and interest at 3.3.

• Of Georgians who have volunteered at the school in the past five years, they rated their overall satisfaction with the experience at 4.2.

• In terms of personal philanthropic priorities, 43.9 % of Georgians indicated Education as their highest.

• In terms of where the school should be using its gifts, respondents rated Financial Assistance at the top of their list.

SOME kEy RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE SuRvEy AND ANAlySIS 01. The school should encourage the mentor role played

by Georgians within the St. George’s community. The positive impacts of this key relationship for students, as reflected in this survey, are profound.

02. The school should undertake to ensure that every student has and takes the opportunity to enthusiastically engage in extracurricular activities.

03. Efforts designed in hopes of raising reported overall satisfaction with the Georgian experience should be undertaken while understanding that the strongest of influences has already played its role before graduation.

04. The school’s Georgian Relations function should enhance programs targeted to smooth the transition for current and future students into their new roles as Georgians, so as to minimize the drift away from the school on point of graduation.

05. Efforts to broaden interest for Old Boys should begin with initiatives to reconnect with those Georgians who, while they were highly satisfied with the student experience, report that they now feel somewhat disconnected from the School.

06. The school should advance efforts to connect with Georgians online and to enable them to connect with each other online.

07. The school should enhance opportunities for career networking and for Old Boys to act as mentors to each other. Interest in such programs is high.

08. The school should explore opportunities to involve as volunteers those Georgians living outside the Greater Vancouver area.

09. The school should advance efforts to grow Georgians’ participation as donors at St. George’s. Participation is well below average among measured schools, as is the frequency of recent donations.

10. The school should actively pursue growth in Georgians donations in support of needs-based financial assistance for students. More than one-third of respondents indicated interest in supporting this program.

11. The school should actively pursue a planned giving program.

12. The school should undertake to improve its communication with Georgians to foster understanding of how their gifts are used.

13. Aside from academic preparation, the school should take care to include in promotional literature references to its success in: rounded preparation for life; the development of leadership skills; and education in character and values.

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Please support this year’s Georgian Annual Fund. your donation will change a boy’s life.

IT’S NOT ABOuT BuIlDINGS Or FACIlITIES... IT’S NOT ABOuT ACADEMIC Or ATHlETIC PrOGrAMS… IT’S NOT ABOuT TExTBOOKS, EquIPMENT, Or SuPPlIES…

Please support this year’s Georgian Annual Fund. Your donation will change a boy’s life.

It’s about investing in talent and ensuring that any boy who has what it takes can benefit from the same experience that you had a St. George’s, regardless of his family’s financial situation.

Your donations will be used to provide financial assistance to talented boys, including the sons of Georgians, who otherwise could not afford a St. George’s education…or you may designate another fund to support.

To make your donation online, please visit: www.stgeorges.bc.ca/onlinegiving

It’s about deserving boys.

HONOurINGOur vEry

Please support this year’s Georgian Annual Fund. your donation will change a boy’s life.

IT’S NOT ABOuT BuIlDINGS Or FACIlITIES... IT’S NOT ABOuT ACADEMIC Or ATHlETIC PrOGrAMS… IT’S NOT ABOuT TExTBOOKS, EquIPMENT, Or SuPPlIES…

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St. George’s School and its alumni association, The Georgians, are proud to present this year’s recipients of The Georgian Honours. With 6,000 alumni in more than 40 countries, many Georgians are recognized for their outstanding achievements and are celebrated for their positive contributions to society. These extraordinary men exemplify the spirit of St. George’s: honour, integrity, and commitment.

HONOurINGOur vEryBEST

Interviews by: Bryan r. Ide '99

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JAKE KErr ‘61CAPTAIN OF INDuSTry AND PHIlANTHrOPIST

2010 rECIPIENT OF THE GEOrGIAN lIFETIME ACHIEvEMENT AWArD

Jake Kerr, C.M., O.B.C., LL.D., is one of Canada’s most distinguished citizens. In addition to serving on various corporate boards, he is the Managing Partner of Lignum Forest Products LLP. A very strong supporter of the arts, he was appointed the founding Chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art + Design. He is the co-owner and Managing Director of Vancouver Professional Baseball LLP.

You have been recognized for making significant contributions to the province and to the country. What would you say is your greatest accomplishment? Personally, my greatest accomplishment is my family—especially my five grown children and four grandchildren, of whom I am very proud.

From a business standpoint, I am pleased to have built a successful company in the forest products business over a period of 40 years. The operations of Lignum were recognized as both efficient and a great place to work and I felt very gratified at the success both of the company and its employees.

From a professional standpoint, my greatest accomplishment, I believe, was leading Canada’s negotiation of the Softwood Lumber Agreement of 1996 which brought peace to a trade dispute that had gone on for over 100 years. I am also proud of the work we did with First Nations in the Cariboo in initiating a number of very successful joint ventures that were unique at the time and have in many cases prospered.

You have volunteered your time and energy for numerous organizations including the Vancouver Foundation, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and Business for the Arts. Why is giving back to the community important to you?

I believe that we all have a responsibility to give back to the community in which we live. It goes back to my early school training and has always been part of my general approach.

I have been interested in the arts since I was a young man and have tended to gravitate toward arts-related charities, as I believe the arts are integral to a vibrant community.

I joined the Vancouver Foundation many years ago because I think the type of philanthropy they practise across a broad spectrum of interests is very valuable. The Vancouver Foundation’s attention to the issues of the moment, such as homelessness, really does make a difference in our everyday lives. The bottom line is you get a great deal of satisfaction in giving back and the feeling you are helping your fellow citizens.

As an avid art collector and supporter of the arts, what future do you see for the growth of the arts in Vancouver?

I believe the future of the arts in Vancouver is terrific. The arts are a critical part of the make-up of our city and deserve to be supported, not only by government but by the individual. We are fortunate to have world-class symphony, opera, and theatre in our city. Our venues have been, and are being updated, and the calibre of talent is unsurpassed.

Vancouver has been a hotbed for young artists for many decades and I believe the construction of a new campus for

Emily Carr University will serve as a centre-pin for the arts for decades to come. In addition, I am convinced that the current debate over the Vancouver Art Gallery is healthy and will lead to a solution in the best interests of both the VAG and the community.

How do you find the time to run successful businesses, volunteer for various causes, pursue your passion for the arts, and be a family man?

The answer to how to find time is very simple: surround yourself with highly competent people, have a clear understanding of what they are to do, and get out of the way and let them do it.

Having a variety of interests, I believe, keeps you young and keeps your mind active. I also believe that I made a mistake in being too busy with my business when my children were young and I have tried to rectify that in later days.

If I had any advice on the subject, I would say try to take time to enjoy life and have plenty of interests early in your career.

What role did St. George’s play in your career development?

St. George’s instilled basic values which have served me throughout life. From teaching honesty and hard work, to community service and sports, St. George’s in my era sought to produce a well-rounded young man and does an even better job of it today.

What advice would you like to share with those Georgians who are developing in their careers and personal lives?

My advice would be fairly simple—be your own man. Have the courage to take risks and make mistakes and whatever you do, have patience and persistence. Remember as you are getting involved in your career that family comes first and community service always matters.

Your family has had a long connection with St. George’s. Your brother and son graduated from Saints. Now, you have two grandsons at the school. How have you seen the school grow since your own time at Saints? In which direction would you like to see the school go?

The St. George’s of today bears little or no resemblance to that of the 1950s. While the traditions of the old school have never been lost, modern-day education is a great deal more comprehensive and fulfilling than it was 50 years ago. I have seen the school grow from a bunch of old houses on 29th Avenue to the modern institution it is today. I was proud to know my great friend Alan Brown '54 when I was a Director and he was Headmaster. He, along with Nigel Toy, is uniquely responsible for the school’s great success over the last many years.

I enjoyed seeing my son graduate and am equally impressed by the development of my two grandsons.

In my view, St. George’s needs to keep instilling the values and traditions of the past while integrating the best of modern-day education.

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JAKE KErr ‘61

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2010 rECIPIENT OF THE DISTINGuISHED GEOrGIAN AWArD

DON BrENNEr ‘62

EMINENT JurIST

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The Honourable Donald Brenner, Q.C., recently retired as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Throughout his tenure, he strove to improve the Court’s efficiency and effectiveness with a view to improving access to justice. After retiring from the bench, he joined the law firm of Farris Vaughan Wills & Murphy LLP. He also set up his own mediation and arbitration practice.

Prior to your law career, you were a commercial pilot. What motivated you to make the jump from the airline industry to law?

My interests in flying and law actually developed together. I started flying lessons shortly after my 16th birthday. At the same time, I was taking Law 93 (as it was then called) in Grade 12 at St. George’s. I fell in love with flying from the start, but by the end of Law 93 I decided that I would pursue a career in law. From then on, I pursued both interests with the hope of somehow combining them. As it turned out, I was fortunate enough to succeed: my law practice became almost solely devoted to aviation law.

You were licensed as a private pilot on your 17th birthday and as a commercial pilot on your 18th. You were also qualified as a helicopter pilot. You were, for a time, the youngest pilot in the country. From where did your passion for flying come?

My father was a decorated World War II coastal command pilot in the RCAF; my mother was a code and cipher officer in the RAF. From them, I developed a passion for aviation at a very young age.

What would you say was your greatest accomplishment while you were on the bench?

I am very proud of both the internal and external changes that, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of BC, I was able to bring about with the support of the judges, lawyers, and court support staff. Internally, judicial administration was completely overhauled so that the personnel and structure better matched the needs of both the organization and the public the court serves. Our court’s case backlog was eliminated. Externally, we made groundbreaking changes in the areas of family and civil law that improved access to the courts.

What were the most significant changes to the judiciary that you witnessed during your time as a judge? What changes, if any, do you think are necessary for the judiciary to improve its function?

I would say the most significant change I witnessed was the increased development and use of information technology. Our court has long been a leader among courts in Canada in the use of technology. During my tenure as Chief Justice, the court became largely paperless. We also developed internally a unique trial scheduling system that allowed us to more effectively assign cases and to eliminate the backlog.

The challenge for courts going forward will be to keep up their pace of technological leadership so the full benefit of

technological advances can be harnessed for the benefit of the people the court serves.

From your viewpoint, how is the legal profession changing and how is it meeting the needs of the 21st Century?

Having been a judge for the last 17 years, and having been back in the profession for only a year, I am probably not the best person to answer this rather large question. But, let me try. For centuries, the fundamental task of the legal profession has always been to help people with their legal problems. Whether it is an impoverished tenant facing eviction at month end or a CEO of a large corporation facing a hostile takeover, the role of the lawyer is the same: to analyze the facts, apply the law, and ultimately to exercise judgment to try to solve the client’s problem. That role will always remain the same; the change lies in how the legal profession executes its role. The profession must always be ready to adopt new processes and engage new ideas that will allow it to better serve the public. I know the many members of the bar with whom I am now working are doing this every day. In our new world of the internet and time compression, the bar’s challenge will be to continue to change and adapt in a timely manner. The public will demand, and indeed the public deserves, no less.

What role has St. George’s played in your life and what does it mean to you to be a Georgian?

I believe that, generally, it can be said that while teachers teach, it is parents who educate. St George’s is an exception. While my parents were influential educators for me, what I learned in my time from Grade 2 to Grade 12 at Saints also had a profound influence. At St. George’s I learned the value of scholarship, discipline, and sportsmanship, as well as the value of working together with classmates and teammates. I can recall being encouraged to set high goals and to work hard to achieve them. Simply put, I remember being inculcated with the belief that anything was possible with sufficient planning, dedication, and old-fashioned hard work. So for me, being a Georgian means belonging to a very fortunate group who were lucky enough to have experienced a St. George’s education.

Now that you have retired from the bench, what plans do you have?

One week after my retirement from the bench I started my new company Brenner ADR. (www.brenneradr.com). It offers mediation and arbitration services, principally in large commercial and corporate disputes. I also accepted a position as Senior Counsel at Farris and Company, one of Vancouver’s leading corporate and commercial law firms.

While I am keeping busy with these new ventures, I also intend to continue to devote some of my time to community service. As I said in my address to the Saints’ graduating class a few years ago, we were schooled in the belief that “to those to whom much is given, much is expected; indeed, to those to whom much is given much is demanded.” I intend to continue to do my part.

DON BrENNEr ‘62

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Donovan Tildesley captured the world’s attention as Canada’s flag bearer at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. He is also an accomplished swimmer who has traveled the world extensively. He has swum in many provincial and national competitions, setting many Canadian records. Donovan is also the world record holder in both the 800 m and 1500 m freestyle.

In addition to being a full-time insurance broker, you are an inspirational speaker. What are the key messages that you usually share with your audiences?

My goal as a speaker is to inspire my audiences to step out of their comfort zones so that they can obtain success and find a sense of fulfillment by following their dreams, achieving their goals, and living their passions. I see speaking as a form of storytelling. When I get up on stage, whether I’m speaking to elementary school kids or businesspeople, I feel that I connect with my audiences through the personal stories I share with them. Whether it is my account of making the Canadian Paralympic team at the age of 16, or my recent foray into the insurance industry, I use these stories to illustrate what one can do if they set their mind on achieving a sought-after accomplishment.

In addition to your love of swimming and skiing, you have a passion for radio. In fact, you are a part owner 88.7

Whistler FM. How did you discover your passion for radio and what about it do you find exciting?

I was five years old, and my dad turned me onto the morning DJ at the time on CISL 650, Don Percy. I recall one day asking my dad how I could get on the radio. “There are two ways,” he told me. “You can either go down to the radio station, or phone up and get on that way.” Well, later that afternoon, my dad got a call from me, and I proceeded to play him a recording I had made earlier that morning of Don Percy and me talking on the radio! I continued to call into the station, and after Don invited me in to co-host for an hour with him later that summer, I had made up my mind that one day I would be a disc jockey! I guess there are three things I love about radio. First is the personality aspect. Growing up, I was always enamored by these larger-than-life voices coming out of my radio speakers. What they were doing sounded effortless to me, and like it would be a lot of fun to do. “I could sound like that,” I would say to myself. Radio also possesses a certain theatre of the mind. Unlike television, there’s a lot more on the radio which is left up to the imagination. (If you listen to any old-time radio dramas from the 30s and 40s you’ll know what I mean). Finally, I love the timing and precision. When a DJ drops a punch line at just the right moment before going to a commercial, or stops talking just as the first vocals of a song are about to be sung, I find myself getting goosebumps from the raw energy and pure perfection!

2010 rECIPIENT OF THE yOuNG GEOrGIAN AWArD

DONOvAN TIlDESlEy ‘02

PArAlyMPIAN ATHlETE

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What would you say were the greatest challenges that you had to overcome during your years of athletic competition?

My greatest nemesis was always my mind. There were times when I was physically ready to perform well: was in perfect shape, had done the work in practice, and was fully capable of swimming a projected time. But, whenever any doubts crept in, or I was too focused on the outcome of the race, I would underperform. I faced these challenges time and time again. But eventually, I began to recognize these mental “demons” for what they were, and with visualization and mental skills training, I was able for the most part to conquer them. And boy, did it ever feel fulfilling when I was able to climb over those mental walls!

You are a world-record holder and have won numerous championships. To what do you attribute your success?

While I was the one who ultimately did the work (training, racing, etc.), I wouldn’t have been able to get where I am today without the support of my family. My dad was my coach for nine years, my mom would regularly run my swim practices, and my younger siblings were often called upon to tap (protect my head from hitting the wall). Sure, I was the one with the strong work ethic and a drive to succeed, but I sincerely doubt I would have come as far as I have without that family support.

In your opinion, are there any lessons that one can learn from not winning? If so, what are they?

The most important thing one can learn from not winning is flexibility. More specifically, the ability to analyze the reasons for the poor performance, and a willingness to try something new. I faced this adversity during the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. Coming into these Games, I was the gold-medal hopeful in several of my events. However, when all was said and done, I came away with two silver medals, one bronze, and only one out of six personal best times. The problem was tension. In the year leading up to the Games, a great deal of pressure was put on me to win. Despite the good intentions of my coaches and family, I let the pressure affect me in a negative way. I felt as if I was being transformed into a swimming machine whose main purpose in life was to swim fast and win medals. I became too focused on the outcome of my races as opposed to the process, and that anxiety caused me to tense up and over-think my swimming. I was at a point in my career where I was almost ready to hang up the Speedos for good! Instead, I took a few months off after the Games to rejuvenate myself, and came back to the sport with a newfound resolve and a more holistic mentality. I would continue to swim, but only so long as swimming would not adversely affect other aspects of my life. Everyone around me supported my decision. As a result, I seriously pursued downhill skiing, joined a fraternity at UBC, and developed my skills as a public speaker. Rather than detracting from my focus in the water, these “distractions” served to enhance my performance, and I was able to achieve incredible successes. It just goes to show how one small change can make a world of difference.

After the Beijing Games, you indicated that you were considering retiring from your swimming career. However, this summer, you competed at the World Championships in the Netherlands where you won a silver medal. Does this mean that you won’t be retiring just yet?

I wish I could give a definitive answer to this question. The Worlds this past summer showed me that I still have a lot more left in me as a competitive swimmer. However, I’m at a point in my life where I need to make a change. My goal in 2011 is to attend the Colorado Center for the Blind. It is located in the town of Littleton, Colorado, and provides blind adults with intensive training on skills such as Braille, cane travel, and cooking. (In order to “graduate” from the center you need to cook a meal for 50 people!) I feel that attending this program is the logical next step for me in my development as a blind adult. If I can continue to train while living there, great! But if I find this isn’t possible, then I’ll have to walk away from the sport with my head held high. I still love swimming, but there are times in life when sacrifices must be made.

What are your fondest memories of your time as a student at St. George’s?

There are almost too many to remember, but three in particular stand out for me.

1. Our Grade 9 trip to Strathcona. The six of us (Bo Meng, Leonard Juatco, Cyrus Chee, Evan Phillips, Chris Cheng, and I) were an incredibly cohesive group, who really bonded over that week. We shared many stories, laughs, and some incredible singing (thanks in particular to Bo and the musical phenom known as Leonard Juatco).

2. Modern Literature 12 with the late Robin Baker. The man was an incredible teacher who opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking about literature. I would look forward to each class, knowing that I would come away with a new nugget of knowledge every single day. It was quite a blow to lose him to cancer the following year.

3. My Graduation Ceremony in 2002. I was both shocked and humbled to receive a standing ovation as I walked across the stage. It made me feel proud to be a part of such a supportive and amazing community as St. George’s.

What does it mean to you to be a Georgian?

I feel blessed to be a part of such a dynamic community as St. George’s. Whenever I meet a fellow Georgian, whether it is in a social or a business setting, I know that we share certain commonalities. Whether it is teachers we both had, memories of old school traditions, or simply a shared value system, this common ground is what binds us together as Georgians. We may come from differing family or cultural backgrounds, but despite all this, we both belong to the same “family”: St. George’s School!

DONOvAN TIlDESlEy ‘02

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Into Knight Inlet

An Epic Journey 39 years in the MakingBy: Alistair Palmer '71

1971 was an incredible time to be graduating. It was the last year of Douglas Harker’s tenure as Headmaster. We had been influenced by the rebel sixties, the Beatles, a man on the moon, the

Vietnam War, the peace movement and the Cultural Revolution. As young impressionable minds gaining our independence and breaking into the seventies, we were destined for great things. The world was our oyster.

Fast forward to 2010. Thirty-nine years later, a gathering of aging classmates managed to turn that oyster into our own West Coast backyard. Picture nine middle-aged guys on a nine-day boat cruise north of Desolation Sound on a refitted sixty-seven foot ex-seine boat. Enter Captain John Dolmage and his five-year labour of love, the Cape Ross (www.capeross.com). We put our faith in the man who has made his living as an independent tug boat operator and mariner sea captain plying the waters of our rugged West Coast since graduation. He promised us great surprises. We signed on and he delivered.

Our motley crew was comprised of : Captain John Dolmage (Campbell River), Jim Hamilton (Calgary), John Hislop, Tom Jennings (100 Mile House), Rob Maitland (Powell River), George Peat (UK and Pt. Roberts, USA), Mike Schoen, Ross Waters, and myself, Alistair Palmer.

Georgian Story

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We came aboard at various points, but by Saturday morning, August 7, 2010 at Sharpe’s Bay, just a few clicks north of Savary Island, the last three flew in on Saltspring Air (in which George has a partial stake). After taking a tour of his latest investment in a recreational development project (www.sharpesbay.com), we commenced our journey north.

SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS… Native pictographs: Captain John knew where to go and he took us in close on several occasions. Often visible from the water in tough to get at locations (as in under granite cliff overhangs), we saw a big red hand with a sun in the centre, fish, a two-masted sailing ship, an anchor, a wagon wheel and other symbols etched in orangey red.

Arran Rapids: An eye opener. It was amazing to experience up close just how powerful such a massive amount of moving water can be. It’s so unpredictable. Cruising through it evoked a feeling of mysterious excitement coupled with a sense of insignificance and vulnerability. Even at slack tide, whirlpools opened up unexpectedly or just glided by. It was as if we were skating on a smooth marbled surface interrupted by upsurges and conflicting water directions. It was early morning and as the mist lifted, it revealed the emerald-forested mountainsides of the nearby islands.

Fresh prawns, crabs, and oysters: We only hit the motherloade for crabs once, and that was quite the feast. Prawns however, were everywhere and we never had a shortage. Ross had been very successful snorkeling for

Into Knight Inlet

An Epic Journey 39 years in the MakingBy: Alistair Palmer '71

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oysters. We all took turns assisting John in the daily routine of hauling anchor while directing the chain onto its drum. Everyone chipped in without having to be asked and we rapidly became one big happy family.

Fish Farms: We got a grand tour of two. at Chancellor Channel and also Shaw Point. One of them was massive, likely larger than three football fields with dozens of fish pens capable of holding 25,000 Atlantic salmon per pen. We had everything explained to us on what, how, and when they got fed, their life cycles, predators, disease dangers, working hours, the feed pellets…and on it went. Reminiscent of a biology field trip, it was mind-boggling to learn first-hand how large and refined an industry it really is.

Topaz Inlet and Haydon Lake: An anchor spot and daytime excursion. It took two separate shore parties to find the right trail to the lake from an old logging road. The use of air horns helped to warn grizzlies that we were approaching. Haydon Lake is renowned for its exposure to exceptionally wicked winds, which was so evident in the endless light grey bleached cedar driftwood all piled up on its shoreline. It’s known for the rare anomaly of softball-sized cedar balls created by wind devils, but we failed to find any.

Grizzlies at Glendale Cover: We anchored here overnight. In the late evening we watched grizzlies wandering the delta-like estuary appearing as large silhouettes against the yellowing grasslands they combed. The next morning I took my shore boat, the Nelson Ranger and two loads of our crew up close to a mother sow and her three cubs foraging on the shoreline, peeling back large rocks with incredible ease, in search of small crabs and eels. My first-ever encounter of grizzlies in the wild, and I got us within 100 feet—with my engine ready for full reverse. With wildlife eco-tourists ever present in special boats, it added to our privileged moments.

Knight Inlet: Without a doubt, the highlight of the journey none of us will ever forget. It was the epitome of raw wilderness framed by the splendid grandeur of towering mountains in all directions. It was evident where annual washouts occurred as they carved lines amongst the ribbon bands of evergreens. From Glendale Cove to the end and back, we were the lone mariners to forge into this majestic fjord. The water evolved into a glacial turquoise as we advanced further inland. Knight Inlet is fed by the run-off from the heavy snow packs surrounding it and by the Klinaklini Glacier 30+ kilometres beyond the head of the inlet.

We anchored near the mouth of several tributaries spread out over a very wide plain-like estuary. The dropping tide revealed the skeletal remains of many craggy and eerie

tree stumps in what could have been construed as a log cemetery.

Captain John was good friends with the owner of the nearby logging operation so we went ashore. This involved a precarious balancing walk on the slippery chained-linked logs surrounding the booming grounds. The low tide exposed so much silt-like grey mud, falling in could have been humiliating. We hiked almost four kilometres to the main camp that featured a long veranda-styled bunkhouse, cookhouse, mechanic shop, communications room, storage sheds, and a fueling station, with massive logging machinery everywhere. We had seen the owner’s Beaver float plane come in earlier and he decreed to his Operations Manager that we be given two vehicles, radios, and any needed supplies to venture up into the mountains in search of the Klinaklini Glacier. Game on!

We returned to the Cape Ross for a great feast of fresh oysters, prawns, barbequed pork tenderloins, and salad. The next morning was cool and misty, but it lifted before noon. At the camp we had a debriefing, signed liability waivers, sampled some fresh baking, got a logging map, then paired off into a van and a beat up old crew cab pick-up. We radioed our positions repeatedly to warn logging trucks of our presence. Jim was driving the truck I was in and, on such rough roads, the adrenalin thrill was better than a Disney ride. At one point, we came barreling around a corner and about 150 feet in front of us, a grizzly sow and her two cubs bolted into full pace, successfully keeping their distance before finally veering off into the bushes. We were doing at least 40 miles an hour! Black grizzly scat piles were littered all along the roads as we drove deeper into the valley.

We stopped to check out an active logging site with heavy machinery and stockpiles of limbed logs. The smell of fresh timber was in the air. On a small bridge, we watched salmon taking their positions in shallow waters with fresh grizzly tracks in the muddy riverbank. From another small bridge, we witnessed two rivers colliding. One was that turquoise colour and the other a light brown silt and they merged into a more forceful river. We also crossed what was called the “million-dollar bridge” built back in the ’50s to span the Klinaklini River and allow logging access into the lucrative timber areas.

I almost bit my tongue off a few times when hitting the cab roof with Jim’s “damn the torpedoes” driving style, but even he bowed to a deep cross ditch that halted our ascension into the transforming alpine meadows. We abandoned the two vehicles and went on foot.

Another kilometre or two higher and we reached a great vantage point to peer down into a valley where the

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Klinaklini Glacier was melting and the river appeared to begin. It was a spectacular sight and worth this epic journey. We’d been told that another hundred or so clicks further and we’d be approaching Williams Lake! Upon our return, we took a detour in search of Heather Lake where we went for a skinny dip. It was very rewarding as the valley had no breeze and the towering granite cliffs deflected the afternoon sun like a giant microwave.

Minstrel Island and Bones Bay: This was a reminiscent trip for Captain John. He had worked and lived within earshot of an old cannery, but the buildings were all gone except for the remnants of the house in which he had bunked. A rusty old boiler, laden with barnacles, was evidence of the fish-canning business but all that remained of the cannery itself was the checkerboard of old pylons reduced to two-foot stumps poking out of the slimy mud at low tide.

Village Island: We anchored close by, surrounded by many small islands. It was a glorious day so we toured the abandoned native village of Mamalilacula. What a feeling to be stepping onto a white clam-shelled beach. The trails were overgrown with berry-laden brambles while fresh bear scat was everywhere. We found the original log header and front door posts of a longhouse and proceeded to find a fallen totem pole that featured an otter. The village had been abandoned back in the early ’70s.

After the village outing, Tom and I went kayaking for our very first time. We got hooked! We both used our canoeing skills that saw us navigate the Bowron Lakes two summers previous. Captain John and Ross went scuba diving while the early evening rendered a tranquil sunset on dead calm waters. The clear black sky became littered with stars. I used George’s Star Finder that employed GPS and trigonometry to identify stars. It offered a digital explanation of the star, its history, size, and distance away, etc. The growth of technology since our graduation has been astounding. Life before cell

phones, GPS, computers, calculators, fax machines, email, internet, microwaves, video recorders, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, 3D TV, digital cameras and so on… It’s enough to make us feel ancient or perhaps to our kids… like dinosaurs.

Several of us had whined to Captain John that we hadn’t seen any whales or larger marine life, and he confidently said, “When we entered Johnstone

Strait, we’ll see whales just out front.” True to his word we spotted a surfacing

humpback whale, then ten minutes later we spotted about ten stellar sea lions frolicking in the rip tides. Watching from the flying bridge was awesome stuff. We could see them tunneling through the crystal clear waters like torpedoes before they surfaced with a snorting sound.

Johnstone Strait: Was a far more lively cruise. We were closer to civilization and there were numerous boats fishing the salmon-laden waters. We were harassed by a young marine park warden claiming we were inside the boundaries of the sacred Robson Bight—famous for its whales—but Captain John confirmed our position and we brushed him off.

Shortly thereafter, we encountered several orcas. We watched them pass by our bow, gracefully carving the waters with their dorsal fins and smooth heads. Salmon were jumping everywhere. It was crazy. Kayakers were evident on the picturesque beaches or out paddling the waters as we made our way toward what was once Ripple Rock. It is the site of the largest post-atomic blast; it was blown to smithereens for navigational safety back in the 50s. The sun was setting as we approached Campbell River.

The only bad thing about our Cape Ross trip was that it ended. The spirit in which we came together and bonded is a testament to our camaraderie and our generation. All the macho rebel bravado of youth had been put to good use when we were naive enough to use it.We are wiser and mellower men, having survived our mid-life crises and now looking to find more meaning in our lives. And just when we thought we’d seen it all…this epic journey reminded us that there’s still much more to life and friendships to experience.

As the logging manager said to us in disbelief, “It’s so incredible that all you guys came from the same school…and from the same graduating class! Seriously…Putting a trip of this magnitude together to come here, of all places…It’s unbelievable!!” He was right.

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1. In May 2010, more than 20 Georgians attended the New York Chapter dinner. The dinner was graciously hosted by Charles Foster ’80.

2. At the inaugural New York Chapter dinner, members were presented with a Georgians pennant by Georgians President Scott lamb ’79 (second from the right). Charles Foster ’80 (right), is the newly-designated President of the New York Chapter.

3. The Hong Kong Chapter holding a Georgian pennant. Simon Hui '99 (far right), is the President of the Hong Kong Chapter.

4. The Class of 2000.

5. The Class of 1990.

6. The Class of 1960 was celebrating its 50-year Reunion.

7. The Class of 1975.

8. During a dinner hosted by the Headmaster for those Georgians celebrating their 50-year Reunion and beyond, a number of guests browsed through old school photos.

9. The Class of 1960 was invited to a special dinner hosted by the Headmaster to celebrate its 50-year Reunion.

10. The Class of 1970.

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1936

Noel (Bachee) Parker-Jervis, one of the first students to enroll at St. George’s in 1931, will celebrate his 90th birthday on Christmas Day. He now lives in Victoria with his wife Betty. Although he had to give up playing badminton about two years ago, he still walks to nearby UVic and undertakes research there, annotating the personal papers of the British Poet laureate Sir John Betjeman. Bachee, who taught at St. George’s in the late ’50s, is brother of the infamous “PJ” of mathematical fame, half-brother of Chris Harker ’57 and step-son of John Harker, (Headmaster from1931 to1962).

1948

Roger Sweeny writes, “At this beginning of the reign of Tom Matthews, here’s a distant voice to remember with you that we got into plenty of mischief and had a lot of fun in those long-ago days of Mrs. Royston, Miss Jacobs, Wally Pringle, Peter MacDonnell, Chuck Connor, Nip, Polly Parrott, Mort, Bones, the Evacuees, air raid shelters in the bush up by Topside, the Cane, the Mills Bros., Cappy “Someone Take Charge!” Robinson, and most specially John Harker, whose tough love for all of us (in tough times), and whose high expectations for each one of us, established

the form and flavour of the struggling young school and set St. George’s so its firmly on course toward today. He brought my brother home from RMC Kingston as a Christmas surprise in ‘36; he expelled me for working on the Barnston dykes (Fraser flood ‘48) instead of cramming for my matrics; then took me back in time to write them. Now here I am, ‘near ‘80 not out’ (Cappy’s words), naval career far astern; of precious little consequence, but nonetheless. Thanks, be, fit, active, happy and ever conscious of my many blessings. I wish the same to you.”

1962

After more than 30 years at Canaccord Genuity and 41 years with a job, Ward McMahon is retiring, effective October 31, 2010. He doesn’t know how he will acclimatize, but golf in Palm Desert is high on the list of to-dos.

1964

Bill Norris, who until recently was at Trinity Western University, has now set up his own HR advising/consulting services practice. They downsized from a large home in langley and moved to Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast in June. He also completed a five-year part-time course of study,

earning a graduate studies diploma from TRW. life moves on!!

1971

John Dolmage writes that last October, three St. George’s grads gave evidence at the same trial in the B.C. Supreme Court in Campbell River: Mark MacCalister '69, John Dolmage '71, and Andy Allen '76. The lawyer for the defence also had his two boys enrolled at the school. A new venue for a reunion—we all knew it was bound to happen!

Malcolm Mclaren reports that he is still active in the art world, mostly painting these days. Next year’s projects involve new instruments—mostly strings, and it is hoped that strong collaborative efforts will avoid reinventing a banjo. He finds employment at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Some recent press can be found in the Weekly Volcano and the Tacoma Tribune.

1977

John Clarke and his new wife, Gail, recently honeymooned in Croatia for three weeks. John continues to work for Bank of Montreal and is currently leading the Small Business Commercial Banking team on Vancouver Island.

1979

Brendan Flynn writes that he is still alive and kicking in Perth, Western Australia. No change of job, marriage status, or number of young ‘uns.

1981

Gordon Clark was appointed in May 2010 as the Editor for editorial pages of The Province, where he writes editorials and a weekly column. His wife Patti, a criminal defence lawyer working primarily with mentally ill offenders, and he have two sons, Hamish and Isaac.

Greg Clark and his wife, Christina, reside near the beach in White Rock with their four children. Their eldest is graduating from high school this year and their youngest is in Grade 2. A busy family! Greg practices law as general counsel for growing companies in various industries including real estate development, the beverage industry, sports and entertainment, aviation, and international business. Greg is also a licensed real estate professional with Sea to Sky Premier Properties, Christie’s Great Estates, West Vancouver office. He markets luxury residential properties and businesses, as well as golf courses and resort properties.

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Colin laker is a Dash-8 Captain (pilot) working primarily overseas in such places as Kenya, Uganda, DRC-Congo, Nigeria, Spain, and currently in Kazakhstan. He first went to Africa in 2006 to work for a company involved in the WFP, UN, and the European Commission. Originally based in Goma, DRC-Congo providing support for a number of non-government-organizations, after a short time he secured a contract in Nigeria which lastedjust over two years. Currently, he is working in Kazakhstan, providing training for local first officers and helping to streamline a start-up charter operation for a large oil conglomerate. Colin met his wife Mamick Bachidere while working in DRC-Congo. They were married on June 5, 2008 in the Congo Embassy in the capital of Nigeria; Abuja. In December 2009, they moved back to Canada and are now living in Kitsilano.

1983

David Black completed his llB (Hons.) in England. He has switched from drums to guitar.

1984

Roland Brand completed a BEd at UBC in 2008, and has recently returned from a year of teaching at a BC high school in China, which he found to be a very interesting experience. His son, George, will be turning 13 this fall and has entered Grade 8 in French Immersion.

1986

Graham Barron graduated with a Masters of Architecture degree from UBC and recently started his own design firm. He was married in August 2009, and he and his wife are expecting their first child, a boy, in November 2010.

Roger Brown has been living in Sydney, Australia for the last 12 years. He and his wife Renate have two kids, James (8) and Sophie (6). Roger is a partner at Ernst & Young. The Browns are looking forward to the start of the southern hemisphere summer and time at the beach.

1987

Ian Dickey has been elected to a three-year term as the president of the Franklin Hindson Sim Society, an elite tumor society made up of surgeons from Canada, the US and Europe. Recently, they held a meeting at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN in honour of the man the society is named after, a Nova Scotian from New Glasgow, NS.

Chris Patton has a new book, Curious Masonry: Three Translations from the Old English (Gaspereau Press, 2011), coming out next spring.

Mark Redcliffe writes that his firm, Jordan Capital Markets Inc., is completing its second year of full operations as an IIROC Member and BC’s newest Investment Dealer. Growth is solid, the overall markets are improving, and they have completed several more financial transactions in Asia and North America

this quarter. The forecast is for more good things to come. On a more personal note, Mark recently completed the Building High Net Worth course offered by the Canadian Securities Institute and will be heading to mainland China for his third business trip in the past 12 months. Birgitta and the kids are still at his side.

1992

In April, Ben Ellison was transferred from his law firm’s office in Washington D.C. to Anchorage, Alaska (no, not a punishment), where he continues to practise environmental and natural resources law, with a specialization in representing Alaskan First Nations and Inuit tribes. In this capacity, he regularly visits Barrow,

AK, the northernmost town in North America. He notes that most Alaskans who have driven home from the lower 48 know infinitesimally more about Northern British Columbia (i.e., north of Kelowna) than his Vancouver brethren. Feel free to drop a line if you want to see the Northern lights.

1993

William Choi and his wife Esther currently reside in Seoul, Korea where he is CEO of CB Williams Energy Group. William will be speaking on energy efficiency at the Green Car Forum at COEX held at the end of November by the Ministry of Knowledge & Economy and KOTRA. William reports that in April, CBW celebrated its launch of their R&D centre

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Ian Dickey

The side of the Plummer Building – where we see two Georgians!! Who knew that St. George was also at the Mayo Clinic!!

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in Seoul with investors, expats, staff, friends, and family. Members of The lG Group and the Mayor of Seoul - Jungu - were also in attendance. Among fellow Canadians were the Canadian Trade Commissioner, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Chairman, the Canadian Universities Alumni Association and its members, and the Head of the BC Government International Trade & Investment Korea. Among CB Williams affiliated organizations were The European Union Chamber of Commerce, The American Chamber of Commerce, Australian Chamber of Commerce, and The Young Professionals in Energy Korea Chapter, of which William is Executive Director and Co-Founder.

Travis Dowle has merged his investment firm, Vistra Capital Management with lions Capital to form lions Investment Management. Travis remains President and Fund Manager of the firm. lions Investment Management is an independent and employee-owned Vancouver-based investment management firm.

1995

Nick Chan and his wife Kanako have a beautiful, 11-month old baby girl named leah. Nick works in marketing at BC lottery Corporation, as the Category Manager of the Sports and Social departments. He and his family are currently living in Vancouver.

Brian Shields is currently practising civil litigation

as an associate attorney at Coast law Group in San Diego, CA.

Scott Siegert graduated with his MBA, focus in entrepreneurship, from the Kellstadt School of Business at DePaul University in June. Scott and his family have since relocated to Southern California where he is working for a start-up pharmaceutical company and trying to get a tan.

1996

Alykhan Alidina writes, “Fourteen years ago, having just graduated from Saints, this “Old Boy” set out on a journey, a quest for knowledge, and expansion. With all the expectations and promises of youth, I went away to university, urged by an uncle to leave the comforts of home and take that journey that will “make you a man”. Never expecting the odyssey to last more than a few years, I had to learn, as Odysseus did, “that without the gods, man is nothing!” I am grateful for having experienced the short-lived thrills of day-trading, acquiring multiple degrees, seeing multiple failed entrepreneurial ventures, working in the non-profit sector, and wandering the lands—from snowy london, ON to desert Dubai, from sunny los Angeles to overcast london, UK. And though I never acquired the taste for Stella Artois—despite living in the Belgian town where it is brewed!—my pallet for other pleasures fortuitously matured. And though I learnt the hard way that “Greed is NOT good!” I have come to understand the true and real meaning

of “fortune” and purpose of wealth. Now I am homeward bound, and hope to be based in Vancouver from the New Year onwards. I look forward to reconnecting with Saints teachers, students, Georgians, and long-lost friends.”

Michael Sung decided to settle down and get married and welcome the newly minted Sarah Sung née Clark to the family! They were married in Manhattan Beach, California, where brothers Ryan ’01 and Christopher ’03 served as co-best men. Marc Weber ’96 was also part of the wedding party, while Dave Wong ’96, Chris Peerless ’96, and Phil Horacek ’96 all attended with their special lady folk. It was an awesome time, and the bride and groom were glad the Saints were able to make the trip to be part of the festivities. Sarah has enthusiastically

agreed to continue a legacy of boys at St. George’s, although Michael is sure the school is only now recovering from its last brush with Sung boys. Michael extends an open invitation to any Saints Old Boys who are passing through or moving to lA to look him up for lunch or a drink: msung@presidiollC.com

1999

Christian Johannsen was appointed Vice Chair of the Kitsilano Chamber of Commerce in June, 2010.

Aly-khan lalani has finished medical school and started residency training at the University of Manitoba in July 2010 with the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.

Craig Rollins received his law degree from the University of Windsor in May 2009. During his last

GOlD! Vancouver captured the world’s attention during the 2010 Winter Olympics. One of the biggest highlights during the Games was Canada’s Mens’ Hockey Team beating the United States and winning Olympic Gold. Canada became the first host nation to capture Mens’ Hockey Gold in 30 years. Ben Cooper '95, the Manager of the Men’s National Teams Video at Hockey Canada, served as video coach for the Mens’ Canadian Olympic team. Ben is pictured with the Calgary Flames’ Jerome Iginla.

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year of law school, he spent his time at UBC on a transfer. He was called to the bar in May 2010 and is now a lawyer at Clark Wilson llP, the firm at which he also articled.

2000

Mark Blackman, now living in Toronto with his new wife, Jessica, is working for RBC as an investment advisor; Jess works for University Health Network as a Senior Corporate Planning Coordinator. Their honeymoon was in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa.

In June of this year, Adam Cotterall started a position as Vice President Client Services at Right Management, the world’s largest talent and career management consulting firm.

2003

Adam Fritz recently completed his MBA in Sports Management at San Diego State University and has been hired as Manager, Partnership Sales at Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

2004

Sean Anthony was picked #6 in this year’s PBA draft. He was traded an hour later to a better team—the Powerade Tigers. The season opens October 3. He is finally living his childhood dream!

David Creighton recently moved to New York City, where he is pursuing an MD degree at Columbia University.

Cristian liu was elected Chairperson of the Conference on Asian Pacific

American leadership, a Washington, DC based non-profit organization focusing on leadership development in college students and young professionals interested in public service. Cristian liu was also appointed the Chairman of the Board for lambda Phi Epsilon, National Fraternity Inc. in May of 2010. lambda Phi Epsilon is the largest Asian-interest fraternity across the United States and Canada.

2005

Reto Camenzind has spent the past year working as an academic/administrative intern at St. George’s and has now taken up his new position as Admissions Associate.

Chris Chan completed his BSc in Biology cum laude from St. Michael’s College in Vermont in May 2009. He is now studying Dentistry at Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Class of 2014.

Peter Chiu is currently completing his final year of dental school at Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poland and is expected to receive his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in May of 2011.

Jonathan Fan completed his first year of medical school at the University of Western Ontario and spent the summer of 2010 doing a clinical elective in rheumatology. In a shout out to biology teacher Mr. Christian Duhme, Jonathan says, “Biology, whether it be human physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, etc. continues to be fun and exciting for me, and looking back, Mr. Duhme deserves

a lot of credit for inspiring in me a lifelong interest for the subject. Many thanks, and I hope all is going well back at Saints.”

laing Henshall entered law school at the University of Calgary in September 2010; another lawyer joins the Georgians ranks!

Russell Street writes that Ernie lin ’06, Richard Tam ’06, Scott Hislop ’06, and he recently competed for Team Canada in the World Under-23 Ultimate Championships in Florence, Italy held July 19-25, 2010. The team went 9-0 on its way to becoming World Champions with a thrilling 19-18 win over Team Japan in the finals.

Wilson Wong completed his B. in Economics and Political Science at Columbia University last spring, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. In January of this year, he started a two-year rotational training program with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the territory’s central banking agency, and is currently a manager in its Economic Research division.

Russell Street, Richard Tam, Ernie Lin, and Scott Hislop

HIGH ON lIFE

Nejeed kassam '04 is founder of the international NGOs End Poverty Now and Networks for Change, and of the High on life campaign. He has recently published High On Life: Stories of Hope, Change, and Leadership. It is a collection of seventeen stories from four continents that tells, from first-person perspectives, the stories of young global change-makers. High On Life hopes to inspire all young citizens of the world to remember that each of us can truly make a difference. The book is available for purchase at Chapters and on Amazon.ca, and all profits go the campaign. In addition to writing a second book and working on a documentary on social change, Nejeed is currently in law school at Osgoode Hall.

David Darling wrote abut the Cascadia Regatta held in August at Delta Deas Rowing Club.

The winning crew (of five), which had never before rowed together and included David Darling, raced as an exhibition entry in a Masters’ quadruple scull event.

All Masters events have an age handicap of one second for each year in the average age of the crew above the age of 27. The ex-Saints crew’s average age was 30 for three of them plus Mark’s age of 22. It meant that in order to win, the challengers would have to beat the crew by 35 seconds! They only managed to beat them by 5 and we were victorious.

Geoffrey Plant-Richmond '72 on May 22, 2008 at Toronto, ON

kenneth Brandly '59 on August 11, 2009 at Verona, ON

Edward “Ron” Boulter on April 24, 2010 at Vancouver, BC

Wilson “Bill” St. John '49 on April 28, 2010 at Vancouver, BC

Past Chairman of the Board and grandfather of Hugh Cartwright '08, ken Stevenson, on May 24, 2010 at Vancouver, BC

Peter Huyck '69 on June 25, 2010 at Vancouver, BC

Michael king '49 on July 7, 2010 at North Vancouver, BC

John Atkins '62 on September 5, 2010 at Kelowna, BC

The Board of Directors of the St. George’s Old Boys’ Association and St. George’s School would like to thank the following Directors who are retiring from the Board at the Annual General Meeting on November 11, 2010:

• Brian Grant Duff '83, a past Vice President who has served on the Board for more than 20 years;

• Graham Lecky '97, who served for three years; and

• Alex Tsakumis '84, the Immediate Past President.

These Georgians have made a significant contribution to the Association and we are grateful to them.

FacultyPassings

Old Boys’ Association retirements

WE ArE PEACECody valdes '07 has co-launched his Kenya-based effort to map and connect peace organizations throughout the country by using Ushahidi, an SMS-based crowdsourcing software designed to receive information from citizens reporting on mobile phones. The initiative is called Sisi ni Amani (“We are Peace” in Kiswahili), and aims to unite a network of ground-level peace leaders in order to better publicize their work through local and national media, strengthen their collective efforts by enabling new partnerships, and create a network of conflict early-warning sign reporters in the event of future conflict. In July, Cody held photography workshops with youth in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum, where the youth documented their lives through the lens of peace. To view these photographs and to learn more about Sisi ni Amani, you can visit www.wemappeace.org.

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Robin Black '00, Mike Garforth '98, Andrew Ling '98, and Mark Darling '06

Colin laker '81 to Mamick Bachidere on June 5, 2008 in Abuja, Nigeria.

Michael Garforth '98 to Kathryn Thompson on April 24, 2010 in Vancouver, BC. The best man was Michael Cook '98 and the wedding reception was held in the Great Hall at the Senior School.

Brian Shields '95 to Ashley Brinster on May 29, 2010 in Sayulita, Mexico.

Angus Campbell '99 to Kimberly Simmonds on June 26, 2010 in Vancouver, BC.

Corey Ming-lum '91 to Jessica Yee on July 10, 2010 in Vancouver, BC.

Michael Sung '96 to Sarah Clark in Manhattan Beach, CA. Best men were brothers Ryan '01 and Christopher '03. Marc Weber '96 was also part of the wedding party, while David Wong '96, Chris Peerless '96 and Phil Horacek '96 all attended.

John Clarke '77 to Gail Dolyn on July 31, 2010 in Victoria, BC. In attendance were Bill Clarke '49 and best man R. Alan Clarke '72.

Mark Blackman '00 to his partner of seven years, Jessica Wise, in Blue Mountain, Ontario. It was a beautiful day! Best man was Clayton Blackman'04.

Graeme Jones '01 to Julie Facchin on September 25, 2010 in Vancouver, BC.

Marriages

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BIll McCrACKENEarlier this summer, Bill McCracken, the school’s Director of Junior Admissions, accepted the position of Director of Admissions at Crofton House School.

For many students at St. George’s the first person that they encountered was Bill McCracken. A number of Georgians and current students will recall the daunting experience of coming to St. George’s for the first time as an applicant. Both the Junior School’s gothic stone façade and the Senior School’s modern architecture were at the same time impressive and intimidating.

Bill had a wonderful way with people. Always cheerful and pleasant, he could make any apprehensive applicant feel at ease. One of the hardest jobs in Admissions is saying “no”, especially at a place like St. George’s where the demand for spaces is so high. More families were turned away than accepted and disappointment was bound to happen. However, Bill was the master at making sure every family left feeling good about the admissions process. There was no person better than Bill at being the warm and welcoming face of St. George’s School.

Bill had a profound impact on many people at St. George’s, including students, Georgians, parents, faculty, staff, and the general public.

During my own time in boarding, I recall how St. George’s was not only my school, but also my home. The happiest time in my life at Saints was when I was a boarder in Grade 12. Bill was more than the Director of Boarding; he was like a second father to me. His door was always open and he would welcome any student in for a casual chat. Some of my fondest memories as a student were sitting in Bill’s office talking to him about politics and current events.

Bill joined the school in 1993. In his nearly 17 years at St. George’s, he welcomed more than 2000 students. And I have a sneaking suspicion that he indeed remembers each one of them. Bill will be missed at St. George’s, but our community wishes him the best in his new role at Crofton House School. By: Bryan R. Ide ’99

1932 – 1961 | 1966 | 1971 | 1976 | 1981 | 1986 | 1991 | 1996 | 2001 | 2006

September 16 & 17, 2011

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Georgians Calendar of Events

GEOrGIAN HONOurS

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Remembrance Day, AGM, Georgian Games Senior School Campus

Friday, Dec 3, 2010 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm Hockey Pub Night, Vancouver at Chicago The Kingston Tap House and Grill

Saturday, Dec 18, 2010 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Hamper Drive Senior School Campus

Tuesday, Dec 21, 2010 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Young Georgians Pub Night Yaletown Brewing Company

Thursday, Feb 10, 2011 6:00 pm - 9:30 pm Annual Georgians Dinner, Senior School Campus

Friday, Apr 8, 2011 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Georgians Careers Day, Senior School Campus

Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Wine Tasting Hosted by the Georgians The Great Hall, Senior School Campus

Saturday, May 7, 2011 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Annual Fair, Junior School Campus

Monday, Jun 20, 2011 10:30 am - 9:00 pm Stancombe Invitational Golf Tournament University Golf Club

Do you know of a Georgian who has made a difference to society? Do you know of a Georgian who is a leader in his industry? Or perhaps you know of a Georgian who is a rising star? Then we would like to honour him.

If you know of a Georgian who is deserving of an award in one of the three categories, then please nominate him.

Georgian lifetime Achievement Award Honours a Georgian’s lifetime of outstanding achievement in a particular field or industry and his significant involvement with the St. George’s community and efforts to further the mission of the school and the Georgians.

Distinguished Georgian Award Recognizes outstanding achievement in a particular field or industry, and dedication and service to the community.

young Georgian Award Recognizes a Georgian who has reached a significant level of success but has not yet reached the age of 40, has demonstrated vision and leadership, and has contributed to the community.

For more information or to download a nomination form, please visit: www.georgianhonours.ca

We invite all Georgians from classes ending in 1 and 6,

along with all Senior Georgians (those celebrating their 50th reunion and beyond)

to enjoy a week of fraternity and reunion.

Friday, September 16 6:00 pm: Reunion Weekend Kickoff

Reception for all Participants St. George’s School, Senior Campus, Great Hall

7:30 pm: Senior Georgians Dinner for Those Celebrating their 50th Reunion

and Beyond, St. George’s School, Senior Campus, Mclean Hall

8:30 pm: Class Dinners (organized by each class)

Venues Off-Campus

If you would like to volunteer as a Class Reunion Organizer,

please contact Bryan R. Ide ’99, Manager of Georgian Relations,

at 604-221-3885 or bide@stgeorges.bc.ca

For more information: www.reunionweekend.ca

yes, the rumours are true! Saints has launched a new website. The impetus for this change came from listening to you, our community, as well as monitoring how each of us uses the website. During the last few years, our site has evolved from being primarily a marketing tool to a communications tool with a marketing function. With this evolution we have encountered a number of challenges, including being able to properly profile everyone who wants representation on the homepage, segmenting Junior and Senior School information, and profiling news stories. There has also been rapid growth in Social Media, along with blogging and the integration of audio-visual software.

So how is this new site different? The short answer is: “filters”. Whether you are an existing family, a prospective family, a Junior School parent, a Senior School parent, or a Georgian, you will be easily filtered to what you need without having to wade through information that is not relevant to you. It all begins with a “Splash Page”– a page that asks you whether you are an existing member of the St. George’s Community (this is called MY SAINTS) or a prospective family (this is called WHAT IF). Then it’s all about getting you to where you want to go as quickly as possible. To achieve this, we will be profiling the information differently. Rather than asking you to scroll through densely populated pages of text, there will be general introductions on each page with expandable links, depending on the topic you are looking for. No more pull-down menus! No more sub-menus! It’s one-stop information shopping!

In addition, the centre portion of the homepage will house up-to-date news stories, upcoming events, and general operations of the school that are shared by members of both the Junior and Senior Schools, including things like Food Services, the School Store and Transportation, as well as Auxiliary, Advancement, and Georgians functions. Included in the Georgians section is also a link to our new online Georgians Directory. If you are a Georgian, don’t forget to register – you could win an iPad!

Overall, we hope this site reflects the larger community that is St. George’s School while recognizing that each part of our community has its own rhythms and that the needs of our prospective families are also very unique. You can check out our new site at:

www.stgeorges.bc.ca

3851 West 29th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6S 1T6 Canada

St. George’s School RETURN ALL UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:

40580507

If you are a Georgian, all you need to do to enter is activate your profile or register in our new online directory, The Georgians Network. Our new directory will allow you to:

√ Search the directory for friends by name

√ Search by year or geographic region

√ Send messages to other Georgians

√ Edit your own information and update your full profile

√ Volunteer or search for career or academic mentors

√ Read and post Class Notes by year

√ Create a business listing to offer services to other Georgians

√ Help us track down lost Georgians

√ Year Captains can broadcast messages to their classmates

This directory is just one way in which we are helping Georgians to connect, network, and mentor.

Register or activate your profile before January 6, 2011 and your name will be entered into a draw for an iPad. Full contest details can be found online.

www.georgiansnetwork.ca

Winan iPad