SEPTEMBER 2017
Building a Better Curriculum Through
Design Thinking SUPERB SCORES, BRIGHT FUTURES
A DEEP DIVE INTO INNOVATION
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CULTIVATING CURIOSITY WITH THE ALICE PROJECT
Page 26 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: ELMWOOD’S 2016 – 2017 PHILANTHROPY REPORT
The Elmwood Fund Fuelling Inspiration WHY DO WE PLACE SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON INSPIRATION? Inspiration is the thing that takes good to great. It is the difference between standing in the crowd and soaring above. Inspiration makes challenges seem like opportunities. It is what sets Elmwood apart. For our Elmwood girls, that inspiration can be found all around them. They are surrounded by people and given opportunities that will challenge and motivate them to grow, thrive and realize their dreams. They see their classmates pushing beyond boundaries, working hard to achieve their goals. They look up to older girls who are accomplished and confident. They get to know teachers who are passionate about making a difference in the lives of their pupils. And they have opportunities to take risks, give back to their community and hone their leadership skills. Our girls go on to become well-rounded, open-minded and successful women who are inspiring in turn. How can we be sure to continue the cultivation of this uniquely inspiring environment?
Your support is the key.
Your gift to the Elmwood Fund helps ensure the School remains‌ A diverse community, where the best and brightest students in Ottawa, supported through our scholarship program, are raising the bar for all of their peers.
A leading-edge educational environment, where our outstanding faculty are supported in their pursuit of excellence and lifelong learning.
A place where every girl is inspired to reach her full potential.
Please consider a gift to the Elmwood Fund in support of our diverse and unrivalled educational experience. You may make your gift online at Elmwood.ca.
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BUILDING A BETTER CURRICULUM THROUGH DESIGN THINKING
A DEEP DIVE INTO INNOVATION
CULTIVATING CURIOSITY WITH THE ALICE PROJECT
Elmwood girls go looking for problems worth solving during our annual Deep Learning Week.
Elmwood Grade 4 students tackle an in-depth project on a topic of their choosing, and end up learning something about themselves.
By James Whitehouse, Deputy Head, Middle and Senior School
By Christine Blackadar, Deputy Head, Junior School
A team of faculty members are looking at Elmwood’s Middle Years curriculum through the lens of design thinking. By Cheryl Boughton, Head of School
Message from the Head.......................... 2 News and Notes.......................................... 4 Celebrating our Successes.................. 10 2016 – 2017 Closing Ceremonies.......12 Class of 2017 Highlights.........................14
Cultivating Curiosity with the Alice Project.............................26
Alumnae Spotlight: Ally Brown ’09.......................................... 36
All Singing, All Dancing: Junior School Students Take the Stage...........................................28
Alumni News and Events........................38 Our Generous Donors...........................40 Pactum Serva Society............................. 42
Cooking with Candice........................... 30
Advancement Update........................... 43
Meet the Graduates.................................18
Inspiring Girls: Avery (’22) and Rowan (’25) Parkinson.................32
Class Notes.................................................. 44
Building a Better Curriculum Through Design Thinking.................... 20
Alumnae Spotlight: Anne Pigott ’08........................................ 34
Superb Scores, Bright Futures...............17
Staff News.................................................. 48
A Deep Dive into Innovation...............24
editor:
Teresa Stirling, Director of Communications photographers:
Dwayne Brown Karenna Boychuk Lindsay Germano Chris Snow Remi Thériault Chandra Wiegand design:
Karenna Boychuk Ryan Mesheau
contributors:
Gladys Abankwa-Meier-Klodt ’81 Elise Aylen Christine Blackadar ’88 Cheryl Boughton Candice Butler Meagan Enticknap-Smith Lindsay Germano Jennifer Irwin-Jackson Brian McCullough Donna Naufal Moffatt Nimrat Obhi ’10 Evelyn Pike Kimberly Senf James Whitehouse
The Elmwood Emblem is published twice a year for the entire Elmwood community by Elmwood’s Communications Department elmwood school
261 Buena Vista Rd. Ottawa ON K1M 0V9 Phone: (613) 749-6761 Email: info@elmwood.ca www.elmwood.ca
above: Hailey Kay ’23 and Katelyn Lennox ’23 hard at work. Photo by Chris Snow.
on the cover:
Design thinking in action—the Middle Years Programme Innovation Team rethinks Elmwood’s curriculum. Photo by Karenna Boychuk.
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MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Cheryl Boughton, Head of School
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erman social psychologist Erich Fromm said, “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” This idea has been central to much of the work we have been engaged in over the past few months. As you’ll see in the following pages, students, staff and faculty have been using design thinking in a number of ways to discover and solve problems both in and outside of the school. Design thinking dovetails nicely with the 21st century skills our girls need to develop in order to succeed once they leave our walls. Critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration are all key skills that can be supported and encouraged through the design thinking process. It is has been very inspiring to see how courageously our girls have embraced the challenges of thinking differently. I am also so inspired by our Class of 2017 graduates. As you’ll see in this issue, they had some truly impressive results, and are setting off to prestigious schools both near and far this fall. They are exemplars of our School motto: Summa Summarum – highest of the high! We wish them all the best as they take the next step in their educational journeys, and remind them that they are now members of a network of impressive and successful Elmwood alumni spread all around the world.
Two such members of our alumni network, Anne Pigott ’08 and Ally Brown ’09, are featured starting on page 34. I’m always so pleased to hear where life has taken our Elmwood students after they graduate. I hope you will find their stories as captivating as I have. I encourage all of our alumni to get in touch and let us know what they have been up to in the months, years or decades since they were at Elmwood. In the meantime, Elmwood continues to be a place full of excitement, enthusiasm and excellence. We hope you enjoy reading about all our students have accomplished, and all they have to look forward to in the coming year. Warm regards,
1 Elmwood’s Class of 2017 celebrates their graduation. 2 Paula Afeseh Azoh-Mbi ’24, Naila Moloo ’24 and Elizabeth Andreou-Daddario ’24 celebrate the end of the school year. 3 Sara Abdulkareem ’20, Madison Lamoureux ’20 and Rayan Turki ’20 create a prototype during Deep Learning. 4 Isabella Thomas ’19 and Nuha Yousuf ’19 with a prototype of their insect repellent during Deep Learning. 5 Head of School Cheryl Boughton with Maggie Fyfe ’21, Sophie Barbeau-O’Connor ’21, Aviva Gerring ’21 and Ella Iles ’21 at the Middle School Closing Ceremony. 6 Kate Angell and Christine Blackadar ’88 pitch their curriculum ideas to Head of School Cheryl Boughton. 2
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1 Bianca Sugunasiri ’23 with her father Shalin Sugunasiri at the Father Daughter Ball. 2 Grace ’19 and Clare ’21 Golberg with their father Dan Goldberg at the Father Daughter Ball. 3 Mr. Whitehouse, Invictus mascot, Vimy, Aya Al Khalili ’25, Joelle Masia Mandala ’23 and Mrs. Blackadar following the Invictus presentation. 4 Junior School Prefect, Bakiza Al Khlalili ’17 and Head of Fry, Pooja Moorti ’17 enjoying the Fry Tacos n’ Trivia event. 5 Chloe Somerville ’21, Caitlin Walsh ’21, Cate Woodhead ’21 and Sarah Allam ’21 take part in the Youth Net presentation during Health Week. 6 Sophia Swettenham ’17 performs a scene with cast member Laurent Sayer during the production of Blue Stockings. 7 Britney Smith ’17, Ciara Halloran ’17, Brittany Cooper ’17, Eleanor Duffley ’17 and Lily Newberry ’17 enjoy the 100 Nights Dinner. 8 Grade 3 students, Clarissa Lauzon ’26, Brooke Jacobs ’26 and Raluca Voina ’26 are ready to serve Kindergarten students Melody Caron ’31 and Lakshmi Krishnamoorthy ’30 some yummy lemonade. 9 International Women’s Day panel members, Patricia Harewood ’92, Danika Leminski ’09, Melissa Smith, Rosemary Chapdelaine, Brenda Halloran and Tina Sarellas, with Cheryl Boughton, Head of School. Not pictured: Jasmeet Srivastava, who joined the panel via Skype from Mumbai, India.
Lindsay Germano, Communications Coordinator
NEWS AND NOTES Through the Looking Glass On February 4th, Elmwood fathers and daughters made their way “down the rabbit hole” to attend Elmwood’s 28th annual Father Daughter Ball. The event took place at the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne and had a magical “Alice in Wonderland” theme. The evening was filled with laughter, dancing, delicious food and great conversations. It was an opportunity for the girls to take a moment to reflect and enjoy the wonderful relationships they have with their fathers. Thank you to event chair, Catherine McLaughlin, the fantastic student committee and the talented team of Elmwood moms who helped create an unforgettable evening! We’ve Got Spirit, Yes We Do! The week of February 6th was Spirit Week at Elmwood. Led by Senior Prefect, Emily Bangsboll ’17, and the prefect team, the overall theme for the week was “salad dressing” and these were the daily themes: • Monday – Thousand Island dressing (beach/ocean theme) • Tuesday – Ranch dressing (cowboy/western theme) • Wednesday – Vinaigrette (“regrets,” mismatched clothing) • Thursday – Greek salad (Grease movie or ancient Greek attire) • Friday – Salad bar (each grade decided their theme) The grade winners for the week overall were Grade 6 (first), Grade 8 (second) and Grade 11 (third). Staff won for most creative theme (Superheroes), and Grade 12 had the highest participation on the Friday. Invictus We were thrilled to hear from an impressive Elmwood alumna, Axelle Pellerin
’02, who holds a key leadership role, Senior Manager Stakeholder Relations, with the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 organizing committee. She got in touch with us to offer our Grade 1 to 8 students the opportunity to experience a dynamic 30-minute presentation about the Invictus Games. She was keen to share the excitement with her old school and inspire the next generation of Elmwood girls. During the dynamic presentation that was beautifully tailored to this age group, the students learned about the importance of adaptive sport in the rehabilitation of wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans, and the unique challenges military families face. The highlights for the students included the high-energy appearance of Vimy the Mascot and the interactive archery game on the projector during which Deputy Head, Mr. Whitehouse, was handily beaten by Grade 4 student Aya Al Khalili ’25 and Grade 6 student Joelle Masia Mandala ’23. This was a fantastic introduction to the games coming to Toronto, but most importantly the students were connected with the idea of how the power of sport can help rehabilitate the body and mind.
display from the Ottawa Public Health Department, stress-less workshop from CHEO’s Youth Net and more. The Council ended the week on a delicious note with healthy fruit smoothies on Friday! Way to go girls! Blue Stockings Elmwood Theatre transformed the auditorium back to 1896, the year that Cambridge University tentatively opened their doors to receive young female students. Unlike their male counterparts, though, these women held little hope of receiving a university degree. In fact, these ‘blue stocking’ academics had very few prospects professionally or personally. Despite this, Tess Moffatt and the members of her study group work hard to affect change even when a surprising chance at love nearly blows Tess off course. Challenging the status quo has never been easy, and this attempt culminated in a charged finale that tested the resolve of these determined young women. Jessica Swale’s critically acclaimed play, Blue Stockings was presented to audiences from March 1st to 5th.
Tacos n’ Trivia On February 22 , Fry House hosted its annual fundraiser in support of its house charity, the Ottawa Humane Society. The evening included a delicious build-your-own-taco bar, exciting raffle prizes, and of course, trivia! Congratulations to Head of Fry, Pooja Moorti ’17, and the Prefect team for organizing such a fantastic community event.
#BeBoldForChange On March 8th we celebrated International Women’s Day by partnering once again with Startup Canada to host a panel of truly inspiring female leaders. This year’s theme was “#BeBoldForChange,” which challenges all of us to play a role in forging a better working world and a more gender-inclusive world. We were delighted to welcome our esteemed panelists to Elmwood:
Think Healthy Thoughts The Middle School Athletics Council organized a fantastic Health Week that took place the week of February 27th. Activities of the week included; “Dance Dance Revolution,” yoga, DIY stress ball workshop, StressBusters interactive
• Brenda Halloran, Chair, StartUp Canada and former Mayor of Waterloo • Rosemary Chapdelaine, VP and GM, Lockheed Martin • Tina Sarellas, Regional President, RBC • Danika Leminski ’09, Owner, Talk of the
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NEWS AND NOTES Town Social Media • Melissa Smith, Senior Account Manager, BDC • Patricia Harewood ’92, Legal Officer, Public Services Alliance Canada • Jasmeet Srivastava, Managing Partner, The Third Eye in Mumbai, India (via skype). Our Grade 10 Careers students asked questions of our panelists and we also heard from two students, Alex Byrne ’19 and Zarish Jawad ’19, whose Personal Projects examined the plight of women and girls in developing countries. Wishes for Women and Girls The Junior School had an exuberant International Women’s Day. Grade 3 student Raluca Voina ’26 spoke in assembly about how when girls are healthy, educated and empowered, their whole community benefits. The Grade 5 class shared entertaining skits to teach their younger peers about friendship and how to stand up for themselves in tricky social situations. Raluca also hosted a lemonade stand to raise funds for girls’ education through Plan Canada. After enjoying their lemonade over their lunch, students wrote down their wish for women and girls around the world. They were joined by their Big Sisters outside in the sunshine and the girls tied their ribbon wishes on the fitness bars. Grade 3 students chose the place for the ribbons, because it would look both “strong and beautiful.” Everyone enjoyed watching the wishes flutter in the warm breeze. Below are some of the wishes shared in Junior School: “I wish all girls could find their voices and work together and support each other so they cannot be silenced.” “I wish girls were treated equally and everyone got a chance to go to school.” “I wish that all girls were treated equally and every girl follows their dream.” Keeping the Faith This year’s Pactum Serva Society Dinner took place on March 7th. The evening was an opportunity to invite our Pactum Serva Society donors to enjoy a delicious dinner prepared by Chef Candice and for them to learn more about the incredible things our students are doing. A special thank you to all of our donors for “keeping the faith”—the impact of your generosity is immeasurable. 100, 99, 98, 97… On the evening of March 8th the class of 2017 enjoyed a special gathering to celebrate and kick-off the countdown to their last 100 nights as Elmwood students. We were thrilled to have several alumnae join us as well, including: 6
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Alice Bifield ’12, Christine Blackadar ’88, Stephanie Chin ’00, Sarah Clarke ’13, Toosje Delaney ’00, Madison Ellas ’10, Allie Hodgson ’10, Christiane McGovern ’07, Marielle McGovern ’05, Sarah Pullen ’10, Jane Reisman ’07, Cynthia Wallace ’08 and Lillian Wallace ’07. The evening included a delicious dinner and inspiring words from their teacher and Deputy Head, Mr. James Whitehouse, a wonderful speech about the importance of staying connected to the School from Christiane McGovern ’07 and a moving speech from Head Girl, Cynthia Sedlezky ’17. It was certainly a memorable evening. Think Like a Proton – Always Positive Grade 7 and 8 students worked hard on their innovative Science Fair projects from November 2016 to March 2017. The girls did an incredible job presenting their findings to the judges, their parents and teachers and fellow students at the Grade 7/8 Science Fair on March 2nd. Of all the participants, 14 students (10 projects) were chosen to represent Elmwood at the Ottawa Regional Science Fair that took place March 31st and April 1st at Carleton University. Madighan Ryan ’22 won “Best in Show” with her project “Hydrofoils: An Uplifting Experience,” and subsequently represented Ottawa at the National Science Fair in Regina, Saskatchewan. Other winners at the Fair included Leya Ghantous ’22 – Third place in the Junior Interdisciplinary category and the JH Hall Memorial Award, and Lauren Jane Hudson ’22 and Mackenzie Watson ’22 – Ottawa Horticultural Society Award. Creating, Building, Programming Elmwood’s March Break Camp 2017 was an exciting hive of activity as campers aged 3 – 12 took part in a ground-breaking Robot Academy! Under the expert guidance of Ian Dudley, Ottawa’s well-known “LEGO Guy,” groups of campers learned engineering techniques and terminology, and constructed various robots before tackling a series of challenges. Older campers also learned how to program their robots to follow complex instructions, including navigating through a maze, picking up objects and stopping at precise points. The inclusion of sound effects only added to the fun! Highlights of the week included a game of “Robot Four Square” and the creation of a paper crinkler machine. Other camp activities included fun outside on the snow mountains, robot-themed arts and crafts projects, and hot chocolate and marshmallows to finish off each day! Making the Cut! On March 29th 10 students and two teachers participated in
Elmwood’s annual Hair Drive. Participants had at least eight inches of hair cut off for donation to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program that creates real-hair wigs for women with cancer. A special thank you to the York Street Spa who helped beautify the participants with fresh, new (shorter) hairstyles. Congratulations to our generous participants for donating their hair and to our Community Prefect, Maya MainlandGratton ’17 for organizing such a fantastic event. Ceci N’est Pas Une Nuit d’Arts The Senior School Arts Council was drawn to the idea of devoting Arts Week to the exploration of an artistic movement that confronted the idea of finding (or at least attempting to find) sense in senseless situations. They ultimately picked surrealism—a movement which was created as a response to the incomprehensible atrocities of the Great War. Elmwood students had fun exploring surrealism throughout week. Many girls participated in student-run activities, such as attending a lecture by retired National Gallery of Canada curator Denise Leclerc on the history of surrealism, watching the short film “Un Chien Andalou” (created by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali), and participating in a photography project that attempted to recreate a famous Halsman photograph in which miscellaneous objects were suspended from the ceiling. On March 31st Ceci N’est Pas Une Nuit d’Arts featured senior art showcases, films of Elmwood girls’ drama studio work, and student musical performances. Congratulations to Arts Prefect Sophia Swettenham ’17 for organizing such an unforgettable arts week. Fiesta! On April 5th, Wilson House hosted its annual fundraiser in support of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa. Since 1923, the Boys and Girls Club has provided afterschool, weekend and summer programs where children and youth can experience new opportunities and build positive relationships. The Wilson Fiesta took place in Elmwood’s gymnasium and the evening was filled with fun games and activities, awesome raffle prizes and delicious Mexican-themed food! Congratulations to Head of Wilson House Laura Alexander ’17 for organizing such a fantastic community event. Learning to Lead Early in the morning of April 7th, 22 students from grades 5 – 7 travelled to the annual All Girls’ Leadership Conference hosted by The Study in Montreal, Quebec. The theme of this year’s
conference was C.L.I.M.B – Connect, Live, Inspire, Motivate, Be. The anticipation and excitement for the day could be felt from the moment the girls arrived, as 350 students piled into the school’s gymnasium. Our Elmwood girls were enthralled by the line-up of amazing and inspirational guest speakers who shared their personal stories of adversity and triumph. All of the speakers had a shared message—believe in yourself and anything is possible. The girls participated in a number of workshops and met many students from other independent schools in attendance. After a long but rewarding day, the girls were filled with excitement for next year’s conference. Later in April, Grace Goldberg ’19, Emma Young ’18, Brooke Van Haastrecht ’18 and Linnea Dalvi ’18, represented Elmwood School at the Canadian Association of Independent Schools’ (CAIS) Senior Student Leadership Conference in Toronto. This conference brings together senior students from CAIS schools across the country to develop teamwork and leadership skills and learn about communication and event planning, in the hopes that these skills will be useful as they take on leadership roles in their home schools. Celebrating Language, Culture, Girls and Learning Throughout the Junior, Middle and Senior Schools, Elmwood’s Semaine de la francophonie celebrated French language and francophone cultures. In the Junior School, the PreKindergarten girls carefully prepared and presented a musical number before the entire school in assembly, while girls in Grades 5 and 6 joined the Grade 7 class in the creation of a musical video clip. The performances were enjoyed by all! This enthusiasm continued through the week with a wide array of talents on stage. Indeed, Elmwood discovered a violin virtuoso hiding in plain sight—Mimi Li ’19 stunned the whole school assembly with her interpretation of Camille Saint-Saëns. In the Middle and Senior Schools, students participated in a challenging trivia contest each morning and had the opportunity to participate in a photography contest with the task of representing la francophonie en photo. Congratulations to SLG Rossiter, Katelyn Lennox ’23 and Linnea Dalvi ’18 for their award winning submissions, as well as to all of the participants for a job well done. A highlight of the week’s celebrations was the Concours d’art oratoire in which finalists presented their speeches before an adjudication panel comprised of Mme Elise Aylen, Mme Antonia Betts and M. Mike Caron. We thank them for their
time and congratulate the winners of the contest: Grace Charness ’21, Hannah Saunders ’21, Bronte Assadzadeh ’18 and Emma Young ’18. This was followed by the Exposition française, with work from all levels in the school on display, delicious dainties on offer from the Elmwood Bistro and good conversation throughout. It was worth attending just to see the impromptu dancing from the French teachers, and it can safely be said that a good time was had by all! From singing, to great reads for sale in the atrium, to French themes in the bistro cuisine, the Semaine de la francophonie was vibrantly celebrated throughout the school. Riding for a Reason Energy, enthusiasm, commitment, dedication, encouragement, music, dancing, fun and an amazing cause are just some of the words that can be used to describe Elmwood’s first ever Inside Ride charity event. The event consisted of 25 teams, made up of between four and six riders, racing each other on fixed bikes in the gymnasium in eight-minute intervals. After every eight minutes, distances were recorded and water was provided for the riders who had just pushed themselves to their physical limits. Each team chose a theme and dressed appropriately—lions, bees, girls in tie dye t-shirts, girl scouts and camping fanatics were all doing their best to cycle the furthest. We were also lucky enough to have Elmwood student Caroline Capehart ’18 as well as Ms. Chantel Pilon speak about their personal experiences of childhood cancer and to remind us why we need to come together as a community to help others. By the end of the event, voices were strained from singing and shouting, legs were tired from cycling and dancing. Students, staff and guests all left knowing we had raised over $12,000, which will make a real difference in the lives of families who are facing a battle with childhood cancer. Sports Captain Eleanor Duffley ’17, the Athletics Council and Athletic Director Mr. Sambles, should be very proud of all they have achieved in partnership with the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation in making this event such a huge success. Ahead by a Century Elmwood’s incredible 28th Annual Gala “Ahead by a Century” took place on April 22nd. Elmwood’s gymnasium was completely transformed and the event was a fantastic success thanks to the fantastic Gala team, led by co-chairs Denise Carruthers and Whitney Fox. We had over 270 guests in attendance who, along with our 35 sponsors, helped to raise over $280,000 for Elmwood.
1 Mr. Robertson, Charlotte McLaughlin ’22, Caitlin Walsh ’21, Madighan Ryan ’22, Mackenzie Watson ’22, Lauren Jane Hudson ’22, Leya Ghantous ’22 and Mrs. Boughton at the Ottawa Regional Science Fair. 2 Junior campers proudly display their lego projects during March Break camp. 3 Hair Drive participants showcase their awesome new (shorter) hairstyles and hair donations. 4 Virgilia Partridge, Special Events Officer for the Boys and Girls Club and Laura Alexander ’17, Head of Wilson House.
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NEWS AND NOTES Celebration of Learning On April 27th, we welcomed the Elmwood community to join us to view our Grade 5 students’ IB Primary Years Programme Exhibition projects and our Grade 10 students’ Middle Years Programme Personal Projects. This celebration is the culmination of these indepth projects, and we were impressed by the passion that went into each and every one. Congratulations to our Grade 5 and 10 students for all their hard work! Math Superstars! A small group of our students participated in the Mathematica Centrum Competitions in April and our girls scored very well. A medal is awarded to the school’s topranking student in each competition. This year the medal for the Fibonacci competition was awarded to Grade 5 student Naila Moloo ’24. Two of Elmwood’s Grade 4 students made the national honour roll; congratulations Emma Hemsch ’25 and Rowan Parkinson ’25. Rowan was also awarded the ByronGermain medal as she earned the highest score in the fourth grade competition. In addition, Grade 12 student Qinchen Wang ’17 finished sixth in the city and in the 98th percentile for Ontario students that participated in the Euclid Mathematics Contest for the University of Waterloo. The Euclid Contest is a mathematics contest for senior-level high school students that is written by 19,000 students world-wide every year. Girls in Tech On April 29th, some of our Junior School students attended the Nokia: Girls in ICT event. They had a wonderful afternoon making motors and flashlights, being introduced to PAC-MAN programming, taking system units apart and being introduced to networks. Thank you to Elmwood parent, Ian Meletios, for organizing our attendance at the event! Cheers for Volunteers “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” – Helen Keller On May 30th we celebrated our incredible volunteers at our annual “Cheers for Volunteers” luncheon. Dedicated parents, alumnae and friends of Elmwood gathered in the Auditorium for a delicious lunch prepared by the Elmwood Bistro to celebrate the end of a wonderful year. A special thank you to Liana Ladki who effortlessly led our team of volunteers as Chair of the Elmwood Parents’ Association. Athletic Achievements After a very successful year of sport at Elmwood, athletes, their families and their coaches were excited to celebrate at our annual Sports Banquet. 8
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Organized by Sports Captain Eleanor Duffley ’17 and Senior Athletic Director Mr. Sambles, the evening was an opportunity to celebrate the incredible athletes we have here at Elmwood. A number of athletes were recognized with special awards. The winners were: • Zaina Khan ’19 – Dunlop Intermediate Sports Cup • Ailish Saranchuk ’19 – Neale Intermediate Sports Cup • Sarah Murray ’18 – Physical Education Gold Medal • Emily Bangsboll ’17 – Colin Hood Award and Great Yoi Honour Athletic Award • Eleanor Duffley ’17 – Wilson Senior Sports Cup, Great Yoi Honour Athletic Award and Sports Captain Award • Emily Hartvich ’17 – Great Yoi Honour Athletic Award • Helen Hume ’17 – Elite Athlete Award • Elizabeth Moloney ’17 – Maynard Sportsmanship Award and Great Yoi Honour Athletic Award • Allegra Richter ’17 – Great Yoi Honour Athletic Award • Cynthia Sedlezky ’17 – Great Yoi Honour Athletic Award • Lucy Whichelo ’17 – Great Yoi Honour Athletic Award At the Middle School athletics assembly, the following athletes were celebrated for their achievements: • Emily Mellor ’23 – Grade 6 Athletic Award • Jane Covington ’22 – Jody McLaren Cup, Grade 7 Award • Sarah Allam ’21 – Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award • Grace Charness ’21 – Crowdy Weir Bantam Award, Grade 8 Award and Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award • Victoria Devine-Ducharme ’21 – Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award • Clara Fraser-Roberts ’21 – Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award • Tara Hanson-Wright ’21 – Faquier Junior Cup, Grade 8 Award, Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award • Lauren Ho ’21 – Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award • Rebecca Kealey ’21 – Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award • Caitlin Walsh ’21 – Grade 8 Honour Athletic Award Battle of the Houses! Spirit Day took place on June 9th and it was fantastic! We kicked-off the morning with the Prefect announcements and then our 2016 – 17 Prefects got a little messy during “Pie the Prefects.” Everyone enjoyed a delicious BBQ lunch together before heading to the
Governor General’s residence for spirit afternoon activities. Congratulations to Wilson House for winning the spirit competition! Elmwood Scholars Congratulations to Elmwood’s internal scholarship recipients for 2017 – 2018! Senior School Scholarship – awarded to students who demonstrate academic excellence, contribute to school life and have demonstrated positive leadership ability through involvement in school life and/or the greater community. • • • • • • • •
Sarah Allam ’21 Grace Brunner ’21 Grace Charness ’21 Margaret Fyfe ’21 Lauren Ho ’21 Katherine Howarth ’21 Ella Iles ’21 Caitlin Walsh ’21
Summa Summarum Scholarship – awarded to students who demonstrate academic excellence, contribute to school life and appreciate the benefits of and understand the expected rigour and commitment level of the IB Diploma Programme. • • • •
Emma Boushey ’19 Zaina Khan ’19 Melanie Li ’19 Jagnoor Saran ’19
1 Emma Young ’18, Grace Goldberg ’19, Brooke Van Haastrecht ’18 and Linnea Dalvi ’18 at the Canadian Association of Independent Schools’ (CAIS) Senior Student Leadership Conference in Toronto. 2 Laura Grace Conlon, Sanja Cvetanovic and Micheline Labelle with two of the Concours d’art oratoire winners: Hannah Saunders ’21 and Grace Charness ’21. 3 Carly Zander ’18, Shannon Howarth ’18, Hannah Charness ’18, Caroline Capehart ’18 and Florence Campbell ’18 ready to participate in the Inside Ride charity event. 4 Summa Summarum Scholarship recipients: Emma Boushey ’19, Zaina Khan ’19, Melanie Li ’19 and Jagnoor Saran ’19 with Head of School, Cheryl Boughton and Chair of the Board of Governors, Peter Hudson. 5 Qinchen Wang ’17 wearing her Euclid Mathematics Contest medal with Stephanie Chin ’00. 6 Grade 5 students excited to share their IB Primary Years Programme Exhibitions with the Elmwood community. 7 Elmwood parents, Nancy Greenley, Catherine McLaughlin, Gayle McClelland and Parents’ Association Chair, Liana Ladki enjoy the Cheers for Volunteers event. 8 2016/17 Fibonacci Club members and Mathematica Centrum participants. 9 Matt Perreault presents Ailish Saranchuk ’19 with the Neale Intermediate Sports Cup. 0 Head Girl, Cynthia Sedlezky ’17, Sports Captain, Eleanor Duffley ’17, Mira Acharya ’27, Avery Aken ’26, Imara Bhulji ’25 and Sophia Procter ’27 participate in Spirit Day festivities.
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CELEBRATING OUR SUCCESSES By Teresa Stirling, Director of Communications
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What a year it was on the stage, the field and the slopes! Our athletes, musicians, artists and actresses brought home trophies, medals and accolades, and made the entire Elmwood community very proud with their accomplishments. For an incredible third year in a row, Elmwood Theatre won the top prize at the Cappie Awards! Their production of Blue Stockings was named Cappies Critics’ Favourite Play. In addition, Claudia Finak-Fournier ’17 won Best Supporting Actress; Bronte Assadzadeh ’18, Alexa Bothwell ’19, Claudia Finak-Fournier ’17 and Cynthia Sedlezky ’17 won Best Ensemble in a Play; Emily Bangsboll ’17, Caroline Capehart ’18, Sheetza McGarry ’17 and Pooja Moorti ’17 won Best Hair and Makeup; Diya Dadlani ’18, Carine Ladki ’18, Myriam Rostom ’17 and Qinchen Wang ’17 won for Best Costumes; and Sijyl Fasih 10
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’17, Sydney Greenley ’17, Jagnoor Saran ’19 and Sophia Swettenham ’17 won Best Marketing/Publicity. All in all, Elmwood Theatre was nominated for ten Cappie awards this year—we are so proud of our actresses, the crew and Mrs. Boychuk, for this wonderful achievement. Not to be outdone, our musicians were in fine form this year as well! Elmwood’s Grade 6, 7, 8 and Senior Concert bands, as well as the Middle School Jazz Combo, were all awarded gold standing at Capital Region Music Fest and were invited to perform at the national-level MusicFest Canada. The Middle School Jazz Combo went to “Nationals,” where they were again awarded gold standing. Congratulations to Mr. Gummeson and all of the students who performed! Also on the creative side of things, the Classics Club continued their dominance at the Ontario Student Classics Conference. The Club won eight first-place team trophies,
including the Thompson Trophy for top per capita score, and the Top Creative Student Award for Devon Keough ’18. Congratulations to the members of the club and their leader, Ms. Ellison, for such excellent results. On the athletics side, the Eagles truly soared. Allegra Richter ’17 had another successful season on the slopes, winning a gold medal in the slalom at the NCSSAA championships. At the same event Lucy Whichelo ’17 took the bronze in giant slalom. Also on the slopes, Isabelle Barker ’20 qualified for the OFSAA snowboarding competition. The Elmwood rowing crew also had a successful season this year. Grace McNally ’19 and Abigail Butler ’19 won a gold medal and Ailish Saranchuk ’19 and Sheetza McGarry ’17 won a silver medal at the Bill Braxton Memorial Regatta in New Jersey. Grace McNally ’19, Abigail Butler ’19, Ailish Saranchuk ’19 and Kennedy Reid
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’19 came fourth at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Championship Regatta in St. Catharines. On the track, Linnea Dalvi ’18 came top ten in the 100m, 200m and 400m events at the city track and field championships. Our younger athletes would not be outdone by our Senior School girls! Emily Mellor ’23 came second in the championship round of the Ottawa Independent Schools badminton tournament and Victoria Devine-Ducharme ’21 came third in singles in the city’s Grade 7/8 badminton championship. The Middle School track team won six first place ribbons at the Ottawa Independent Schools Track Meet, and the Middle School swim team won four gold medals at the Ottawa Catholic School Board Swim Meet. Congratulations to all of our students who pushed themselves to achieve great things this year—you are all inspiring girls!
1 Sheetza McGarry ’17, Emily Bangsboll ’17 and Pooja Moorti ’17 proudly pose with their Cappie Award for Best Hair and Makeup during the Canada’s Capital Cappies Gala. 2 Sophia Swettenham ’17 and Sydney Greenley ’17 with their Cappie Award for Best Marketing and Publicity. 3 The Senior Concert Band at the Capital Region Musicfest. Photo credit: PSP Sundance. 4 2017 Classics Conference participants. 5 Rowers Abigail Butler ’19 and Grace McNally ’19 out on the water. 6 Linnea Dalvi ’18 on the track. 7 Adora Turland ’23, Emily Mellor ’23, Saffron Klotz ’22 and Jane Covington ’22 celebrate their win at the Ottawa Independent Schools Track Meet 8 Allegra Ritcher ’17 is focused as she races down the slopes.
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CLOSING CEREMONIES 2017 1
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1 Graduates Eleanor Duffley ’17, Sarah Jackson ’17 and Pooji Moorti ’17. 2 Cheryl Boughton, Head of School, presents the Pactum Serva Award to Hoda Darwish ’17, Mallory Fung Kee Fung ’17, Ciara Halloran ’17, Helen Hume ’17 and Sophia Swettenham ’17. This award is given to students that attend Elmwood for at least 12 years. 3 Astyn Farrell ’25, Lydia Hagadorn ’25, Christine Blackadar ’88 and Emma Hemsch ’25 following the Junior School Closing Ceremony. 4 Graduate Brittany Cooper ’17 and Head Girl Cynthia Sedlezky ’17. 5 Madeleine Klebanoff O’Brien ’17 receives the Governor General’s Academic Medal Award from Cheryl Boughton. 6 Sophie Barbeau-O’Connor ’21 and Aviva Gerring ’21 following the Middle School Closing Ceremony. 7 Community Prefect Maya MainlandGratton ’17 and Head Girl Cynthia Sedlezky ’17 present the Elmwood Class of 2017 Legacy Gift to Cheryl Boughton. 8 Lexi Ruta ’28 receives her Grade 1 Certificate of Achievement from Carolyn Wakeham. 9 Maggie Fyfe ’21 receives her Grade 8 Certificate of Achievement from Cheryl Boughton. 0 Elmwood’s Class of 2017 at the Graduation Dinner held at the Château Laurier.
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GRADUATE SUCCESS 14
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Class of
2017 Size of Graduating Class
49
Post-secondary admissions offers
100%
University entrance scholarships
86%
Ontario Scholars
86%
Total Scholarship Value Offered
$1,537,000 Average Scholarship Offer Per Graduate
$31,367
International Baccalaureate Diploma and Certificate Candidates
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2017 Post-secondary Destinations
2017 Post-secondary Programs
62% Ontario 27% Other Canadian Provinces 11% United States
44% Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Programs 38% Arts, Fine Arts and Social Sciences Programs 16% Business, Management and Professional Programs 2% Undeclared
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CONGRATULATIONS and good luck to our 2017 graduates as they embark on the next step of their educational journey.
Vepronia Abd El Malek University of Ottawa Biomedical Science
Dana Elramahi McGill University Biology and Mathematics
Muntaka Ahmed University of Toronto Life Science
Sijyl Fasih University of Ottawa Biomedical Science
Laura Alexander University of Guelph Animal Biology
Claudia Finak-Fournier McGill University Political Science
Bakiza Al Khalili University of Toronto Human Biology
Mia Fitzpatrick Queen’s University Engineering
Emily Bangsboll Western University Integrated Engineering
Mallory Fung Kee Fung Wilfrid Laurier University Film Studies
Sophie Barker Acadia University Nutrition and Dietetics
Stefani Galli Carleton University Arts
Kylie Brownlee Ryerson University Creative Industries
Erica Giustiniani Queen’s University Arts
Sian Bryson Gap year
Sydney Greenley Algonquin College Photography
Brittany Cooper St. Francis Xavier University Business Administration Julia Crystal University of British Columbia Arts Hoda Darwish University of Ottawa Biomedical Science Dora Deng University of Waterloo Geography and Environmental Management Eleanor Duffley Carleton University Health Science
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Ciara Halloran Queen’s University Criminology and Law Emily Hartvich Acadia University Kinesiology Emma Hunter University of Toronto Physical and Mathematical Sciences Helen Hume Gap year, then Plymouth State University Exercise and Sport Physiology
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Sarah Jackson Gap year
Aureilia Overtveld MentorU Discover Gap year
Katya Jansen Poulin Carleton University Computer Science
Yizhou Peng University of Toronto Commerce
Aojie Ji Miami University Ohio Undeclared
Victoria Radburn University of Toronto Life Science
Madeleine Klebanoff O’Brien Gap year, then Harvard University Liberal Arts
Allegra Richter University of Colorado Boulder Technology, Arts and Media
Wenxin Lian McMaster University Social Psychology
Myriam Rostom McGill University Biological, Biomedical, Life Science
Heather Lounder Queen’s University Science Eryn Lundrigan McGill University Biological, Biomedical, Life Science Maya Mainland-Gratton McGill University Arts Sheetza McGarry University of Toronto Architectural Studies Elizabeth Moloney St. Francis Xavier University Business Administration Pooja Moorti University of Ottawa Psychology Elizabeth Newberry Bishop’s University Business Administration
Cynthia Sedlezky Queen’s University Kinesiology Britney Smith Gap year Sophia Swettenham Fordham University Theatre and Performance Brianna Trudel York University Business Economics Qinchen Wang University of Toronto Computer Science Lucy Whichelo McGill University Political Science Xi Yuan University of Toronto Social Science and Humanities
SUPERB SCORES, BRIGHT FUTURES.
2017 IB GRADUATES ACHIEVE RECORD-BREAKING RESULTS
By Teresa Stirling, Director of Communications
Congratulations to our 2017 International Baccalaureate graduates—they have earned the strongest results in Elmwood’s history. Elmwood’s Head of School Cheryl Boughton said, “We are so proud of our graduates—their achievements are a direct result of hard work, determination, excellent personal organizational skills, and belief in their own talents and abilities.” She added, “The IB Diploma is the gold standard in education and the gateway to the most prestigious universities in the world. Quite simply, it is the very best preparation for university, as well as for success later on in life. Our graduates’ excellent results are proof that they can go anywhere from here.” In 2015 we launched our most recent strategic plan, which identified improved IB outcomes as a key objective for our faculty and leadership. Meagan Enticknap, Director of Curriculum and IBDP Coordinator said, “In order to achieve that objective, we have put a focus on analysing our assessment data in order to better prioritise next steps for learning. We have also been reflecting on and refining teaching practices through global networks, teacher professional growth plans and support for professional development. It is so rewarding to see what can be achieved when the whole learning community—students, teachers and parents—works hard together.” The hard work has paid off. Over 60% of our 2017 diploma candidates were awarded 35 points or more (out of a possible 45), placing them in the top 13% of the 150,000 IB candidates worldwide. Our median diploma points were 35 this year, which is over two points higher than the past three years, and over four points higher than
the world average. Our students’ average individual subject score was 5.44 out of 7, which equates to 92% on the Ontario grading scale. Our two strongest subject areas this year were biology and physics, which both had subject averages of 6 out of 7—the equivalent of 96% on the Ontario grading scale. Of special note are our two highest point scorers, who both achieved excellent results—Madeleine Klebanoff O’Brien ’17 who achieved 43 points total out of 45 and Qinchen Wang ’17 who achieved 40 points total out of 45. Both girls received four 7s in their subject disciplines which is the highest mark possible for a subject in the IB. Madeleine is planning to study at Harvard University following a gap year spent in Florence, while Qinchen will be attending the University of Toronto, where she will pursue a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. “The IB program was rigorous and it provided me with exciting opportunities to explore my academic passions,” said Madeleine. “The quality of teaching at Elmwood is excellent, and teachers encouraged us to reach high standards. As a result, I feel well prepared for the challenges of postsecondary education.” It is also worth noting that Madeleine, along with two of her classmates, Emily Bangsboll ’17 and Eryn Lundrigan ’17, received the full additional three points for the Extended Essays and Theory of Knowledge course. This is an achievement fewer than 10% of IB candidates accomplish. “The IB Diploma Programme is undoubtedly demanding, requiring candidates to be engaged and inquisitive students who can both manage their time and foster a strong work ethic and drive to pursue challenging concepts,” said Emily,
who will be studying integrated engineering at Western University in the fall. “I found the IB to be a very rewarding undertaking; it has allowed me to develop valuable academic and non-academic skills that well equip me for my post secondary education. Achieving my IB diploma has given me a newfound sense of accomplishment and validation of my potential.” The Class of 2017’s participation in the IB Programme will also help them as they make the transition to postsecondary education. IB students have a distinct advantage in college admission over their peers. Studies have shown that universities consistently admit students at a higher rate than their non-IB counterparts. In fact, IB students are on average 10% more likely to gain admission to an Ivy League school than students without an IB diploma. “The IB is a first-rate program, one we are familiar with, and it prepares students well for a university like ours,” said Fred Hargadon, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Princeton University. In addition, once our graduates start their first year, their IB education will help them get a step ahead once again: “Our research shows that IB students tend to be academically strong, highly engaged first-year students. The diploma is a consistent and reliable predictor of first-year success,” said Andrew Arida, Associate Registrar and Director of Student Recruitment & Undergraduate Admissions at the University of British Columbia during his visit to Elmwood last fall. If Mr. Arida’s research holds strong, the future of our Class of 2017 IB graduates is very bright indeed! Congratulations once again to our IB graduates, their teachers, and their families.
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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT
These members of the Class of 2017 join an impressive international network of Elmwood alumni.
EMILY BANGSBOLL Emily truly excelled in Elmwood’s environment. She graduated with an IB Diploma (earning 36 points, including a seven in Math) and the Duke of Edinburgh Programme Gold Award, and was named an Ontario Scholar. An enthusiastic participant in all aspects of life at Elmwood, Emily exemplified the School’s traditions and values through her academic, artistic, athletic and leadership pursuits. Emily was awarded the Honours Program Scholarship at Northeastern University in Boston, which also included a very generous tuition scholarship, research grants and study abroad funding. After receiving several impressive offers to universities in both Canada and the United States, Emily has decided to attend Western University’s Engineering program. She will pursue a Bachelor of Engineering Science majoring in Integrated Engineering. While at Western, Emily also intends to pursue a dual degree through the Richard Ivey School of Business. 18
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MIA FITZPATRICK SIJYL FASIH Sijyl achieved her IB Diploma (earning 37 points, including a score of six in all but one of her courses) and graduated as an Ontario Scholar. She was an active participant in school life, taking on the role of Student Ambassador Prefect, winning a Cappie award for Best Marketing and Publicity for Blue Stockings, and earning the Duke of Edinburgh Programme Gold Award. Sijyl was awarded Carleton University’s Scholarship of Excellence and McGill University’s Major Award. She has decided to study Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ottawa, where she was the recipient of the highly competitive Faculty of Science Undergraduate Research Scholarship, which includes two work terms with research groups from the Faculty of Science or the Faculty of Medicine.
An excellent student and athlete, Mia achieved her IB Diploma (earning 35 points, including a score of six in all but one of her courses) and graduated as an Ontario Scholar. During her time at Elmwood, Mia was a key member of many sports teams, was our Duke of Edinburgh Programme leader and played competitive hockey outside of school. Mia was a Schulich Leader Nominee—an award aimed to recognize students who show promise in the pursuit of becoming global pioneers in STEM fields through their programs of study at university. Mia received the Elizabeth Stein Memorial Award. This scholarship award is given by the Ottawa District Women’s Hockey Association to a select number of players who will be attending university. She will be attending Queen’s University this fall to complete a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.
SOPHIA SWETTENHAM MADELEINE KLEBANOFF O’BRIEN Madeleine was consistently one of the top students in her class, earning the Governor General’s Academic Medal and the IB Diploma and graduating as an Ontario Scholar. She was Elmwood’s top scoring IB Diploma candidate with an incredible score of 43 out of a possible 45—an impressive outcome that puts her amongst the top students in the world. She was offered the Principal’s Scholarship at Queen’s University, the University of Toronto President’s Scholarship and McGill University’s Major Award. After receiving offers from these universities, plus other top schools in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, Madeleine will be spending a gap year in Florence, Italy. After her year in Florence, Madeleine will be attending Harvard University to pursue a Liberal Arts education.
Sophia graduated as an Ontario Scholar and earned a score of six in three higher level IB courses: English, music and theatre. During her time at Elmwood, Sophia was a key member of Elmwood Theatre. This year she won a Cappie Award for Best Publicity and Marketing and a nomination for Lead Actress for Blue Stockings. Sophia was awarded The President’s Scholarship at the New School in New York City, Queen’s University Principal’s Scholarship, the Howard Ferguson Scholarship for University College at the University of Toronto, and named a University of Toronto Scholar. This fall Sophia will attend Fordham University’s College at Lincoln Centre in New York City for the Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with a Concentration in Performance. This program has a highly selective admissions rate of only 5%. Sophia was one of 600 students who applied to the Theatre program, accepting only 30 students in this Major, and with only 18 students in the Performance track.
QINCHEN WANG An excellent all-round student and artist, Qinchen is an exceptional student, excelling in all subjects. She graduated with an impressive score of 40 on her IB Diploma and as an Ontario Scholar, and also placed nationally in a number of science and mathematics competitions during her time at Elmwood. She also won a Cappie award for Best Costume Design in her Grade 12 year. Qinchen was awarded the University of Waterloo President’s Scholarship of Distinction and Mathematics Scholarship and the University of Toronto President’s Scholar of Excellence. She has accepted the offer from U of T, where she will pursue a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. E L M WO O D.C A
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BUILDING A BETTER CURRICULUM THROUGH DESIGN THINKING By Cheryl Boughton, Head of School
D “When design is stripped from forming, shaping and styling, what is left is the process of critical thinking and creative problem solving. That is the essence of design.” ~ Roger L. Martin
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arling, moon shot, pretotyping, SQUID, pitching, hexagonal thinking—these are just some of the concepts that members of our Middle Years Programme Curriculum Innovation Team had not heard of prior to April of this year. However, after an intense and immersive process, these design thinking strategies are now firmly embedded in the minds and the lexicons of these educators. As you might recall, with our strategic plan as the catalyst, we launched the curriculum review process in January 2016. After many months of inquiry and analysis, we decided to begin the ideation phase of the process with our Middle Years Programme, and built a team of faculty members to take on the challenge. Starting in April, this group worked with a group of experts from the company NoTosh, who use Design Thinking to empower organizations to find their problems, challenge assumptions and seek out meaningful solutions (see Guided by Student Voice: A Curriculum Design Journey on page 23 for details about the process and the research leading up to it). You don’t have to be a designer to think like one. While learning to be a good
designer takes years, you can think like a designer and design the way you lead, manage, create and innovate. And that is what our Innovation Team has been working on this spring and summer. Many ideas have been generated and considered through this process. Some have been distant dreams or “moon shots”—ideas worth considering for the future but not those we plan to incorporate in the near term. Other ideas have been classified as “darlings”—ideas that we love so much that we can’t seem to let them go, even if they are not the perfect solutions to our problems. Then there are the “safe bets”—ideas that are ideal answers to the problems we found. It is exciting to see the team land upon ideas that they feel confident are the way forward for our school. Guiding our team’s vision has been our central question: “Does our curriculum meet the needs of our students?” In some cases, the answer is a resounding “yes” but in other cases, the team felt that further development would yield positive results for our students. Here is a sampling of the ideas the Middle Years Programme Innovation Team worked on over the summer of 2017, with the intention of piloting the ideas this fall.
What is design thinking for innovation?
Design thinking originated from the process used by designers to solve complex problems and to create compelling solutions for customers. It has been adopted by companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, IBM, Nike, Procter & Gamble and Whirlpool and as a result they have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 10 years by an extraordinary 219%, according to a 2014 assessment by the Design Management Institute. But it is more than simply a method of solving problems or a way to create new products. Design thinking is a means to cultivate creativity
and innovation in an organization. The design-thinking cycle involves observation to discover unmet needs within the context and constraints of a particular situation, framing the opportunity and scope of innovation, generating creative ideas, testing and refining solutions. Design thinking minimizes the uncertainty and risk of innovation by engaging customers or users through a series of prototypes to learn, test and refine concepts. Design thinkers rely on customer insights gained from real-world experiments, not just historical data or market research.
A Curriculum Tailor-made for Middle School Girls Ms. Chin and Ms. Fraser are collaborating with our Middle School faculty to create a bespoke curriculum for girls in grades 6, 7 and 8. With an emphasis on the needs of girls, this curriculum will draw from the best of what Elmwood already offers, but also include more opportunity for interdisciplinary and experiential learning. The curriculum will also have clear outcome expectations for all girls such as: “By the end of Grade 8 your daughter will ‘have a strong voice and be able to communicate her ideas’ and ‘connect what she is learning to the real world.’” Ideally, we would also shift our staffing to have Grade Teams each responsible for the learning in each grade. This will also make it easier to incorporate more team-teaching in our day, something that many Elmwood teachers desire. We also believe that it will have the added benefit of smoothing the transition from the Primary Years Programme to the Middle Years Programme. Each grade will also have a theme or a focus to help facilitate interdisciplinary learning. Ms. Walsh and Mr. Robertson have been working together to develop these themes. As we know, younger learners often make connections naturally between different areas of knowledge, in order to understand the world around them. The school system, as subjects become specialized, risks losing the power this brings. Our ever-changing world demands education that empowers people to integrate disciplines in novel and creative ways. As knowledge and information multiply, critical thinkers must successfully integrate disciplinary perspectives to understand complex issues and ideas. These units of work integrate skills and knowledge from multiple subject disciplines in order to better prepare our girls for life beyond Elmwood. A Timetable to Complement our Curriculum As our curriculum shifts to create more interdisciplinary learning opportunities, our timetable also needs to shift to complement our new curriculum. Mr. Perreault, Ms. Enticknap and Ms. Bartlett have been investigating ways to accomplish this task. Ideally, this timetable would allow for Grade Teams to work together collaboratively to ensure that we meet the needs of every girl. Although this sounds like a simple concept, being a relatively small school, it is quite a challenge. It’s likely that we will pilot some of these ideas in the 2017 – 2018 school year, with a more comprehensive roll out the following year. Stay tuned! One element we will be introducing this fall is a homework timetable. Based on feedback from students and research from around the world, we need to take a more hands-on approach to managing student workload. We think that a homework timetable will assist with this and focus on what is best for our girls’ learning.
Left: Meagan Enticknap, Director of Curriculum Above: Christine Blackadar ’88, Deputy Head, Junior School E L M WO O D.C A
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Middle Years Programme Innovation Team
Kate Angell Director of Co-curricular Learning Alyson Bartlett Middle Years English Teacher and eLearning Teacher Christine Blackadar ’88 Deputy Head, Junior School Cheryl Boughton Head of School Stephanie Chin ’00 Instructional Leader, Mathematics Meagan Enticknap Director of Curriculum
Katie Fraser Director of Student Success Natasha Josselyn Middle Years Drama and English Teacher Matt Perreault Director of Technology Colin Robertson Middle Years Science Teacher Jen Walsh Middle Years Humanities Teacher James Whitehouse Deputy Head, Middle and Senior School
Assessing to focus on growth and achievement There is a great deal of research that shows that learners can improve their academic achievement by developing greater self-awareness, increasing self-motivation and learning behavioural skills correlated with success. With this in mind, Mr. Whitehouse and Ms. Josselyn are examining methods of assessment that focus on growth and achievement rather than simply on performance. In other words, changing our students’ focus from grades to growth. They recognize that this is no small feat, but they are starting with an assessment tool, which they hope to pilot this fall, that provides students with greater opportunities for self-reflection and goal setting. They have also been working on a model of professional growth which supports the ongoing training of faculty to design and deliver the very best methods of assessment. Innovative ways of recognizing the achievements of the ‘Whole Girl’ Ms. Blackadar and Ms. Angell are collaborating to find an innovative way of tracking the accomplishments and skills of all our learners. We know that our Elmwood girls are talented and capable. They love being involved in school life and although we have our house point system, we were wondering if there is a better, more visual way to track these activities and more. One of the latest trends in education are digital badges. Like physical badges which have been present for many years, digital badges are virtual and draw on research on gamification. The system that Ms. Blackadar and Ms. Angell are prototyping would apply to learning both in and out of school and would encourage girls to develop and pursue passionate interests. We imagine that in the future, Elmwood girls would have their unique qualifications to show to their families, to adults in university and the workforce, and to themselves. The hope is that digital badges shift attention from schoolwork to usable and compelling skills, from school life to real life, thus preparing girls for success beyond the walls of Elmwood. There were many more ideas that came out through this process. These are the ones that made the most sense to the team. It doesn’t mean that the “moon shots” and “darlings” are out of the running, but they are on the back burner while we test these ones. We also have to be prepared that not everything will work perfectly the first time around. But I am confident that our community understands this. After all, Elmwood is a school where girls are encouraged to stretch themselves, try new things, create and explore. As a nimble and flexible organization that models best practice in educating girls, we have to challenge ourselves to do that too. 22
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Guided by Student Voice: A Curriculum Design Journey By Meagan Enticknap, Director of Curriculum
Left: Matt Perreault, Director of Technology and Alyson Bartlett, Middle Years and eLearning Teacher Top: Kynan Robinson, CEO, NoTosh Inc. Bottom: Natasha Josselyn, Middle Years Teacher and James Whitehouse, Deputy Head, Middle and Senior School
Elmwood School’s journey of curriculum innovation began with a seemingly simple yet extremely important question, “Is our curriculum meeting the needs of our students?” Keeping in mind our non-negotiables, which included: being committed to all girls’ education, being an IB continuum school and working within our current strategic plan, we began by seeking out information from various stakeholders and data points. One of the most powerful sources of data we consulted was the girls’ themselves. Each student we interviewed across the school was incredibly articulate and able to convey their vision about what they needed for their learning and what helped them learn best. The girls’ voices were strong and passionate and their responses and answers to both surveys and interviews helped us find threads of commonality that pointed us in specific directions where we needed to do more research, such as: homework, assessment, real world experiences, learning skills, technology and advisory time. Using these topics as areas of focus, each Elmwood teacher selected an area of interest and formed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) that was geared towards finding out more about their topic, researching other schools, collating best practice data and then feeding back to the rest of the faculty. The findings from these PLCs were very rich and reassured us that we were on the right path, but also left us with a great deal of data that was in some ways overwhelming and left us faced with a problem, which in a nutshell was, “What do we do with all these ideas now?” As NoTosh says, “Sometimes it’s the haystack you need to find, not the needle,” and we had definitely found the haystack! NoTosh sent in one of their top consultants, Kynan Robinson, and the first Elmwood innovation team was created with a group of Middle School teachers and academic leaders. Kynan worked with the team over a series of focused working days and took the team through NoTosh’s design cycle: immersion, synthesis, ideation, prototyping, feed forward. At each stage the team kept having to consider: “What is the problem we are trying to solve? What is the urgency? What would utopia look like? What are some of the obstacles to getting there? What evidence do we have? What will success look like?” During the prototype phase the team had to hold their ideas lightly and take out models to various users to get feedback. Once again the voices of the students were so important in determining what things were going to really take hold and make a difference. During this time NoTosh’s founder, Ewan McIntosh, visited Elmwood and led a full faculty session to introduce all Elmwood teachers to the NoTosh way of working and thinking. Additionally, through Elmwood’s Deep Learning week, the students were introduced to Design Thinking, became problem finders, and worked through design challenges based on their own ideas and interests (see A Deep Dive into Innovation, on page 24 for more information). The next steps in this exciting journey are just ahead of us! They involve the MYP Innovation Team getting some of their prototypes up and running for next school year. In September our PYP Innovation Team will also begin their focused work with NoTosh, to be followed by the DP Innovation Team who are set to start in January 2018. The process has already been incredible and we are all excited to see where our thinking will lead us—we know we are on an innovative journey to improvement!
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A DEEP DIVE INTO INNOVATION By James Whitehouse, Deputy Head, Middle and Senior School
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homas Edison said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” After four days of intense design thinking work during our recent Deep Learning week, I’m sure many Elmwood girls would agree with his sentiment. Research has long supported the idea that for learning to stick it must be meaningful or tangible. As an adult, thinking back to what I remember from school, it is the hands-on and problem-based opportunities for learning that I still remember. It was the dissections, raft building, and designing and building objects in woodwork or metalwork classes that I remember best. In recent years, one of the gaps identified between what students learn in school and what they need to be successful in the workplace is the real world application of classroom learning. With all of this thinking in mind we set out to develop a Deep Learning programme that would engage and empower our girls to go looking for problems worth solving and have the confidence, tools and specific process to find solutions. Throughout the past year we have been working with NoTosh to support our curriculum redesign work (see Building a Better Curriculum Through Design Thinking on page 20 for details). The Edinburghbased team have worked with schools all over the world, in addition to a number of hospitals and international organizations such as ThyssenKrupp. Their vision is to “see a world in which individuals have the creative confidence to find their place in a team and achieve something together that’s bigger than they are.” They have a fundamental belief that before building solutions you must understand and then deconstruct the whole situation. Their aim is to guide people from passive thinking to dynamic activity, to equip people to work problems out for themselves and become more self-efficient, to create a climate in which it’s safe to be experimental and creative, and to develop a language that’s shared between individuals, across teams and throughout organizations. Over the past two months they have been working intensively with faculty to identify problems
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we have and then have led us through a design process to support our own curriculum prototyping. As a participant it has been some of the most challenging and rewarding educational learning I have experienced. Starting on June 5th, the NoTosh team of Ewan Mcintosh, Ian Stuart and Kynan Robinson helped our faculty lead the girls through phase one of the design process— immersion. The girls were charged to look for problems that cause them pain, annoyance and are worth solving. They were taught to look everywhere. They were put into teams and created learning Nests that would be their design home for the next week. This part of the design process starts off as being fun, but can quickly become frustrating and even overwhelming. However, the best problems emerge as a result—the girls heard many times it is crucial to “sit in the the data,” that being all of the problems they were finding. Finding an obvious problem is easy and appealing, however, without fully embracing all of the connected problems the solutions are shallow or ineffective as the real problem remains hidden. I was very impressed by how tenacious and committed our girls were during this part of the process. Next was the synthesis phase of the design process. The girls sat in the data and through the use of carefully designed tools, such as Hexagons and How Might We statements, started grouping problems and finding connected themes in order to find the “needle in the haystack”—otherwise known as the real problem. Group tensions began to emerge as the girls started to become emotionally connected to their own ideas. Conversations surrounding group dynamics and roles within teams were heard in the Nests quietly at first and then more vociferously as tensions mounted. This is an important part of the learning and cued us as facilitators to begin teambuilding sessions to keep teams on track. The girls learned that team dynamics and their role in the team are crucial aspects of everyday life and should not be walked away from when things become difficult. Once the problems had been narrowed down the frustration began to dissipate as
the girls started to ideate using tools such as 100 ideas now and Crazy 8s, during which the girls were forced to brainstorm hundreds of ideas to solve their problems. They were challenged to identify their moon shot, safe and darling ideas as the process of ideation took its grip on them. At this point it was important for the girls to hold their ideas lightly, as what they believed might be the next million dollar idea may well have been a problem not worth solving. Kind but specific feedback became the crucial tool as girls started to interview each other, faculty and any adult or person they could find to see if their idea was indeed a good idea. We also used examples such as Austin’s Butterfly to shape how we give and receive feedback. NoTosh provided additional feedback through video-conferencing, which at times—mirroring what they provide to big companies—was kind yet direct and not always easy to hear. In these moments we started to see a shift in learning as the very real and specific feedback gave the girls the skills and tools to improve. As their ideas sharpened, the concept of a pretotype (small, cheap and quick model) was introduced and the girls began building fast and cheaply so their audience could visualize and be sold on their idea. These moved into full-blown prototypes as the feedback loop continued its process of improvement. At this point the clock started to tick as the teams prepared for their pitches. The final step for the girls was
learning how to pitch their ideas. In one of the best sessions of the week, Ewan, CEO of NoTosh, took us through the process of how to sell an idea in three minutes. Many of the girls told me that it was crucial for them to have pitched their ideas to a real, and not familiar, audience. They loved the competitive nature of the task and the entrepreneurial mindset and mindshift that came with it. During the pitch process, four solutions in particular were commended by the panel— made up of businesspeople and members of NoTosh. The first, Skin Toned Plasters, came from the problem of racial inequality. This group received fierce feedback but also potential financial backers as their prototype developed quickly from the feedback loop. Another group were deeply concerned by the homeless situation they witnessed on their doorsteps and prototyped a bus which would provide accommodation, medical support, job counselling and hygiene stations. The idea was refined to target the recently homeless as their research demonstrated that this group were the most likely to break the cycle of homelessness and get back into the job market. Many of us, as parents and adults, were excited about another group’s creation of a lice prevention brush which treated hair on a daily basis to avoid the occurrence of lice. Finally we were treated to one of our younger students going toe-totoe with the CEO of NoTosh in front of the whole school via video conferencing. Her
group’s idea had been challenged and rather than accepting the feedback she told the story of why their idea was crucial in solving a very real and personal problem. It was this story that changed the conversation and eventually Ewan was convinced of the product’s viability. The solution was a bluetooth tracking device which could be attached to school equipment such as textbooks, planners and pencil cases, which frequently go missing. The prototype was a working version and was a key element of the final pitch. As I listened to their pitches and was asked to give “specific and friendly” feedback, I was overwhelmed by the sophistication of the ideas and the solutions to problems which are based on the world in which our girls live and will be part of in the future. Watching them take tough feedback about their solutions from both Ewan and Kynan, who do the same with global companies, I was struck with the developing comfort our girls had with this adult world and just how keen they were to improve. Whether or not these ideas go to market or continue their journey of iteration is still to be seen. What cannot be doubted is the learning and change of mindset that we witnessed over these four days. I look forward to seeing how our students continue to put into practice these new skills they have learned. It is clear that our girls believe that nothing is impossible and they aren’t afraid to “shoot for the moon” when it comes to their futures.
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Cultivating Curiosity with the Alice Project By Christine Blackadar, Deputy Head, Junior School
In 1948, 3M, a struggling mining company, launched something called the 15 percent time program. Employees could use 15 percent of their time to pursue something they had discovered through the usual course of work but didn’t have time to follow up on. A radical idea at the time, 3M has become a global powerhouse that has created “the structure, systems, and culture to enable their people to think and do things differently in order to achieve extraordinary success.” (Govindrarahan, Vijay and Srinivas, Srikanth. (2013) The Innovation Mindset in Action: 3M Corporation. Harvard Business School Publishing.) Google implemented a similar version of the idea, Google 20% Time, with considerable success. The approach has become embedded in the culture of companies and has three main attributes: working with intense creative focus, freedom of choice, and a tolerance of failure. In education, teachers have also harnessed this approach with the most familiar being Genius Hour, where students self-select a topic of passionate interest and share it with their peers in the manner of their choice. At Elmwood, our version is the Alice Project, named for the curious, risk-taking Alice from Lewis Carroll’s story, Alice in Wonderland. The project has been run three times at the Grade 4 level. The librarian and the classroom teachers are involved in providing support to the students. This year, as part of our Curriculum Review, a professional learning community (PLC) was formed earlier to research the impact of this type of learning for students across the school. The Alice Project is a good match for the Grade 4 year as preparation for handling a big project the following year—the Grade 5 Exhibition—and also because of the developmental characteristics of this age. This year, we started the Alice Project in February. Students were allocated a 40-minute block of time once a week during their regular library time. The requirements were that students had to select an area of interest and share their learning in some form with their peers. Suggestions were 26
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researching a topic, developing a skill, sharing and developing a personal passion, or following up on an area of interest from school. As an initial provocation, I shared a sketchbook of my own and students then started to generate a list of possible ideas in their Alice notebook. Many students were initially overwhelmed by the task and spent a few periods working through and discarding possible ideas. Our Grade 4 and Grade 5 classes were scheduled together for Physical Education this year and have built strong relationships. The older girls were nostalgic for their Alice projects and provided a lot of positive buzz about the experience. A highlight was when Grade 5 student Saisha Vaidya shared her Bollywood presentation from last year and provided them some wise advice for creating a successful Alice project. Gradually, students settled into their chosen topics and the energy in the library changed as girls dove into their research, which involved books, online resources and collaboration with their teachers and peers. Students chose to stay in the library in small social groups if that was their preference or went into the third floor breakout spaces if they wanted to work on their own. Many girls chose to continue their research at home. In the last week of school, we reserved several periods for presentations that were limited to five minutes. There were many highlights from the Alice Projects this year. It is always a powerful and informative experience for the teachers to observe the knowledge, skills and attitudes learned at school and home that are transferred into an independent project. It is also a tremendous opportunity to see the girls influence each other in positive ways. One such example was the amazing dynamic that took place between Imara Bhulji ’25 and Ellena Waddington ’25. Imara chose to design and sew outfits for her two American Girl dolls. She interviewed a local designer and made an audio recording of their dialogue as part of her presentation about fashion design. A very entertaining
highlight was watching Imara and her supporting “staff ” walk the dolls down the runway and managing the quick fashion changes backstage as they only had two “models” to work with. Ellena Waddington’s topic was The Inside of Everyday Electronics. She contacted staff and parents using Schoology and assembled quite a collection of old electronics to dismantle and photograph. Imara was intrigued by Ellena’s work. Both girls opted to spend a Saturday afternoon at the Nokia Girls in Tech event and came back to school even more excited to continue their work. Ellena did a fantastic presentation explaining how various electronic parts worked and credited Imara with the following statement, “Without Imara, I wouldn’t have gotten as far—she was the one who helped me hack at the electronics.” The girls built a powerful working relationship over their projects, providing each other with advice, assistance and enthusiasm. The Alice Project in Grade 4 represents so many aspects of the Elmwood experience.
We believe in providing whole-girl experiences that inspire each student to reach her full potential. For this third year, we had high student engagement and students reported high levels of satisfaction with the experience. When asked to reflect, some of the comments included: “I liked the time for free exploration of something you wanted to do.” “I liked organizing my own time.” “I am sad that the project is over.” “I learned more time management and that organizing a big project is not easy.” “Philips head screwdrivers don’t fit into everything!” “What I enjoyed the most was choosing something that inspired us, that we are passionate about.” “I was inspired by projects that involved more than computers.” Most adults can think back over their early educational experiences and pinpoint a defining moment that influenced their future—I think the Alice Project will be one of those moments for many of our Grade 4s.
Left top: Elizabeth Chen-Baker ’25 shared her passion for ballet. Left bottom: The Inside of Electronics. Above left: Imara Bhulji ’25 and her designs. Above middle: Ellena Waddington ’25 and The Inside of Electronics. Above right: Rowan Parkinson ’25 researched five aspects of The Art of Math and shared her pendulum art. Above: Emma Hemsch ’25 illustrated key scenes from The Breadwinner. E L M WO O D.C A
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All Singing, All Dancing: Junior School Students Take the Stage By Evelyn Pike, Junior School Music/Drama Teacher
What do sprites, goblins, a sultan and baby zebras have in common? Well, they all made an appearance on Elmwood’s stage this year. And what a wonderful year it’s been! The season opened in February with Grades 4 and 5 presenting “Aladdin,” the exciting tale from Arabian Nights. Our version of the play included lively market scenes (complete with pickpockets, dancers and carpet sellers), a spooky cave scene, and a lavish palace where the wicked Grand Vizier prepared his evil plot against the Sultan. After March Break the stage was transformed into an African jungle, as the SK/ 28
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Grade 1 classes got ready for “Jungle Friends,” based on the Aesop fable of the Lion and the Mouse. Our little zebras, monkeys, giraffes, lions and mice delighted us with their energy and confidence, as they sang and danced their way through the story. By the middle of April, it was time for the Grade 2/3 performance of “The Blue Bottle,” based on an Irish tale about an impoverished family that receives a very surprising gift from a mysterious stranger. (This is where the aforementioned sprites and goblins made their appearances). Musical theatre has become an important part of the Junior School arts programme, involving every student from SK to Grade 5. As early as the first day of school, students
are excitedly asking what their play will be this year. Usually these decisions are made during the summer after I’ve reviewed dozens of potential plays in collaboration with the homeroom teachers. Several criteria are considered before choices are made: an exciting story, lots of good roles to accommodate our casts of 30+ members, and most importantly, great songs! These are musicals, after all… The process begins about two months before the performance, as students become familiar with the songs, read through the script and thoughtfully consider what role they would like to play. Decisions about casting are made amongst several teachers and then the really serious work begins! Songs and scripts
are memorized, scenes are rehearsed and then, after many trips over to the big school, we figure out how everyone is going move around on the actual auditorium stage. Extra layers are gradually added into the mix as more people lend their support: Ms. MacDougall comes up with choreography for many of the songs. Our talented student pianist, Jialin Shang ’18, joins us for rehearsals. Mme Gavan experiments with sound and lights from her sound booth, creating whatever mood each scene requires (one of her specialties being dramatic light flickers!). Costumes are particularly exciting for the young cast members, and a lot of energy goes into planning and sewing these, often with the help of parents. Also preparing eagerly for each play is the Backstage Club, a group of students from various grades who love to plan sets, props and costumes, and then busily get to work making tutus, painting scenery, cutting zebra stripes, crafting paper flowers or whatever else is needed to create our on-stage magic. This year we were especially grateful to have Terry McLaughlin and Terlin Construction make a medieval village set for us, which will surely be used in many future stage productions. Several years ago, another parent, Matthew Jones, created some beautiful trees which are still alive and well after several productions. Thank you both for your support! Why do we spend so much time on these musicals? Why is it not an optional part of our programme? Many a new student is understandably nervous about performing on the
stage, with the stress of possibly forgetting her lines or dance steps. How do we prepare our students for this exciting learning adventure? Once the play is cast, students create a backstory for their character, giving themselves a name (besides villager #7), a family story, emotions and an outline of how their character contributes to the story. We then discuss how they will “step into” the story, react to what’s happening on stage and stay in character, instead of just waiting for their lines. Students also identify early on what they find challenging about the process, be it choreography or staying focused or being nervous on stage. We talk about aspects of the IB learner profile, and many identify themselves as risk-takers, willing to try something beyond their comfort zone. As the performance date draws nearer, the excitement mounts until the long awaited dress rehearsal, when they not only don their costumes but also take their turn at the hair and make-up station. Yes, hair and make-up! An added thrill is that sometimes the big girls from Senior School come over to help with this final step. Then it’s time to troop over to the auditorium one last time, quietly tip-toeing up the stairs and into place behind the curtains, and quietly waiting for their first cue. Being quiet backstage requires extreme self-discipline, when it is so tempting to chatter and let off some steam! And it’s in this hidden realm backstage that the respective homeroom teachers take over, enjoying their own dramatic moments while they masterfully
manage scene transitions, costume changes, bloody noses and other surprises! As director, my greatest delight comes in the opening scene as our young actors step tentatively onto the stage, initially dazzled by the light in their eyes, and then make that conscious inward leap into their role as a gossipy villager or mischievous goblin or baby zebra, pouring their hearts into the opening song that never fails to amaze our audience. As the play progresses, I watch as they interact with one another, singing and dancing and saying their lines, often cueing each other or helpfully nudging a baby giraffe back to her proper spot. And after those much cherished curtain calls, when they have all bounded exuberantly onto the stage to generous applause, we breathe a collective sigh of relief and pride and amazement that it’s all over…. and look forward to that inevitable question tomorrow morning: “What’s our next play going to be, Mrs. Pike?”
Left: Raluca Voina ’26 belts out a musical number in The Blue Bottle. Above (clockwise from top left): “Jungle friends” caught in a trap; Meilin Stapleton ’29 plays a zebra in Jungle Friends; Mehak Sandhu ’25, Rowan Parkinson ’25 and Astyn Farrell ’25 in Aladdin; Ciara Hurley ’24 and Sarah Irving ’24 in Aladdin. E L M WO O D.C A
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Right: Sarah Irving ’24, Kathryn Irving ’22 and Rose Jackson ’27 help Chef Candice make butternut soup.
By Candice Butler, Chef, Elmwood Bistro
Butternut squash soup is a cold-weather staple. This Bistrofavourite is packed with the delicious fall flavors of butternut squash and pears, with some ginger and spices added to the mix. This soup is smooth and comforting, perfect with a dollop of yogurt or simply on its own. Chef Candice loves using locally sourced vegetables in her recipes. In this case, the local source is the School’s very own garden, found just at the edge of the back field!
Butternut Squash & Pear Soup Serves 6-8 Ingredients
Directions
2 tbsp unsalted butter 1 (2.5-pound) butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces ½ cup diced onion ½ cup diced celery 1 cup diced carrots 4 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled and diced 2 tsp fresh minced ginger ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon 1 ½ star anise 1 bay leaf 5 cups vegetable or chicken stock 1 cup 10% cream 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp apple cider vinegar Salt and pepper to taste
1. M elt the butter in a sauce pot over medium heat. Add the squash, onions, celery and carrots; saute until slightly softened, about 15 minutes.
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2. S tir in the pears, ginger and spices. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. 3. Remove the soup from the heat and cool slightly. Remove the bay leaf and star anise. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Return the soup to the pot. 4. Add the cream, brown sugar and vinegar. 5. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
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INSPIRING GIRLS:
Avery (’22) and Rowan (’25) Parkinson By Kimberly Senf, Librarian
A
very and Rowan Parkinson are two girls with a lot of ambition, and they show no indication of slowing down anytime soon. Rowan is in her final year in the Junior School and Avery is in her final year of Middle School. Between their impressive math skills and their charitable work, it’s hard to imagine that they have the time to add in additional extra-curricular activities (which of course they do). Both girls have remarkable abilities in mathematics that have them performing well beyond their respective grade levels. This past year, both Rowan and Avery were involved in the Middle School Math Olympiad Club that was led by Chandra Wiegand and Rowan and Avery’s father, Scott Parkinson. This is a club that has chapters all over the world, with 6000 teams across 30 countries. The goal of the Math Olympiad Club is to provide challenging problems to students in grades 4 – 8 in order to encourage their abilities outside of the classroom. In this year’s competitions, Rowan placed in the top 40% for the Math Olympiad competition and Avery placed in the top 10%. They also both wrote the Gauss math contest for students in Grade 7 and 8, where Rowan placed in the top 25% at Elmwood for the Grade 7 contest (while in Grade 4) and Avery was the top student for the Grade 8 contest at Elmwood. They also compete in math competitions outside of school and Avery is looking forward to taking part in the Canadian Open Math Challenge this coming November. Volunteerism is another area where the girls excel. For the past three years, Rowan and Avery have been instrumental in raising awareness about Parkinson’s disease at Elmwood. Eight years ago, their grandfather was diagnosed with the disease. Rowan decided that she wanted to raise awareness about the disease and help educate her peers at Elmwood about the devastating effects of Parkinson’s. It did not take her long to
convince her older sister to help her with her efforts. Since 2015 the two have made bracelets adorned with a butterfly—a token of hope inspired by Mohammed Ali—in addition to butterfly magnets for the Junior and Middle Schools, and this past year they distributed 450 butterfly keychains to the entire Elmwood community. They are both very glad to be raising awareness at Elmwood and so far their efforts have raised over $5000 for Parkinson’s research. This year the girls also set up a booth at the Lap the Gats bike race in Gatineau Park, a race put on by the Parkinson’s Research Consortium of the Ottawa Hospital. The yearly butterfly campaign to raise awareness for Parkinson’s disease is not the only volunteer work that Avery and Rowan are involved with. Two summers ago, Avery had the idea to help the Ottawa Mission in some way. To do this, she decided that she would make sandwiches for the people that rely on the Ottawa Mission. Since then, she has been delivering 100 ham and cheese sandwiches a month (as well as cookies that Rowan bakes when she has the time). To date, the girls have delivered 1500 sandwiches, 200 lunch bags and 1000 cookies! This past summer the girls also put time into setting up a foundation that supports their areas of interest and will hopefully raise money for the Parkinson’s Research Consortium, the Ottawa Mission, a math scholarship and several other initiatives that the girls chose themselves. They have decided to call their foundation Maplewishes and there is little doubt that it will be a successful endeavour for the girls. When not practicing their math skills or volunteering, both Rowan and Avery are avid readers and dancers, as well as participants in a myriad of other extra-curriculars that they take part in at Elmwood. Rowan practices a dance style called Bharatanatyam and Avery practices Odissi, both of which are classical
Indian styles of dance. They each practice once a week and perform several times a year. Avery is an active member of the Middle School music program, including concert band and the jazz ensemble for percussion. Rowan and Avery both participated in cross-country running, and Rowan is actively involved with a number of other Junior School clubs. This year is Rowan’s last in the Junior School and she is looking forward to preparing for Exhibition, the culmination of the Primary Years Programme in the Junior School. Avery is in her final year of Middle School and is hopeful about competing in Science Fair again. Both girls were recently involved with the naming of the street that runs along the perimeter of the Elmwood parking lot. With their interest in math and their own seemingly limitless potential, it seems fitting that they chose to call the street “Beyond Infinity.” There’s a lot on the horizon for these two girls and there does not seem to be anything that can slow them down. Ryan Hodgins, who taught both of the sisters, summed it up best, “their potential really is limitless—no matter what they put their minds to, they will find success.”
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A Young Woman’s Personal Journey Toward Understanding Canada
ANNE PIGOTT ’08 By Brian McCullough
When she speaks about Canada—of the geography and natural history of the land in all its incredible beauty, and of the wonderful diversity of the people who make up this nation of nations—Anne Pigott ’08 is talking about her deep and abiding passion for the place she calls home. “I don’t know what sparked this love affair for Canada, but my grandmother had it too,” Anne said of her grandmother Jean Pigott, Member of Parliament and Officer of the Order of Canada. “She instilled in us to be proud of where we’re from, and to share what we have with the world. I’m trying to understand the Canada I live in, but instead of reading it from a history book, I’m building a picture of it through my own experiences.” The passion is real. This former Head of Fry House and captain of the Elmwood field hockey and Alpine ski teams had a personal goal to visit every Canadian province and territory by the time she was 25, and she made it—just barely. It took a quickly organized birthday trip to the Yukon with her father two years ago to tick the last box, but she completed something she said satisfied her need to learn more about the human and natural history of Canada beyond what lies along the 49th parallel. Anne’s personal journey toward a deeper understanding of Canada took a huge shift following her graduation from McGill University in 2012. An interfaculty Bachelor of Arts and Science degree focusing on earth sciences and economics opened the door to an unexpected career launch as a consultant in Saskatoon, where she bridged client organizations with First Nations to contribute toward the environmental assessment process. Over the next few years she would partner with indigenous and northern communities to work on land use, community, and environmental planning projects. Throughout her journey, Anne said she was able to learn about the land from the people and through their stories.
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“I have learned so much from the communities I’ve worked with, and I continue to learn,” she said. “I owe a lot to the community members who took so much of their time to teach me about the intersection of the science of the land, and how to use resources sustainably. I will never stop learning.” In the fall of 2016 Anne left her consulting job to join BC Hydro as proponent liaison between the company’s project teams and the First Nations. It is a different role for her, and one that comes with new challenges but also new opportunities. “I work with multi-disciplinary teams,” she said, “and I’m able to take what the communities have taught me about listening, learning and being adaptable, and I apply that to my daily work.” As much as she delights in learning the living history of the people of the land we know as Canada, Anne revels in what the land itself can tell her. To her, the vastly varied geology, geography and natural history of Canada are more pieces of a complex puzzle she is determined to explore through the lens of personal experience. “I love being out in nature to see how different things are across the country,” she said. “You have to get out there and explore. Every place has a story.” It’s pretty confident talk from someone who says she barely survived her first day at Elmwood in 2004. Anne admits she was terrified at the thought of leaving her neighbourhood school friends, and going off to Elmwood for the start of Grade 9 as
her older sister Jane had done three years earlier. “I remember my first day vividly—getting pizza in the cafeteria, and being so terrified that my sister’s friend took me out to her car where I cried my eyes out. But that afternoon I met the three girls who would become ‘my crew’ for the next four years, an inseparable four-pack. It was pretty great. They are still my best friends.” Anne said she went on to appreciate the advantages of Elmwood’s less stratified structure that allowed her to mix with girls in the upper grades, and found the safe, all-girls environment to be a good fit. “If we were interested in something, or wanted to take a risk, we had the support of the school and our teachers,” she said. “When I had to decide about taking the job in Saskatchewan I thought, okay, I can do this. I’ve been given a great opportunity, and I’m going to take this risk. What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Whether she is ripping down a pipeline right-of-way on an ATV, or listening quietly to the perspectives of a residential school survivor, Anne Pigott is forever putting together a more complete picture of Canada inside her head and her heart. “We live in a pretty incredible place, and I’m so proud to be Canadian,” she said. “But we need to not forget about our past because we can’t erase some of the things we’ve done. It’s about building a future together. It’s this togetherness and unity that we need as a country. We’re all one country.”
Left: Checking the Yukon off her bucket list in 2015. Top left: Ice fishing for Arctic char under the midnight sun outside of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. No fish were caught. Top right: Hiking in Squamish, British Columbia with Julia Normand ’07. Most of Anne’s work is based out of Fort St. John, British Columbia where Julia currently resides and works in the same field. A highlight of every trip is getting to catch up with Julia. Above: Enjoying a beautiful Vancouver night with mentor and fellow Fry House alumna Margaret Brodie ’96.
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Making Her Mark in a Male-Dominated Industry
ALLY BROWN ’09 By Brian McCullough
As she types away at her Masters thesis at the University of British Columbia’s Mineral Deposit Research Unit in Vancouver, or works out of a remote field camp in Chile’s Atacama Desert searching for clues to hidden deposits of copper deep below the earth’s surface, Ally Brown ’09 knows she is doing her part to normalize the presence of women in a mining industry dominated by men. It hasn’t always been an easy path to navigate, but thanks to what she took away from her years at Elmwood in terms of self-confidence, and the strong encouragement she receives today from a mentor in the industry— another Elmwood Old Girl—Ally perseveres in the face of whatever hurdles she must overcome to claim her space. To her, it is her right to be in a career of her own choosing. “There are times when you feel like perhaps you aren’t as welcome as a male would be,” she said, “but you have to believe that you are allowed to be here, that you are supposed to be here. You can’t doubt yourself. Seeing more women in the industry will normalize things, and that’s how we’ll move forward.” It’s hard to imagine, listening to her, that she was ever shy about expressing an opinion. Ally joined Wilson House as a quiet, shy girl for the start of Grade 7 in 2003, but by her senior year was a confident, outgoing young woman who would be appointed the school’s Senior Prefect. Ally’s transition to Elmwood from the public school system was very good for her, she said. Her two older sisters, Virginia (’06) and Hilary (’08), had made the same journey themselves, so she had some inkling as to what to expect. “It was different from public school,” she said. “Elmwood looked like a house, not a blocky school building, and you could see that it had a lot of history. I thought, ‘this is Hogwarts.’ I like it. It felt like you were part of a nice tradition.” 36
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Left: Between her third and fourth years at Queen’s University Ally worked as a paleontology assistant for a graduate student doing field work in the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories. Top left: Ally playing field hockey for the Elmwood Eagles in 2009. Bottom left and middle: Doing field work in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Bottom right: Ally at UBC (photo courtesy of Kat Tapp).
Beginning in 2006, Ally would join summer wilderness trips with PaddleFoot Inc, a canoe-tripping camp she said was formative in helping her discover her capacity to assess risk. Ally said by the time she left Elmwood in 2009, she knew what she was capable of doing in an academic setting, and what she was capable of dealing with in life. “That was the thing about Elmwood,” she said. “Being there for years instilled confidence about who I was and who I wanted to be. The small class sizes made it an inclusive atmosphere, so if you made a mistake it wasn’t the end of your life. Without boys in the class, I was more confident to put my hand up and say what I thought. I wasn’t scared to be myself, and people were okay with that, which is important for young women at that stage.” Ally’s journey toward a burgeoning career in mineral exploration began at Queen’s University in Kingston. Both of her parents are lawyers, but her interests lay in the sciences. When it came time to choose a program in her second year, an older cousin doing a BSc program in geology at Queen’s told her about
some of the courses she was taking, and so Ally said she “took a leap of faith and signed up for geological science.” She loved it, and graduated with her Bachelor of Science degree in 2013. In January 2014 Ally moved to Vancouver to look for work in mining exploration, only to discover that the industry markets had slumped and there were no jobs available. It was a hard lesson to learn, she said. She decided to take some time off, and then apply to UBC to begin a master’s program in the fall of 2015. For her program, Ally was offered work with the university’s Mineral Deposit Research Unit on a funded mineral exploration geochemistry initiative, looking specifically at new methods for finding copper deposits in the Atacama Desert. Using mapping, geophysics and surface sampling, Ally examines the desert floor for telltale signs of ancient groundwater brought hundreds of metres up to the surface by seismic forces, potentially transporting traces of hidden metals with it. “What’s new about my method is being able to identify what the gravel looks like after this groundwater has been shot up
onto the surface,” she said. “The dry desert preserves it. It was a totally accidental discovery.” Ally Brown said she would encourage the girls at Elmwood to be confident about finding their own career opportunities, especially if what they want is different than what’s in that “classic box” of lawyer, doctor, engineer. “You just have to work hard and go for it,” she said. “It is completely attainable.” An important mentor of hers today in Vancouver is Elmwood alumna and mining industry financial executive Margaret Brodie ’96, who Ally met through her own friend and roommate, Anne Pigott ’08. The women get together to talk every couple of months, and Ally says the support she receives from Margaret has been instrumental in helping her find her way as a young woman in a male-dominated industry. “She is the most confident person I know,” Ally said. “She encourages us to make our mark, and to have the confidence to keep going. Being exposed to women who have done it themselves just naturally instills confidence in yourself that you can do it too.”
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ALUMNI NEWS
WELCOMING EVERYONE TO THE STEM TABLE By Nimrat Obhi ’10 For the duration of my PhD, I have been involved with the Women in Chemistry Toronto team (WICTO) at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. They were established in 2014 with the aim of promoting gender diversity within the chemistry community through awareness, engagement and advocacy. My involvement with WICTO has been and continues to be an immensely engaging, challenging, rewarding and ultimately self-defining experience that has allowed me to really examine the scientific world with which I am deeply involved. This past year I had the pleasure of being Co-Chair of the organization, and I have never been so proud of working with such a passionate, dedicated and cohesive group of individuals. Gender diversity issues are quite prolific throughout all STEM fields, where we see more and more women and other gender minorities continuing to leave science as the levels of qualification increase (commonly referred to as the “leaky pipeline”). Of course, 38
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women are equally as capable as anyone when it comes to science—so why are we losing so many potential great scientists? I, along with the WICTO team, feel a great responsibility to contribute to fixing these issues, so that future generations of scientists can all feel equally welcome at the STEM table. This past May, WICTO organized a conference-style retreat for future and current leaders in the science community. The Leaders Overcoming Gender Inequality in Chemistry (LOGIC) Retreat was held May 26 – 28 in downtown Toronto, strategically planned just prior to the 100th anniversary of Canada’s largest national chemistry conference (The Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition). I am happy to say that the LOGIC Retreat was a huge success! The aim of our retreat was to foster constructive discussion on gender diversity issues, develop a close-knit science community, and cultivate the leadership and mentoring skills of participants. It is safe to say that we definitely achieved these goals! We had a fantastic keynote speech with Professor Kim Baines, two interactive workshops, an industry-partnered Think Tank with IBM, and an interactive panel discussion with a group of diverse,
highly qualified academic and industrial research professionals from a variety of STEM fields. For more information on the LOGIC Retreat or if you would like to know more about WICTO and our mission, please visit www. chem.utoronto.ca/wp/womeninchemto. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @WomeninChemTO. To any Elmwood students who are interested in science—go for it. Don’t listen to others who try to convince you that you’re not suited for it, or that any of your identities will prevent you from succeeding. More importantly, never think that being a scientist means that you have to sacrifice any of your identities in order to belong in and contribute to your field. I have always admired Elmwood’s encouragement of their students to pursue qualifications in STEM fields, and (though I didn’t realize it at the time), I know this atmosphere really contributed to me taking that next step during university. I hope that as young women, today’s Elmwood students will retain their confidence and determination to pursue what they want to do, and I know that this will ultimately help to shape a society where lack of diversity in STEM is no longer an issue.
CLASS OF ’81 REUNITE IN BERLIN By Gladys Abankwa-Meier-Klodt ’81 Four days in May. Four glorious days, as the culmination of a plan hatched when 10 of us from the Class of ’81 joined in the celebrations to mark Elmwood’s centennial in October 2015. Statistics and basic arithmetic wouldn’t bear up to a repeat of the 34-year delay it took for that first reunion to happen, so then and there, another was proposed, to take place within two years. Thus it was that from May 18 to 21, 2017, we were reunited, and in unhurried conversations fueled by comforting food and drink, filled the gaps, those created both by our selective memories and by years of separation, while generating precious, new, common ones. Responding affirmatively to a hail of insistent e-mails that began in June, 2016, Gladys Abankwa, Amanda Lovatt, Rosaline Ngan, Elizabeth Seward and Colette Vanasse converged on the German capital over the Victoria Day weekend from Bucharest, Ottawa, Sheboygan (Wisconsin), Sheffield (UK) and Montreal, respectively. Gladys, self-appointed organizer of the
reunion, graduated with two degrees from McGill, and has been writing and conducting intercultural training while travelling the world as the trailing spouse of a German diplomat; Amanda, an independent productivity consultant married to Rob, is tending an empty nest previously occupied by two strapping young men; Roz, an avid traveler who moved to Wisconsin for college and remained for love, is a market research executive with two grown daughters, one of whom will walk down the aisle on the arm of her proud father this fall; Colette, a.k.a Hurricane Coco, also a McGill graduate, is a well-travelled marketing professional specializing in business development and philanthropy, while Cambridge alumna Liz, a senior lecturer and lead investigator in Sheffield University’s Biomedical Science Department, and the third member of the Class of ’81’s McGill triumvirate, shares a home with two young children, a husband and a coterie of other creatures. As the excitement mounted in anticipation of our meeting, so too, perhaps, did a small degree of trepidation. After all, 36 years—two lifetimes!—had elapsed since Roz had last seen the rest of us, aged 18 or less! Roz and Colette had never even met; their time at Elmwood did not overlap. There needn’t have been any worry, however. The motto was “Go with the flow,” and as someone was always willing to steer the ship, the journey was ours to enjoy. Idiosyncrasies were accepted with humour and goodwill, preferences catered to without hesitation, and we couldn’t have had a more harmonious, effortless time together. Amanda and Colette flew in, via Iceland, on the 16th, followed by Roz, via Chicago, on the 17th, and Liz, cheerful but a little worse for wear after a delayed early morning flight from the UK, landed on the 18th. Awaiting Liz’ arrival, we explored Berlin’s attractions on foot and by bike, and relived our youth at bedtime in slumber party-like conditions in Gladys’ pied-à-terre before relocating to
more dignified accommodations in Luckau, 80 km south of Berlin, with the full complement of five participants. We made our base in the over 500-yearold historic house that is Gladys’ home, flanked picturesquely on one side by Napoleon’s Cottage, where the general spent a night on return from his Russian campaign in 1813, and the old town wall on another. Home-cooked meals were enjoyed in the garden in the company of blossoming lilacs and brilliant sunshine by day, and to the illumination of candlelight or a roaring fire by night. When we did leave the languid comfort of Luckau’s old town we were drawn to water: passively, taking in Berlin’s highlights from aboard a Spree River cruise boat, or actively, as we navigated the canals criss-crossing the Spree River delta around Lübben by kayak (the word translates as “Canadians” in that part of Germany), decked out in our special order reunion T-shirts. We did encounter some rapids along the way, though: Colette lost her wallet almost immediately upon arriving, but in true ebullient Coco style, didn’t let that spoil her mood for a moment; Gladys left her debit card in a vending machine in the rush to meet Liz; most unfortunately, Roz missed her return flight despite allowing what was supposed to be a generous two-hour buffer, after travel time, to reach the airport. Happily, both Gladys and Colette were reunited with their property later—Berliners may at times be brusque, but they are honest! It all came to an end much too soon. As we scattered in various directions to resume our daily routines, it was heartening to realise that, not only had thirty-six years done nothing to dilute the sympathy our close-knit Elmwood environment had engendered, but through our reunion, we had been given the impetus to cement and reestablish it. We agreed it was something we would like to repeat. With a daughter in tow, Roz already has plans to meet Colette in Montreal in August! Ruby Reunion—Class of ’81 @ 40—here we come!
PHILANTHROPY REPORT
THANK YOU TO OUR 2016 – 2017 DONORS We sincerely thank all our parents, past parents, grandparents, alumnae, staff and friends who supported Elmwood School, based on receipted donations, between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017. Donors to the Annual Campaign, endowment funds, the Gala Science Labs initiative and other strategic projects are included. Donors that have contributed in the last five or more consecutive years are identified with a * symbol. A special thank you for your unwavering dedication and commitment to Elmwood. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our donor listing. If, however, there are any errors or omissions, please accept our sincere apologies and notify the Advancement Office so that the appropriate correction can be made.
FOUNDER’S LEVEL GIFTS $25,000 AND GREATER Dan & Denise Carruthers * Daniel Goldberg & Whitney Fox * Peter & Kelly Hudson * Sean Murray & Jamilah Taib-Murray ’82 * David & Debra Wu * VISIONARY LEVEL GIFTS $10,000 – $24,999 Chris Brennan & Stephanie James-Brennan * Michael & Karen Fung Kee Fung * The Gillin Family * Terry & Catherine McLaughlin * Jeff & Tara-Leigh Mierins * Simon & Clara Nehme Jacob & Jeannie Polisuk * PACTUM SERVA LEVEL GIFTS $5,000 – $9,999 Craig & Antonia Betts Jody Bothwell & Maryam Haghighi * CAPCORP Jian Chen & Fang Wang Peter & Ann Marie Hume * Gary & Lori Hutchinson * Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP James Ryan & Robyn Ryan Bell Fayez & Nooren Thawer * Allan & Marilyn Wilson Ted Woodhead & Aileen Conway GOVERNOR’S LEVEL GIFTS $2,500 – $4,999 Denis Barbeau & Alexei O’Connor Cheryl & David Boughton * Robin Boushey & France Bourbonnais * Claridge Homes Mario D’Addario & Vana Andreou Norma Davies ’42 * Detour UX Dave & Jill Dickinson * The Dilawri Family George Dolhai & Catherine Coulter * Peter Ho & Giovanna Valente KPMG Ed Morgan & Mollie Johnson Scott Parkinson & Jane Mathew 40
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Jonathan Richter & Raquelle Dupuis * Shenkman Family Foundation Shalin Sugunasiri & Jacqueline Palumbo-Sugunasiri * Ryan Short & Sophie Bifield ’02 HEAD’S LEVEL GIFTS $1,000 – $2,499 Brook Bangsboll & Jan Kennedy * Jonathan Barker & Margaret Lawson Christine (McGregor) Blackadar ’88 * Gordon Brownlee & Carolyn Sims * Derek & Joan Burney Judith (Maclaren) Caldwell ’51 Mitchell Charness & Janice Palmer * Bryan & Toosje Delaney ’00 Doug Ducharme & Junya Devine Doug & Alice Fyfe Andy & Krista Hartvich Nobutaka Hayashi & Natalie Piche Elizabeth (Raymont) Heatherington ’63 * Derek & Elizabeth Howe * Yongping Hu & Wei Jiang Jacob & Billie Irving Paul Jackson & Jennifer Irwin-Jackson Matthew Jones & Virginia Roth Malek & Liana Ladki * Charles Laplante & Joyce Baker Patrick Leblond & Costanza Musu John & Crickett Lindgren David Little & Andrea Johnson David McGovern & Elise Aylen Benjamin Merkley & Véronique French Merkley ’96 * Hassan Moghadam & Litsa Karamanos Scott & Christine Murray * Peter & Nina Nicolini Norton Rose Fulbright Cynthia Rathwell * Judy (Nesbitt) Reid ’50 Nizar & Nadia Rida * Annette Rossiter * Emmanuel Simantirakis & Voula Karamanos * Teresa Stirling * Joan Sun Yong Tang & Qingjie Lyu Toronto-Dominion Bank John Thomson & Susan Sollars
Gregory Townsend & Anne Liberta Townsend * Roland Villemarie & Judith Wilcox Geoffrey & Silvana Waddington * Kenneth Young & Valerie Nixon * CONTRIBUTOR’S LEVEL GIFTS $500 – $999 4 Office Automation Ltd. Adaptek Systems Inc David & Katherine Angell Alireza Assadzadeh & Janis Jones Stephen & Sandra Assaly * Craig & Lori Bascombe Susan Bennet Allan & Sarah Bifield * Peter Boehm & Julia Wayand Richard & Kristin Brunner * Gregory & Pilar Bryson * Michael & Jane Buckley Xiaobei Chen & Ercel Baker Patrick & Patricia Coady * Adelle & Paul Deacon Acacia Fund Sonny Dhanani & Lillian Lai Christian Dippon Andrew Farinha & Anna-Karina Tabunar Langhua Feng & Sheng Zhang Harley Finkelstein & Lindsay Taub David Gerring & Elaine Barrett-Cramer Youssef Ghantous & Rima Aina Christopher Glover & Carolyn Foley Mike & Nancy Greenley * Charles Hofley & Julie Pryor Hofley Phil Hopwood Arthur Howarth & Michelle Martin * Michael Iles & Julie Sunday Fahad Kafoud & Tamather Al-Obaidly Ryan Keon & Cindy Tomlinson Keon Terry Keough & Lynne Watt * Matthew King & Marta Morgan Alan & Naoko Kors Arlie Koyman * Cheuk Wai Kwan David Law & Carol Watson Shawn Lawrence Jason Kwan & Wei Lu Carol Martin John & Gayle McClelland Mark & Azhra McMahon Ian Meletios
Marcus Minshall & Dominique Jacobson ’02 * Frank & Bessie Porcari Warren & Tracy Pratte Shawn Rivers Michael Schwartz & Angela Murphy Sam & Lynn Shalaby Brad & Renée Sigouin Smith Petrie Carr & Scott Insurance Brokers Ltd Brian Sullivan & Allison Cooper Carolyn Wakeham Qing Weng & Wei Lian Mike Wilson & Stephanie Meyer * FRIEND’S LEVEL GIFTS UP TO $499 Vera Abd El Malek ’17 Pat Adams * Muntaka Ahmed ’17 Matthew & Kate Aken David and Hilary Alexander Laura Alexander ’17 Bakiza Al Khalili ’17 Osama Al Khalili Abrar Alfahad & Abdullah Al Jarallah Mohamed Allam & Meriem Boufassa Jenika Alvarez * Martin & Ioulia Aversa Tod Bain Emily Bangsboll ’17 Sophie Barker ’17 Mary and Leslie Barnes Family Fund Alyson Bartlett * Elif Bilgic ’11 Angela Boychuk * David & Vera Briscoe Joan Brodie ’68 Kylie Brownlee ’17 Cheryl Brownlie* Sian Bryson ’17 Martha Caflish Brent & Mary Capehart Joan Caron Angela Charlebois Stephanie Chin ’00 Janice Clarke * Pamela Cole James Combs & Erin Hilliard-Combs Laura Grace Conlon Brittany Cooper ’17 Julia Crystal ’17 Richard Cuthbert & Jennifer Lefere Sanja Cvetanovic Melanie D’Alessio * Kishore & Sabita Dadlani Hoda Darwish ’17 Mitch & Jennifer Davies Dora Deng ’17 Edward Deng & Christine Hou * Hannah Dolhai ’16
Emma Dolhai ’12 * Eleanor Duffley ’17 Dana El-Ramahi ’17 Meagan Enticknap Claudio Falsetto & Laleah Beaudoin Bruce Farquar & Christelle Desgranges * Frank & Judith Farrell * Sijyl Fasih ’17 Claudia Finak-Fournier ’17 Bernard & Katharine Fitzpatrick Mia Fitzpatrick ’17 Duncan Fraser & Leigh Fraser-Roberts Katie Fraser Beth Fraser Jon Frauley Mallory Fung Kee Fung ’17 Jennifer Gagnon Denny Galli & Maribeth Young Stefani Galli ’17 Gail Gavan * Joan (Campbell) Gazeley ’55 Lindsay Germano * Kathleen Gillespie ’70 Margaret A. Gilliam ’55 Debbie Gill Erica Giustiniani ’17 Pierre Gratton & Lynn Mainland Sam Grbesic * Sydney Greenley ’17 Nicholas Gummeson * Ciara Halloran ’17 Daniel Hanson & Sarah Wright * Nathan W. Harris Emily Hartvich ’17 Sarah Hay * Norman Hladik & Marielle McGovern ’05 Ryan Hodgins Allison Holmes * Helen Hume ’17 Emma Hunter ’17 Meaghan Iwanowski Sarah Jackson ’17 Katya Jansen Poulin ’17 Valerie Jean-Pierre Aojie Ji ’17 Xinhong Jin & Ming Li Natasha Josselyn James Jussila & Wendy Hampson Patrick Kelly * Seema Khan Shabana & Sheraz Khan Nadine Kilbertus * Roy & Carol Kirby * Madeleine Klebanoff O’Brien ’17 Robert & Carolyn Lauzon * Richard LeBlanc & Natalie Briscoe Jason Levesque Wenxin Lian ’17 Heather Lounder ’17 Michel Lucas & Donna Wishart Eryn Lundrigan ’17 Richard & Ethel MacDonald
Alli MacDougall * Mark MacInnes Gloria Mackenzie ’39 Tanja Mackin Khadijah Mahammad & Husain Ebrahim Mohammad Mahin * Maya Mainland-Gratton ’17 Jerry Masia Mandala & Vikki Brodowska * Francie Marchand * Teresa Marquis * Rusty Martin * Joan Matthews-Khan ’50 Fiona (MacDonald) McElwain ’66 Sheetza McGarry ’17 Christiane McGovern ’07 Shawn & Wendy McNally Kate Meadowcroft * Donald & Janice Miller Andrew Milne & Nihal Sherif Donna Naufal Moffatt * Tom Molnar * Christine Molnar Neil & Paula Moloney Elizabeth Moloney ’17 Husein & Nimet Moloo Joan Mon Pooja Moorti ’17 Erin Mulcahy * Warren Newberry & Kellie Major Lily Newberry ’17 Trevor & Juliana Nightingale Geoffrey & Jane O’Brian Derek O’Farrell Joy Overtveld Aurelia Overtveld ’17 Jennifer Oxenham ’54 Yizhou Peng ’17 Matt Perreault * Evelyn Pike * Stephane Poulin & Stefanie Jansen-Poulin * Shirley Prosser ’53 Malek Purran * Victoria Radburn ’17 Allegra Richter ’17 Colin Robertson * Alaa Rostom & Catherine Dubé Myriam Rostom ’17 Pauline Rubarth * Vicki Sainsbury ’67 * Ivan Sambles Muhammad Sarwar & Najla Fasih Matthew Scoppa & Jennifer Farrell Cynthia Sedlezky ’17 Kimberly Senf Miranda Shepherd ’98 Vanessa Sjerven Leslie Smith Britney Smith ’17 Corey Sproule Vincent Stapleton Diana (Magee) Stinson ’73 Sophia Swettenham ’17 Martin Thomas & Violina Lozeva-Thomas Martha Torres
Anne Troise Dixie Trudel Brianna Trudel ’17 Cheryl Tweedie * Janet B. Uren ’68 * Obbe & Donna Vermeij * Katherine (Caldwell) Walker ’44 * Scott & Kathryn Walker Timothy & Carolyn Walsh * Jen Walsh * Chengmao Wang & Xinyu Yang Qinchen Wang ’17 Jeremy & Christine Want Judith Webster ’63 Frederick & Gillian Whichelo * Lucy Whichelo ’17 James Whitehouse * Barbara Whitley ’36 * Chandra Wiegand * Barbara (Fletcher) Wiesner ’64 Catherine Wiley * Leo Yao & Emily Yan Xi Yuan ’17 Li Zhang & Xiaowei Wang TRIBUTE GIFTS In memory of Mary Barnes & Leslie W.C.S. Barnes In memory of Michaeline Bennet In memory of Marie Lafontaine In memory of Sandra Sharpe In memory of Jim Tassie ENDOWED FUNDS Giselle Campeau Scholarship Fund Norma Davies Scholarship Fund Paul Deacon Memorial Scholarship Fund Katherine Ellis Endowment in Memory of Mabel Dunlop ’29 Elmwood School Endowment Fund Elmwood School Old Girls’ Association Scholarship Endowment Fund Elmwood School Scholarship Fund Dr. Carol Kirby Global Citizenship Program Endowment Fund Joan Matthews-Khan Scholarship Endowment Fund Milena Sigmund Scholarship Fund Cairine Wilson Memorial Scholarship Fund Judy and Margot Toller Memorial Fund Class of 2013 Legacy Endowment Fund Class of 2014 Legacy Endowment Fund Class of 2015 Legacy Endowment Fund Class of 2016 Legacy Endowment Fund Class of 2017 Legacy Endowment Fund
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PACTUM SERVA SOCIETY Donors with cumulative giving history of $5,000 or more are permanently recognized on our Donor Wall located in the Atrium. Names are listed as requested by the donor. SUMMA SUMMARUM “HIGHEST OF HIGH” $250,000 AND GREATER Thomas Ahearn Rebecca Baker & John Witherspoon Rod & Sandy Bryden Elmwood School Parents & Friends Association Ethel Fauquier Peter & Kelly Hudson Sean Murray & Jamilah Taib-Murray ’82 Jeannie & Jacob Polisuk Michael Potter John & Jennifer Ruddy Lilias Southam Senator Cairine R. Wilson
PARENS “FOUNDER” $100,000 – $249,000 Chris Brennan & Stephanie James-Brennan Dan & Denise Carruthers Norma Davies ’42 Paul & Adelle Deacon Daniel Goldberg & Whitney Fox-Goldberg Derek & Elizabeth Howe Brendan Lucas & Chloe Lucas Terry & Catherine McLaughlin Brooke, Ava & Mila Mierins Esme Pepall ’34 Jim & Pam Skippen R. Howard Webster Foundation William White David & Debra Wu The Zed Family
Dennis & Andrea Laurin Kenneth & Christina Loeb David & Diana Mason David McClenahan Anne McDougall Benjamin Merkley & Véronique French Merkley ’96 Burton & Susann Merkley The Peers & Snelling Family Brian & Cathy Peters Gordon & Wendy Peters Andy & Bonnie Robinson Rockwell International Canada Lawrence Schembri & Elizabeth Springer Janet Southam Ritchie ’30 Bob & Jill Strachan Ronald & Wendy Sumner Fayez & Nooren Thawer Toller Memorial Fund Janet Uren ’68 Irena Wight Allan & Marilyn Wilson Cairine R.M. Wilson ’31 The Yau Family
AUCTOR “BUILDER” $10,000 – $24,999
Rahim & Shahin Abdullah Sanjay & Colleen Acharya Peter & Denise Allen Anonymous Jagtar & Manjit Basi Paul Beaulé Luc Berube & Odette Laneuville Craig & Antonia Betts E.W. Bickle Foundation John, Johanna & Jennifer ’04 Blakney Michael Bolitho & PATRONUS “PATRON” Angelica Thiele-Bolitho $25,000 – $99,999 David & Patricia Boomer Rita & Ray Arseneau Robin Boushey & France Bourbonnais Laureen Assaly Jody Bothwell Stephen & Sandra Assaly Gretta Bradley The Baxter Family The Janet & Charles Burns Foundation Donald & Shelia Bayne Peter & Nenita Clark Olivier & Pascale Benloulou James & Vera Cody J.P. Bickell Foundation Elizabeth Coristine ’34 Douglas & Sharon Black Michael Crystal & Tracey Thompson David & Cheryl Boughton Mario Cuconato & Robin Boushey & France Bourbonnais Danielle May-Cuconato Jean-Luc & Catherine Brazeau Elizabeth Davis Neil Bregman, Katherine Jeans The Dawes Family & Ivy Bregman Dave & Jill Dickinson Janet Burns ’29 The Robert Campeau Family Foundation Gordon Douglas & Margaret I. Douglas Nicholas Caragianis & Sarah Murray ’79 Victor Duret & Hilary McCormack Ellen Ewert Catherine Coulter & George Dolhai Katherine Ellis Eleanor Creery Stephen Gallagher Elmwood School Staff Elizabeth (Raymont) Heatherington ’63 John, Louise, Veronique ’96, Joan Henderson Isabelle ’98 & David French Arthur Howarth & Michelle Martin Michael & Karen Fung Kee Fung Ann Marie & Peter Hume Philip & Beata Garel-Jones IBM The Gillin Family Alfred Jay & Kim Ling Paul Faynwachs Cynthia Kasem & Julia Campbell ’08 Mike & Nancy Greenley Estate of Nancy Kneeland The Griffith Foundation (Martin) Donegani ’38 Peter Griffiths & Willa Griffiths-Kersten Louis & Patricia Lamontagne Lucy Grossman-Hensel Allan MacEwen Morag S. Gundy Joan Matthews-Khan ’50 Alice Hunt Jean C. McCloskey Lori & Gary Hutchinson Sarah McDonald ’04, Carol Kirby Katherine McDonald ’09 & Anja Kloch ’88 Heather McDonald ’11 Raymond Kuate Konga E.B. McDougall Katie ’97 & Ruth Lark ’10
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Ian McDowell & Carrol Pitters John & Jane Melloul In Memory of Maxine Miller & Stuart Noble David Milne & Pam Gibb-Carsley Scott & Christine Murray Harry & Lee Near Simon & Clara Nehme Robert & Joanne Nelson Akiko Nishiyama ’78 Scott Parkinson & Jane Mathew N.E. Peters Foundation John & Liz Pigott Judy Nesbitt Reid ’50 The Kathleen M. Richardson Foundation Inc. Jonathan Richter & Raquelle Dupuis Michael Robinson & Mary-Louise Walsh Annette Rossiter John & Amy Russell James Ryan & Robyn Ryan Bell Frank & Hannah Sellers In memory of Sandra Sharpe (1987 - 2007) Andrei & Nadia Shirobokov Sanjeev & Lalita Singla Helen Hirsh Spence & David Spence George Tawagi & Françine Belleau John Thomson & Susan Sollars Fred & Jean Toller Gregory Townsend & Anna Liberta Townsend Glen & Ann Tremblay Biff & Dianne Wheeler Ruth Wijkman ’54 Russel & Anne Wilson Thomas Znotins & Sandra Fraser
AMICUS “FRIEND” $5,000 – $9,999 Faiza & Aly Abdulla Lilias Ahearn ’58 Anonymous David, Sharon, Ryan, Jaye & Brody Appotive Christian Asselin & Joanne Lefebvre Sol Avisar & Karen Brook Brook Bangsboll & Jan Kennedy Denis Barbeau & Alexei O’Connor Blake, Denise & Quincy Batson Mary Beattie David & Barbara Berks Peter Bouzanis & Maureen Donnelly Ole Bredberg & Berta Canizares Gregory & Pilar Bryson Judith (Maclaren) Caldwell ’51 Juliet Caragianis ’11 Sophia Caragianis ’15 Nazib & Nimira Charania Mitchell Charness & Janice Palmer Jian Chen & Fang Wang Yan Chen & Nancy Zhang Class of 2013 Class of 2014 Class of 2015 Class of 2016 Class of 2017 Patrick & Patricia Coady Helen Cooper David & Peggy Cork Glenn Coulter Anna Cundill ’35 Mario D’Addario & Vana Andreou Heather Dewar Luard Zahir Dhalla & Sahira Charania Doug Ducharme & Junya Devine
Mitchel Fein Chris Fournier James Frodsham The Geddes Family Debbie Gill Elizabeth B. Gill The Greenehaven Foundation The Guimaraes Family Nicholas Gummeson David Goldstein & Kim Doran James Haebe & Sharon Ebata Maureen L. Harper ’84 Nobutaka Hayashi & Natalie Piche Thomas & Karen Howcroft Caroline Kern ’69 Grant & Dawn King Peter & Susan Knowlton Malek & Liana Ladki Kerry & Roshene Lawson Michael & Suzanne Lewis John & Crickett Lindgren The Mackenzie Foundation Donald Maclaren ’38 Nancy MacLaren ’44 Gary & Louise Maffett Evva Massey-Henry ’69 Brian McGarry & Joan Sun The McLaughlin Foundation Janis & Hilda Mierins Foundation Marcus Minshall & Dominique Jacobson ’02 Husein & Nimet Moloo Claudia Montgomery William & Mary Elizabeth Mulock Peter & Nina Nicolini Darren & Clare Nippard Bernard & Linda Normand The Paterson Foundation Jaime Pitfield & Nicole Jauvin Oliver Portner & Kathleen Gartke Christopher & Jean Rath Cynthia Rathwell Patrick & Beverly Reid Susan (Reid) Senn ’77 Nizar & Nadia Rida Don & Meena Roberts Emile, Cheryl, Rachael & Paul Rodrigues Michael & Cynthia Rowland Joanna Rozanski ’03 Jack & Nadine Sabine Charles Saikaley Ian & Melissa Shabinsky Emmanuel Simantirakis & Voula Karamanos A.L. Smith Ann Southam ’37 Shalin Sugunasiri & Jacqueline Palumbo-Sugunasiri Brad & Heather Sweeney Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib & Elisa Chan Ryan & Joanna Todd Brian Toller & Lorna Tener Robert & Madeleine Toller Weiping Tong & Ying Chen Raman Tuli & Caroline Bigue William & Barbara Turner Geoffrey & Silvana Waddington Betty (Caldwell) Walker ’44 Ralph & Helen Westington Barbara Whitley ’36 Don Whitney & Cindy Harrison Greg Wilson & Joanne McBean-Wilson Ted Woodhead & Aileen Conway Nhanci Wright Kenneth Young & Valerie Nixon
Elmwood Gala Ahead by a Century! The 2017 Elmwood Gala, held on April 22nd, was the party of the next century, with guests enjoying a fabulous meal, bidding on exciting live and silent auction items and then dancing the night away. Proceeds were directed to the Elmwood scholarship and bursary program and will also support the refurbishment of our science labs.
We are grateful for the leadership support shown by Jamilah Taib Murray ’82, Gala Patron and the Hudson family, Cash Call Matching Sponsor. Heartfelt thanks to the Gala Committee members for making this evening possible, with special recognition to Denise Carruthers and Whitney Fox, the Gala Co-Chairs. Their leadership, boundless energy and teamwork made this a Gala to remember!
GALA BY THE NUMBERS:
273 GUESTS
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SPONSORS (contributing from $500 to $25,000) for $215,000 in total
$106,500
$34,000
$34,500
$283,000
RAISED DURING LIVE AUCTION
DONATED THROUGH RAISING PADDLES
RAISED BY SILENT AUCTION
RAISED IN TOTAL!
Our Corporate Partners Make a Difference Throughout the School Year! Elmwood’s four Corporate Partners have committed a total of $160,000 over a three-year period and we are honoured to recognize their generosity at many events throughout the school year. Thank you to Terry and Catherine McLaughlin (Terlin Construction Ltd.), Jeff and Tara-Leigh Mierins (Star Motors), Jacob and Jeannie Polisuk (Vista Credit) and David and Debra Wu (Movati Athletic).
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CLASS NOTES
Meredith Gillespie ’99 and Elizabeth (Liz) Clarke ’99
Nanakarina Kwofie ’98
1960s Janet Uren ’68 Janet recently appeared as Queen Victoria at a garden party at the Rockcliffe Retirement Residence where she had the joy of wearing a hooped skirt and being gracious to all and sundry, though she did eschew the corsets. Janet also appeared in July as the Prime Minister’s wife in a production of Pardon Me, Prime Minister at the Ottawa Little Theatre, and she is in the throes of choosing a play to present at Elmwood in the first two weeks of November 2017. There will be a special Elmwood Night on November 1, proceeds to go to the Old Girls Scholarship Fund. 1970s Jill Hepworth ’74 Jill retired in 2015 from the Federal Government, Correctional Services of Canada, where she worked as a parole officer. In April of this year, she met with a few members of the Class of 1974 in Cambridge for dinner: Alison, Lourdes, Jane, Gail. Jill also traveled to La Paz Mexico to visit Heather and Antonio in 2016 and again in 2017 with Doug. The bonds formed at Elmwood have certainly stood the test of time for the Class of 1974—they remain in contact via Facebook and e-mails. 1980s Philippa Sheppard ’89 Phillipa attended Elmwood from 1977 – 1985. Her book Devouring Time: Nostalgia in Contemporary Shakespearean Screen Adapta44
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tions analyzes twenty-seven films based on Shakespeare’s works, from Kenneth Branagh’s groundbreaking Henry V to Justin Kurzel’s haunting Macbeth, investigating the filmmakers’ nostalgia for the art of the past. The translation from Renaissance plays to modern cinema sheds light on Western concepts of gender, identity and colonialism (McGill Queen’s University Press, May 31, 2017.) 1990s Nanakarina Kwofie ’98 The stork’s early visit... Nana and her husband Robert van Andel are pleased to announce the birth of girl/boy twins, Ophelia and Gabriel van Andel. Ophelia and Gabriel were born in London, UK, 10 weeks early around 6 a.m. on Monday, February 13th, each of them weighing 1.1 kg. It had been quite a long ride in hospital but both made it in extraordinary health and are now around 5 kilos and four months on at home! Fiona Charlton ’99 Fiona recently moved back to Ottawa after nine years living in the US and U.K. to start a job as the Vice President of Marketing at The Ottawa Hospital. Elizabeth (Liz) Clarke ’99 Liz is currently living in White Rock, outside of Vancouver, BC with her husband, two stepchildren and two bio-children. She enjoys red wine, long walks on the beach and wiping things; runny noses, sticky fingers and crummy counters. Liz’s husband drives big boats on the
Kendra Labrosse’s ’02 son Kayden
Amina (Khair) Filipovic ’02
BC coast and Liz is mostly a stay-at-home mom, and also works part-time as a paramedic. Meredith Gillespie ’99 Meredith is living in Toronto where she works as a psychologist and program lead for Psychology at Boomerang Health, a multidisciplinary paediatric clinic powered by SickKids. Meredith and her husband Patrick recently welcomed their second child, William, in May. Their daughter Georgia, age 5, is a very proud big sister! Georgia was also thrilled to attend camp at Elmwood this summer. 2000s Kendra Labrosse ’02 Kendra and her husband welcomed their first baby boy, Kayden Stang, in February. Amina (Khair) Filipovic ’02 Since graduating, Amina has completed a B.A. Psychology at Carleton University. She has held numerous positions in finance at Scotiabank International Banking, Bank of Montreal and other organizations. Currently, Amina is employed as a GST/HST Rulings Analyst with the Canada Revenue Agency. She is also working towards obtaining her CPA designation. Amina is married with two children (a four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son) and resides in Burlington, Ontario. Amina still keeps in touch with several of her classmates and hopes that everyone else is doing well!
Kyla MacLeod ’03
Kyla MacLeod ’03 Kyla and her husband Alex welcomed their first child, Sebastian James Brucciani, on June 12, 2017. Kyla has been living in the UK since 2008 and works as an in-house lawyer for HSBC Bank Plc where she specializes in digital projects for commercial banking customers. Young Sebastian’s passport is in progress and they can hardly wait to travel to Canada to make introductions to family and friends. Jessica Wilson ’03 Dr. Jessica Wilson worked in a sleep research laboratory in Japan, co-founded an award-winning science outreach group, and received her PhD in Neuroscience from Northwestern University in 2015. She is currently working for a neuromarketing start-up in Boston. She has rankings in multiple martial arts including Taekwondo, Japanese naginata, and knife-fighting. Otto (formerly Christine) O’Connor ’03 Otto is soon to be the Rev. Otto O’Connor when he is ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry on June 11th in Sherborn, MA. He has recently been called to be the Settled Minister at the First Parish in Malden, Unitarian Universalist, in Malden, MA, an inner ring suburb of Boston. Aleana Young ’04 Aleana was married last February 11, 2016. She ran unsuccessfully in the April 2016 provincial election. In October she was re-elected to her second term as a trustee for Regina Public Board of Education. Aleana is the youngest elected official in Regina and has been since E L M WO O D.C A
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CLASS NOTES
Jessica Wilson ’03 and Otto O’Connor ’03
Aleana Young ’04
Genna Giampaola ’05
Lore Lima ’09
her initial election in 2012. She was also elected to the executive of the provincial NDP in Saskatchewan. In November, she was elected Vice Chair of the Board, and elected Vice President of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association. In April 2017 Aleana quit her job as the Senior Strategist for Public Engagement for the City of Regina to open her own business—Regina’s first gourmet and local food store. Genna Giampaola ’05 A few years ago Genna returned from the Middle East where she helped create and teach performing arts programming, co-directed children’s musicals and filmed her first on-screen role in Amman, Jordan. It’s been tough breaking back into the industry but Genna finally became an ACTRA apprentice this year after filming her first television role in an episode of Murdoch Mysteries. Genna is currently working as an instructor for The Travelling Stage and Mirvish Productions for their joint on-site educational programming and musical theatre intensives, along with being a regular instructor for The Travelling Stage that brings a variety of workshops to schools, etc. She is working steadily in the musical theatre world and currently rehearsing for the Women of Musical Theatre Festival. She’s also been working in the voice acting world as a healthy voice coach and as a voice actor with fellow Ottawa natives Christian Potenza and David Stinson at Switchboard Sessions. Genna will also be returning to directing/teaching a children’s musical in fall 2017 with Harmony School of Dance and Music.
Carmina Badani ’09
Carmina Badani ’09 Carmina Badani would have graduated from Elmwood in 2009 but moved and completed her high school studies in Costa Rica. Carmina graduated from Carleton University and is now married to her husband Fabricio. In January 2016 Carmina welcomed to the world a little girl of her own. She hopes that her daughter Alexia will be able to attend Elmwood in the near future.
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Sophia Dhalla ’09 Sophia recently graduated from UBC Medical School this past May. After a relaxing summer travelling through Eastern Europe and spend-
Erin Chapman ’12
Photography by Melanie Greenley ’13
Emmie Page ’13 and Sophie Ackert ’15
ing time with friends and family back in Ottawa, she will be starting her residency in family medicine. She will be training out of Lionsgate Hospital in North Vancouver and is excited to start this next chapter as a resident physician! Lore Lima ’09 Lore married the love of her life Dave on May 27, 2017 at the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica on Sussex Drive, and they had their reception at Orchard View Wedding and Event Centre—where Lore is the Lead Event Coordinator. Everything was perfect on their day, from the ceremony to the photos to dinner to dancing. There were so many people who helped them on their day, especially her little sister Cristina Lima ’10. 2010s Erin Chapman ’12 Erin Chapman was the Valedictorian for the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Arts convocation on June 19, 2017. After her dedicated involvement as the President of the Communication Students’ Association and the Faculty of Arts representative for the Board of Administration of the Student Federation for the University of Ottawa during her undergraduate degree, Erin was selected by the faculty to give a speech at both the morning and afternoon ceremonies for the Faculty of Arts. Much to the surprise of the graduates, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the morning ceremony where he gave a standing ovation to the Valedictorian’s speech. Melanie Greenley ’13 Melanie is currently attending The University of British Columbia to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her fourth-year graduation pieces are part of a series titled “Mindful.” Five photos have been selected to be shown at the Vernon Public Art Gallery in their exhibition “Emergence.” Her second series “Bound” has been selected for an exhibition at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art titled “Fem(i)nist.” Prior to graduating in 2018, Melanie will be taking part in an exchange to Korea.
Paige Tremblay ’15
Emmie Page ’13 This spring Emmie graduated from UBC with a BSc in Oceanography and Biology. She spent her four years on the varsity rowing team, coxing the varsity women’s 8+ to three consecutive Canadian University Rowing Championship wins. Emmie finished her rowing career as the rowing team executive president and team manager. She also tried to stay involved with sustainability and conservation around campus, and was a UBC Sustainability ambassador and Oceanography Executive VP. Emmie spent much of her university career doing field work at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre on Vancouver Island, and is now looking to pursue a master’s degree in marine conservation on the west or east coast of Canada. She is spending her summer coaching both the Elmwood and Ottawa Rowing Club learn to row programs, rowing competitively for the Ottawa seniors women’s program as a lightweight rower, and volunteering at the Elisabeth Bruyere Long term care centre. Sophie Ackert ’15 Sophie has just finished her second year at University of Exeter. While in her second year, she got the opportunity to travel to Iceland to study the effects of climate change on glaciers in the southeast region of the country. She had success in her rowing during second year, earning a silver medal at BUCS Regatta and gold in the women’s eight at the Metropolitan Regatta. Sophie is heading into her third and final year at Exeter, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Geography. She will be completing her dissertation and rowing as a senior competitive lightweight rower as well as acting as Secretary on the University of Exeter’s Boat Club executive committee. Paige Tremblay ’15 Paige is into her third year of Kinesiology at Acadia University and is currently Vice President of the Acadia Kinesiology Society. Paige also volunteers on the university medical response team, as well as with the Acadia S.M.I.L.E. (Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience) Program. S.M.I.L.E. is an innovative, academic-based, yet volunteer-driven program that provides persons with varying disabilities a unique physical activity experience in order to improve their total development as individuals. E L M WO O D.C A
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STAFF NEWS A lovely celebration was held at the end of the 2016 – 2017 school year to honour staff members retiring and celebrating milestones. We were thrilled to also welcome back many of our retired faculty and staff members in honour of Annette Rossiter’s retirement after 45 years of teaching, 28 of which were at Elmwood.
Other staff and faculty celebrating milestones: Gail Gavan 30 years of service Sarah Hay 20 years of service Frances Marchand 20 years of service Donna Naufal Moffatt 20 years of service
Mohammad Mahin 15 years of service Alyson Bartlett 10 years of service Erin Derbyshire 10 years of service Nadine Kilbertus 10 years of service Chandra Wiegand 10 years of service
Thank you for your dedication to the School, and most of all, to our students.
Welcome to our new members of staff: Sabina Bagde
Chef Sabina joined the staff of the Elmwood Bistro after working for Levy Restaurants at TD Place. She studied in both the Culinary Management and Baking and Pastry Arts programs at Algonquin College. She is a mother and a lover of life and her favourite place in the world is in the kitchen. For Sabina, cooking is not just an occupation—transforming simple ingredients into an awesome dish is her passion!
Karenna Boychuk
Communications Coordinator Born and raised in Ottawa—where she also attended both Elmwood School and Arts Canterbury—Karenna holds a Bachelor of Design with Honours from the York University/ Sheridan College joint design program. Upon her graduation, Karenna spent time as a freelance designer before acquiring a position at a strategic & marketing design agency where she worked for three years. Karenna is a gold award recipient of the Duke of Edinburgh Program, as well as a provincial gold medalist through her eleven years as an Ontario competitive synchronized swimmer. Karenna is covering Mrs. Germano’s maternity leave.
Cristien Lyons
Music Teacher Cristien Lyons began his professional music career at the age of 15 and over the years has played everything from rock to reggae to Rimsky-Korsakov. Cristien has taught music for nineteen years at both the junior and senior high levels, leading groups to music festivals across Canada, the US and as far as Cuba. Cristien holds a master’s degree in conducting, works as a freelance jazz bassist and leads a salsa band in Winnipeg. He is thrilled to be joining the Elmwood staff this fall and looks forward to working with all of the young musicians. 48
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Catherine Rochon
Junior School Teacher Catherine will be teaching students in our Grade 5 PYP program for the upcoming year. She will bring with her both experience at the local and international levels of education through her work at the OCDSB, the Bilingual European Schools in Milan, Italy and the Canadian International School in Singapore. Her focus while abroad was specifically geared toward PYP programming and allowing for a growth mindset to develop among her pupils.
Joan Sun
Director, International Student Program After having been a proud long-time Elmwood parent, Joan joins Elmwood as the Director, International Student Program, with responsibilities including the promotion of Elmwood as the premium destination for all-girls K-12 IB education; recruitment; guidance and facilitation of integration; communication of Elmwood content on Chinese social media WeChat; development of other emerging international education markets. Joan’s daughter Sheetza McGarry is an alumna of Elmwood Class of 2017. Joan and Sheetza are grateful to Elmwood for the tremendous support over the years.
Rebecca Sutherland
French Teacher Rebecca is a creative and passionate intermediate/senior level French teacher who recently moved to Ottawa from Toronto. Originally from the East Coast, she played varsity soccer at both Mount Allison and Mount Saint Vincent universities, where she studied French, Canadian Studies and Education. Rebecca has taught internationally in France and Tanzania. She most recently spent five years teaching at the Richmond Hill IB school TMS, where she was highly involved in coaching, international service trips, and designing and implementing a new language acquisition programme.
UPCOMING EVENTS FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AND WELCOME BACK FESTIVAL
GRANDPARENTS’ DAY
ART FAIR
October 5
December 1 – 3
September 6
ADMISSIONS OPEN HOUSE
HOLLY TEA AND MARKETPLACE
October 21
December 2
OCTO-BEER-FEAST
FATHER DAUGHTER BALL
October 27
February 3
FOUNDER’S DAY September 29
EXPERTS @ ELMWOOD – RACHEL SIMMONS
LINDEN HOUSE PLAY
ELMWOOD THEATRE PRODUCTION
October 3
Elmwood Preview, November 1
February 28 – March 4
Details available at elmwood.ca
Emblem
The Emblem is published twice a year. To ensure your news is included in the next issue, please submit your story and a high resolution photo to kboychuk@elmwood.ca by January 15, 2018.
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SHE IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY TOO. We are experts in how girls learn, grow and succeed. Like you, our goal is to make sure your daughter reaches her full potential. In our girl-centric learning environment, the first student to raise her hand is a girl, the first student across the finish line is a girl, and the first student to lend a hand is a girl. This safe, supportive atmosphere fosters academic excellence, self-confidence and a healthy outlook on life. That’s why our graduates are well prepared to go on to their first-choice universities and take on first-class careers.
Inspiring girls
OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 • 9 A.M. Elmwood School puts families first too. Come learn more about everything we can offer you and your daughter. • Unparalleled academic program • All three levels of the International Baccalaureate Programme • Before- and after-school programming, including homework supervision • Transportation • Healthy meals prepared on-site • Individualized support from our Student Success Centre • Wide range of enrichment opportunities
RSVP AT INFO.ELMWOOD.CA/FALL OR CALL (613)744-7783
EXPERTS@ELMWOOD SPEAKERS SERIES PRESENTS RAC H EL S I M M O NS BFF 2.0: GIRLS’ LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA & HOW TO PARENT THROUGH IT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3RD 7p.m. Author, educator and coach Rachel Simmons will decode the ups and downs of girls’ online lives. She explores the challenge of setting limits at a time when other parents seem more permissive than ever. Using the latest research on social media and youth, Simmons will share practical strategies to set limits on use, respond to cyber-bullying, and parent with authority and compassion.
Reserve your seats now for this complimentary event at info.elmwood.ca/simmons
www.elmwood.ca