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What Does Launch Mean to You? Elmwood’s Grade Four Class Wins Mars Design Challenge
EXPLORING THE WORLD THROUGH STEM Page 18
COOKING WITH CHEF CANDICE Page 20
BACKBONE OF THE SCHOOL: BARBARA ALDOUS Page 24
ELMWOOD SCHOOL’S 28TH GALA
A H E A D BY A
C E N T U RY SAT U R DAY A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS: Jamilah Taib-Murray, GALA PATRON • Peter and Kelly Hudson, CASH CALL MATCHING SPONSOR PLATINUM SPONSORS: Avenai • Clara Francis-Nehme and Simon Nehme • Whitney Fox and Dan Goldberg • Klashwerks • Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties COCKTAIL SPONSOR: Craig and Antonia Betts • WINE SPONSOR: The Shore Club • DESSERT SPONSOR: Telus GOLD SPONSORS: Dr. Jody Bothwell • CAPCORP • Claridge Homes • Detour Interactive • The Dilawri Family • Event Design • Gallagher Benefits • HP Urban • KPMG • Movati Athletic • Nicolini and Friends • Osler Law • Shenkman Family Foundation • Star Motors •Terlin Construction • Vista Credit SILVER SPONSORS: Derek Burney • Delaney's Law Firm • Norton Rose Fulbright • Ottawa Citizen • TD Bank BRONZE SPONSORS: Adaptek Systems • 4office Automation • Mobile Klinik • Rent Frock Repeat • Smith, Petrie, Carr & Scott
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WHAT DOES LAUNCH MEAN TO YOU?
EXPLORING THE WORLD THROUGH STEM
BACKBONE OF THE SCHOOL
Elmwood’s Grade Four class designs school on Mars and wins international competition
At Elmwood, our students have many opportunities to study science, technology, engineering and math.
By Allison Holmes, Ryan Hodgins and the Grade Four class
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Barbara Aldous was a key member of Elmwood’s faculty for 22 years—from 1958 to 1980.
By Kate Angell
By Janet Uren ’68
News and Notes.......................................... 4
Exploring the World Through STEM ...........................................18
Alumnae Spotlight: Natalie Gandilo ’95..................................26
Winterim....................................................... 10
Cooking with Chef Candice............... 20
Apple Distinguished School.................12
Inspiring Girls: Mackenzie (’20) and Mikayla (’23) Johnson...................22
Alumnae Spotlight: Alix Dudley ’06..........................................28
Message from the Headmistress........ 2
Experts@Elmwood...................................13 What does launch mean to you?..........14
editor:
Teresa Stirling, Director of Communications photographers:
Jenika Alvarez Alex Brault Dwayne Brown Lindsay Germano Chris Snow Courtney Townsend ’13 Chandra Wiegand design:
contributors:
Kate Angell Elise Aylen Christine Blackadar ’88 Cheryl Boughton Candice Butler Toosje Delaney ’00 Lindsay Germano Ryan Hodgins Allison Holmes Jennifer Irwin-Jackson Brian McCullough Kimberley Senf Janet Uren ’68
Alumnae News and Events................ 30
Backbone of the School: Barbara Aldous.........................................24
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
Class Notes..................................................32 New Staff.....................................................37 above: Grade 5 students get ready to take a closer look at the human body! Photo by Jenika Alvarez
on the cover:
Our Grade 4 class built a school on Mars, sparking a classwide thirst for knowledge about the red planet. Photo by Chris Snow
Ryan Mesheau E L M WO O D.C A
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MESSAGE FROM THE HEADMISTRESS Cheryl Boughton, Headmistress
D 1 Duaa Israr ’22 works intently during the Hour of Code. 2 Architect Tye Farrow leads the Master Planning Task Force members through a design charrette exercise. 3 Lydia Hagadorn ’25 works on creating pieces for Elmwood’s school on Mars. 4 May Kuhail ’28, Layan Kuhail ’30 and Teagan Aken ’30 celebrate the 100th day of school. 5 Headmistress Cheryl Boughton and Head Girl Cynthia Sedlezky ’17 on Founder’s Day.
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id you know that a year on Mars is equivalent to 687 Earth days? And winter on Mars lasts approximately 154 days! Though there have been moments this winter that I thought spring might never come, I suppose we can be happy that our winter isn’t quite that long. However, with all that goes on here at Elmwood, I sometimes wish the year could last longer so we could learn more, spend more time together and accomplish more. I do suspect our student body would be up in arms though if we almost doubled the length of our school year! Mars has become the topic of choice for at least one of our grades this year. As you will learn in this issue, our Grade Fours have Mars fever! As part of their International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme unit, “Back to the Drawing Board,” they conceptualized and then ‘built’ a school on Mars. The school they designed won the grand prize in the #MARSchallenge! We’re very proud of all they have accomplished. We are also incredibly proud of our alumnae featured in this issue. Starting on page 26, you’ll meet two Elmwood “Old Girls” who are living the dream that many of our girls have: working for NASA. Natalie Gandilo ’95, Postdoctoral Researcher at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Alix Dudley ’05, Operations Specialist at NASA Ames Research Centre both got their starts in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) here at Elmwood. Back on Earth, at Elmwood we are busy thinking about the future—imagining what our second century might be like, and putting our 2015 – 2020 Strategic
Plan into action. That view to the future is currently manifesting itself in two exciting projects. The first is our curriculum review, which we featured in the last issue of this publication. As you will remember, over the past 15 months, a team has been working to ensure that our curriculum meets the needs of our students and leverages the best practices and leading research in education. By the end of this school year we will have completed the first three of four steps in the process and will be well on our way to implementing the solutions we have created. Additionally, we have recently begun discussions about crafting Elmwood’s vision for the future through a Master Planning process. This process will guide the development of our facilities for the next 20 years. The committee tasked with this project is made up of representatives from the Board of Governors, the Leadership Team, faculty and staff, students, parents and alumnae. The aim is to create a plan that will be adopted by the Board of Governors at the end of May. It is an exciting time at the school, and I for one am looking forward to see what the future holds for Elmwood. In the meantime, the Earth continues to spin, and the days at Elmwood seem to go by so quickly. It has been a wonderful year so far, as the pages that follow attest. I hope you enjoy reading all about it!
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1 Avogadro Chemistry Exam award recipients Emma Hunter ’17 and Qinchen Wang ’17 with Dr. Mahin. 2 Syndey Greenley ’17, Lexi Ruta ’28, Pooja Moorti ’17, Harper Doyel ’28, Sheetza McGarry ’17, Emily Bangsboll ’17 and Madelaine Delaney ’25 enjoy a break on the grass at the Welcome Back BBQ. 3 Eryn Lundrigan ’17, Elizabeth Moloney ’17, Luchy Whichelo ’17 and Allegra Richter ’17 enjoy the sun and fresh air at Camp Elmwood. 4 Grade 5 students visiting Parliament Hill. 5 Terry Fox Run participants on run day. 6 Middle School students enjoy some yummy green cupcakes as part of the Founder’s Day festivities. 7 Grade 5s spreading the love at Y camp. 8 Teachers and students participating in the annual Run for the Cure. 9 Dena Yousuf ’23 and her furry friend enjoy the fun and games at the Keller Cookout. 0 Clarissa Lauzon ’26 with her grandmother on Grandparents’ Day.
Lindsay Germano, Communications Coordinator
NEWS AND NOTES Chemistry Crushers Last June, a number of our Grade 11 students participated in a prestigious competition in chemistry called the Avogadro Chemistry Exam. Qinchen Wang ’17 placed in the top 5% and Emma Hunter ’17 placed in the top 20% of all participants in North America. Happy New (School) Year On September 7th, we kicked off the 2016 – 2017 school year with our fantastic community at the Welcome Back BBQ. The carnival-themed party was a blast and included traditional games like three-legged and potato-sack races. The evening also included sweet treats from the ice-cream truck, silly faces captured at the photo booth and a delicious dinner. Thanks to Chair Gayle McClelland and the Elmwood Parents’ Association for organizing such a fantastic event! Camp Elmwood Middle and Senior School students took part in Elmwood’s eighth annual Camp Elmwood at Camp Kandalore from September 14 – 16. Their days were filled with sunshine, swimming, canoeing, sports, zip lining, team building, campfires and more! The camp experience is so valuable for the girls. It gives the Grade 12s the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills. It builds community and helps girls develop friendships. Most importantly, it helps the students learn to take appropriate and safe risks, and by doing so, gain confidence. In addition, the weather was absolutely perfect and the girls had an unforgettable time! Behind the Scenes at Parliament On September 23rd, Grade 5 students had the opportunity to visit Parliament Hill to support their first unit of inquiry, “Decisions, Decisions.” The girls participated in a private tour, which outlined the process of how a bill becomes a law, and even got to meet one of the Members of Parliament, Peter Schiefke.
The girls had a wonderful time and are already exercising their democratic rights to vote on issues relevant to the Grade 5 class. A Howlin’ Good Time! On Saturday, September 24th, the Elmwood community came out to support the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind at the Keller Dog Day and Cookout! Families brought their pups out for fun canine games, raffle prizes, treats and more. A delicious cookout and fun activities for humans were also planned! Congratulations to Head of Keller, Sheetza McGarry ’17 for organizing such a fun and fantastic event that raised $1,193! “A single dream. A world of hope.” On the morning of September 29th, Elmwood’s Junior School students participated in the annual Terry Fox Walk/Run (around Elmwood). Students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 ran on the school grounds and students in Grades 2 through 5 ran a twokilometer circuit in our neighbourhood. All the monies raised through this event support The Terry Fox Foundation in furthering cancer research. Celebrating Elmwood On September 30th, we celebrated Founder’s Day with a fantastic whole school and community assembly. The assembly featured readings of the story of the founding of the school, a reading about the origins of our coat of arms, a performance from our Grade 4/5 choir and a few other elements, including yummy, celebratory cupcakes! Changemakers Elmwood took part in CIBC’s annual Run for the Cure on October 2nd and we are very proud to say that we were the top fundraising school once again. Congratulations to Maya MainlandGratton ’17, Elmwood’s Community Prefect, for helping to organize the event and coming
in second place in overall fundraising for the Ottawa region. Bronze Adventures On October 5th, Grade 9 students set off on a two-day hike in the Gatineau Hills for their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award adventurous journey. From their campsite, the girls had a beautiful view of Lac Taylor and the smoothing rolling hills that dot the Gatineau landscape. This was the perfect time of year to go because the deciduous trees were just starting to display their spectacular autumn colors. This trip was extremely successful because the girls were prepared, they were determined to succeed in all of the tasks and they had fun. The girls had a blast hiking, cooking and sharing stories around the campfire with their friends and this expedition gave them the opportunity to develop and improve their meal planning, camping, navigation, organizational and team-building skills. Although the hikes were difficult at times, particularly the treacherous uphill climb at the end of the second day, the girls maintained a positive attitude and carried on! Highlights of the trip include learning about the unique geomorphology of Lusk Caves and navigating through its many natural winding corridors and passageways, cooking and eating delicious meals and bonding with friends around the campfire with s’mores! Very Special Guests “Grandparents are a delightful blend of laughter, caring deeds, wonderful stories and love!” On October 6th, we welcomed special guests for our annual Grandparents’ Day event. Guests visited both the Junior and Middle/Senior Schools and enjoyed tours, visits to the classrooms and afternoon tea. The girls are always so proud to show their special guests around the school—thank you to everyone who made the event such a great success. E L M WO O D.C A
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NEWS AND NOTES The Great Outdoors On October 11th and 12th, the Grade 5 girls travelled to the YMCA Outdoor Education Centre on the Ottawa River for an amazing overnight field trip. This annual event provided the Grade 5 students with exciting leadership and teambuilding opportunities. During the visit, the girls participated in cooperative games, outdoor living skills, low ropes, high ropes, rock climbing, orienteering and hiking. They proved themselves as risk-takers and worked as a team to ensure everyone was successful in their challenges. Capital Critics Circle Theatre Nominees! Elmwood was well represented at the Capital Critics Circle Awards this year with the cast and crew of Miss Bruce’s War by Jean Duce Palmer receiving a nomination for best student production and Elmwood Alumna, Janet Uren ’68, receiving a nomination for her role as Ruth in Calendar Girls at the Ottawa Little Theatre. Although Elmwood didn’t win, they were in a very competitive category, as the other two shows that were nominated in the best student production category were an undergraduate production and a MFA theatre production at the University of Ottawa! The Author and the Process Emma Mills, author of This Adventure Ends and First & Then, visited Elmwood on October 28th to talk to the Grade 7, 8 and 9 students about her books and the process of writing. The girls in attendance had many questions for her and she happily answered their questions about creating diverse characters in Young Adult literature, the process of publishing a book and turning books into movies. Emma was in town to take part in the Ottawa Public Library’s Teen Author Fest, which took place on Saturday, October 29th. Curriculum in Action The morning of November 4th, we invited Elmwood parents to take part in a very special event called Curriculum in Action. Parents had the opportunity to drop by classrooms and get a taste of what their daughters experience each and every day at school. Classes were engaged in IB units of inquiry, as well as literacy- and mathematics-focused classes. Curriculum in Action was a great opportunity for parents to see how our talented teachers, exuberant girls, breakout spaces and flexible furniture facilitate learning and teaching. Celebrating our Culturally Diverse Community On Friday, November 18th, Elmwood hosted its annual International Night. The evening celebrated the cultural diversity of our student body and of the 6
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Elmwood community. The entertaining evening showcased Elmwood students sharing their talents and pride in their heritage through music, songs, dances, costumes and food. It was an absolutely fantastic evening. Thank you to the International Cultures Club and Mrs. Purran for organizing such a wonderful event! Holiday Festivities The Holly Tea— where tea and sweets are served and holly and poinsettias are sold—goes back many decades at Elmwood, to the 1980s. Originally the inspiration of the Old Girls’ Association, it was once presented entirely by alumnae. Today, the event is spearheaded by parent volunteers, thus truly making it a community event where tradition and novelty shake hands. This year’s event took place on Saturday, December 3rd and included a Holiday Marketplace that featured high-quality artisanry, jewellery and hand-made delights. Vendors included: Alpaca Tracks, Arbonne, Arianna Honey, Carol Lim Pottery, Eagles’ Nest, Elmwood Expert Bakers, Enerjive, Jacobsons, Paint-Er-Up, Stella and Dot and The Wholesale Outlet. Held in conjunction with the Holly Tea, the Elmwood Art Fair featured 30 artists including alumnae and alumnae parents, and current students and parents. Guests also thoroughly enjoyed the lovely singing of the Holly Tea Choir, directed by Kate Meadowcroft and Evelyn Pike with pianist Jialin Shang ’18. Fur Trade On December 5th, our Grade 6 humanities class enjoyed a beautiful, snowy morning at the Bill Mason Outdoor Education Centre in Dunrobin. Students took part in the Fur Trader program, where they learned about the role of voyageurs newly hired by the Northwest Company to trade with the Aboriginal People and bring furs back to Fort William. A Midsummer Night’s Midterm “As a group of high school friends gathers to cram for a midterm on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play comes to life before their eyes... literally! The story unfolds before the teens, as Lysander and Demetrius compete for Hermia’s attention and Helena attempts to capture Demetrius’s heart. When the faeries and Bottom and his players show up, the students work even harder to understand this delightfully convoluted story. Their insightful comments on Shakespeare’s language, his characterization of women and men, and even his relevance to today’s world add even more fun. The original Shakespearean
language is retained but condensed for this play within a play, with the students interpreting the more difficult passages.” Congratulations to the entire Middle School cast and crew of A Midsummer Night’s Midterm who put on five incredible shows the week of December 5th! RBC 150 Senior School students, Emma Young ’18 and Sijyl Fasih ’17, both received $150 to direct to a charity as part of RBC Canada’s 150 initiative. The Canada 150 initiative invites young Canadians between the ages of 16-25 to be part of RBC’s national movement by sharing how they will make a difference through social media using #Make150Count. Emma chose to support a local homeless support initiative and Sijyl wants to start an initiative in Pakistan to support the incarcerated, impoverished and underprivileged. Supporting Our Community Every fall Elmwood students and staff contribute to two fundraising initiatives in support of our community partner, the Rideau-Rockcliffe Community Resource Centre. In November, we held our annual Warm Clothing and Food Drive and delivered a large amount of non-perishable food and clothing items to the Centre. Before the holiday break, in homerooms from Kindergarten to Grade 12, we collected the makings of a holiday dinner. It was a special experience for the Middle School Community Service Council to deliver the holiday hampers to the families at the Centre on the morning of December 19th. “Call of the Wild” Resilience comes in many forms. If there is ever a way to test one’s resilience, a three-day dog-sledding expedition to remote locations in Algonquin Park definitely ranks high. This is exactly how 22 of our Grade 10 students and three teachers spent the week of January 16th— testing themselves physically, mentally and emotionally. For more than a decade, Grade 10 students and teachers have been joining forces with the expedition experts at Chocpaw to provide a most memorable and unique Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition. The scenery along the trails is always beautiful; the students always rise to the occasion demonstrating leadership, teamwork, and perseverance; and the dogs are always happy to run! Sleeping outdoors during the winter is always unpredictable, but they were lucky this year with moderate temperatures and only a little freezing drizzle along the way. Students were responsible for all aspects of this experience: calling, harnessing and setting up the dogs on the guide lines; driving the sled;
1 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze campers. 2 Author, Emma Mills, answers student questions following her talk. 3 Isabella Thomas ’19 at International Night. 4 Parents observe a Grade 6 hands-on activity during Curriculum in Action. 5 Keiren McClelland ’19 serves tea from a beautiful silver teapot at Elmwood’s Holly Tea.
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NEWS AND NOTES 1 Grade 6s at the Bill Mason Outdoor Centre. 2 Tara Hanson-Wright ’21 gives Ella Dewhirst ’22 quite a look during the production of A Midsummer Night’s Midterm, Elmwood’s Middle School Musical. 3 Mrs. Boughton with RBC 150 recipients Sijyl Fasih ’17 and Emma Young ’18 and RBC Representative, Timothy Walsh. 4 Head of Nightingale, Sydney Greenley ’17, at the Nightingale Breakfast. 5 Community Service council members, with Mrs. Marchand and Mrs. Enticknap, ready to hand out the holiday hampers at the Rockcliffe Park Community Resource Centre. 6 Nuha Yousuf ’19 and Nika Jalali ’19 pack their sled before heading out on the Duke of Edinburgh Dogsledding trip. 7 Grade 7 students, along with Mr. Gummeson, about to take part in some tubing fun during their Quebec City trip. 8 One of the two teams that attended the Kids’ Lit Quiz, Sonja Sweetenham ’23, Madighan Ryan ’22, Avery Parkinson ’22 and Genevieve Collum ’23 with the Quiz Master.
feeding, watering and preparing beds for dogs; fetching water from lake/river; helping with cooking and cleaning up after meals; finding and sawing wood; and preparing the campfire. The girls also had to learn to overcome the challenges of tricky terrain, steep climbs, sharp turns and keeping their very excitable dogs well-managed when stopping for a quick break. For a generation of students who are accustomed to technology and communication at their fingertips, it was amazing to see how the great outdoors can remind them of the simpler things in life and the importance of developing those human relationships. Throughout the trip the girls not only bonded with each other, they developed a special relationship with their team of dogs. It was an experience none of them will soon forget. Make-A-Wish On Thursday, January 19th, Nightingale House hosted its annual fundraiser in support of its House charity, Make-A-Wish Eastern Ontario. Sydney Greenley ’17, this year’s Head of Nightingale, along with help from the Prefect team, organized a wonderful fundraising breakfast for the Elmwood community that raised $2,361. Quizmasters Two Elmwood teams took part in the Kids’ Lit Quiz on January 26th. Elmwood hosted the competition last year, and this year the competition was held at Ashbury College. There were 20 teams from eight schools in attendance and as usual, the game was a true test to find the true bibliophiles in the competition. There were questions on everything from nursery rhymes to everyone’s favourite literary character—Harry Potter— and everything in between. Elmwood placed well in the competition, coming in sixth and ninth, and of course all the Elmwood girls are eager to try their hand at the competition again next year! Vive le Carnival The Grade 7 Winter Experience Tour took place from January 31st to February 2nd. The girls visited Quebec City and had the opportunity to participate in outdoor activities as part of Quebec City’s annual Winter Carnival. Highlights were visiting the Valcartier Winter Playground and participating in a traditional Sugar Shack dining experience, focusing on the traditions of the early Quebec settlers. 8
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WONDERFUL WINTERIM! Elmwood’s dedicated faculty offer an exciting array of programmes that involve students in learning through direct experience. This concept lies at the heart of experiential education, a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values. During Winterim, each student in Grades 3 – 12 participates in an intensive, enriching, smallgroup activity that goes beyond the boundaries of the regular curriculum. Elmwood’s Winterim programme also encourages deeper, more intense faculty-student relationships as the girls and their teachers participate in intensive learning opportunities and discover that learning is not restricted to classrooms and textbooks.
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1 Mr. Perreault with Elizabeth Aversa ’23, Ellena Waddington ’25, Aya Al Khalili ’25 and Raluca Voina ’26 who are holding up the illustrations that will soon become an animated movie during the Stop-motion Animation Winterim. 2 Mrs. Blackadar, Olivia Combs ’24 and Ciara Hurley ’24 show off their baking skills during the Baking 101 Winterim. 3 Elizabeth Chen-Baker ’25 paints the beautiful set to be used for the Grade 4/5 Musical, Aladdin, during the Cave of Wonders Winterim. 4 Giddy Up! Winterim participants, Ceili Halloran ’24, Fiona Nellis ’26, Olivia Green ’26, Sarah Irving ’24, Naila Moloo ’24 and Amber Montante ’25, take a quick break from grooming the beautiful horses at Wynbrook Farm. 5 Participants in the Designing by Degrees Winterim paint props for the Elmwood Theatre production, Blue Stockings. 6 Elizabeth Coulter ’18 paints a wooden piece that would soon become part of a beautiful dollhouse she created during the A Sizeable Small-Scale Adventure Winterim. 7 Abigail Butler ’19 takes a turn at the art of glass blowing during the Figure and Form Winterim activity. 8 Participants in the Fast and Furious Winterim test their hand-eye coordination through a catching exercise. 9 Parisa Mehvrar ’22, at the beginning stages of her masterpiece during the Landscape Painting Winterim. 10 Good life à la Français participants enjoy the fruits of their labour. 11 Participants in the Kids Lit Quiz Fun and Games! Winterim activity were all smiles after a game of laser tag. 12 Bracelet making during the #TeenTime Winterim with Mia Salloum ’21, Olivia Rice Hui ’21, Rukmann Sandhu ’21 and Mila Mierins ’21. 13 Part of the Take a Risk Winterim saw the girls showing off their creative side at the Mud Oven. Marissa Wu ’22, Grace Kremmel ’22 and Lauren Jane Hudson ’22 present their adorable creations. 14 Devon Keough ’18 paints a beautiful fabric piece during the Just Like the Gods Used to Make Winterim.
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ELMWOOD RECOGNIZED AS AN APPLE DISTINGUISHED SCHOOL By Cheryl Boughton, Head of School
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Elmwood’s iBook®
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e are thrilled to announce that, after a lengthy application process, Elmwood has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School. Apple Distinguished Schools are K–12 schools that provide 24/7, schoolwide, one-to-one access to Apple notebook computers and/or mobile devices to all students, teachers and administrators. They demonstrate an innovative and compelling learning environment that engages students and provides tangible evidence of academic accomplishment. This recognition is an enormous honour for our school. As part of the application process, we were tasked with creating an iBook®, documenting our commitment to the five best practices of an Apple Distinguished School: visionary leadership, innovative learning and teaching, ongoing professional learning, compelling evidence of success and a flexible learning environment. Our iBook is currently in the publishing process, and will be available to our community in the coming weeks through the iTunes store. We are so incredibly proud of this recognition. Innovation has always been a hallmark of an Elmwood education and we have always worked hard to be a leading-edge school. We were one of the first schools in
North America to introduce a 1:1 laptop program over 20 years ago and we switched to being an Apple school eight years ago. Today, technology is ubiquitous. All students and teachers seamlessly integrate technology into their learning and teaching to create an enhanced educational experience. Being named an Apple Distinguished School means that we can expect visitors from other schools to come see all the exciting things we are doing at Elmwood. It also will give our teachers enhanced opportunities for professional development. We are excited to see what else they will learn. Like all of our students, our teachers are lifelong learners—they never get tired of learning more about education. Thank you to Mr. Matt Perreault for leading these innovations over the past seven years. He has been a true visionary. Thank you also to the members of Elmwood’s curriculum review team, the members of the leadership team and all of our teachers, staff and students, for the roles they have played. Because the truth is, every single one of them helped us gain this recognition and we are grateful to everyone. ® Apple and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
EXPERTS@ELMWOOD By Teresa Stirling, Director of Communications
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ake sure your daughter has multiple tributaries feeding her lake,” was one of the countless pieces of good advice given by our latest “Experts@Elmwood” speaker, Dr. Laura Choate. Her talk, based on her most recent book Swimming Upstream: Parenting Girls for Resilience in a Toxic Culture, drew a crowd of moms, dads and members of Elmwood faculty and staff who wanted to learn more about how we can help our girls navigate the choppy waters of adolescence.
Dr. Choate started with a survey of the current landscape—sharing some stats about girls’ media usage (up to 9 hours a day, and 4000 texts per month!), and outlining the three “A”s that determine a girl’s worth in today’s culture—appearance, attention and accomplishments. Combining these outside influences and unattainable standards with what’s going on inside girls, particularly during puberty, make it easy to see why so many girls experience stress, self-doubt, and even mental health problems. One message that seemed to resonate with many in the audience was the analogy of a girl going through puberty being like a race car. The engine is firing, but the brakes haven’t yet been installed. Dr. Choate believes that parents need to be the brakes for their daughters. With humour and personal stories, Dr. Choate led the audience through a number of strategies that not only help “put the brakes on,” but also build resilience and strength in our girls. First, Dr. Choate explained what she means by “swimming upstream.” It is up to the adults to go against the grain, to make choices that may go against what “everyone else is doing” and that might make them unpopular with their daughters. She suggests asking yourself the question, “Who do you want your daughter to be?” and parent with that goal in mind. She then went on to share a number of strategies, which included emphasizing health and wellness in order to promote healthy body image, teaching humility and compassion versus self promotion and people pleasing, limiting media (hand over devices at bedtime, take social media breaks), and encouraging the cultivation of healthy relationships. Dr. Choate wrapped up her presentation by encouraging the audience members to stay connected and put in the work. She emphasized the importance of family time, face-to-face conversations, and helping girls find the various tributaries (friends, family, teachers and others) to feed their “selfesteem” lakes. Thank you to everyone who attended Experts@Elmwood. Mark your calendar for October 3, 2017, when we welcome our next speaker, author and girls’ leadership expert, Rachel Simmons.
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What Does Launch Mean to You? By Allison Holmes, Ryan Hodgins and the Grade Four class
When you hear the word launch, what do you think? Does the word conjure an image of a Saturn V rocket sending astronauts to the moon? Or perhaps a satellite orbiting Earth? Maybe you think of a time when you were excited to begin a new project, a new challenge, or a new adventure? For Elmwood’s Grade 4 class, launch means all of the above, and more. Back to the Drawing Board is a new unit that was designed to explore the PYP theme “How the World Works,” which is defined as: an inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances and on the environment. At the centre of our girls’ learning was an examination of how pulleys and gears are essential for improving many people’s quality of life, how circumstance and usefulness influence design, how successful problem-solving depends upon knowledge and a willingness to try and fail, and how scientific inquiry leads to inventiveness. The girls were over the moon when they learned they could participate in a global Mars Challenge: to design a school for the first Martian colony. To launch their inquiry, the Grade 4s ran simulations in which the Junior School building was “Base Elmwood” and that instead of snow, their surroundings were the red rocks of Mars. With their backpacks as their oxygen tanks and their full snow gear as their space suits, the fourth graders worked in teams to retrieve soil samples, take measurements, safely rescue and transport an injured crew member, and construct a simple machine, never removing their equipment. 14
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With a better understanding of the harsh reality that would exist on Mars, they set to work designing and building their school. Elmwood’s Education Innovation Station on Mars was composed of multiple learning pods, a greenhouse, a 3D seed printer, a 3D food printer, a simulator room, several research vehicles and robots, as well as airlocks connecting each pod. Although their original explanation video was more than 21 minutes in length, eventually a “highlights reel” that fit the 5-minute/100M requirement was created, with original music composed and recorded by Sonja Swettenham for her fifth-grade Exhibition project in 2016, and their work was submitted for judging just before the girls went off on break for the holidays. It was an out-of-the-world start to 2017 when our girls learned that out of 329 registered schools which comprised 10,000 Kindergarten through Grade 12 students, Elmwood had been awarded the grand prize—a 3D printer! Our girls celebrated their achievement with smiles and hugs and then immediately went back to the drawing board to tweak some of their original designs. They are certainly ready and eager to take on any challenges that come their way.
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Picture this: Out of more than nine billion people who live on Earth, you have been chosen to help establish the first human colony on Mars. There is much that you need to do to prepare for this adventure, including planning what your first words will be, and packing a small suitcase with the possessions that are most important to you. As our girls are the best at explaining what they learned, we decided to turn the rest of this article over to them. Exploration. Life on other planets. Creativity and innovation to reach a goal. These are all things that we have experienced in our awesome, mind-blowing space and innovation unit, Back to the Drawing Board! To expand our learning to galaxies far, far, away, we undertook a series of challenges that simulated the demanding life of an astronaut exploring the far reaches of the universe. From rescuing an “injured” teammate, to building a shelter to save us from a harsh Martian dust storm, communicating a life-saving message to another group, and creating a model of a future school on Mars and explaining it in a video, our unit was out of this world! We used all sorts of skills and even made a piece of artwork depicting our view from a spaceship window. The space part of our unit was combined with an innovation component in which we invented tools to help us in exploring the galaxy, including a CO2/O2 filter holder inspired by the movie Apollo 13. We also had two fantastic Skype calls with Salima Visram, about her Soular Backpack, and with Angela Luna, to talk about her tent-turning coat. We were really glad we Skyped them because they inspired us to be inventors ourselves. ~ Emma Hemsch My favourite part of this unit was to create a school on Mars for when people actually go to Mars. For this challenge, we had to build a school using only cardboard, glue, duct tape, straws, and construction paper. We knew this school would be different from a school on Earth, so we had to adapt to certain things such as a lack of oxygen, reduced gravity, and much more. We worked on this for about two weeks and then finally entered our Education Innovation Centre on Mars in a contest for the most creative and adaptable school. After a few weeks, we found out that we had won the grand prize… a real 3D printer! I learned the most when we did our outdoor Mars challenges. I learned that you have to co-operate with your group to be successful and you also have to focus on your goal. I also learned that you have to stay calm and communicate clearly with others. A challenge that I faced was actually building the model of our Martian school, even though it was fun. It was challenging because we had so few materials and only a certain amount of each. The actual building was challenging because sometimes the objects wouldn’t hold in place and then we would get frustrated and everything would kind of turn chaotic. I loved this unit and learned more than I expected. This is surely one of my favourite units. ~ Elizabeth Chen-Baker In my third unit, Back to the Drawing Board, I did a lot of work. I was learning how to be creative and innovative. My favourite activity has been building a school for Mars because we all worked on it together. ~ Annabel Hay All of the challenges and obstacles taught us how to cooperate and work with others and to never give up but, like our unit is called, GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD! ~ Lydia Hagadorn
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Blast off! Imagine if you could travel through the universe, travel to Mars… Imagine if you could be the first person on Mars. This year, our Grade 4 class experienced all of that and more in our unit Back to The Drawing Board. This a new unit was designed to challenge students to be creative and innovative. We have done so much during this unit, from simulating exploration on Mars to designing a school on Mars. My favourite part of this unit was when we had the chance to design and build using the limited materials that we had at school. We were put to work making communication devices and fixing our broken oxygen tanks. This unit was our time to learn, collaborate and engineer. Houston we had a problem! ~ Rowan Parkinson This unit has taught me to be innovative. I have learned how to build things with only limited supplies. I have learned to believe and never give up. ~ Imara Bhulji In our unit, Back to the Drawing Board, I learned that people are trying to get to Mars this very moment. I enjoyed learning about how and why people are trying to get to Mars. How they are getting to Mars is by thinking. A lot of thinking. Not just thinking, “Just make the suit thicker”—they need to think very hard. And they also need to go through a series of tests before actually going to Mars. Why they are going to Mars is because it’s a new planet and many people at NASA and around the world are curious to explore and see these new planets that nobody has ever been on. I enjoyed Back to the Drawing Board for many reasons. One of the reasons is that we did a lot of art. I really enjoy sitting down and getting started on a big art project. Another reason is that we got to create something that didn’t exist yet, like the communication devices and the things that carried Ms. Holmes’ coffee cup (which we pretended was a tool) up and down three stories without anyone using the stairs. The tool carrying case I helped create needed duct tape, cardboard and string. It worked kind of well. To be honest, it probably wouldn’t hold a heavy tool though. ~ Isobel Frauley In this unit I have learned so much, but the most important part is never to give up on something. ~ Madelaine Delaney This unit has taught me so much but my favourite part about it is when we won the grand prize. We all celebrated by hugging each other. That was my favourite part. ~ Amber Montante Failure is the first step to success. ~ Marta Morgan
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Exploring the World Through STEM
By Kate Angell, Director of Co-curricular Learning
Above: Grade 5 students take a closer look at real human organs. Right (clockwise): May Kuhail ’28, Kaelah Good ’28 and Samantha Herrick ’28 investigate during a science lesson; Khaliya Thawer ’25 learns programming in the Robotics Club; Grade 1 students take a look at a quill through a microscope; Maryam Kafoud ’24 and Paula Afeseh Azoh-Mbi ’24 try their hand at surgery.
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“Can women be brilliant? Little girls are not so sure.” The headline of a recent Globe and Mail article jumps off the page in contradiction of all that we think to be true. It is a jarring disconnect, and a useful reminder that the gender playing field remains uneven at best. At Elmwood, our passionate, dedicated faculty knows that women and girls can indeed be brilliant. We see evidence of this on a regular basis—from the group of fourth grade girls who recently emerged from a field of 10,000 students from across North America to become the Grand Prize winners of the 2016 Mars Challenge, to Elmwood graduate Saumya Krishna ’09, who was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 2014. Then how to account for the disconnect described in the study published in the journal Science, and subsequently reported by the Globe and Mail, which “suggests that girls as young as six can be led to believe that men are inherently smarter and more talented than women, making girls less motivated to pursue novel careers?” Stereotypes can be deeply entrenched and it often takes years, even generations, to reframe the narrative. The report’s authors are clear on the impact of such beliefs: “These stereotypes discourage women’s pursuit of many prestigious careers; that is, women are underrepresented in fields whose members cherish brilliance.”
Nowhere is the gender gap more obvious than in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Brilliant female trailblazers in STEM undoubtedly exist—Roberta Bondar, Canada’s first female astronaut, and Victoria Kaspi, the first female recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal (Canada’s top science prize), are two names that come to mind. Statistics Canada, however, reports that fewer than 39% of STEM university graduates are women. In contrast, Elmwood’s university statistics have bucked the national trend for decades, with a steady 50% of graduates choosing to study STEM subjects at university year after year. This is in no way to suggest that STEM careers are preferable to those in the arts or business—but if our society is going to successfully counter persistent stereotypes, it is vital that an educational environment should provide girls with two key things: confidence and choice. Beginning in the youngest grades, Elmwood students are eager to explore their world through the lens of science and mathematics, asking deep questions, seeking solutions and creating meaning. The rich curriculum and inquiry-based learning of the International Baccalaureate, together with an outstanding faculty, account for much of this success. Elmwood’s co-curricular program is another significant contributing factor, offering an exciting range of STEM options. Students in Junior School can explore LEGO Robotics and Engineering from Kindergarten,
girls in Grade 3 – 5 perform chemistry experiments in Lab Rats, students in Middle School create their own apps, and girls in all divisions compete in the national Fibonacci Math Contest, with Grade 4 student Rowan Parkinson placing sixth in Canada last year. Elmwood Camps provide an additional forum for girls to develop confidence in STEM subjects, with 2017 bringing a wider array of options than ever before. Girls from Kindergarten to Grade 6 explored coding and programming in our March Break Robotics Camp, can build and launch rockets in our Summer NASA Space Camp, and explore forensic techniques such as fingerprinting and facial recognition in our Sleuth Academy. This year, Elmwood has also expanded its range of options for Middle School students, introducing three exciting programs. Elmwood’s Mini-Medical School offers two options. First, during our Global Doctors: Anatomy week, an expert instructor will introduce “medical students” to the intricacies of human body systems through real and virtual dissections. Partnered via the internet with a student in a developing country, students will investigate global health issues associated with each system, and explore possible solutions. Next, during our Global Doctors: DNA week our “global geneticists in training” dive into the mechanics of DNA and the human genome, learning how and why some diseases are activated through a combination of genetics and environment.
Once again in partnership with a student in a developing country, students will conduct a variety of experiments and participate in activities, such as making Punnett Squares, building molecular models and delving into case studies of genetic traits and mutations. We end our summer Skills Academy with another opportunity to explore STEM subjects in our Coding Academy: Global Video Game Designers. This course teaches students to code video games, create animations and remix what others have done. They will use the engineering design process as they collaborate with a global partner student and their classmates to solve a design challenge. Students use a programming language called “Scratch” to learn a variety of coding and programming skills, culminating in a co-designed video game. All of these opportunities have three things in common: they engage girls in solving real world problems, they encourage the development of critical and design thinking skills— and they are fun. The educational philosopher John Dewey once said: “To be playful and serious at the same time defines the ideal mental condition.” In an environment that combines rich learning, expert instruction, and engaging, fun activities, girls build the confidence and skills needed to dismiss once and for all the idea that women can’t be brilliant. As we passionately believe at Elmwood, girls who believe they can change the world become the women who do. E L M WO O D.C A
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Right: Alyazia Al Shehhi ’26, Chef Candice Butler, Mehak Sandhu ’25 and Olivia Combs ’24 try out the Elmwood Bistro muffin recipe.
By Teresa Stirling, Director of Communications, and Candice Butler, Chef, Elmwood Bistro
What we eat has a profound effect on our mood, behaviour, health, growth and even our ability to concentrate. It’s not surprising that research has shown that healthy, balanced meals improve students’ concentration, attention, energy levels and academic performance. This is always top-of-mind for our creative and experienced Bistro staff, led by Chef Candice Butler. Healthy, made-from-scratch muffins are a daily favourite. Most mornings you’ll find our Bistro staff mixing up a batch made with ingredients supplied by local farmers and producers. Now you can make them at home—thank you to Chef Candice for sharing this kid-friendly recipe!
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins Yields: 1 dozen muffins Ingredients
Directions
1 cup Balkan style natural yogurt, (we like Astro brand) ½ cup vegetable oil ¾ cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 cup rolled oats ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ cup whole wheat flour ½ tsp salt ½ tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 cup frozen blueberries
1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
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2. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin. 3. Whisk the yogurt, vegetable oil, brown sugar and egg together. 4. Stir the rolled oats into the yogurt mixture. 5. In a separate bowl, mix together the two flours, salt, baking soda and baking powder, and then stir into the wet mixture until it is just combined. 6. Lightly stir in the frozen blueberries. Be careful not to overmix the batter. 7. Divide the batter equally among the prepared muffin cups. 8. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin to cool completely.
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INSPIRING GIRLS:
Mackenzie (’20) and Mikayla (’23) Johnson By Kimberly Senf, Senior Librarian
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ikayla and Mackenzie Johnson are two Elmwood students with many achievements to their credit. They have been at Elmwood for four years now and they do not seem to be slowing down. In Grade 6 and Grade 9 respectively, Mikayla and Mackenzie are two students that help make Elmwood the school that it is—they are engaged with their classes and teachers, they enjoy being challenged and they take part in a myriad of activities at Elmwood, and beyond the school walls as well. Elmwood is an International Baccalaureate school that focuses on inspiring and challenging each student to live up to the IB Learner Profile traits. These girls are both principled and open-minded in their academics and in their daily activities. Mrs. Bartlett has taught both Mikayla and Mackenzie for Middle School English and she highlighted the fact that both girls are “friendly and inclusive of all and they exemplify the IB Learner Profile traits.” Both girls have different reasons for appreciating their experiences at Elmwood. Mikayla remembers her first year at Elmwood in Grade 3 as an eye-opening experience that showcased how much fun school could actually be. She distinctly remembers being excited about coming to school every day to see what new experiences were in store for her and she knew she would be interested in the lessons of the day. Mackenzie has fond memories of both Camp Elmwood and the Quebec City grade trip that the Grade 7s go on every year, which perfectly complements the humanities curriculum. Mackenzie finds that learning about current real world problems in geography and dealing with real life events really adds to her enjoyment of the subject as
well. Through their embodiment of the IB Learner Profile traits, they each have many accomplishments at Elmwood of which they can be proud. Mikayla was awarded the Core French Award at the end of Grade 5, as well as an MYP Scholarship for Elmwood’s Middle School. Mackenzie also received the Core French Award, as well as the award for Humanities and a Senior School Scholarship at closing ceremonies this past June. Their accomplishments do not end with their academics, as both girls are involved with the arts, clubs and sports at Elmwood. Mikayla is a member of the Apps Council this year, as well as the Acrylics in Action club, a painting club for Middle School students. Mackenzie is a member of the International Cultures Club and she highlighted art class as one of her favourites this year. Ms. Chun, the art teacher at Elmwood, comments that “Mackenzie is one of our finest art students at Elmwood. She works extremely hard, she has natural talent and she always comes up with very creative solutions.” At Elmwood, they are involved in soccer, badminton and volleyball. Mackenzie was given the Most Spirited Player award for her role on the 7/8 Frisbee team and she was awarded the Fauquier Junior Award at the Sports Banquet last year, an award that is given to a Middle School student who demonstrates a positive attitude and consistently showcases sportsmanlike behaviour. This year Mackenzie has begun to work toward attaining the Duke of Edinburgh award, and she completed the Bronze hike in Gatineau Park with ease. She was able to lead sections of the hike and she was particularly proud of finishing the challenging uphill climb at the end of the hike.
Outside of Elmwood, both girls make the time to train five times a week with the Ottawa Rhythmic Gymnastics Club. Rhythmic gymnastics features routines performed to music with a specific apparatus such as a ball, hoop, ribbon or clubs in both individual and team events. Both girls have their specific areas of expertise—Mackenzie’s chosen apparatus is the ball, while Mikayla excels in the free routine and with the hoop apparatus. Their love of the sport has encouraged them to get involved with the creation of a rhythmic gymnastics club at Elmwood, so that they can share their enthusiasm with their peers. Mackenzie likes how rhythmic gymnastics incorporates elements of dance and gymnastics into one sport, as well the challenge of becoming increasingly confident using the different apparatuses. It is a unique sport to be involved in because it is not as common as gymnastics, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that the costumes are a favourite with both girls as well. They admit that the training commitment is intense, but since they both really enjoy the sport the hours that they put in every week are not given a second thought. Mikayla and Mackenzie have numerous academic and extracurricular accomplishments to be proud of, and they have their sights set on the future as well. Mikayla is looking forward to getting more involved with the theatre program at Elmwood, which she will have to juggle with her other extracurricular activities. This year Mackenzie has devoted her time to the International Cultures Club, where she hopes to taken on a leadership role next year. They both have quite a few more years at Elmwood ahead of them, and it will be great to see what they each become involved with as they progress through Middle and Senior School. E L M WO O D.C A
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Backbone of the School
BARBARA ALDOUS, teacher and administrator, 1958-1980 By Janet Uren ’68
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y clearest memory of Barbara Aldous is an afternoon class in the library half a century ago. The curtains were drawn and a slide projector was humming and clicking in the warm darkness as she introduced us, a crowd of high school students, to the world of art. It was an hour that we always looked forward to, such a pleasant escape from textbooks, blackboards and wooden desks. I was just one of the girls from seven grades at Elmwood whose first experience of archaic Greek sculpture or medieval architecture came from Mrs. Aldous, and I am not alone in remembering her for her enthusiasm and knowledge. “She was the first person who ever told me what a ‘clerestory’ was,” Jane Archambault Rider ’68 recalls, “and ‘flying buttresses.’ Good old-fashioned stuff. She really had a passion for her subject.” I last met Barbara Aldous, unexpectedly, a few years ago at an Elmwood party. It was many years since I had last seen her, and she was certainly older, frailer and leaning on a cane, and yet she was indominantly herself. She was a woman in whom strength, firmness and good nature combined in a large and powerful way. She died peacefully in Winnipeg at the age of 94 on August 20, 2016. Barbara Hamon was born in Newfoundland and raised in Winnipeg, where she met and married George Galt Aldous in 1942. They were married for 64 years, until his death in 2005, and they raised two children in Montreal and Ottawa, where George commanded the Governor General’s Foot Guards and subsequently the No. 12 Militia Group, followed by a career in business. At age 43, he was among the youngest brigadier generals ever in Canada. “As well as Barbara,” says former headmistress Morag Gundy, “I remember that man’s absolute devotion to Elmwood. He spent hours and hours looking after the school.” 24
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Mrs. Aldous was not just a teacher at Elmwood. She was a presence both in the classroom and in the school office, next to the headmistress’s study. I remember seeing her often bent over a pile of papers in her office, speaking intently into a phone or hurrying off to deal with some problem or other. “She shared the office with the bursar,” Jane (Archambault) Rider ’68 recalls. “There were two desks in there, so it was very crowded. You didn’t go in there without an invitation, but that was where you went if your mother didn’t turn up or you had some other problem. She was kind, but there was no doubt that she was an authority figure as well.” Indeed, Barbara Aldous was kindness and dependability incarnate, as headmistress Patricia Blyth attested in her farewell address in 1969: If it had not been for Mrs. Aldous the past seven years would have been ones of chaos and collapse. For who knows all about university forms, the bus, the absentees, the leaking roofs or my appointments (apart from sewing and art and child psychology) if Mrs. Aldous doesn’t? I cannot praise her highly enough, nor thank her adequately for her help and altruistic interest in the school. Barbara Aldous came to Elmwood nearly 60 years ago, in 1958 when her daughter Mardie arrived as a student. She herself joined the staff initially to teach sewing to the juniors. She is better remembered, however, as a teacher of art history, and that is where she made her mark. Mardie graduated in 1965, but Mrs. Aldous remained. In 1969, when Joan Whitwill was appointed head, Mrs Aldous’s administrative role was made official, and she became Elmwood’s first vice-principal. For the next 11 years, she combined that role with teaching, until she retired in 1980. In the late 1970s, as the school began to adopt the International
Baccalaureate, she notably supported the introduction of the IB art program. In 22 years from 1958 to 1980, Barbara Aldous was what Joan Whitwill called the “backbone” of the school. “Always she manages to remain cheery,” Mrs Whitwill wrote, “through whatever vicissitudes the day may bring as we all of us make constant demands on her tact and understanding.” When Barbara Aldous retired in 1980, the Samara editors wrote: She is as much a part of Elmwood as the very walls we know so well. With her will go a large part of the traditions and past of Elmwood. She will never be forgotten by anyone who has had the fortune to having attended the school while she was there. Teachers and students alike will always remember the warmth of her cheery greeting at the start of the day: ‘Good morning, Elmwood!’ Barbara Aldous had a passion for teaching art that survived into retirement. In 1980, she and her husband returned to Winnipeg and, in summertime, to a cottage on the shores of the Lake of the Woods. There, she and George Aldous sat on the verandah and told stories to the family and enjoyed the vista of water and sky. As well, she continued to work. She volunteered in local elementary schools and became a docent in the Winnipeg Art Gallery. While there, she collaborated in a program to take reproductions of art into Winnipeg high schools, reaching an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 students a year. She was also deeply involved in the work of her church, St. George’s Anglican. In her busy and generous life, Barbara Aldous made a difference. Notably at Elmwood, she helped begin the transformation of a small, old-fashioned school into the modern institution that it is today. One of the great personalities of Elmwood’s past, one of the builders, has passed away.
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Exploring The Cosmos From A Balloon
NATALIE GANDILO ’95 By Brian McCullough
Astrophysicist Natalie Gandilo’s feet may be planted firmly on the ground, but her passion for science is in the stratosphere—quite literally. The telescope instrument packages she builds to explore the mysterious conditions of the early cosmos are carried aloft by giant gossamer balloons that operate at altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet, three times higher than a passenger aircraft on a transatlantic flight. There, in the rarefied environment where the air density is less than one percent what we experience at ground level, her telescope’s cryogenically cooled optics scan the cosmic microwave background—the radiation afterglow of the Big Bang—for evidence that the universe underwent a rapid expansion phase in its earliest moments. Scientists surmise such an event occurred, but don’t know that it did. “An inflationary period in the early universe would have produced gravity waves that would have left an imprint in the cosmic microwave background,” Natalie said. “We are trying to find the signature of this primordial imprint.” The balloons she flies are hardly what you find at your local party supply store. The thin plastic bags that hoist her instrument gondolas are 140 metres in diameter, 120 metres in height, and filled with close to 40 million cubic feet of helium. What is surprising is that they can just be seen with the naked eye from the ground at their operating altitude. “It is just a pinhead of light at that height, but I just love watching a giant balloon carry my experiment up into the stratosphere,” Natalie said. “I love thinking about the early universe, the Big Bang, and the universe as a whole.” Her personal universe has held its own surprises. Natalie’s path from the halls of Elmwood, where she once studied science, played volleyball and sang in the choir, to her position as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at NASA’s
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Left: Natalie prepares to jack up the BLASTPol mirror to aim it at a calibration source that tests the telescope’s optical response. Top right: Assembling the Spider gondola—a lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum structure that supports the telescope and points it to the sky. Middle: Outside with the Spider telescope on a sunny day in Antarctica. Bottom: Operating the overhead crane to move the 5000 lb BLASTPol telescope outside the payload bay for testing.
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, almost never happened. She actually chalked up a bachelor’s degree in zoology, and then a law degree, before finally entering the astrophysics program at the University of Toronto. “I thought astronomy was a fun hobby you do in your spare time,” she said. “I didn’t realize it was a career until after I’d got two other degrees.” Natalie discovered balloon-borne astronomy during her first year of graduate school when she became intrigued by the work of UofT physics Prof. Barth Netterfield who was doing exciting research into the early cosmos using balloon-borne telescopes. Hooked on both the science and the adventure of travelling to exotic places in the world to launch the balloons, she would go on to complete her entire PhD thesis under Netterfield’s supervision. “He was a great mentor to learn from,” she said. “When I got into astronomy I thought I would just be doing research, sitting in front of a computer analyzing data from some telescope on a mountain, but during my PhD I had to learn how to use a design program, learn how to machine things, solder, make cables, build circuit boards—I never knew about these projects where you could build things yourself, and then travel to all these great places.” Not everyone gets to launch science balloons from Antarctica, as Natalie did while working with Netterfield on the Spider project, a UofT multinational collaboration that flew a polarimeter experiment high above the frozen southern continent for two weeks in January 2015. Her work on this project and others would give her invaluable experience in writing software, designing electronics, working with motors and mechanical
assemblies, conducting thermal analyses to protect instruments during flight, analyzing data to harvest the science—in short, everything she would bring to the table for her current post-doctoral work on Goddard’s Piper (Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer) experiment scheduled for launch from Texas in June. “My parents are both doctors, so I guess I get my science genes from them,” she said. “I always enjoyed puzzles and Lego—things you could build with. I didn’t play with dolls. I gravitated toward the technical things, and I loved math and numbers. Doing well in school was fun for me.” Natalie said that Elmwood provided her with opportunities to do many different things that helped her become a confident, well-rounded person. “I felt like I could do anything,” she said. “Elmwood had great science and math courses, and great teachers, but there were also great extracurricular activities that allowed me to do things beyond the coursework to get really excited and passionate about science. If you enjoy doing something, it won’t seem like work. You will want to keep learning. I like coming in each day, finding problems and solving them. If there’s a computer program that doesn’t work, or a motor that isn’t moving—I like debugging things.” As she continues to explore the deepest secrets of the universe, this former Head of Nightingale House, and winner of the Governor General’s Academic Medal (Bronze) for achievement in Grade 12, said she has never encountered any gender-based obstacles or barriers along her STEM-focused career path. “When you’re a scientist, you are treated like a person,” she said. “You just do your work, and nobody cares what gender you are. It’s irrelevant.”
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A Scientist on the Move and on Track
ALIX DUDLEY ’05 By Brian McCullough
When she isn’t busy in her work as a life and health sciences researcher and project coordinator, Alix Dudley said she likes to do yoga, and take long walks. Treks, she calls them. “I like to be moving all the time,” she said. Of late, Alix has been trekking through the beautiful national parks in and around San Francisco, a bit of a change of scenery from her walkabouts in Montreal during the past two years. In February, following a successful stint as Senior Science Officer for the Brain Canada Foundation which funds innovative brain research projects across Canada, Alix accepted employment as an Operations Specialist with the NASA Ames Research Center 50 kilometres south of San Francisco. The move put her squarely back on track with her preferred career path in the space sector, a goal she has had since she was a young girl who spent hours stargazing from her driveway in Nepean. In her new position at NASA Ames, Alix will be preparing life science experiments that will be carried on board the International Space Station. While she might not be wearing a flight suit herself, she will be assisting the astronauts in orbit to conduct the experiments. “A career in the space sector was always my intention,” Alix said. “I’d taken IB physics at Elmwood, and wanted to go into astrophysics at McGill, but after first year I ended up switching gears to pursue physiology for the rest of my undergrad and graduate studies. That was a very important moment for me because it set the pace for my pursuit of life sciences research after that.” Her interest in physiology has natural roots. Her father Denis is a retired OBGYN, and her mother Sharyn is a practising dermatologist. “My parents were extremely supportive of anything I wanted 28
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to do,” she said. “They encouraged me to follow my dreams.” Alix would go on to complete a Master’s degree in neuroscience, and conduct graduate research at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, one of the first centres in Canada to bridge the ‘bench-tobedside’ clinical application of research to patients. She thrived in the collaborative environment, and through her research identified a novel mechanism of cell invasion that contributed to the development of an experimental therapy to reduce/ prevent brain cancer invasion. She said she was honoured to work at what some people regard as the birthplace of neuroscience— but there was something missing. “After my Master’s in neuroscience, I wondered how to get onto the space track,” Alix said. “I didn’t know at the time that life sciences played such a huge role in the space sector. And that’s when I discovered the year-long MSc program at International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France.” The intensive ISU program was steeped in international teamwork, and introduced Alix to many aspects of activity relating to careers in the space sector, including engineering, science, law, policy and business. It also introduced her to Nathan Wong, now her husband of almost two years, who was working as a space engineer at ISU. Today he manages technical operations for Google Lunar XPRIZE in Los Angeles, developing low-cost robotic space exploration. During her year at ISU Alix did a short internship as a research scholar at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston where she designed and coordinated pilot studies to assess sensorimotor function in astronauts. It was a dream come true, she said. She would return to France to complete her year at ISU as the Life Sciences Lead of a parabolic flight study, and fly in zero gravity
Below: “My bridesmaids and I outside Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco.” Left to right: Eva Hitschfeld ’05, Alix, Sara Dudley (’94 – ’96), Laura Kerrigan ’05 Top left: Alix and her husband Nathan. Bottom left: “This is my husband and I operating an experiment in weightlessness on the Zero G aircraft operated out of Bordeaux, France.” Bottom right: “We were doing something special to “bless” our graduation cake.” In the photo from left to right, top row: Laura Doubleday, Sara Duplancic, Alix, Marielle McGovern, Ayesha Basi, Katherine Morrison, and on the bottom row, furthest is Laura Kerrigan and Eva Hitschfeld (all Class of 2005).
out of Bordeaux. It was definitely the coolest thing she’d ever done, she said. Everything Alix was doing to sharpen her scientific and project management skills played a part in developing her for her new employment at NASA Ames. What’s interesting, she said, is that the International Space University’s three pillars—International, Intercultural, and Interdisciplinary—represented the same foundations she first experienced as a Grade 2 IB student at Elmwood School. “I realized that Elmwood was about those three pillars as well,” she said, “and it was good that we were exposed to them at such a young age. Elmwood was a safe, nurturing environment that allowed me to try many different things I never thought I’d be doing. Academics were my focus, but I played cello
in the orchestra for three or four years, and even played rugby for two years. Elmwood was a place to try everything, and that gave me the confidence to go out into the real world and do things that were new and different.” Alix credits her teachers with being strong mentors who gave her encouragement when and where she needed it. Each one played some role in her growth, she said. “I had a goal of working in space from when I was really young,” Alix said, “and I worked toward that. At one point I thought I’d lost my way, but I persevered and found an alternative route that let me continue my dream. Whatever your goals are, keep them in sight and keep reaching for them. If you ever get off track, don’t feel that you can’t get back on, because you can.” E L M WO O D.C A
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ALUMNAE NEWS
Mix, Mingle and Makeup On Thursday, October 20, 2016, Toosje Delaney ’00 and Marielle McGovern ’05 hosted a new event—Mix, Mingle and Makeup. This alumnae event was the perfect ladies-night out, and included makeup demonstrations by Shannon Ranger from One Fine Beauty, delectable treats and lots of laughs. The money raised at the event went to the Old Girls’ Association scholarship fund. We hope to do another event at the end of April so stay tuned!
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Imaginary Lines On November 2, 2016, we were thrilled to welcome alumni, current and former staff and faculty and other members of the community to a special benefit performance by Janet Uren ’68 and her theatre company, Linden House Theatre. Always a generous supporter of Elmwood, Janet and her company donated the proceeds of their performance to Elmwood’s Old Girls Scholarship Fund. The audience very much enjoyed the performance of Reggie Oliver’s Imaginary Lines—a delightful English comedy about the things we wish we could say... or had said!
Alum Artists Abound! We were thrilled to have a number of alumnae artists participate in the Old Girls’ Art Fair, held once again in conjunction with the Annual Holly Tea. Co-Chairs Elizabeth Heatherington ’63 and Lynne Evenson ’79, Curator Maureen O’Neill ’69, and a team of tireless volunteers put on a truly inspiring show. Alumni artists showing work included Brenda Bisiker ’76, Joan Brodie ’68, Felicity Don ’68, Marianne Feaver ’52, Sarah (Sally) McCarter Gall ’50, Clare Hodgetts ’93, Anne Hyde ’33, Noush Kadian ’09, Sheila (Missy) Lang ’50, Judith Lazier ’99, Keltie Mierins ’77, Alison MacNeil ’53, Maureen O’Neill ’69, Joanna Rozanski ’03 and Inger Whist ’72. Thank you to everyone who participated.
Putting Girls First Putting Girls First FOR OVER 100 YEARS, GIRLS IN GREEN HAVE WALKED THROUGH FOR OVER 100 YEARS, GIRLS IN GREEN HAVE WALKED THROUGH THE DOORS OF THIS SCHOOL AND WERE INSPIRED TO LEARN. THE DOORS OF THIS SCHOOL AND WERE INSPIRED TO LEARN.
This is where they have learned to write, to add and subtract, to sing, dance and act, to shoot a foul shot and is where have learned to write, to add and subtract, sing, dancedevelop and act,atohypothesis shoot a fouland shotcome and to a serveThis an ace. Thisthey is where they have learned to formulate antoargument, serve an ace. This is where they have learned to formulate an argument, develop a hypothesis and come to a conclusion. They’ve learned about friendship, about respect and about good citizenship. Inside these walls, conclusion. They’ve learned about friendship, about respect and about good citizenship. Inside these walls, they’ve learned how to learn, how to be heard, and how to feel good about themselves. they’ve learned how to learn, how to be heard, and how to feel good about themselves.
None of this is possible without that surrounds surroundsand and supports special place. None of this is possible withoutthe thecommunity community that supports thisthis special place. The community thatthat hashas made these girls thatinvested investedand and believed in them. community The community made these girlstheir theirfirst firstpriority; priority; that believed in them. TheThe community that that ensures ourour girls continue educationalexperience experience here at Elmwood. ensures girls continuetotoenjoy enjoyan an unrivalled unrivalled educational here at Elmwood. Follow in footsteps the footsteps of those who havedemonstrated demonstrated their its its mission andand the promise Follow in the of those who have theirbelief beliefininElmwood, Elmwood, mission the promise of every Elmwoodgirl girlwith with a gift Fund. of every Elmwood giftto tothe theElmwood Elmwood Fund.
Please make your gift online at elmwood.ca by June 30, 2017
Please make your gift online at elmwood.ca by June 30, 2017 This year, the Annual Campaign becomes The Elmwood Fund.
This year, the Annual Campaign becomes The Elmwood Fund.
Our Corporate Partners Make a Our Corporate Partners MakeYear! a Difference Throughout the School
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.
Elmwood’s four Corporate Partners have committed a total of $160,000 over a three-year period and we are Thank you to Terry and Catherine McLaughlin (Terlin Construction Ltd.), Jeff Mierins and honoured to recognize their generosity at many events throughout the school year. Tara-Leigh Cancino Brouillette (Star Motors), Jacob and Jeannie Polisuk (Vista Credit)
and DavidMcLaughlin and Debra Wu (Movati Athletic). Ltd.), Jeff Mierins and Thank you to Terry and Catherine (Terlin Construction Tara-Leigh Cancino Brouillette (Star Motors), Jacob and Jeannie Polisuk (Vista Credit) and David and Debra Wu (Movati Athletic).
CLASS NOTES
Miriam Lewis ’34
Georgie Binks ’71
1930s
1990s
Miriam (Cruikshank) Lewis ’34 Miriam (Mimsi) recently celebrated her 100th birthday! She celebrated with a luncheon surrounded by family.
Annabel (Sloan) Hawley ’98 Annabel left Canada in 1992 and returned to England. She was best friends with Kimberley Baldwin and managed to get back in touch with her about 8-10 years ago now but again lost contact. Annabel is married with three beautiful cats, no kids yet, and has just purchased, with her husband, their first home together in a lovely town in England called Warfield where hopefully they will live for a long time and have a family there too. Her husband was in the British Army for 15 years but left in winter 2016, so they have a new life ahead of them now. At the moment they haven’t made any plans—they just want to enjoy some time together without him having to go away.
1950s Beatrice Lacoste Burns ’59 Beatrice lives in London, England and has kept in touch with Elizabeth Locke ’59 over the years. 1970s Georgie Binks ’71 Georgie, who lives in Toronto, has started writing three new columns for the Toronto Star. They are the Wow Factor, which looks at amazing architecture around the world, Wow City which looks at public spaces that have been redone/renovated and the Bow Wow Factor about designer dog houses. All of these columns run on the Star’s new app called Startouch and sometimes they also run in the paper. Georgie is also still writing book reviews for them. Georgie’s kids are now grown up and doing exciting things. Her daughter, Julie, 29, is leaving her job at Fox Sports 1 and going to ESPN where she will be their main sideline soccer reporter. Her son, Ian, 25, is completing his computer science degree at the University of Toronto. 32
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Laura (Pitt) Watson ’98 (Head of Nightingale) Laura is living in Port Moody, just outside of Vancouver, where she’s been for 10 years now (but moved to BC straight from high school in 1998). She is married to Sean, passed the seven-year mark in June. No kids, wanting a dog, but two cats have dominated the house. All of her sisters have moved to BC as well, so there are four Pitt sisters out there. Laura is working as a Senior Coaching Consultant for the Coaching Association of Canada. CAC is actually located in Ottawa, so she works from her home office and travels a lot. They have 66 sports they run the coaching education programs for, from grassroots to Olympic. Laura oversees the 13 provinces and territories, and all of parasport. She also manages international contracts, so she’s been working in Barbados a lot lately too.
Stéphanie (Crabb) Lavoie ’01 and Julie Crabb ’00
Laura went back to school and is halfway through completing her Masters of Kinesiology, in High Performance Coaching and Technical Leadership. It’s through UBC but designed for people who are in the sport world, so mostly online to accommodate travel and competition schedules. Laura’s free time is occupied with drinking wine and playing in the mountainside lake by her house, swimming or paddleboarding. Camping gets all her free weekends. Vancouver is an awesome place. Photo: (Left to right) Laura and Sean Watson, Dennis and Susan Pitt, Libby and Alan Mathew, Mary and Chris Clarke with Oliver, Thomas and Calvin, and Emily Pitt and Curtis. 2000s Julie Crabb ’00 (Head of Nightingale), B.Hums. ’05, M.A. ’06, B.Ed. ’13 After leaving Elmwood, Julie enjoyed several learning opportunities before finally discovering she wanted to be a high school teacher. Julie lived in Halifax for six years, but returned to Ottawa in 2012 to pursue a Bachelor of Education at Ottawa U. Though she misses the ocean, she is thankful to be closer to dear friends in her hometown and to be teaching with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. Last year, she was thrilled to bring her Grade 11 French Immersion students from Colonel By Secondary School to Elmwood to see a brilliant performance of Les Belles-Soeurs. The 2016 – 2017 school year is exciting for Julie as it is her first with a permanent contract teaching French at Glebe Collegiate. The most important people in Julie’s life are her two nephews and her niece—Daniel (6), Benjamin
The Pitt Family
(4), and Sophie (2). Julie travels to Toronto as often as she can to see them; this past summer, she spent nine days with them while Steph (‘01) and her husband, Joseph, took a well-deserved holiday in Italy and Israel. Stéphanie (Crabb) Lavoie ’01 (Senior Prefect), B.A. ’05, A.D.P.R. ’08 Life can be a winding path! After graduating from Elmwood in 2001, Stéphanie completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance and an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School, RCM. She began freelancing in Toronto and performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The Canadian Opera Company and the Hamilton Philharmonic. She won the Principal Trumpet Chair of the Niagara Symphony Orchestra and enjoyed the position until the birth of her son, Daniel. Her son’s birth brought her down a new path. She became a DONA International certified doula, helping women (and their partners!) through labour. Stéphanie had two more children, Benjamin and Sophie. Being a doula is fulfilling and she has enjoyed being home with her children since their births. In September she begin a BHSc in Midwifery at Ryerson University. In five years, she will be a midwife. Jade Puddington ’01 Jade graduated from Elmwood in 2001 and went on to the University of Toronto where she graduated with a BSC double major in chemistry and political science. After graduation, Jade went on to do an internship in the textile lab at the Department of National Defence where she continued working as a contractor in the aviation E L M WO O D.C A
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CLASS NOTES
Alyssa Hartvich ’11
Emma Godmere ’07
Sarah Clarke ’13
Liz Ross ’12 (on right, with Joanna Znotins ’12) 34
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Jade Puddington ’01
Julia Cork ’13 fuels lab. Following this, she became a permanent employee in DND’s Directorate of Fuels and Lubricants. It was after holding a position in the Directorate for two years that Jade had an opportunity to start with the Department of Foreign Affairs (now Global Affairs Canada). Following a year of French training, she began working in the International Crime and Terrorism Division. Since joining the Department, she has also worked in the Emergency Management Bureau, handling communications when there are international emergencies abroad impacting Canadians abroad such as the Arab Spring and Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the South East Asia and Oceania division where she covered political relations with Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, including having the opportunity to go to Myanmar and participate as an election observer during their 2015 elections. Jade is currently on Mandarin language training in preparation for a posting to work at the Canadian embassy in Beijing. Outside of work, Jade has had the opportunity to volunteer at the Vancouver Olympics and Pan Am Games and has taken up sprint kayaking.
Shalta Fardin ’08 Shalta graduated in 2008, and went on to complete a degree in Gender Studies at Queen’s University. In the Gender Studies program, Shalta met her writing partner Sarah, and they recently had their first book published by Inanna, a feminist press. Shalta has actually dedicated the book to Elmwood! The book is entitled “Good Girls,” and it is a Young Adult novel selected by the CBC as one of the most exciting books of 2016. The book is set in Boston, and takes place at the fictional Anne Bradstreet College—an all-girls school. With Shalta being an Elmwood grad, and Sarah a Branksome grad, they brought their shared experiences together to create this book for budding young feminists. However, while they were inspired by their time at Elmwood and Branksome, the book is a work of fiction! If you’d like to read a bit about it, the official synopsis can be found here: www.inanna.ca/index.php/catalog/good-girls.
Ali Duret ’04 After graduating in 2004, Ali received her Bachelor of Commerce from Mount Allison University. She is currently working as an Audit Senior Manager at KPMG.
Alyssa Hartvich ’11 After graduating from the University of Ottawa with a degree in Human Kinetics, Alyssa attended teacher’s college at the University of Ottawa. She will graduate this April. She will then apply to different school boards around Ottawa. Alyssa loves the world of teaching and can’t wait to be in the classroom. In other news, she is also getting married this summer to her fiancée Bryan. They are excited to start their future.
Emma Godmere ’07 (Senior Prefect) Emma moved to Toronto in 2011 and currently works as a producer for CBC Radio 2, where she gets to mix her love for music and media every day. While she primarily works behind the scenes on daily drive-time shows Radio 2 Morning and Drive, she often turns her attention to major broadcast projects—including last summer’s The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration, for which she directed the live CBC Radio network special. You can also occasionally hear her behind the mic on Radio 2 Weekend Morning and the Radio 2 Top 20, as well as Morning and Drive. Emma McKeen ’07 After graduating from Elmwood, Emma attended the University of Guelph and graduated with a B.A.Sc in Political Science. She went on to study Wine Business Management at Niagara College and became a Certified Sommelier. She is now an Account Manager for a wine importer called Tre Amici Wines. Rachel Currie ’08 Rachel and her husband Andrew were married on January 21, 2017 at the Ivy Lea Club in the 1000 Islands. Rachel has been living in Ottawa for the last three years and is currently working for the OCDSB as an Early Childhood Educator.
2010s
Liz Ross ’12 Lizzie Ross was an exchange student from Otago Girls High School in New Zealand at the start of 2011. She loved her time at Elmwood, and came back recently to explore the buildings and visit staff and students. Sarah Clarke ’13 Sarah has recently graduated from Algonquin College with Honours in the Pre-Service Firefighter Program with an Ontario College Program Certificate and was the Valedictorian on behalf of the Police and Public Safety Institute, Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence, and the School of Advanced Technology. Sarah is now a certified firefighter. Julia Cork ’13 Julia has just started a design internship at Vera Wang! Julia is in her final year at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, and she is excited for this incredible opportunity to work with a fashion icon. If you’d like to see Julia’s work, please visit her website: www. juliacork.com. E L M WO O D.C A
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In Memoriam
Katherine Ferguson (nee Inkster)
Adelle Deacon (nee Smith)
Katherine was born in Ottawa and died there in her 99th year. She was predeceased by her husband, Malcolm S. M. Ferguson; her parents, Frederick and May (Osler) Inkster; her brother, Robert and his wife, Yvonne and her brother-in-law, Ashley Hornell. She is survived by her children; Leslie Smith (Ron), Mellis Ferguson (Linda) and Robert Ferguson (Birgitta). She was much loved by her eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister, Muriel Hornell; cousins, Suzanne Mess and Mary Bull and many nieces and nephews.
Peacefully at her home in Toronto on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, at the age of 89. Predeceased by her beloved husband, Paul Deacon. Loving mother to Anne, Wendy, James, Andrew (Andie) and Jennifer ’87. Adored grandmother to J’bai (Roland), Tao (Andresa), Simon (Vera), Matthew (Katherine), Charles, Eleanor, Bodie and Delia, and 10 great-grandchildren. Predeceased by her much-loved sister, Elizabeth Davidson; and dear aunt of Caron DeVita; and a long list of nieces and nephews on the Deacon side. Devoted sister-inlaw to Kathleen Hofmeyer, Frances Deacon and Esther Deacon.
Moira Esdaile
Burton Lyle Merkley
Died peacefully at the Rockcliffe Retirement Residence in Ottawa on Friday November 11, 2016. Predeceased by loving and loved husband J. Michael Esdaile, and brother Kenneth Soubry (Irene). Cherished Mother of Dr. John Esdaile (Marie-Hélène Bitney), Dr. David Esdaile (Marianne Feaver ’52), Ann Goldsmith (John), Mother-in-law to Kate Hurley, and grandmother (GG) to James, William (Brittany Petersen), and Tara Esdaile (Claudia Weber), Tina ’01 (Fabien Piegay) and Trevor Esdaile (Vanessa Maatman), Emily (Yani Thimios), Madeleine (Anna Mancini), and Luke Goldsmith; and great GG to Alyssa Esdaile Piegay.
Dr. Burton Lyle Merkley passed away at home surrounded by his family on January 6, 2017 at the age of 61 from colorectal cancer. He will be dearly missed by his devoted wife of 41 years and best friend Susann Merkley (Laflamme). Cherished father of Benjamin (Veronique ’96), Matthew (Jocelyn), Rebecca (Mathieu) and Sarah. Loving grandfather of William, Gabrielle, Tristan, Caleb, Olivia, Sophie and Zachary. Survived by his mother Thelma Merkley (Droppo) and sister Marlene (Michael Kelly). Predeceased by his father Lyle B. Merkley.
Hélène Lamontagne Peacefully at her home in Ottawa on January 16, 2017 surrounded by her family after a courageous battle with ALS. She was deeply loved by her husband of 36 years, George Pickering, and most proud of their three adoring children, Marc (Jyoti Kuvelker), Julie ’04 (Pierre-Adrien Attouche) and Patrick (Kim Farr). Hélène also leaves behind her brother Denis (Marie Charbonneau); sisters Sylvie (Peter Bulatovic) and Lise (Don Simpson); sisters-in-law Jane (Dr. Rick Nuttall) and Judy Davies; nephews Benoit, John, Alexander, Jonathan and Patrick; and nieces Lindsay, Meredith, Stephanie, Michelle, Myriam and Nadine. She was predeceased by her mother Françoise; father Georges; sister Marie-Josée; and brother Pierre.
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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 lgermano@elmwood.ca by June 30, 2017.
Anne Troise
Advancement Coordinator A native of New York City, Anne received her MFA in art history from New York University and has always had a passion for education and the arts. Anne has had a varied career, with experience in management and fundraising. In New York, Anne sharpened her management skills working for Orion Pictures, where she interacted with renowned movie stars and directors, and for WNET, a public broadcasting television station. She moved to Montreal for an exciting decade coordinating exhibitions and chamber music festivals at the Canadian Centre for Architecture and then raising funds for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Anne is now rooted in Ottawa and has worked as a fundraiser and special events manager for the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, the University of Ottawa and Opera Lyra. Fun Fact: One of Anne’s favourite creative pastimes is tango dance and culture. She has performed and helped teach Argentine tango at various places in the National Capital Region, including the University of Ottawa and the Music and Beyond Festival.
Jian Wang
Registered Early Childhood Educator, Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten Jian is originally from Northeast part of China. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in English in China. After graduating, Jian worked in Beijing New Oriental School for three years, which is currently the largest comprehensive private educational company in China. After leaving the company, Jian went to the U.S. working with school age children for a year. In 2014, Jian came to Canada and finished Early Childhood Education Program at Algonquin College. For Jian, working at Elmwood is a great joy; she is passionate about inspiring the young minds of our future. Fun fact: The longest amount of time Jian has spent on a train is over 40 hours, when she travelled from Beijing to Tibet.
Micheline Labelle
Middle & Senior French Originally from St. Boniface, Manitoba (Winnipeg’s French Quarter), Micheline escaped the mosquito capital also known as “Winterpeg” and headed to warmer climate in Vancouver. It is there that she obtained her Masters of Education focused on Second Language Acquisition while working full-time as a French Immersion Teacher and Department Head. Married life and family ties drew her away from the beautiful West Coast towards the Greater Toronto area where she worked in a private bilingual school and later as a French Language Specialist at the Bank of Canada. After several other moves and spending a short time in Colombia to adopt her daughter, Micheline gradually made her way to Ottawa. Micheline has been part of the Elmwood family for several years as she has been filling in at the Junior School, and now once again at the Senior School. Micheline is covering Mrs. Karahalios’ maternity leave. Fun fact: Wanting to taste the West Coast to the max, during her first year in Vancouver, Micheline decided to undertake every outdoor sport the city had to offer from hiking, sailing, ocean kayaking, rock climbing, downhill skiing and salmon fishing.
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New and Expanded Summer Camp Program!
DISCOVERY CAMPS
FOR GIRLS AGE 4 TO 12 • WEEKLY FROM JUNE 19 - AUGUST 25
With exciting new weekly themes such as NASA Space Camp, Circus Camp, Art-apalooza and Sleuth Academy, girls from Kindergarten to Grade Six will discover new challenges, develop new friendships and enjoy a dynamic range of hands-on, interactive activities. Led by skilled and experienced educators, our camps have the perfect blend of learning, active play and creative exploration, all within Elmwood’s beautiful and safe campus. CAMPS RUN FROM 8 A.M. – 5:30 P.M. Cost is $299, including a delicious lunch and snacks, excursion or special guest, fun “giveaways” and a cool camp T-shirt.
All girls welcome! Visit camp.elmwood.ca for more information or call (613) 749-6761 for details and registration.
ELMWOOD SKILLS ACADEMY FOR GIRLS AGE 8 TO 17 • WEEKLY FROM JUNE 26 - AUGUST 25
Elmwood’s Skills Academy offers an outstanding range of academic and special interest programs. Taught either by Elmwood’s talented faculty or by other experts in their field, our Skills Academy combines superb instruction with dynamic activities, sure to appeal to girls of all ages and skill levels. Camps are half or full day and costs vary. Please visit camp.elmwood.ca for full details.