Ashbury AshburyNews News Spring 2013
Spring/Summer 2019
For kids by kids
Ashbury art students create book to help young patients La créativité au service de la communauté 125TH YEAR
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Ashbury
Ball
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Springfest
2019
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Alumni
Profiles
Ashbury News Spring/Summer 2019
Table of Contents
Ashbury News is published twice a year and sent to over 3,800 alumni, parents and friends.
News & Notes
Ashbury News is printed on 35% recycled paper. Online magazine updates are available at ashbury.ca
Art students launch book
Please submit news, story ideas, alumni updates, and any address changes to:
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Blazer magazine honoured
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Ashbury College Communications Office 362 Mariposa Avenue Ottawa, ON K1M 0T3 communications@ashbury.ca Phone: 613.749.5954 Front cover: Ashbury art students at the launch of the book they created for children visiting CHEO, Ottawa’s pediatric health and research centre.
Ashbury Ball
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Springfest
Features 15
Inside front cover: T.K. Nguyen, Grade 9, launches a triple jump at a track meet this spring.
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Shining a light on stories that matter
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Back cover: Grade 5 French students inspect the sap bucket on a Maple tree on Ashbury’s campus. Students learned vocabulary around the sap collecting and syrup making process.
Offering up a taste of Nigeria
Ashbury Alumni
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Home and Away 18
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In Memoriam
@ashburycollege
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Ashbury Chatter MOVING? Update your address. alumni@ashbury.ca
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Head of School
From the
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hen speaking of the Ashbury experience, one might think it ends as students walk across the stage to receive their diplomas in June. In fact, Ashbury often remains an important continuum and network for so many of our alumni who all hold the common connection of Ashbury to their lives, perhaps at different moments in time, but at least with some shared sense of values and experience. In recent months we held alumni gatherings in Toronto, LA, San Francisco, New York, and London, U.K. where we met with graduates who are working in a multitude of creative and innovative sectors, including the owner of an art gallery, stage and screen production, acting, technology, architectural heritage, and legal, financial, academic, and medical services. These events are opportunities for alumni to reconnect with each other and for us to provide updates about school life and our strategic priorities. Our alumni are always impressive to meet with and recognize the foundational role that Ashbury played in their careers. Our London alumni event is one of our largest, with nearly 100 Ashburians of all ages in attendance who are living, working, or studying in London, or visiting from other places in Europe. A number of alumni who attended Ashbury as evacuees from England during the Second World War, in particular the Abinger Hill School, were there to share their recollections of Ashbury in the 1940s. The London reception was held at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, where the connection to both universities remains strong with many Ashburians completing their undergraduate or graduate studies in the U.K. Of course, depicted in the elaborate stained-glass windows on the north side of the Ashbury chapel is the coat of arms of Oxford University, the alma mater of Ashbury’s founding Head, Canon G.P. Woollcombe. Woollcombe made over 50 voyages by sea between Canada and England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, solidifying a longstanding relationship between the two countries.
“Our alumni are always impressive to meet with and recognize the foundational role that Ashbury played in their careers.” Indeed, our connection to many countries around the world is continuously reinforced, as evidenced by our school trips this spring to New Zealand, Cambodia, and Italy, which brought new experiences to our students, building on their interests of sport, service, music, and culture. We have a proud and vibrant community at Ashbury and I am evermore impressed by the accomplishments— and drive—of our students, past and present. Nous sommes très fiers de nos anciens élèves qui se trouvent autour du monde entier! Probitas, Comitas, Virtus, Norman Southward Head of School–Directeur
NEWS & NOTES
Ashbury partners with Canadian Museum of Nature
Sponsorship provides free museum admission on Thursday evenings
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ccess to the Canadian Museum of Nature on Thursday evenings is now free thanks to Ashbury College. The school teamed with the museum this spring to support Nature After 5, a program that allows the public to visit the museum’s permanent exhibitions showcasing dinosaurs, mammals, minerals, and other natural history treasures every Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. “With over one third of our graduating students heading into science or engineering programs, we understand the need to support innovative lines of discovery and critical thinking, including those inspired by natural history,” says Norman Southward. The partnership will also provide unique learning opportunities for Ashbury students, as museum scientists will be sharing their knowledge and research in classrooms and through presentations. Museum visitors on Thursday evenings can enjoy free access to the following: • Fossil Gallery, with hundreds of fossils and several complete dinosaur skeletons • Mammal Gallery, with beautiful historical dioramas of iconic Canadian animals • Water Gallery, with a 19-metre real Blue Whale skeleton • Earth Gallery, with dazzling rocks and minerals, unique interactives about geological forces • Nature Live, with terraria of live creatures
• Bird Gallery, featuring the more than 450 species that are found in Canada, and the • Canada Goose Arctic Gallery, about the ecosystems, geography, climate, and people of the Canadian Arctic. (A fee applies for Special Exhibitions). The museum, located at 240 McLeod St. in Ottawa, welcomes around 900 visitors each Thursday evening.
Supported by: Appuyé par :
Periodic table
There are only a few spots left for your name to appear on the Periodic Table that will live in our new Centre for Science & Innovation. This student-designed mockup is currently displayed at the school’s front entrance. Each element is designed and laser printed by students. Only a few elements are left; the cost is $5,000 for premium elements and $1,000 for regular. To donate an element and help support the Centre for Science & Innovation and financial assistance, visit ashbury.ca/periodictable or contact our development office at 613-749-9630 ext. 391.
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THE WORLD STARTS HERE
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The art of healing Ashbury students create book aimed at helping young hospital patients
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hanks to the talents of Ashbury art students, children who visit the hospital for the first time will have an easier experience. Jasper’s First Visit to the Hospital is a new activity book that will be given out to patients visiting CHEO, Ottawa’s pediatric health and research centre. Art students at Ashbury wrote and illustrated the book that aims to demystify the healthcare journey for young children. Students consulted with physicians and patients and CHEO to ensure the story was both accurate and informative for children and their families. The story tells the tale of a bear named Jasper who must visit the hospital after experiencing breathing problems. Once there, Jasper meets health professionals, including Nurses Lionheart, and Catsby, Drs. Elephante and Silly Monkey, and a flock of Duckling Residents, among others. On each page of the book, there are opportunities for children to colour and draw, complete puzzles and games, and write about their own experiences. The book had its official launch at CHEO in early April, on International Children’s Book Day. Ashbury students were on hand, alongside medical staff and students from the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre School, which is housed on the CHEO campus. Also on hand was Alex Munter ’87, CEO of CHEO, who wore his Ashbury tie for the occasion. Munter talked about his love of reading and the power reading has to transform. He praised Ashbury students for their efforts to help other young people in the community.
The book project began about two and a half years ago when a physician at CHEO contacted Ashbury to discuss a partnership project aimed at children. That conversation led to a collaboration for the student art club, which worked closely with hospital staff to meet a goal of making hospital visits less frightening for first-time patients. “It quickly evolved into a design-thinking exercise where students had to create something that filled a need for a client,” says Tamara Doleman, Ashbury’s Head of Visual Arts and one of the faculty leads for the book project. The student group landed on the idea of a storybook as the medium to deliver their message. The Ashbury artists visited the hospital and had a tour to see first-hand how healthcare is delivered to young patients. “Touring the different departments at the hospital gave us an accurate view of what happens,” says Kira Cheer, Grade 11, from the book’s research and writing team, “and it helped us meet our goal of making the process a bit easier for kids.” With the story in place and terminology approved, the illustrators had to meld the work of several different student artists.
“We learned a lot of empathy for what kids go through at the hospital through this process and we want them to enjoy the activities we created.”
NEWS & NOTES
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“The experience of working with a client and being respectful of their needs are really valuable transferrable skills.”
Promotional skills can also be added to that list, as students participated in media interviews after the launch on both radio and TV. Jasper’s First Visit to the Hospital is available in both English and French from the Family Resource Library at CHEO and has recently been added to the holdings at the Ottawa Public Library.
The book was, and will continue to be, printed with the help of donations. At the book launch, Ashbury students delivered a cheque for more than $800—proceeds from an out-of-uniform day—to fund future print runs. Anyone looking to support to printing can contact the CHEO foundation, or make a donation targeted to Jasper’s storybook.
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Ashbury creators celebrate with CHEO staff
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A page from Jasper’s First Visit to the Hospital
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Ashbury grad and head of CHEO, Alex Munter ’89, donned his old school tie for the book launch
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Dr. Ashlee Yang (centre), a pediatric resident and physician advisor on the book, speaks with students
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“It was challenging because we had a number of different styles and we wanted it to come together in a cohesive way,” says Sophie Weider, Grade 11, from the book’s artist team. “We learned a lot of empathy for what kids go through at the hospital through this process and we want them to enjoy the activities we created.” Doleman estimates the students spent hundreds of hours on the project, creating everything from dialogue and illustrations, to page layout and copy editing. The final book required a significant amount of consultation with physicians to ensure an accurate representation of the hospital process. “The students learned various skillsets, which they can definitely use in the future,” says Lisa Bettencourt, communications technology and arts teacher, and co-lead for the project. “The experience of working with a client and being respectful of their needs are really valuable transferrable skills.”
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NEWS & NOTES
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Ashbury literary magazine honoured in international competition By Klara Janowski
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shbury’s student-run literary journal, Blazer, recently received praise and recognition for their 2017–2018 edition Empathy in the imagination, placing second in the Superior category of an international competition. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), based in the U.S., holds an annual competition focusing on Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM). Ashbury’s Blazer competed with publications from independent schools across Canada and the world for the honour, which evaluated criteria such as content, editing/proofreading, artistic quality, and pagination—all produced by Ashbury’s students. Behind the scenes of the publication are student writers and editors working together to bring the literary journal to perfection. The magazine, which began at Ashbury in
the early 1990s, teems with student contributors, bestowing everything from poems and short stories to photographs and paintings. Ashbury’s Grade 12 Writer’s Craft students often collaborate with those doing Visual Arts, creating a perfect balance between the pen and the paintbrush. Although the Blazer’s editorial staff is primarily composed of talented students, none of this could be possible without the faculty lead, English teacher Ms. Chelsea Larock. Ms. Larock inherited the magazine in 2015, and since then has put her stamp on its direction by showcasing the immense talent in all aspects of art at Ashbury College. Her commitment to the Blazer has motivated students to work hard and create, not only for the competition, but for the “joie d’ecrire.” “The magazine has evolved in many ways over the last few years,” says Larock, who submitted the Blazer for the NCTE consideration. “The team, which started out as a group of four editors and a handful of contributing writers, has now grown into an editorial board of 15 students who each specialize in their chosen genre. I am in awe NICK GAREL-JONES Class of ‘16 of the talent and creativity that students bring to the publication and how dedicated they have remained from year to year. There are many things we lose with time – our youth, old memories, old friends. These are natural progressions that we, as people, cannot control. “I think that placing in last year’s REALM However, one thing I’ve noticed is that we tend to lose our imaginations, contest is proof that this really is a passion too. But they are not really lost, we just bury them under layers of something else – ways of being that we are taught, perhaps indirectly, to prioritize. As children, project for the editors and contributors of our naiveté allowed us to think on a root level that, to adults, seemed illogical or the publication.” absurd. Reason had no purpose as long as everything made sense in our heads. This year, Ms. Larock was joined by fellow High school is an especially difficult time for many reasons, and it’s teacher Ms. Bridget Grady. Together they easy to lose track of the imagination that came so naturally to us as children. have worked diligently side by side as coIt gets buried deeper and deeper underneath the rigor of academic work and the time commitments of athletics. Because of this, it can be hard for students heads to put together this literary work to maintain a curious and creative mindset in an environment that does not of art. necessarily prioritize one. But take a look for its significance in the real world, and you’ll find that imagination is everywhere; the key to progress. Behind every new Blazer editors are the backbone of the invention, tool, and practice that crops up in our fast-paced society, there is someone with the creative production process. Collectively, they review mindset necessary to realize this need for change. If humanity is a rocket soaring to greater and greater heights, imagination is its fuel. all student submissions, from formatting to spelling errors. When editing the submisJust like when we were kids, our imaginations can still come up with some of the most foolish sions, editors and writers meet to go over things. But with an open mind, and the intent to make way for these trivializations to come out, the imagination can lead to truly impactful ideas. One of the reasons Blazer Magazine meant so much feedback and discuss the writer’s creative to me during my time at Ashbury is because it’s a consistent outlet for students to realize and share choices. The connection between the editors these ideas – big or small, absurd or ambitious. So here’s to the imagination – let’s get digging. and writers is an important one, as it helps 5 the editors understand the writer’s creative
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LETTER FROM A FORMER EDITOR
NEWS & NOTES
“Blazer was an imperative element to my artistic journey, and acted as a sanctuary for the creatives in our student body.”
point of view. Due to Blazer’s diverse range of work, there are editors for all aspects of the publication, such as poetry, creative fiction, creative non-fiction, French content, and more, creating space or the imaginations for students who are experimenting with certain writing techniques. Many contributors have no formal experience in writing, but Blazer helps them find their voice. what the Blazer team had been working on from the very “Blazer was an imperative element to my artistic journey, start if the year. To say the least, the magazine exceeded and acted as a sanctuary for the creatives in our student madi harper & chara antrobus our expectations, and we have no doubt that our students body,” says Grade 12 student Elizabeth Ariho, Blazer’s senior in Blazer will keep exceeding them. production editor. Blazer’s newest editions Caged and Freed premiered at pen heartwarming and paper can do wondrous things Ashbury’s annual Art show on April 13.AIt was Janowski was Senior Poetry Editor for this to see students and artists connectWhen through collective shetheallows her mind Klara to meet her hands year’s Blazer. In the success of the final product. For manyThe of the contributors, ink makes a song that doesn’t sing, fall, she will be majoring in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, a liberal arts school it was their first time seeing their work published. The But creates the symphony of a masterpiece in New York City. entire student body, teachers, and staff were proud to see
Stroke by stroke, black meets white Uniting these opposites to meet face to face madi harper & chara antrobus Her art on the paper composes the light Of the curiosity that her mind releases The sketches drawn tell a wordless story, Of the imagination one can hold; An abundance of life and glory Spread out on a canvas created by one Hours pass and the leaves cascade, They spin soft like her pirouetting hands A melodic rhythm not given-but made Oh, the wondrous things pen and paper can do
WORDLESS STORIES MICAELA TAING
madi harper & chara antrobus
A pen and paper can do wondrous things When she allows her mind to meet her hands The ink makes a song that doesn’t sing, But creates the symphony of a masterpiece Stroke by stroke, black meets white Uniting these opposites to meet face to face Her art on the paper composes the light Of the curiosity that her mind releases The sketches drawn tell a wordless story, Of the imagination one can hold; An abundance of life and glory Spread out on a canvas created by one Hours pass and the leaves cascade, They spin soft like her pirouetting hands A melodic rhythm not given-but made Oh, the wondrous things pen and paper can do
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WORDLESS STORIES MICAELA TAING
madi harper & chara antrobus
NEWS & NOTES
THIS IS ME... SHE ELIZABETH ARIHO
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Samples from the winning 2017 issue of Blazer.
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I fell. I could feel the air resistance tickling my body. I land in a deep cavity- thought. I see flashes of memories of my failures and the skeletons in my closet. Suddenly, I see a light, then, a face. My face? Couldn’t be. She looks happier…happy. Less self-aware. Loved. Not to say that I’m not loved but, she seems like the love is being absorbed into her skin. Almost fuelling her. Her smile seems unprocessed, the light falling on her face is organic and un-harsh. The light wants to be there. She commands the light. She isn’t drowning in the wash. From her mouth, I see poems and speeches elegantly trickle out. Not over-thought phrases that, to her are funny and will make them like her but that she automatically regrets because they can’t hear her mousy whispers. No, that’s not the me that I’m looking at. The me I feel I have such a disconnect to has a fire in her eyes that was long extinguished in mine by work load and social anxieties. I want to stay in this world forever. Quietly viewing what could be but will probably never. The smiles that I don’t have to coax out. This me has a spine where I have a long, thin gap like a missing piece of a puzzle where a spine should be. This me doesn’t dwell in her flaws whereas I bathe in them. I roll around in them like She would probably roll around in a bed of daisies. This me… She isn’t me at all, She will never be and that’s why I don’t wander my mind.
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Fulfilling a promise
Holocaust survivor Max Eisen shares his story with students
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There is no freedom without responsibility. his was one of the messages that Holocaust survivor and author Max Eisen delivered to students during his visit to the school in February. Eisen, who wrote the memoir By Chance Alone, shared memories from his life in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where he and his family were deported in the summer of 1944. He was the only member of his family to survive. Eisen, now 90, was born in Moldava, Czechoslovakia into an Orthodox Jewish family. He lived with his immediate and extended family; the family had a farm and his father owned a pub and made his own schnapps. In 1939, the town was annexed to Hungary. Unlike the other Jewish communities in Europe, Hungary’s Jews were not deported until 1944. That spring, just after the Eisens had celebrated Passover, he and all his relatives were forcibly removed from their home. The home was taken by neighbours and its possessions looted. “Our home was ransacked to bare walls, our synagogue desecrated, and our books torched in a fire,” Eisen remembers.
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Eisen and his family were brought to a brickyard with other Jews, where they were lived in deplorable conditions, until they were eventually loaded onto cattle cars and deported to Auschwitz. Of the 500 occupants who entered, 480 would not return. After their arrival at Auschwitz, Eisen, his father, and uncle were separated from the rest of the family. He was told that his mother, two younger brothers, baby sister, and grandparents were going for disinfection showers following the three-day journey. He never saw them again. At just 15, Eisen worked alongside his father and uncle also worked as slave labourers, until the two older men were selected as test subjects for medical experiments. Before he was taken away, Eisen’s father told his son that he had to survive so he could tell the world what had happened. “I had to walk 4–5 km to work, where I slaved for 10–12 hours a day,” Eisen told students. “The Nazis worked out that scientifically we needed 300 calories a day to survive a day, so that’s what we got. They had it figured out that our lifespan would be two to three months based on that intake.” One day, as he worked, Eisen was the victim of a severe beating at the hands of an SS soldier. He was taken to the infirmary, where the rule was, “if you didn’t walk away from the infirmary in two days on your own two legs, you were sent to the chamber.” Eisen’s injuries were severe, and his prognosis grim, but a Polish doctor working in the infirmary saved his life by pulling him off a stretcher and making him an assistant. “Imagine working in an OR at just 15,” he says. “I figured out how everything worked and didn’t waste the chance I had been given.”
NEWS & NOTES
Before the Russians reached Auschwitz in early 1945, the inmates, including Eisen, were sent on a death march towards Germany. When that ended, he was again forced to work as a slave labourer until he was liberated in May 1945. With both his family and community destroyed, Eisen struggled with life alone in post-war Czechoslovakia. He was only able to leave the newly-communist country in 1948 after a daring escape to Austria. In the fall of 1949, his life changed again when he arrived in Canada. Eisen started anew in Toronto, where he married, began a business, and became a father, grandfather, and now, a great-grandfather. He has dedicated the last decades of his life to educating others about the Holocaust across Canada and around the world. In 2016, Eisen fulfilled the promise he made to his father to tell the world what happened when he published By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz. In March, the book won CBC’s Canada Reads competition. In his deeply personal and moving talk to Ashbury students, Eisen urged them to appreciate how lucky we are to live in Canada, and challenged them to use their leadership potential wisely and to always remember the lessons of the past.
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Eisen spoke to History students in the chapel
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History teacher Alyssa Novick helped to organize this initiative
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Author Max Eisen shared his life story with students in February
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“Without history there is no memory and without memory there is no future.”
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Ashbury Ball—Taj Gala
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he 2018 Ashbury Ball—Taj Gala, presented by Sezlik.com and Mercedes-Benz Ottawa/Star Motors of Ottawa, was a sumptuous evening featuring drumming, dancing, guests in spectacular South Asian formal wear, and some delicious cuisine! The Ashbury Guild initiative, led by co-chairs Mashooda Syed and Nimroz Thawer, was a tremendous success raising over $260,000! Ashbury College would like to thank and congratulate Mashooda and Nimroz, as well as the entire Ball Committee for their commitment and tireless work in the planning and execution of the gala. Proceeds will help fund the Centre for Science & Innovation and provide meaningful financial assistance to deserving Ashbury students. The 18th annual Ashbury Ball was made possible with the generous support of our event sponsors, corporate guests, and the entire Ashbury community.
SAVE THE DATE 2019 ASHBURY BALL 12 | Ashbury News
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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS FOR THE EVENING PRESENTING SPONSORS
GIFT SPONSOR
EVENT SPONSORS
Mercedes-Benz Ottawa/Star Motors of Ottawa Sezlik.com
Thank You India
Brown’s Vittoria Trattoria Golpro Holdings Lowe-Martin Gallagher SU Law Ottawa Flowers Beechwood Medical Centre Smith & Bradley’s Insurance The Strachan-Hill Wealth Advisory Group Karen and Jeff Haebe Advanced Laser Clinic Host India Dinardo Homes Crickett and John Lindgren CIBC
C O R P O R AT E S P O N S O R S 1251 Capital Group Dilawri Auto ExcelHR Ginsberg Gingras Great West Life Taggart Parkes Foundation Tomlinson Group
VENUE SPONSOR Infinity Convention Centre
BAND SPONSOR Jamilah Taib Murray
WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OF THE DONORS OF IN-KIND ITEMS AS WELL AS THE LIVE AND SILENT AUCTION ITEM DONORS—YOUR SUPPORT IS VERY M U C H A P P R E C I AT E D !
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SAVE THE DATE 2019 ASHBURY BALL
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Ashbury’s volunteer Ball Committee collaborated for months to put on the fantastic event
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Presenting sponsors Dominique Laframboise, Cindy and Charlie Sezlik ’86 of Sezlik.com
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2018 Ball co-chairs Mashooda Syed and Nimroz Thawer
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Sohne Yaar Punjab De Bhangra dancers wowed the crowd as they demonstrated elements of Punjabi culture
Proceeds of the 2018 Ashbury Ball will help fund the Centre for Science & Innovation and provide meaningful financial assistance to deserving Ashbury students
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Presenting sponsors Arnie ’78, Vicki, Tara-Leigh and Jeff Mierins ’82 representing Mercedes-Benz Ottawa and Star Motors of Ottawa
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Dancers from Shefali’s Bollywood Dance Pro demonstrated Bollywood dance steps and provided entertainment during dinner
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Live band, Alter Ego, had the dance floor packed!
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Springfest
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ur annual Springfest was a sun-filled—albeit cool—day to welcome the season. The morning started with the Guild Plant Sale and the everpopular Colour Run. Students, staff, and alumni ran together in this vibrant activity through the streets around campus. Visitors enjoyed a BBQ lunch and treats courtesy of the Guild canteen, while kids played in the science-themed fun zone. Soccer and rugby games on the athletic field kept everyone cheering, and a reception rounded out the day. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate all things Ashbury!
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The traditional blast at the Colour Run
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An array of athletics on the field
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The Guild plant sale
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Alumni caught up with Ashbury faculty and staff
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Alumni and parents gathered at a reception to end the day
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Face painting in the Kids’ Zone
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Junior School flag rugby
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The colourful after of the run
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The start line of the Colour Run
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Why financial aid?
By James Baxter ’83, Chair of the Ashbury College Foundation
Increasing access for deserving students is paramount to Ashbury’s success
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hen I came to Ashbury in 1976 as a Grade 7 student in ill-fitting grey flannels and a kelly-green jacket, my parents paid roughly $3,000, which included my tuition, books,
and other fees. More than 40 years have passed since my first day as an Ashburian, and so much has changed: the student experience is enriched with abundant opportunities to learn, challenge oneself, and try new things. The old schoolhouse has become a full-fledged campus, providing world-class facilities and equipment. The school has attracted an outstanding faculty that can offer leading-edge programs, as well as a personalized approach to education. But as the school has evolved, so too has the cost of an Ashbury education. Like many independent schools across Canada, Ashbury must grapple with managing the true cost of an education with rising tuition fees. Over the past two years, the Ashbury community has generously supported our campaign to build the Centre for Science & Innovation. Once complete, it will be a superb facility for the school and will lay the foundation for generations of future scientists, engineers, doctors, environmentalists, and policy makers. Indeed, every student who passes through Ashbury will benefit from an excellent grounding in the sciences. But the reality is that the costs of a top-level education have consistently outstripped inflation for the past 40 years and affording Ashbury has become impossible for many of Ottawa’s best and brightest.
“Our school has always strived to be home to elite students, not elitist ones, and we have a proud history of supporting deserving young people.” Our school has always strived to be home to elite students, not elitist ones, and we have a proud history of supporting deserving young people. But as rising tuition fees are met with sticker shock by many families, it becomes
NEWS & NOTES
harder for our admissions team to attract the best possible students, blind to socio-economic backgrounds. The admissions office has already implemented new initiatives, such as waiving application fees for first-time financial assistance applicants, but turning these applicants into Ashbury students still requires significant financial resources. Financial assistance is a pillar of Ashbury, recently evidenced in our strategic plan directive, and we expect the focus to remain strong into the future. In the 2018–19 school year, over 50 students received needs-based awards, which averaged over $12,500. We are proud of this accomplishment, but as tuition continues to rise, we recognize that we will need to substantially increase our endowment to sustain and build on our commitment to students and families requiring financial assistance.
In recent fundraising efforts, we have been encouraged by the increased number of donors who list financial assistance as their top priority. The Foundation recognizes that increasing access to Ashbury for deserving students is paramount for the school’s success. Investing in the school’s capacity to offer meaningful financial assistance to excellent students will make our school stronger and more competitive, and will add value to an Ashbury education for many years to come.
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Ten per cent of donations to the Centre for Science & Innovation will be directed towards student financial assistance, adding value to an Ashbury education for years to come
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f you are interested in learning more about Student Financial Assistance at Ashbury, please contact Stephanie Young, Director of Development, at stephanie.young@ashbury.ca or 613-749-9630 ext. 283.
Ashbury Guild
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opportunities for such collaboration for both course-related and extra-curricular projects. Height-adjustable tables will increase accessibility for all and modular furniture will allow Junior students to work in groups or independently depending on the furniture’s configuration. Upon completion of the Centre for Science & Innovation, the Junior School Discovery Lab and Innovation Centre will be outfitted with a new 3-D printer and laser cutter! The Guild is proud to furnish all of these wonderful enhancements to Ashbury’s learning environment.
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undreds of hours of hard work from our dedicated Guild members has once again resulted in a groundswell of support from the Ashbury College Guild. This year, the Guild raised a total of $295,199 (at time of printing) for which the school is incredibly grateful. Their generous spirit of volunteerism, and their commitment to make Ashbury the best place it can be for students across all grade levels is simply outstanding! Guild T-shirts read The Heart of Ashbury for a reason: their love of Ashbury is powerful, and the results from their work has a major impact on our school. Thank you to our wonderful Guild! Guild-funded enhancements for the 2019–20 school year: • $172,500 toward the Guild’s $750,000 cornerstonelevel commitment to the Centre for Science & Innovation • $10,000 to the Dorothy Napier Guild Bursary Fund, providing financial assistance to deserving students • $27,350 for specialized furniture for Innovation Labs (height-adjustable tables) • $30,000 for six self-contained study carrels to the Centre for Science & Innovation and the Creative Learning Centre • $15,000 for technical equipment for the Junior School Discovery Lab and Innovation Centre • $15,000 for flexible modular furniture for the Junior School Ashbury’s leadership consulted with students, who reported the need for more collaborative learning space outside of the classroom. Study carrels will present
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‘I have a platform’ Adrian Harewood ’89 is shining a light on stories that matter
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roadcaster Adrian Harewood ’89 has interviewed everyone from Bill Clinton and Donald Trump to Salman Rushdie and Angela Davis, to Roméo Dallaire and Adrienne Clarkson. But he says they aren’t the most memorable people he’s ever talked to. “It’s the people who share their triumphs and struggles, or affect social change that make my job exciting,” he says. “The most interesting people I talk to are the ones with names you’ve never heard of.”
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Harewood is co-host of CBC Ottawa News at 6 and the host of a weekend current affairs show called Our Ottawa. His job calls on him to cover day-to-day news in the nation’s capital and chat with leaders and newsmakers. It’s a good fit for the man who calls himself a “naturally curious” person. “I love sports, music, art, literature, and politics, so being in a job where I’m able to look at all of this and meet people from all of these fields is remarkable,” he says.
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Being a journalist wasn’t a lifelong goal for Harewood, who admits he dreamed of being a professional soccer player as a kid and later thought he might be destined for academia. But it was during his university days that he first was bitten by the broadcast bug. After graduating from Ashbury, Harewood went to Montreal to study political theory and history at McGill. Outside of classes, he played for the varsity soccer team, became part of the anti-apartheid movement on campus, and joined the Black Students’ Network. He contributed articles to The McGill Daily newspaper focused on the political issues that mattered to him, and in doing so, carried on a family tradition of writing opinion pieces. Harewood’s parents, both educators, wrote for newspapers. “My parents were writers and activists and I grew up reading their words and discussing issues with them,” he says. “I guess I gravitated naturally to writing and speaking about things I cared about.”
On the air
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“I admit that I used to think that anchor jobs were for people who weren’t that smart,” he says, with a laugh, “but I quickly realized it’s a challenging role that takes skill to do well.”
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arewood’s role has changed recently, and he now is increasingly out from behind the anchor desk and in the community telling stories. Whether it be visiting recreation centres or economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods to talk to residents about issues that matter to them, Harewood says he’s most passionate about the subjects beyond the headlines. “I’m interested in telling stories that wouldn’t otherwise come to the surface and shining a light in dark spaces,” he says. “I enjoy going into communities in Ottawa that are often ignored, or that feel they don’t have a voice.” He says his interactions with people are what fuels his work. “When people appreciate me telling their stories, it makes me feel good,” he says. “At the end of the day, humans need recognition.” And it’s his keen interest in community involvement that incentivizes him to spend countless hours every year at events in and around Ottawa, including serving as emcee for the 2018 Ashbury Ball fundraiser. “I appreciate the role I have in the community and I try to contribute in as many ways as I can” he says. “I’m invited to host a number of events and I appreciate the responsibility that comes with that.”
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arewood’s first exposure to radio also came at McGill, when he helped organize a day of programming on the campus radio station during Black History Month. He would go on to volunteer for the campus radio stations at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton. In 1996, he returned to Montreal and became manager of the McGill radio station, where he would remain for three years. During that time, Harewood started to freelance as a researcher for a production company that produced shows for Bravo TV and for PBS affiliates out of the U.S. He began by writing for various arts-themed programs, and was eventually asked to host. He went on to lead several arts shows and interviewed creators such as Ken Burns, Frank Oz, Austin Clarke, Barbara Gowdy, Yan Martel, and Deepa Mehta, among others. After a few years of that work, Harewood moved to Toronto and found a job as a youth counsellor working with at-risk high school students, all while continuing to freelance for publications such as Now magazine and for programs on the CBC. After auditioning to host Counterspin, a panel-debate show that ran on CBC Newsworld, he became its main fill-in host. Harewood went on write commentary and produce for programs at the national broadcaster, including Hot Type on television and The Arts Tonight on radio. That work led to fill-in hosting duties for radio programs such as The Current, As It Happens, Ontario Morning, Metro Morning, and Here and Now. In 2006, the offer came for Harewood to host CBC Ottawa’s afternoon radio show, All in a Day, facilitating a move back to his hometown. He remained on the radio for three years before transitioning to TV in 2009. For a self-confessed audiophile, Harewood says he was at first skeptical about the move from radio to television, particularly in donning the anchor role.
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Harewood says he has grown to appreciate the power TV and the fact the medium hits people in a different way than radio. He doesn’t take his position lightly and is determined to serve as an example for young people. “I’m a Black man on TV and in Canada, and for a lot of people of colour—and for white people too—it matters to them,” he says. “It’s important that people see a range of faces in media and realize that everyone is capable of thinking and telling stories.”
Social dialogue
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utside of TV, Harewood is a keen Twitter user (@CBCAdrianH) and utilizes the medium to engage with his audience and others about issues of significance to him and subjects of interest, such as art and sports. He says he’s motivated by dialogue and conversation, and he enjoys the opportunity to break out of, “certain moulds news people are often thrust into.” “People make certain assumptions of you and Twitter allows the chance to stretch a little bit by providing a little latitude to play,” he says. “I can kind of be myself on Twitter, or at least a more complex version of me than I sometimes can be on camera.” One of the topics Harewood attempts to highlight on Twitter is that of race, citing the need to push the important conversation along. “We are still uncomfortable as a society, particularly in Canada, discussing race,” he says. “We need to be better and not be afraid to confront these hard subjects. Questions about race shouldn’t be taboo.” And what’s next for this seasoned broadcaster? Harewood says his main priority is to be the best dad he can to his son, 8, and his six-year-old daughter. But he’s also finishing up a graduate thesis, and has his sights set
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on some documentary work, or possibly teaching, and says he would also like to write more in the future. “Ultimately I want to be useful,” he says. “I want to be a force for good and to elevate society in whatever way I can.” In the meantime, Harewood is conscious of his role in the media, and his position as a role-model for future generations of journalists. “I recognize that I have a platform,” he says. “I hope young people see me and imagine themselves in that space. “The next generation must be more broadly represented in our newsrooms. I see that as part of my responsibility and I will do my utmost to make that happen.”
“It’s important that people see a range of faces in media and realize that everyone is capable of thinking and telling stories.”
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MEMORIES FROM A LIFER
One of Adrian Harewood’s earliest memories of Ashbury was standing on a stage during the first few weeks of Grade 5 for a House draft. “There was this spectacle of kids standing in front of teachers who were heads of houses. I didn’t have to endure the wait for long, because I was selected early on as a Goblin, but it was quite something for a 9-year-old to go through.” That sense of competition would remain with Harewood, who continued on as a lifer at the school, commuting from his home in Nepean each day. He says requiring a certain level of ambition served him well. “You were really pushed at Ashbury,” he says. “I remember seeing John Turner’s name on the Woods Shield hanging in the hallway, and I’m not sure if I saw it as a goal, but I knew I had a responsibility to live up to that standard and it motivated me.” Harewood would go on to win the Woods Shield in Grade 8. He remembers Ashbury as a busy place with lots to do. “I was always engaged,” he says. Harewood played soccer, rugby, basketball, and hockey while at the school, and was involved in drama and music as well, singing in the choir and playing in the jazz band. He particularly remembers a cross-country choir trip by train that involved stops in Banff, Jasper, and Winnipeg for performances.
a Uruguayan journalist and writer, and recounted the experience of completing the book in the writer’s native tongue. By the time Harwood reached Grade 13, he was selected as Head Boy. He also lived on campus as a boarder for his final year of school. “It was a fully-immersive experience,” he says of life as a boarder. “I loved the range of people I met and the opportunity to get to know students from all over the world.” But while Harewood says he appreciated the opportunity to interact with international students, his hope for the school now is for broader interaction with the neighbourhoods around campus. “My sense is that the school has evolved and it is now more active than ever in community engagement.” Harewood remains connected to Ashbury after all these years, lending his name to fundraising initiatives directed at financial assistance campaigns, and attending alumni Homecoming events. He says he’s grateful to the school for its options and potential for opportunity, and hopes others are able to share the same experience. “There are lots of resources and committed teachers at the school,” he says. “I hope the school takes the responsibility seriously to ensure that more kinds of kids get to experience Ashbury.”
He was involved in a number of drama productions, including appearing in the Lord of the Flies, alongside schoolmate Matthew Perry. Harewood cites the arrival of drama teacher Greg Simpson to the school as being transformative to the arts at Ashbury. Other teachers who left impressions included Mr. Humphries for French, who emphasized public speaking. “At the time I found it daunting, but he gave us the confidence to perform.” Mr. Discombe was Harewood’s Grade 6 teacher, with a “counter-culture attitude” that was a “breath of fresh air” at the school, he says.
Mr. Robertson helped him understand the mechanics of writing. In addition, the former South African helped nurture Harewood’s political activism when he invited the ANC’s (African National Congress) representative to Canada to speak to the class. “It was very important to me to hear voices like that,” Harewood says. Mr. Morris taught Harewood Spanish and left a lasting impression. “He believed in his students and he game us significant boost of confidence,” Harewood remembers. “He told us we were going to read a book by Eduardo Galeano and we were going to read it in Spanish. And remarkably, we managed to do it.” Harewood later interviewed Galeano,
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Harewood was featured in a video to promote fundraising for financial assistance at Ashbury in 2016
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Harewood speaking at the Round Square International Conference in October 2018
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Photo courtesy of the CBC
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Harewood emceed the 2018 Ashbury Ball
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Adrian Harwood interviewed fellow graduate Roya Shams ’15 about her life at the Round Square International Conference, held at Ashbury in October
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Harewood received the Woods Shield in 1984
Mr. Varley was the biology teacher who “made the subject sing”, says Harewood. “He had very high standards. He wasn’t heavy handed, but you wanted to do well in his class.”
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Offering up a taste of Nigeria Folayemi Agusto’s ’09 passion for promoting food in Lagos
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ad Folayemi Agusto ’09 realized the realities of an Ottawa winter, she may never have come to Ashbury. “The first winter I was there it was basically snowmaggedon,” she says. “If I had known Ottawa was always so much colder than Toronto, I might have chosen differently.” Indeed, Toronto was on the list of options when Agusto started to research Canadian schools from her home in Nigeria. With a sister in Canada, and having spent some time in the country during the summer, she says that researching schools in the north seemed like a good idea. And Ottawa ultimately won out in her search for an IB program where she could finish her high school degree. “Ashbury’s website really drew me in,” she remembers, “and it seemed like Ottawa was an interesting city with lots of amazing things going on.” Agusto arrived at Ashbury in Grade 11, as a boarding student in the new wing of Heather Gillin Residence. “I had a room to myself, which was good, but sometimes I wished I had a roommate,” she says. She threw herself into life at Ashbury, joining the junior varsity soccer team, Model UN, and yoga classes. In between rigorous IB classes, she started planning for university. “I knew I wanted to go to the U.S. for school and with IB under my belt, I thought the transition would be easier,” she says. Though she had her sights set on UPenn or Cornell, her options changed when Ms. Tordon, Ashbury’s Director of University Admissions, suggested another school.
“Ms. Tordon introduced the University of Virginia to me,” Agusto says. “I had not heard of it before, but she sold me on the programs and the exciting campus life.” And so, following her graduation from Ashbury in 2009, Agusto headed to Charlottesville, Virginia to attend university, with the intention of specializing in business. The University of Virginia required two years of general arts and science courses before she could apply to the business program, so Agusto set about studying sociology. After an unsuccessful attempt to get into business, Agusto applied for UVA’s Distinguished Majors Program in sociology and a minor in French Language & Literature. She studied the sociologies of consumption and the family among others, eventually penning an award-winning thesis on gentrification, gated communities, and inequalities of space in her home city of Lagos, Nigeria. “If you had told me I would end up studying sociology, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she says. “But I am happy I focused on sociology because it helped me improve my communication and writing skills, which have served me well.” After graduating with her degree, she opted to return to Nigeria to start the next phase of her life. She completed a mandatory one year of service in the National Youth Services Corps, developed by the Nigerian government to involve young graduates in promoting national unity. It was during that service that the seeds of an entrepreneurial endeavor would sprout. “It all started with a conversation about dining out in Lagos and where to get different foods,” Agusto says. “I
F E AT U R E S
“The way we described our experiences was unique and people started to notice,” says Agusto, who doesn’t like to refer to herself as a foodie, but admits that her desire to try to new foods was an incentive for the online initiative. Agusto says the blog’s early success was buoyed by the fact that online restaurant reviews like Google and Yelp weren’t popular in Nigeria at the time, and consumers were looking for a resource of recommendations and first-hand experiences.
had met someone during my year of service who hadn’t spent a lot of time in Lagos, so he started asking me for recommendations on where to go in the city.” And from that chance meeting and chat, Eat.Drink.Lagos was born in 2014. Originating as a blog she developed outside of her full-time job in finance, Agusto and her partner wrote about their experiences in different Lagos restaurants.
AN INSIDER’S GUIDE ON WHERE TO EAT IN LAGOS If you’re travelling to Lagos and hunger pangs strike, Agusto shares these recommendations for an exceptional experience.
“Nok by Alara is the best easy introduction to both Nigerian food and fusion African cuisine. RSVP is great for drinks. Salma’s is great for Lebanese. There is a really big Lebanese community in Lagos and the Lebanese street food shawarma is also popular here as street food. Suya (barbecued beef, also available in chicken) is very popular, too.”
Blog readers were so interested in fact, that they started to request opportunities to participate directly with the restaurants and chefs mentioned, rather than just reading about their offerings online. So Agusto and her partner set to work organizing a restaurant week, where select restaurants across Lagos would offer prix fixe meals to highlight their menus. In was in planning that they got the idea for a food festival and decided to pursue that instead. Through the blog, the team had forged connections with several local Nigerian chefs who didn’t have a permanent location from which to serve, but who were eager to get their food to the public. A food festival seemed like the natural solution to both problems, even though the concept itself was new to Nigerians. “Going to a festival in North America is pretty common, but it wasn’t a thing here in Lagos,” she explains. “We were fortunate that so many people were open to the idea.” The first edition was an instant hit and saw over 2,000 people attend—far exceeding the 400 expected. Those numbers grew to 5,000 in the second edition and have only increased since then, with over 10,000 guests at recent editions and 80 plus businesses participating. In June, the festival will expand for the first time to Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. The festival showcases a variety of food and drink vendors, with traditional Nigerian fare, American treats, and everything from tacos to ice lollies. The festival also features restaurant-style meals from private chefs for patrons who desire something more upscale from the event. This aspect of the event is exclusive and requires guests to make a reservation and purchase a ticket in advance. Prices range from $30 to $100 CAD. Agusto says the EatDrinkFestival is about more than just a chance for Nigerians to fill their bellies and experience innovative twists on traditional food they may have grown up eating—it’s a vital promotional opportunity for upand-coming chefs. “Real estate is expensive in Lagos, so there are many chefs who just can’t afford to have a restaurant of their
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“We really felt we were starting a conversation about something young people were interested in,” she says.
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SAMPLING TRADITIONAL NIGERIAN DISHES
Nigerian cuisine is as diverse as its inhabitants. Here are just some of the foods you might encounter in the West African country. Afang stew: a leafy vegetable stew, usually served with pounded yam or semolina. Akara: deep-fried bean cakes usually enjoyed for breakfast or a snack. Bean and plantain pottage: a thick soup or stew of vegetables, most commonly yams (Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of yams), grains, and often meat or fish. Chin Chin: a popular snack or dessert made from chunks of fried sweet dough. Dodo: deep-fried plantains, cut in diagonal slices, circles or cubes. Egusi soup: made from ground-up melon seed or nuts and vegetables, combined with a choice of protein, and topped with bitter greens, such as pumpkin leaves. Igbin: African land snails, usually cooked in an onion and pepper sauce. Jollof rice: a customizable dish based on your heat preference, this dish usually includes tomato, pepper, onion, and chilis and sometime chicken or beef is added. Suya: skewered, grilled meat, marinated in spices and often served with raw onion and cabbage wrapped in newspaper. Zobo: a sweet and tangy drink made from the flowers of the roselle plant (in the hibiscus family). Pepper soup: a spiced broth that varies depending on region, full of assorted cuts of meat or fish.
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Jollof rice is one of Nigeria’s best-known dishes
Photos courtesy of Folayemi Agusto (photographer: Kunmi Owopetu)
own. Through the festival, we’re able to provide marketing and a launch for local chefs who need to get their name out there.” One such launch that Agusto shares with pride is young woman with a dream of opening a sandwich shop. She attended the festival, got feedback from customers about what combinations worked and which didn’t, and went on to open two sandwich shops in Lagos. “By participating in the festival, she grew her business,” says Agusto. “That’s really why we do this.” The sixth edition of the EatDrinkFestival will take place in December and will draw people from across Nigeria and beyond. Agusto says many attendees come from other parts of the world to attend. Agusto says her goal is for the festival to be a permanent fixture on attendees’ social calendar. As one of the festival organizers, Agusto says she’s focused on keeping the event fresh and relevant to its growing audience, citing recent additions of a bar battle and tasting stations to the mix. Eat.Drink.Lagos has now grown from just a blog to a multi-faceted initiative called EatDrink Media. The company has one full-time employee, staff writers, and numerous contributors. While her role is still part-time—she calls it her “5 to 9”—outside of her day job at a U.S.-owned engineering software company, Agusto says she hopes to someday make it her main priority.
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Agusto is positive about the future of EatDrink Media, thanks in part to the burgeoning food scene she has witnessed since her return to Nigeria. “Five to ten years ago, being a chef wasn’t really a profession here,” she says, “but we now have chefs who attend culinary school and chefs are being more celebrated. We have local culinary schools springing up across the country, older generations are now taking professional cooking more seriously, and we’re seeing more Nigerians export food than ever before.” The coincidental rise in social media has also impacted Nigeria’s food industry, says Agusto, with resMore than 50 Nigerian students have attended Ashbury in the past 10 years. School taurants courting patrons with decorepresentatives make regular visits to Nigeria to meet with prospective families and alumni. rated backdrops and props designed to accentuate the perfect photo. “Instagramming your restaurant expeWhile building her life and future in Lagos, Ashbury is rience is definitely a thing here,” she says. never far from Agusto’s mind. She recently met up with Agusto has crafted a career for herself that’s quite several former classmates in Milan—Rita Huang and Mimi removed from her original aspirations in the fashion indusMayaki, both Class of 2009—and they reminisced about try, but she says she’s proud of how her work has helped their time together in Ottawa and the classes they shared. to promote a vibrant food scene in her home country. “I remember Ms. Carlton was so sweet, and Mr. Coles Along the way she has developed marketing, communicamade jokes all the time,” Agusto says. “Ms. Desfosses was tion, and event preparation skills. my TAG teacher, and Mr. Smith taught me economics. Mr. Her advice to those looking to build their own business Penton taught me all about world history. I really learned from the ground up? “I always tell people to follow what a lot from all of them.” they are passionate about,” she says. “Many times, people And with new menus and food combinations appearing see a model they like and then they try to copy it exactly, all the time in Nigeria, Agusto is still learning about the because they’re driven by money. But by doing that, they food industry in her home country and the possibilities won’t be successful, because their own passion is missing for promoting it. from the equation.” But she still doesn’t miss the snow in Ottawa.
Patrons enjoying the EatDrinkFestival. Images courtesy of Eat.Drink.Lagos
ASHBURY ALUMNI
Scott ’54
David
Legendary Ottawa lawyer came from storied legal family
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s a lawyer, David Scott made a living defending prime ministers, but he made a life advocating for paupers, never forgetting it all began with home. Family and colleagues say that, even as he lay dying in hospital, Scott—a lion in the city’s legal circles for 50 years— was making phone calls to support funding for Pro Bono Ontario, a charity he helped found that has assisted 140,000 poor clients since 2001. His death March 21 also marks the end of four generations of Scotts to practise law in Ottawa since the very founding of the city, as Sir Richard Scott, his greatgrandfather, was once mayor of Bytown (1852) and a prominent Confederation-era parliamentarian. It speaks to the regard in which he was held that his funeral packed Notre Dame Cathedral, with a former client and prime minister, Jean Chrétien, in a front row and many mourners wearing bow ties, which was Scott’s trademark accessory. Scott’s career in the courtroom would fill a book. A lifelong Liberal, he represented or advised three prime ministers (Trudeau Sr., Turner, Chrétien), fought huge corporate cases (Kimberley-Clark, Canada Post, AT&T) and defended television reporter Doug Small in a budget-leak case that caused a national sensation in 1989. His awards are both numerous and prestigious, among them: Order of Canada in 2011, and the first Canadian president of the American College of Trial Lawyers. One of Scott’s more memorable and perhaps mischievous episodes on a judicial proceeding involved his dealings with Chrétien on the stand at the Gomery inquiry looking into the so-called sponsorship scandal centred on Liberal slush money. Under Scott’s questioning, Chrétien theatrically pulled out a number of signed golf balls from U.S. presidents (Bush, Clinton) to illustrate it was not an act of “small-town cheap” to have spent public money on custom Chrétien balls, as inquiry head John Gomery had suggested. Scott’s volunteer work, meanwhile, is awe-inspiring. Among the boards or organizations he was involved with: United Way, the Ottawa General Hospital, John Howard Society, CARE Canada, Operation Come Home, the Ottawa Heart Institute and the Canadian Stroke Network. Scott was born in Ottawa in 1936 into a strong Catholic family, the second of six children. The family first lived in Sandy Hill before moving to Rockcliffe. While he attended Ashbury, David remarked that he was never as studious
as his older brother Ian and sometimes preferred a cold beer to a thick law book. When he was 14, he met his future wife Alison Burns and, after pursuing her during her studies at Queen’s University, they would be married in 1960 and remain so for 59 years, with four children of their own. At his father’s urging, he went to Loyola College in Montreal, to be taught—possibly tamed—by Jesuits, then to the University of Ottawa for law school, being called to the bar in 1962, whereupon he joined his father’s law firm. Away from court, Scott was an avid skier, a passion he spread to his children. The family also spent weekends at “Beaverlost” the name of a former farm property that was turned into a compound of cottages near Low, Que. (The property was co-owned by Scott’s long-time friend, Ned Rhodes. See facing page for obituary.) The family says he was content with a chainsaw in hand, motoring around in an all-terrain vehicle, cutting ski trails through the woods. “The trails will always and forever remind us of him and his boundless enthusiasm and energy for a project. We will always find him there,” read his death notice. He was 83. (A slightly longer version of this article, by Kelly Egan, originally appeared in the Ottawa Citizen.)
Chris Mikula, Ottawa Citizen
ASHBURY ALUMNI
Rhodes ’55
A son remembers E.N. (Ned)
By Ian Rhodes ’78
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ed was born on October 6, 1936, the first son of Edgar and Marianne Rhodes. He grew up in Rockcliffe Park and had his early schooling at the public school before attending Ashbury College. Despite living less than 100 metres from the school, Ned and his brother David ’57 would often become boarders at the school during the spring, while their parents would go to Europe for a month or two. Ashbury became his extended family. I think that it was this time, growing up at Ashbury, that contributed to dad’s lifelong relationship with the school. Ned excelled in school. He was a significant player on many of the school teams and eventually became the school captain. During this time, he had many friends including his best buddy, David Scott (see obituary on page 26). It was through David Ned Rhodes and his wife Liz at the 2016 Ashbury Volunteer Recognition where Ned was the recipient of the Jean Teron Award for Outstanding Service to Ashbury College that he was introduced to a young woman by the name of Elizabeth Coate, planting the seed for a loving relationship that would and proudly kept up with the comings and goings of their span more than 70 years. lives. During the summers at Muskoka he would often Ned graduated from Ashbury and went onto university have the entire family staying at the cottage, which gave at Dalhousie and McGill. He never finished university, as him great joy. the attraction of home and, more specifically, Elizabeth Dad spent the last five months of his life in bed in a were too much. He came home and went into the family single room at home with mom taking care of him. He business at the age of 21. He and Elizabeth were married never complained, but instead made the most of it. He two years later. I think that Ned regretted not finishing was constantly visited by friends and family and mom and university and encouraged his children and grandchildren dad celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in this to make the most of their education. manner. Throughout this time, he displayed incredible In the 1970s and ’80s, Ned really hit his stride. He courage and grace. He was always a pleasure to be with expanded the family business (realtors) up to four offices and was grateful for every visit. Throughout my life, dad and moved the family from Manor Park to Rockcliffe. made everything look easy (even when it wasn’t). Ned understood that with success comes responsibility. Ned will be missed by his children Ian ’78, Julia ’83, Chris He was a natural leader who gave back to his community ’80 and his grandchildren, Charlotte, Michael ’13, Emily, extensively. Dad was a vice president of the YMCA, the Michelle ’15 and Patrick ’12. chair of the Perley & Rideau Veterans’ Home during their move and construction of a new hospital, the president of the Ottawa Real Estate board, chairman of the Board of Ashbury College, the president of the Royal Ottawa Ned Rhodes was part of a four-generation legacy of Golf Club and the president of the Ottawa Ashburians. The school’s Rhodes Hall is a testament to the Executive Association. family’s commitment to the school. Ned Rhodes passed In retirement, Ned concentrated on his family. Any major away in May. His son Ian (Class of 1978) delivered a longer birthday celebration or anniversary was a private gathering version of the above eulogy at his funeral. of his close family. He loved to be around his grandchildren
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Home and Away
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inter and spring have been eventful with alumni gatherings taking place across the globe. Ashbury hosted another fantastic alumni holiday party at the Canadian Tire Centre for an Ottawa Senators game in December. Successful receptions were also held in Boston at the Union Club of Boston, in Ottawa at the Rockcliffe Rink, in Toronto at the National Club, in Los Angeles at the Jonathan Club, in San Francisco at the Marines’ Memorial Club, in New York City at Hammer Galleries, and in London, England at the Oxford and Cambridge Club.
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Visit ashbury.ca/alumni or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/ashburians to find out about future alumni receptions!
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SAVE THE DATE HOMECOMING SEPTEMBER, 28! Holiday Party
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Alumni gathered at the Canadian Tire Centre.
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Allie Mierins ’06, Olivia McNee ’05, Iris E ’06, Cristina Fulop ’03
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Zach Legault ’10, Andres Beltran ’96, Bryan MacKinnon, Steven Koutsomitopoulos ’10, Brian Storosko, Stuart Gray ’03, David Gaty ’10
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Brendan McGovern ’09, Andrew McIntyre ’11, Andres Diaz ’12, Cameron Morrison ’12, Andrew Mansfield ’11, Robbie Ashe ’11, Teddy Taggart ‘11 Lucy Baird ’17, Saba Usmani, Katie Orr ’17
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Alumni gathered in Boston and the Union Club of Boston
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Alumni on the Rockcliffe Rink after a game of hockey
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Toronto
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Paul Sheehan ’89, Ian McLaine ’90, Marc Weatherill ’93, Tan Crombie ’92
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Kayla Rimer ’09, Brent McKean ’11, Connor Robertson ’09, Nikola Ruddy ’09, Brendan McGovern ’09, Ian Mutter ’08
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Norman Southward, David Rhodes ’16, Katie Orr ’17, Pierre-Olivier Boulet ’18, Tori Barban ’18, Kaniz Williams ’18, Sebastien Tuli ’18
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Vicky Wilgress, Tom Driedger ’65, Ryan Kruyne ’06
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Alumni gathered at the National Club in Toronto
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Alumni gathered at the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles
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Alumni gathered at the Marines’ Memorial Club in San Francisco
New York City
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Jonathan Estabrooks ’02, Sophie Lemieux ’15, Oleg Zarakhani ’07, Christine McLellan ’07, Victoria Shore ‘07
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Caroline Mierins ’10, Rob Hall ’83, Jennifer Nash ’89, Erin Williams ‘99
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Tiantian Luo ’16, Norman Southward, Hannah Hagadorn ‘16
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Alumni gathered at Hammer Galleries in New York City
London
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Alumni gathered at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London
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Fernando Valenzuela ’98, Nana Kwofie ’98, Matthew Buchan ’97, Kevin Massie ’98, Kathy Boate ’99
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Micaela Dixon ’13, Ping Ping Lu ’13, Chanon Roy ’11, Sydney Maxwell ’14, Chris Hales ’12
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Alex Polis ’07, Cristina Ameneiro, John Rikhtegar ’14, Julian Grego ’13
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Ken England ’88, Alex Macdonald ’11, Norman Southward, Deane McRobie ’08
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Christopher Hampson ’48, Anthony Paish ’50, James Northcott ’45, Jacquin Northcott
In
Memoriam
John Allmark ’61 James L. Fleck ’47 C. Pierre R. LeBoutillier ’52 E.N. (Ned) Rhodes Jr. ’55, Governor Emeritus and past Chair of the Board of Governors Sandy Schofield ’71 David Scott ’54 Liliana Hernandez Rodriguez, current parent Andrea Jones, past parent and grandparent Dr. Wilbert Keon, past parent and grandparent
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Edith Plummer, past parent
Chatter
Ashbury
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eoffrey Plowden ’45 has been enjoying retirement in London, U.K. After attending Ashbury College from 1940–43 Geoffrey attended Eton College and later attended Oxford University, where he studied Greek, Latin and literature, as well as history. Following two years with the National Service, he worked with the admiralty in England. He continued working for the British government in transportation until his retirement. Geoffrey enjoyed catching up with Vicky Wilgress in May.
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oe Aveline ’56 is now retired and enjoys living in Derby, England. Joe spent his career working as a production manager in the theatre industry in Britain, starting at the Bristol Hippodrome in 1957. In the 1990s he co-wrote a book titled The Effects for the Theatre. In 2002, he published a book based on his experiences of theatre best practices called Production Management. In recent years, Joe has continued lecturing part-time and works to improve the quality and availability of training for working technicians in his role as secretary of the Arts & Entertainment Technical Training Initiative.
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afael Barrios ’68 works as an artist, and is best known for his largescale public sculptures. Influenced by Amerian sculptor Alexander Calder, Barrios creates brightly-coloured geometric metal forms that appear to defy gravity in their construction. The photo shows his recent installation of a large mobile in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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hristopher Beeton ’53 is actively enjoying his retirement from the military and is living in Milford on Sea, U.K. He has enjoyed many years of sailing off of Lymington, near the Isle of Wight. He has written a lengthy document of his memoirs of his time in Canada during the Second World War. He is also an avid collector of books, magazines, and pamphlets published by Samuel Orchart Beeton.
Arthur Fogel ’71 dropped by Ashbury in May after he was invested into the Order of Canada at a ceremony at Rideau Hall. Arthur, who lives in Los Angeles, toured the school with his family and reminisced about his time as a student and athlete at the school. Arthur is the CEO of global touring for Live Nation Entertainment and has planned concert tours for U2, Lady Gaga, and Madonna, among others.
ASHBURY ALUMNI
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red Stoddard ’74 was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr H.C.) by the Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies. This is a significant honour and a great privilege and he’s very excited to share the news with the Ashbury community.
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ean McAdam ’88 and Phil von Finkenstein ’89, both current parents, attended this year’s Senior Art Show in April wearing similar outfits!
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hilip Grant ’77 visited Ashbury in November 2018 and was pleased to walk the grounds and hallways on campus. Philip says much has changed physically from his time at the school, but the memories remain.
ick Lewis ’78 and his son Alex stopped by Ashbury for a visit in January. Nick hadn’t been back to the school since he graduated. Both Nick and Alex were impressed with the scale and scope of the facilities. After graduating, Nick attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where he studied mechanical engineering with minors in Spanish, psychology, and geophysics. After Lehigh, he worked in New York in the commercial nuclear power industry. After a few years, he joined the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Yemen. He later joined JP Morgan on Wall Street as a credit analyst, then senior investment banker covering utility and power clients globally. In 2004, Nick was recruited for the CEO role of an energy technology company in Wellington, New Zealand. That three-year gig became a 15-year (and counting) lifestyle change. Nick loves living in New Zealand, which he now calls home.
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rothers Colin ’89 and Sean McAdam ’88 visited the school in February to hear a presentation from Max Eisen, a Holocaust survivor and author of By Chance Alone: A Remarkable Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz (see page 10 for more). The McAdams were fortunate to have dinner with Mr. Eisen during his trip to Ottawa and hear more about his remarkable life. Colin is an award-winning author and faculty member at Humber College’s Creative & Performing Arts campus and Sean is a residential developer and current Ashbury parent.
Sahir Khan ’88 caught up with Zach Harding ’92 in Jamaica while he was there on business. Sahir lives in Ottawa and reached out to Zach, who lives in Jamaica, when he learned he would be traveling there. After the two were unable to find time in their schedules to meet, they happened to run into each other at the hotel bar where Sahir was staying!
Alexandra Howard graduated from Ashbury in ’93 along with her partner, Tommy St. John ’93. They’re high school sweethearts of 26 years who have been an “on the move” item ever since. Together, the couple has moved in and out of many corners of the world, including England, Australia, and throughout Canada. Last summer, Alexandra and Tommy, along with their two sons, Sebastian and Nico, left the big city hustle of Toronto for the beautiful, nature-filled hills of Chelsea, Quebec. Old Chelsea was love at first sight for the family and continues to enthrall every day. Tommy enjoys being a digital marketing and ideas guy, who has a knack for making everything sound simple and important. Alexandra runs an amazing family-oriented charity that her mom started for Kenyan kids (hannehowardfund.org). She’s also founder of Mind, Mood ALIVE!, a successful brain and mood health-coaching practice helping those experiencing anxiety, or low/ fluctuating mood, and chronic stress reclaim energy, mood, and aliveness (mindmoodalive.com). Alexandra and Tommy invite fellow Ashburians to visit them in Chelsea if they’re ever in the area.
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aul Macoun ’90 is the science manager at Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF) and a navigator in training. Paul recently transitioned to CSSF from Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), where he served for four years as the field services manager. Previously, he held a variety of positions at the VENUS Project and eventually ONC, starting back in 2004. Paul brings a varied
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ASHBURY ALUMNI
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hris Penton ’93 ran as a candidate for Ottawa city councillor in the 2019 Rideau-Rockcliffe municipal byelection in April. Chris is the president of the Beechwood Market, which operates not far from Ashbury campus.
background in engineering and oceanography to the organization. He obtained his B.A.Sc. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 1995, an M.Sc. Physical Oceanography in 2003 from the University of Victoria, and more recently, his PMP designation 2015.
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r. Martin Zollinger ’92, chiropractor and owner of Ottawa’s ReForm Body clinic, visited Ashbury in April to talk to administrative staff about healthy living. He provided tips to promote good posture at work, and spoke about the effects of positive and negative stress in our lives.
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In honour of their 25th reunion, classmates of Kevin Pendergrast ’93 established a memorial bursary in Kevin’s honour. Kevin passed away a few years ago after a tough battle with cancer. Kevin attended Ashbury in the early ’90s while his father was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa. At the time, Kevin as the only American student at Ashbury. Kevin was an integral member of the Ashbury tennis team and greatly enjoyed the camaraderie with his fellow players. He went on to graduate from Guilford College in North Carolina, where he was an all-conference and all-American tennis player. If anyone is interested in supporting the bursary or learning more, please contact Olivia Taggart ’08, Alumni Relations Coordinator, at olivia. taggart@ashbury.ca
Marc Weatherill ’93 is pleased to report that he is expanding his business, GroBikes, to Ottawa in 2019. Launched in Toronto in 2017, GroBikes is a children’s bicycle subscription service. Parents sign up for a year and their child gets a lightweight bike that fits them correctly. If they outgrow the bike during the subscription, GroBikes exchanges it for the next size up! Anyone who’s interested can find Marc at the Beechwood Market in Vanier (started and run by Marc’s classmate, Chris Penton) on the last weekend of every month during the summer and early fall, or can reach him through the GroBikes website.
rista Lindsay ’94 currently lives in London, U.K. where she runs her own business. Krista was an interior designer and partner at a large global architectural firm in London called Gensler for 20 years. She also developed properties in London and realized the market for overseas landlords to rent out their homes for short-term holiday rentals in London. With this idea, Krista decided to start her own business in short-term rental management. Her business is called My London Holiday Let and she has created a boutique, five-star management service, which is new to the London market. Visit her at mylodonholidaylet.com or email info@mylondonholidaylet.com
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atthew Buchan ’97 lives in London, England with his wife, Yuki, and two children, Theo (6) and Taiki (3). Matt and his family get back to Ottawa, usually once a year in the summer, to visit family and friends. When there, the boys particularly enjoy swimming in The Pond in Rockcliffe. Matt continues to work for Barclays in risk analysis.
ASHBURY ALUMNI
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eoff Walker ’00 and former Ashbury teacher, Ray Anderson, stopped by Ashbury in April with Camelot Golf to instruct current students as part of their gym class. The Camelot Golf & Country Club is a member of Golf Canada, which has partnered with PGA Canada and Physical and Health Education Canada to grow the game of golf and introduce kids to the sport. As part of this initiative, Camelot has adopted Ashbury as one of their four schools. The instructional sessions in schools are run by golf professionals and volunteers, including Ray and Geoff.
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att Lynch ’00 recreated a photo from Ashbury frad at his wedding in summer 2019. Left to right: Matt Lynch ’00, Eric Pook ’00, Nicholas Spooner ’00, and Geoff Walker ’00.
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imon Clarke-Okah ’04 married Mila Aleksic on September 29 in Toronto. Both Simon and Mila currently live and work in Toronto.
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aroline Fulop ’05 and Luke Witherspoon ’05 welcomed a baby girl, Alice, on December 7.
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Erin Williams ’99 accepted a new job at the Global Fund for Women as Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. She is responsible for the global grant-making portfolio and is based in New York.
Marc Lafleche ’02 married Helena Fricke in Mallorca, Spain on June 30, 2018. The wedding party included alumni Julie Lafleche ’01 and Michel Lafleche ’04. The couple live and work in London, U.K.
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hitney Kucey ’01 is happy to share the news of the birth of her son, Jack William Higgins, who arrived at the Ottawa Hospital on November 11. Mom Whitney and dad Matthew Higgins are thrilled.
ASHBURY ALUMNI
40 under 40 recipients
Congratulations to two Ashbury alumni, and current parent Stephanie Appotive, named to the Ottawa Business Journal’s National Capital Region’s Forty Under 40 awards for 2019.
Danya Vered ’04 is a vice president at StrategyCorp. Danya has experience in the Canadian public service, federal politics, and non-government organizations. She previously worked with the Department of Public Safety’s International Affairs Division, where she contributed to strategic policy development on multilateral and bilateral relations and international security engagements.
Alex Patrick ’03 is president and executive producer of Take the Shot Productions Inc. Alex was called to the bar of Ontario and his previous work experience includes a major Toronto law firm and the Clinton Foundation in New York. Most recently, Alex served as executive producer of the award-winning Netflix/Discovery Channel Canada drama Frontier. Alex also visited an Ashbury careers class in the fall, to speak about his work in the production industry.
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r. Jacquie Lovatt Stern ’05 and her spouse, James Cochrane, welcomed their first child, Matilda Harriet Cochrane. She was born happy and healthy on February 9 in Ottawa weighing 8 lbs 9 oz.
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iki French ’06 and her husband, Stuart Hamilton, are proud parents of their first child, Henry Eugene Hamilton, born on November 6 in Toronto, Ontario.
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orey Arnold ’07 performed the opera Turnadot on February 2. Turandot is Puccini’s final opera and it includes the aria Nessun Dorma, made famous by Luciano Pavarotti, shortly after a recording of his was used for the 1990 World Cup. Corey performed the lead role of Calaf, opposite Ottawa’s own Stephanie Piercey Beames.
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rica Weinstein ’07 is currently a doctor (fellow) at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania specializing in infectious diseases. After graduating from Ashbury, she studied at McGill University where she received her undergraduate degree. She then went on to study medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
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Thank You to our Partner
Kathryn Christie ’05 married Blair Sherman on October 27 in Prince Edward County. Alumni in the wedding party included Tom Christie ’04, Elaine Richardson ’05 and Katherine McIsaac ’05. Several other Ashbury alumni were also in attendance from all over North America including Hilary Young ’05, Julianne Purcell ’05, Nael Alsaffar ’05, Becky Lauks ’05 and Brigid McCallum ’05. The couple currently live in Toronto.
OTTAWA LUXURY PROPERTIES
ASHBURY ALUMNI
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aho (Kajiwara) Sakiyama ’08 stopped by Ashbury in May with her family. Saho currently lives in Fukuoka, Japan with her husband, Kay, daughter, Juno (5) and son, Hayato (3). While at Ashbury, Saho visited Gillin residence, which she had not been in since she graduated, and met current Japanese boarding students.
Danial Taggart ’05 married Hayley Magermans on October 20 in Almonte, ON. Many Ashbury alumni attended the event, including Ian Gillespie ’05, who gave a speech, and Danial’s siblings/wedding party: Olivia Taggart ’08, Teddy Taggart ’11 and Riley Taggart ’15. The couple currently lives and works in Ottawa.
lex Bryden Loiselle ’08 has made a home for himself in New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay as the training manager and rider at New Zealand Performance Horses, which has just been re-branded Haupouri Sport Horses. Living on the East Coast Ocean Beach Farm, Haupouri Station, Alex is in charge of training, competing, and selling horses. Alex recently competed at the Land Rover Horse of the Year Show where he won the 5-Year-Old Horse of the Year title for the second year in a row, as well as the 1.40 m showjumping event on his own horse he purchased last year. Riding has always been a part of Alex’s life, competing since his first year at Ashbury as a 6th grader in the Junior School. After a five-year hiatus from the sport, spent earning a Bachelor of Arts degree at Ottawa U and working in an office, Alex has settled in New Zealand living his dream job.
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aylor Gendron ‘08 develops programs to help prevent and reverse stress, anxiety, and depression through a combination of yoga, meditation, nutritional protocols, and lifestyle coaching. Her practice uses proper nutrition, meditation and breathwork as the foundation to healing. Taylor works with clients individually and in class settings, and she hosts a variety of workshops. She is a certified yoga teacher, meditation coach, mental health nutritionist and is working towards a Master of Psychotherapy. She also teaches moving meditation yoga classes at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. Taylor’s integrative approach combines yoga, meditation, nutrition, and psychotherapy in a holistic approach to mental health care. Learn more at taygendron.com
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illian Reid-Schachter ’11 spoke to the World Affairs and Questions Mondiales students in December. After graduating from Ashbury in 2011, Gillian went on to complete a degree in biochemical engineering and a master’s degree in cancer research. For the last year, Gillian has been living in Malawi, volunteering at a medical clinic and teaching at the local school in a rural village. Gillian spoke of the wonderful experiences she has had, as well as the challenges of development work.
Andrew Cameron ’07 married Jillian Lansky in June 2018. Ashbury alumni in attendance included Patrick Cameron ’13, Ian Cameron ’09, and Bobby Kelly ’09. The wedding took place at the Painted Rock Winery in British Columbia. The couple now lives in Toronto, where Andrew is completing his residency in emergency medicine and a Master’s of Law. His wife Jillian is a digital influencer (@theaugustdiaries).
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ASHBURY ALUMNI
Illesha St. Helene-Uko ’10 spoke to students as part of Black History Month and shared memories of her time at Ashbury. She also spoke about the importance of knowing your roots and her background as the child of a Nigerian father (her father is Chapman Uko, pictured, Ashbury’s Coordinator, Life Skills and Chapel Program) and St. Lucian mother. Illesha received a Bachelor of Arts with a Specialization in Criminology at Western University. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies in 2014, she pursued a Master of Arts in Criminology at the University of Ottawa. In 2017, she successfully defended her MA thesis, which sought to uncover how employers in the city of Ottawa perceive those who have been in conflict with the law as potential candidates for the workforce. Illesha currently works for the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada within the corporate security branch and works closely on training and awareness initiatives relating to security in the workplace.
Katie Gwozdecky ’13 dropped by Ashbury in December 2018 to speak to current science students. Katie is a private pilot and graduate of the University of Toronto in mechanical engineering with a passion for aerospace engineering. She is currently completing an MASc at the Space Flight Lab at the University of Toronto.
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ongratulations to Michael O’Connor ’14 for being selected by the Toronto Argonauts in the 2019 CFL draft. Michael is a quarterback and just finished at the University of British Colombia, where he saw great successes on the field, including a Vanier Cup win in 2015. Michael was drafted in the third round. He joins fellow Ashbury alumnus John Biewald ’12, who also plays for the Toronto Argonauts.
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illiam Richardson ’14 visited Ashbury’s World Affairs Club in November. At Ashbury, William was the recipient of the Michael Kirby Award, and went on to study history and international relations at theUniversity of Toronto. Since graduating from U of T, William has been working at Global Affairs Canada with a focus on Bhutan, Nepal, and India. William was a leader in Ashbury’s World Affairs Club throughout high school and current students were pleased to welcome him back to speak.
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livia Tuli ’12 worked at Ashbury College in April alongside teacher Mélissa Berry for the Year 2 Community Service Learning placement for her teaching program at the University of Ottawa.
R Several Ashbury grads are back on campus this year assisting our athletics program as volunteer coaches. Pictured are Mathieu Lefebvre ’15 assiting with Junior Boys Rugby, Cailtlin (Sparks) Patrick ’03 assisting with Track and Field, and Jake Hamm ’15 assisting with Track and Field.
oan Allen ’16 was named NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) outdoor field athlete of the week on April 3 after an outstanding performance in the Univerity of British Columbia Open. Roan finished first in the hammer throw with a mark of 68.64 m—a personal best.
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ongratulations to Kyle Oppenheimer ’16 for being honoured after earning the highest GPA in Engineering Physics in 2017–2018 at Queen’s University.
ASHBURY ALUMNI
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ophie Duguay ’18 was at Ashbury this May to help out with the Junior School flag rugby tournament. Sophie just finished her first year at the University of Ottawa and is a member of women’s rugby team. Sophie enjoyed being back on the field at Ashbury—this time as a referee!
Yan Duan ’16 stopped by Ashbury in May to talk to a Grade 12 Chemistry class about her experiences with engineering and co-op programs. She currently studies at the University of Waterloo.
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eggy Joyce visited with Vicky Wilgress, Ashbury Relations Ambassador, in March. Peggy, wife of former Ashbury Headmaster Bill Joyce, is now 101 years old and has recently moved from her home into a retirement residence. She continues to be in good health and has fond memories of her time at Ashbury College, from 1966–1981.
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oris Wu ’16 stopped by the school for a visit in February, where she met with Ms. Doleman in the art classroom and spoke to art students about her work studying architecture. Doris is currently at the University of Toronto.
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ormer staff, Andy Sparks, was named 2018–2019 OUA coach of the year for the 5th time after an extremely-successful season coaching the uOttawa Women’s Basketball team.
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Several recent grads returned to campus in May to speak to Grade 12 students about the transition to university. They answered questions on everything from food in residence, to time management skills and tips for budgetting. Speakers from left to right: Hope Rikhtegar ’18, currently studying commerce at Dalhousie University; Samantha Wiesenfeld ’18, currently studying nursing at McGill University; Jeffrey Yateman ’16, currently at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University; Ariane Hadziomerovic ’17, currently studying biology and psychology at Queen’s University; Connor McSweeney ’17, currently studying finance at the Ivey School of Business at Western University; and Kanize Williams ’18, currently studying biomedical engineering at Ryerson University.
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avid Kilgour, is a former board member of Ashbury College, whose three children attended Ashbury College: Eileen ’97, Hilary ’03, and David ’00. Brian Storosko, Ashbury’s Deputy Head of School, ran into David at the Ottawa Mission during a boarder visit. David is an active volunteer at the Mission.
NEWS & NOTES
for a cause
Writing
Student pens book to draw attention to Amazon deforestation
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ophie Weider can call herself something not many teenagers can: a published author. Weider, who is heading into Grade 12, spent last summer writing and illustrating a children’s book called The Girl Who Saved a Tree. The story looks at the effects of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. “The book teaches children about the importance of protecting our natural world,” says Sophie. “In the story, a girl saves a tree from bulldozers as they move in to tear down the Amazon rainforest. By saving the tree, the girl helps save the many animals and plants that call the forest home.” The subject was inspired by the trip Sophie took to the Amazon with Ashbury in 2018, where she, along with other science students, did population counts in the rainforest and saw first-hand the effects of climate change. She packed her watercolour kit for the trip, and spent time drawing pictures of the variety of animals she saw. When she returned home, she saw how the images and newfound knowledge could come together to tell an important message. “I always wanted to write a book,” she says. “I thought it would be cool to share how trees are important to animals.”
With the help of a neighbour who provided some graphic design services, Sophie put together the book over several weeks, planning out the story to explain how each animal used a different tree on each page, and conducting research on Amazonian animals. She self-published the book on lulu.com, an online publishing site. Sophie has donated all of the profits from each book sold to the Wildlife Conservation Society in support of their efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest. So far, she has sold over 150 books, and says she’s proud of the feedback she’s received. “It’s really fun to see children enjoying the book.” Her plan now is to send the book to a real publisher, “even though publishers usually want you to be an adult with a credit card. But I can try.” This summer, Sophie will explore polar regions of the world with Students on Ice, an educational expedition for youth. She hopes the experience might provide inspiration for her next book.
The Girl Who Saved a Tree is available for purchase on sophieweider.com
Picture yourself at
HOMECOMING
SEPTEMBER 28, 2019
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a s h b u r y. c a / h o m e c o m i n g
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