HSC Review 2018

HSCReview

The magazine for the Hillfield Strathallan College community Spring 2018

Dr. Apple The Life of a Golf Pro

A Refugee’s Memoir

By Peter C. Newman ’45

One of Canada’s most celebrated authors tells how Hillfield turned him into a Canadian

Inventor Ben Gulak A New Place to Play and Learn

AS AN ALUMNA,

I valued my wonderful experience at HSC. I want to give that to my children, Jaden ’32, Adriana ’33 and Victoria ’34, so they can grow and learn in the same environment that was so meaningful in my own life. I can’t wait.

–Alicia (Valeri) Borg ’06

To learn more about our programs for students from 18-months to Grade 12 visit hsc.on.ca/cantwait

Contents

16

6

40

50

Features 14 Launching the Launch Pad Curating a very creative space 16 APeterRefugee’s Memoir C. Newman ’45 on coming to Hillfield 24 The Life of a Golf Pro Salimah Mussani ’97 gets into the swing

Departments 6

College Life

40

Top Honours

50

Giving

52

Lives Lived

54

Where the Grads Are

28 Dr. Apple Physician and YouTube star Mike Evans ’82 in Silicon Valley 32 Engineering Her Success Jane Gowing ’81 thrives in a male-dominated field 36 Ben Gulak ’07 Shreds It He’s been inventing since HSC and Dragon’s Den

The Alumni Award of Distinction The Alumni Hall of Excellence HSC Lifers Stellar Students Great Grads Perfect Prefects A new place to play and learn: how you can help

SPRING 2018 | 1

HSC SUMMER CAMPS

HSC MENTOR

For more detailed information visit: www.hsc.on.ca/camp Half-day options available.

Jun 25 – Aug 24, 2018 Ages 3 – 15 Something for everyone!

Join our community network and get connected

Celebrat

HSC Mentor Connect can help you build a professional You don’t want to miss out on this year’s network, get career advice, Homecoming celebrations place get personal and taking professional Saturday,development May 12. With aand full day of fun events, receive athletic games and entertaining activities guidance and support. happening, there promises to be something for Join now at every age and interest. hsc.on.ca/mentorship.

Check out what’s planned for alumni, students HSC Mentor Connect has parents, alumni parents, former and current employees, their100+ guestsMentors. and families!

1 in 4 Millennials credit a

Mentor for helping them seek REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL EVENTS a leadership role at work.

For complete event information including online registration, visit: www.hsc.on.ca/homecoming.

Mentorship is the KEY to Please note, to assist us in our for planning, registration career success young is required for all Homecoming events.

professionals.

It takes just 1 Mentor to make

ATTENTION ALUMNI a difference.

Join us for the day to participate in all that Homecoming has to offer! It’s an excellent opportunityMentors to visit campus and reconnect • Mentees with the old friends and cherished faculty, Networking making for a truly memorable weekend. 2018 Career Conversations Reunion Classes - It’s your turn to celebrate Resume Critiques and reminisce as we honour those classes ending in ‘3’ Mock and ‘8’. Interviews

School life can be very busy at HSC. Follow us so you never miss a moment.

@hillfieldstrathallancollege @hillstrathalumni

@HillStrath

@hillstrath

Masthead HSC Review is published by the Advancement and Communications Office of Hillfield Strathallan College.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please contact Zahra Valani at 905-389-1367, ext. 162, or communications@hsc.on.ca.

Visit our website at www.hsc.on.ca.

Editorial Director:

Zahra Valani, Director of Advancement and Communications

Editorial Advisor: Berton Woodward

Design and Production:

Hambly & Woolley Inc. www.hamblywoolley.com

Text and Photography:

Adam Blasberg, Shannon Boeckner, Eric Bosch, Katelyn Galer, Sheri Geoffreys, Tom Hawthorn, Jamie Hogge, Danielle Hourigan ’82, Jeff Kirk, Alessandro LoSardo, Meredith MacLeod, Kevin Patrick Robbins, Drew Shannon, Nora Underwood, Barbara Wickens, Berton Woodward, Frank Zochil

Cover:

Courtesy of Peter C. Newman ’45

Printing:

Barney Printing Copyright 2018 Hillfield Strathallan College

SPRING 2018 | 3

Messages

By Marc Ayotte Head of College

Getting Personal

AS WE DEVELOPED OUR 2015 STRATEGIC PLAN, Towards 20/20, we recognized the

need to add a greater level of personalization to our curriculum. The strategic direction of personalized authentic learning was created to address that need and enhance the learning process at the College so that our curriculum is adaptable to the passions and needs of each student. Research shows that the best learning happens when students are happy to come to school, have opportunities to follow their passion and participate in deep learning experiences that challenge them.

Project-based learning, or PBL, is increasing the level of engagement our students have with their learning, deepening the level of understanding they have with the subject matter and helping them build 21st century skills by affording them the opportunities to take initiative, build confidence, solve problems, collaborate and

“Research shows that the best learning happens when students are happy to come to school, have opportunities to follow their passion and participate in deep learning experiences that challenge them.”

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communicate effectively. HSC is becoming recognized as a leader in the development and integration of these essential skills under the guidance of our dedicated and innovative faculty. With two student-run companies, Designwerx and Panwerx, we are taking PBL to an entirely new level in providing a real-world experience for talented students while still at HSC. In August, over 20 of our faculty will participate in the PBL Canada Institute at HSC, our second conference held in partnership with the California-based Buck Institute for Education, the leader in the field. Thanks to initiatives like this, we have seen an evolution in our teaching and learning across the College, which is developing skills in our students that will carry them successfully into an increasingly complex future. With an incredible choice of curricular and co-curricular offerings for all of our students, our graduates continue to find success in the top post-secondary institutions in Canada and the world, and in an ever more diverse array of careers.

Photos by Frank Zochil

And authentic, too. Project-based learning is a cornerstone of HSC education

Messages

By Charlie Sherman

President, HSC Alumni Association

Coming Home

There are exciting events coming up at HSC to attract alumni from all over

AS HSC ALUMNI , we are a far-flung diaspora spread across thousands of kilometres. Luckily, we have a network that spans oceans and multiple countries, and what connects us all together is the city of Hamilton and, of course, Hillfield Strathallan College. As you read through the pages of this HSC Review, I hope you feel connected to your alma mater.

We have several exciting events in the works for the next few months and I encourage those who are further away to return to Hamilton if you can, and reawaken your HSC spirit. Similarly, we hope our Hamiltonian alumni will turn out in force.

Homecoming 2018 will take place on Saturday, May 12, 2018. The College has planned a full day of events for you and your family to celebrate what it means to be part of the HSC community. In the evening, we will honour alumni classes ending in ’3 and ’8 and induct several of our colleagues into the HSC Athletic Hall of Fame.

We are also looking forward to the 22nd Annual HSC Golf Classic on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club. This tournament is one of our favourite traditions and is critical for the alumni in raising funds for HSC scholarships and awards.

Being back on campus reminds us all of our time here as students. We inherited Hillfield Strathallan College from the graduates who came before us. By returning home to the HSC campus, we leave an impression on HSC’s current students and make our connections stronger for the generations who will come after.

“By returning home to the HSC campus, we leave an impression on HSC’s current students and make our connections stronger for the generations who will come after.”

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College Life

Fine Dining

College Life

2017 – 2018

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Lawson Hall has been transformed into a modern lunch space with self-serve food stations and tasty new choices Stories by Meredith MacLeod Photography by Frank Zochil COMMUNITY MEAL TIME IN LAWSON HALL is one of the most timehonoured and beloved traditions at Hillfield Strathallan College. So when director of operations Chris Kwiecien took on transforming lunch delivery, he knew he had to get it right.

After decades of serving meals family-style, Lawson Hall is

now laid out with food stations in a self-serve cafeteria.

“Everyone at the College eats there. It has been a huge shift for our students, our teachers, our staff and our entire community,” says Kwiecien. “We couldn’t be happier or more excited about what we’ve created.”

The College’s dining hall serves about 1,350 meals a day, a volume that poses logistical challenges. The new model required rethinking the school day, and each school principal implemented a modified timetable in support.

But the change reflects the results of student and staff surveys showing diners wanted more time to eat and greater choice.

Options include daily hot entrees, pizzas, paninis, soups, a salad bar and prepared sandwiches. There are products never before seen at HSC, but as always, it is all made from fresh, with a focus on Canadian-grown and -produced food. From the house-roasted chicken to the salads and sides, everything is created from scratch.

It was also critical that the eating together tradition continue, says Kwiecien.

“The dining hall is the single connected experience of everyone at the College every day. We were not going to abandon that. There is huge resonance to that with alumni and our families.”

Lots of options at the self-serve stations

College Life

Though Lawson Hall itself is largely unchanged, virtually everything else had to be reset to accommodate the shift in delivery, including the kitchen equipment and the job descriptions and schedules of the 17 members of the culinary staff.

“There was a lot of training required because it’s a completely different scope of work now,” says Kwiecien.

“It’s been a monumental shift. We have some extremely longstanding, dedicated staff who had to be engaged to do new things.”

A key to the success of the change has been the enthusiasm of dining hall manager Lynn Sharpe, a fixture at HSC for 24 years.

“She was on board with it right from the beginning,” says Kwiecien. “She said right away that it was good for the kids and their experience here, and that’s all that matters to her.

It would not have been possible without her engagement and her leadership.”

After three years of research, studying options and talking to other independent schools and suppliers, the College entered a partnership with Dana Hospitality. While HSC still provides food as an in-house service, Dana provides expertise in the new delivery model.

“It has been a huge shift for our students, our teachers, our staff and our entire community.

We couldn’t be happier.”

Checking out freshly made pizza and other hot dishes (above)

Sandwiches are easy to grab

“We’re not a restaurant. That’s not our core competency. We are a school, so we looked for additional expertise in our partner,” says Kwiecien.

The College also consulted with parents. Nancy Hanley, a chef and parent, was especially invaluable in offering her insights and support during the research and development process.

Kwiecien knew the project was on the right track when a conceptual package sent to the HSC donor community resulted in a flood of offers to help. Donors, led by the Hill family, contributed kitchen equipment, new flooring, furniture and supplies. The other key donors were William and Catriona Russell & family, Jerry Ding & Xue Geng & family and Judith King-Siganski ’62.

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College Life

Adam Mourra ’28 finishes off the roof-top patio of the Mouse Library

The Mouse House

Grade 2 students show the advantages of HSC’s project-based learning

Falling dominoes illustrate logarithmic relationships and physics concepts in Senior School (above); bird houses add wings to Grade 6 project-based learning on biodiversity (left)

M9s explore the tragic life of diarist Anne Frank in History of Writing

8 | HSC REVIEW

GRADE 2 STUDENTS READING the Library Mouse children’s series wrote so many mouse-sized books for their furry friends that the question became what to do with them all. Build a sixstorey Mouse Library, of course.

It has been entirely student driven. Teachers Lisa Mitchell and Barb Reade modified math units to do measurement and area calculations. A Grade 12 design technology class, the College’s head librarian, the head of IT and the operations director all provided feedback.

The towering result, including two working elevators, reading spaces, a rooftop patio, and art “mouseter-pieces” lining the walls, was showcased at a special unveiling in December.

This has been project-based learning (PBL) at its finest, says Shailau Spivak, principal of the Junior School. HSC has been implementing PBL at all levels of the College.

“It’s a major, major shift in education because it’s putting kids in charge of their learning,” says Spivak. “We’re asking them to ask questions. It’s about critical thinking—seeing a problem and finding a solution.”

Middle School math instructional leader Carrie Annable says PBL is a more authentic, engaging way of teaching that is based on inquiry, research and problem-solving. Students produce a public product that represents the culmination of their work.

“It’s real-life learning,” she says.

PBL in Middle School has included a Grade 7 science project looking at pollutants in Cootes Paradise and a Grade 8 science fair project centred on sustainability.

In Senior School, math students used trigonometry to design portable wheelchair ramps for HSC. Grade 11 biology students explored using videos and animations to educate younger students about digestive diseases, thereby learning more themselves. Students also studied global warning in a cross-curricular project bridging science and geography and then role-played a United Nations conference on the issue.

In the Montessori School, PBL training allows teachers to reinforce independent problem solving. “Montessori materials provide the learner with immediate, authentic feedback, and the inclusion of expert feedback as part of PBL has been valuable for our students,” says elementary Montessori teacher Laure Kominar.

HSC is the first independent school in Canada to partner with the U.S.-based Buck Institute for Education, which has developed the gold standard in PBL. Groups of HSC teachers studied at the Buck Institute and this summer, HSC will host its second PBL Canada Institute conference for teachers and administrators in collaboration with the Buck Institute.

College Life

Great Lessons

Montessori students ponder the world and their place in it THE HISTORY OF MATH , the history of writing, the creation of the universe and the timelines of life and humans come together in exciting multidisciplinary discovery in Montessori’s “Great Lessons” social science curriculum.

“Providing these broad lessons allows the children to engage in learning in context,” says Principal Danielle Hourigan. “Their studies are not snippets of topics in a vacuum, but rather thoughtful exploration grounded in an understanding of their world and their place in it.”

The children self-select an area to investigate within the context of the greater whole. The history of writing may inspire one child to study hieroglyphics while another may explore the life of the diarist Anne Frank.

In celebration of International Montessori Week in late February, as well as the advent of the second half-century of Montessori education at HSC, the Elementary students (aged 6-9) shared their personal independent discovery projects with the College community. They included poetry, biographies and cross-disciplinary research projects.

“The personal passion each project reflected was amazing to watch,” says Hourigan. “The students’ learning had such meaning, as the topics were of their own selection and their questions were unique to them.”

Investigating the timeline of humanity (above); gaining early classification skills in Casa (right); making a model to enhance understanding (bottom right)

SPRING 2018 | 9

College Life

5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about HSC But now you do

Montessori, Junior and Middle school students learn languages using Duolingo and Rosetta Stone

Lawson Hall serves some 2,500 meals per month to students and employees, and about 23,500 per year.

It’s a healthy place. Every month, about 60 bushels of apples are consumed by cafeteria diners. (For more on the newly revamped Lawson Hall, see page 6.)

Speaking in Tech

Language apps are helping expand students’ proficiency in other tongues AN EXCITING FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING PROJECT using educational apps is engaging students in all grades, along with teachers, staff and administrators who have collaborated to bring it to life.

“Becoming globally connected citizens is the main purpose of growing our language programs. It does so much to expand a cultural understanding of the world,” says Linda Watson, learning commons coordinator. Of course, global connectedness is also a pillar of learning at HSC. Many students have a personal connection to their choice of language to study, including learning about their culture, being able to talk to grandparents in their native tongue, or future travel plans, says Taya Cicchetti, vice-principal, Grades 11/12, Senior School.

M8 and M9 students in the Montessori School are using the free, gamefocused language app Duolingo for self-directed learning in French on mobile devices at school or home.

About 30 to 40 per cent of students have chosen a third language, too, including German, Portuguese, Mandarin and Finnish, says Erica Otaguro, school life coordinator of the Montessori School. “They have the freedom of choice of language and the pace they want to learn.”

Junior School students in Grade 3 and 4 were also asked to pick a language to study this year using Duolingo. A Senior School group is travelling to Kenya in August and they will use language apps to learn some Swahili.

Finally, as part of a leadership development program, Cicchetti is researching the effects of using Rosetta Stone, a formalized paid platform. She began last year monitoring 85 Grade 5 students studying 17 languages, and plans to track their progress through Grade 9. “Knowing multiple languages is an important life skill.”

Cicchetti, a former languages teacher, says research has shown multiple benefits for young students, including greater proficiency in their native language, larger vocabulary, better listening and memory skills, greater problem-solving and higher-order thinking, and a better appreciation of people of different races and cultures.

10 | HSC REVIEW

Each school day, 29 HSC buses carry students from surrounding areas in the Golden Horseshoe to the College and back again.

Our theatre, the Virtue-Fitzgerald Centre for the Arts, has 414 seats, larger than each of York University’s two performing arts halls and the RBC Theatre in Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre. It’s roughly similar in size to the Harbourfront Centre Theatre in Toronto.

There are more than 10,000 crocus bulbs planted in our “field of dreams” in the Community Quad and the Memorial Courtyard. They are a no-maintenance planting designed to support community and wellness, as well as a tribute to the Strathallan Girls.

More lore about those bulbs

Crocuses (or croci, if you insist) are hardy perennials that have been known in the Mediterranean since ancient Minoan times. In Greek mythology, Crocus was an unhappy young man whose unrequited love for the nymph Smilax caused the gods to take pity on him and turn him into a flower bearing his name.

HSC has 36 solar panels located atop the Transportation Building that generate 11,000 KW each year. The energy is sent to the electrical grid as offset power and HSC is paid for production.

While the output constitutes only a small portion of what HSC uses, the panels are a student-driven initiative to demonstrate sustainable practice.

College Life

Historic Apples

HSC has planted new specimens from old trees

Students and faculty dig in as they plant the grafted apple trees

ABOUT A DOZEN APPLE TREES PLANTED LAST SPRING at Hillfield Strathallan College

have historic lineage.

At one time, the entire area that is now the campuses of HSC and Mohawk College was covered in fruit orchards. Though most of those fruit trees were taken down for campus development decades ago, the HSC grounds are still home to seven original specimens.

“The row of trees has so much value historically and as a demonstration orchard,” says director of operations Chris Kwiecien.

The trees are also a tremendous teaching opportunity, he says. “We use sustainability as a filter for all that we do. We want our students to value local food and learn how to care for the land we have here.”

Peter Bosman of Lincoln Line Orchards, supplier of apples to HSC, provided the expertise needed to identify the trees, determining there were two varieties.

He then took cuttings, in cooperation with Grindstone Creek Nursery, and grafted them on to root balls of dwarf varieties in spring 2016.

Those new specimens were planted in spring 2017 at both HSC and Mohawk.

“We will be learning how to cut, trim and maintain the trees to maximize the fruit using natural and sustainable methods,” says Kwiecien. “We will also learn how to harvest the apples and we hope to offer them at our dining hall.”

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College Life

The Greening of HSC Students improve campus biodiversity

Jeremy Johnston read deeply into the roots of creativity

The Role of Innovation

The Senior School’s Jeremy Johnston has made a study of it for the College THE FOUNDATION OF INNOVATION is in the quest to solve problems with executable solutions—and in never fearing change, says Senior School English department subject coordinator Jeremy Johnston.

He was tasked by Hillfield Strathallan College leadership to lead the way on injecting innovation into all aspects of the College—from its strategic plan and culture to classroom learning, timetables and evaluation.

Johnston used a one-term sabbatical in spring 2017 to research the role of innovation, especially in the humanities, stemming from the thesis he wrote to complete his master’s in education at Western University.

During his research leave, he studied the work of other independent schools, business leaders and start-ups to “crystallize what innovation and creativity can look like.”

“They apply to all areas of life at HSC, whether you’re a teacher, student or administrator,” he says. “It’s about identifying needs and problems and finding innovative solutions.”

That is an important life skill for today’s students, he adds.

“Many of the jobs of the future don’t exist now. They will need to be created.

So how do we prepare kids for that? How do we create that level of flexibility and entrepreneurialism?”

Part of it is expecting failure and learning from it. Weeding out bad ideas or designs is a huge part of entrepreneurship, says Johnston. But traditional school models of docking marks for mistakes and discouraging failure runs counter to that.

“Resiliency and grit requires giving our students a sense of hope and purpose,” he says. “We need them to believe they can find a new path when they make mistakes. At HSC, our core vision is to learn with joy and live with purpose. Joy sustains you during setbacks. That’s a recurring component to the innovative mind, along with the purpose of innovation—to make the world a better place.”

12 | HSC REVIEW

Rianna Mercer ’23 tends the Middle School vegetable gardens, which also help stock the dining hall

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS are using the HSC campus to study biodiversity, while also making it a better place for plants, birds and animals to thrive.

Projects in Grade 6 science kicked off with a September trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens where students met with biodiversity experts. “It was inspiring for us,” says science teacher John Hannah.

There were 23 projects among 78 students this fall, all addressing the overarching question: How can biodiversity be improved at HSC? “We are located at the top of the watershed to Cootes Paradise and right next to the Niagara Escarpment,” says Hannah. “We have a responsibility as a landowner to think about our campus and support biodiversity.”

Students created plans to replace invasive plants with native species and to boost butterflies, bees and birds. Past projects have included a box pond for vegetation.

The projects were showcased at HSC’s second Biodiversity Expo in December.

Project-based learning gives students agency because it is all based on their curiosity and ideas, says Hannah.

“The research is clear that if you take kids outside to learn, they are happier, healthier and smarter. If we can do more to create a learning landscape outside, that’s a great opportunity.”

College Life

THE MONTESSORI SCHOOL CELEBRATED ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY with a

dinner for 300 guests on Sept. 15. Current and past Montessori families came together to mark the occasion. The event benefited three charities close to the heart of the Montessori School: Me to We, Colin Glassco Foundation and Sports for All.

Building a design prototype for a Grade 4 Trojan Tank project (left)

Ideas at Work

Students pitch innovative solutions at Trojan Tank BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS IN TWO GRADE 4 CLASSES are designing solutions to real-world

problems—everything from the challenge of carrying clean water in Africa to disorganized closets.

“The students came up with amazing ideas,” says Junior School principal Shailau Spivak. “It was a very positive experience for them.”

With partners, students brainstormed problems and solutions, worked through multiple design iterations, built prototypes that they tested and modified, and came up with a pitch of their concept.

That all culminated in Trojan Tank, a nod to TV pitch show Shark Tank, during which students shared the stories behind their ideas, demonstrated their products and made persuasive arguments. Some included posters and jingles.

“It all starts with a problem,” says Spivak.

“That’s the idea behind project-based learning.

Students are learning that innovation is all about solving a problem.”

Ideas have included a pillow with a built-in night light, edible crayons for young children and a cart to carry water in Africa. That ties in to the Grade 4 year-long, in-depth examination of Africa.

Trojan Tank aligns with HSC’s vision to create joyful and engaged students through personalized authentic learning, global and local connectedness, entrepreneurial spirit, and resilience and wellness.

“The kids are so engaged when there is a real-life problem involved. The buy-in is so strong and they learned so much without even realizing it,” says Grade 4 teacher Kathleen Collins. “They are very proud of their finished projects. We wouldn’t have been able to choose a winner.”

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the Launch Pad Michael Wiens is the enthusiastic curator of a very creative space

By Meredith MacLeod

MICHAEL WIENS SAYS being curator of HSC’s Launch Pad perfectly weaves together his creative passions and the varied threads of his career into a dream job. And what’s not to like?

Launch Pad is an open studio connected to the Learning Commons that explores projectbased learning, hands-on design and modelbuilding, and artistic free-thinking. At any one time, Wiens may be working with students creating micro-controllers out of apples, splatter painting with robots, or building mouse-sized furniture with laser-cut scraps.

Much of what makes the venture exciting and fulfilling is that he is creating programming from scratch, in conjunction with faculty in the Montessori, Junior and Middle schools.

“The ideas are truly endless,” he says. “I take what students and teachers bring to me and amplify it and facilitate it. I follow their lead.”

14 | HSC REVIEW

He is also resourceful. “When I don’t know how to do something, I study it or I consult with experts. There is a lot of collaboration and I’m always learning on this job,” says Wiens, who is a professional artist, educator and the father of three young children. He has experience in fine art, construction projects, furniture up-cycling, and mural and decorative painting.

Wiens has helped Montessori students demonstrate a hurricane and write code for robots, built water pianos with Grade 4 students for a light and sound unit, worked on a Senior School mural project weaving together the College’s four house colours, and guided a Grade 1 class designing and building cardboard cars for pigeons after they read Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! He’s been involved in creating gifts for parents, building props for plays and working with extra-curricular clubs. He works closely with teachers to bring project-based learning to life and to join students of different ages together in collaborative learning.

“It’s very experiential learning, and working with technology and supporting teachers,” he says. “It’s extremely rewarding. But all the tools and technology are useless without a firm understanding of design fundamentals and the support to adapt project-based learning into the classroom.”

Photo by Frank Zochil

Wiens was developing adult and children’s programming at the Art Gallery of Burlington and honing his maker-space skills at the Burlington Library’s Ideaworks Studio when he visited HSC to teach an arts professional development workshop to Montessori teachers last spring. He was only hoping to be asked back to teach again, but instead he was offered a permanent job. He started in April 2017.

Launch Pad, which opened shortly after, is made possible through the David Tutty Joy and Innovation Fund. Wiens continues to assemble the components of a design studio and maker-space—robotics kits, soldering kits, plenty of Lego and a laser cutter.

The well-rounded curator earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting and design from the University of Alberta in 2004, where he studied printmaking, painting and visual communications. He followed that with a Bachelor of Education in elementary education from the University of Alberta in 2009 and a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2012.

Wiens was part of a group of art students in 2012 who painted a noted 31-foot mural on the side of the Bristol Hotel in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. The mural, inspired by a historic postcard, depicts a group of

Michael Wiens helps Grade 1 students select materials for their Pigeon Car Project

musicians playing at the long-gone Breakers Café supper club in 1910.

His paintings, represented by his home gallery in Carmel, California, have been displayed in exhibitions across North America.

In 2016, Wiens received the best in show award at the Niagara Falls Art Gallery and was invited to be featured in the gallery’s Canada 150 celebration. He also owns a decorative feature wall and custom décor business.

All of his experience is crucial to his role at the Launch Pad. Wiens says he feeds on the energy of working side-by-side with students in creative endeavours, stoking their curiosity and problem-solving skills, all while using art to explore science, technology, engineering, art and math. “I really could not think of a better job for me than this.”

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Photo by

16 | HSC REVIEW

Photo by

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Photo by

18 | HSC REVIEW

Peter C. Newman is one of Canada’s most

Photo by

celebrated authors and journalists. Arriving in Canada in 1940 as a war refugee, he initially attended Hillfield School, the boys’ school that later merged with Strathallan School for girls to form Hillfield Strathallan College.

Peter went on to become editor of the Toronto Star and then Maclean’s magazine, and chronicled many of the most powerful people in Canadian business and politics in a series of best-selling books, including The Canadian Establishment and The Secret Mulroney Tapes, as well as volumes of history. A Companion of the Order of Canada, he lives now with his wife Alvy in Belleville, Ont. He wrote this memoir for HSC Review.

SPRING 2018 | 19

KNEW IT VANISHED. Born in Vienna, I was raised in the riverside town of Breclav on the Czech side of the Austrian border, where my father was director general of a massive sugar beet refinery. I was indulged as an only child within a privileged business-political world and a loving and secure home life of nannies, maids, chauffeurs—and generous parents.

My time at Hillfield coincided with the horrors of the Second World War, when our family arrived in Burlington as refugees after leaving behind the wonderful and prosperous life we would never again experience. Our Czech town was located deep in the Sudetenland, and the panicked flight of the Jews from the area began in earnest in September 1938, when France and England signed the Munich Agreement conceding this area to the Third Reich due to the German minority living there.

The agreement with Adolf Hitler was deemed to guarantee peace but brought war. Although he promised no further territorial demands, Hitler quickly took control, seized non-German-speaking territories and parceled up the country for his benefit. Many Jews stayed put out of a mistaken belief that France and England could curtail Hitler. They were wrong. Both sets of my grandparents perished in the horror of the concentration camps. We came from a generation of secular Jews—we knew we were ethnic Jews but were non-observant both religiously and culturally. I remember my childhood celebrating Christmas. I had never been inside a synagogue. I didn’t know anything about being a Jew except that if Hitler wanted you dead, you must be Jewish.

We would enter Canada through the railway colonization scheme, a 25-year contract with the Canadian government whereby CPR and CNR agents were sent throughout Europe to find farmers to develop Canadian farms. So they not only sold the land but arranged ship transport out of Liverpool to Halifax, and train tickets to the new life. My father’s expertise in sugar beet farms provided the agricultural experience that qualified our entry to Canada. He met with CPR agents at the embassy in Prague and bought a 15-acre farm in Freeman, Ont., now part of Burlington. Transport would be arranged by ship out of Liverpool. “We can’t get you to England,” they told my father. “You need to find your own way.”

War was officially declared on Sept. 1, 1939 by France and England, but only

20 | HSC REVIEW

Peter’s palatial former home in Breclav, Czechoslovakia (right)

after Hitler invaded Poland in his effort to secure Prussia. Our flight to safety took us more than a year through Italy, France and England before arriving in Canada.

In order to leave Breclav, my father had to sign over all of our assets to the Germans, and within days of leaving we heard that our magnificent mansion had been turned into a casino for the Nazi officers. We headed for Paris and were feeling quite safe there in September 1939 as the Second World War began. Little did we know that the French would become equally as enthusiastic as the Nazis in hunting Jews. The French definition of a Jew was broader than the Germans’, as it swept more widely and endangered more categories of people. Finding ourselves unable to escape France and with no civilian travel available to England, we moved south to Nice.

There I was enrolled in L’Ecole Sasserno, a private Catholic boy’s school, while father

Photos courtesy of Peter C. Newman

I LIVED THE CHARMED LIFE OF A LITTLE RICH BOY IN MORAVIA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA—UNTIL AGE NINE, THAT IS, WHEN THE WORLD AS I

The ship that brought Peter to Canada in 1940 (above)

Learning French with a tutor while staying in France

With his mother Wanda on a family skiing holiday, pre-Hitler

provided a tutor for me to learn French. From there we moved to Néris-lesBains, not far from Vichy, where we stayed for nine months and I attended a municipal grammar school. On May 17, 1940, Hitler encircled Paris. But thankfully, two days earlier my father had received “Visa Numéro 316, Valid for Travelling to Canada”, accompanied by the scribbled notation, “CPR Agricultural Family. London’s approval received over the phone.” Without a doubt, the most wonderful words to behold.

But we still had to get out of France to make it to England, and since Bordeaux was the last city to fall, it became the destination for the human streams flowing out of Paris. Normally a city of 300,000, Bordeaux had swelled overnight to over a million refugees. Father rented a taxi and we headed to Biarritz on the Atlantic coast, where we found the ragtag remnants of the Czech army and the tattered Belgian freighter they had commandeered.

It was under charter to an American grapefruit company. Thankfully, it happened to have an American flag in a locker.

This provided some assurance of safety, as the Americans had not yet entered the war. It was the last major vessel to leave France and safely reach England.

Upon our arrival, we were held in a secure, concentration camp-like facility as the British searched carefully for any German spies. Our brief time in London was highlighted by the Blitz, when the Nazi Luftwaffe launched deadly nighttime air raids on the city and we were relocated to the underground tube stations. Our exit visa from Britain was stamped “No Return to the United Kingdom”, and so, on July 26, 1940, we set sail for Canada from Liverpool aboard the Furness Line’s Royal Mail Ship Nova Scotia.

We were part of a 34-ship convoy that included four Canadian naval escorts.

Four days out, there was an attack by a German U-boat at dawn. In succession, three boats off our bow were hit and sunk. Today, I can still see those ships exploding and sinking, and hear the cries of the people in the water. (One of the convoy escorts, HMCS Ottawa, was skippered by Captain E. R. Mainguy, SPRING 2018 | 21

An historic photo for the College: in an early colour shot, Peter (front, right) sits with his Hillfield schoolmates and others at the home of Thurston Smith ’44 (front, left) in Winona, Ont. Counter-clockwise from Peter are Simon Thorpe ’45, Doug White, Tom Crerar ’45, Bob Johnston ’45, Don Hamilton ’45, Jack VanDuzer, Geoffrey Smith, Stuart Loosley ’45 and Harry Frost ’44.

The ardent Canadian nationalist stands tall with a beaver

who would be my first admiral when I joined the Royal Canadian Navy.)

I was 11 years old when we finally reached Pier 21 in Halifax, arriving in the promised land on Aug. 6, 1940, and made our way to the farm in Freeman. We were going to be fruit and vegetable farmers, so Father named the farm the most ethnically neutral and non-Jewish name—Dependable Fruit Growers. My elegant mother gave up her dreams as a concert pianist and spent the next few years preparing produce for market. In place of our chauffeured Tatra, we had a team of horses. We had left behind our home and our secure life, but worst of all we left our identities. Petr Karel Neumann became Peter Charles Newman.

Upon our arrival, I spoke German, Czech and French, but not a word of English.

To help with the assimilation my father arranged for me to have the very best education. That first year, the major focus was on me learning English well enough to attend school. Then, in the fall of 1941, the freshly-minted Peter Newman arrived at Hillfield as the ultimate “New Boy”, starting a new life on a new continent in a 22 | HSC REVIEW

new culture, and in a new language with a new chance to shine. Or sink.

Hillfield School was built in the 1930s as a model preparatory school for boys, following in the British style. It was only fitting, then, that a British-trained educator, Arthur E. Killip, was lured away from Upper Canada College to become headmaster. In the school history Echoes That Remain, Arthur is quoted as saying, “The road to education is not a straight, narrow, thorny path, but a broad, paved highway, an open road on which all may move forward as they will.” I had just arrived on that thorny path.

Father wanted only the best for me, so he not only enrolled me at Hillfield but also arranged for me to board with Headmaster Killip so that I would be immersed in learning English. I was not alone, as Harry Frost ’44 also boarded there. He was a year or so older and I remember him as being very kind to me. It was at Hillfield that I grew from a lederhosen-wearing Czech kid to an Englishspeaking Canadian, so it left a profound effect on me. One wonderful memory was Arthur’s annual chess tournament, during which he turned into a tiger—the once-a-year time when he took on the whole school and beat us all at chess, moving from table to table and never batting an eye.

Today, the school promotes as its core mission “to develop joyful and engaged students who live life with purpose.” So, if I can provide a take-home message of the influence of my time at Hillfield, it would be exactly this: my profound gratitude to Arthur Killip for his kind tutelage, and that I indeed fulfilled the school’s mission, as I have endeavoured to live my life with purpose ever since. I would go on to have editorial control of the largest newspaper and newsmagazine in Canada. I became an ardent nationalist, making my living as a writer extolling Canada as having the mandate of heaven. And this in my fourth language.

By 1944, my father had given up on the farm. He turned to importing Czech products and we moved to Indian Grove in High Park, Toronto, where I spent my next few years again as a boarder but at Seaton’s House of Upper Canada College.

At home with his latest book in 2016 (top right); in his office in 1968 (above)

Photos courtesy of Peter C. Newman except top right, The Belleville Intelligencer, and above, The Canadian Press

Enjoying ‘the life-affirming rhythms of jazz and playing drums’

As I reflect on the nearly 89 years I have spent on this earth, I realize how much of my destiny has been governed by the twin forces of time and circumstance. I have admittedly been accident-prone, in the sense that my days and nights were governed by accidental events, many of them traumatic but enough to be lucky. Nothing compares with being a refugee, when you are robbed of context and flail about, searching for self-definition.

As I grew up in Canada, I realized that most of all I wanted to gain a voice.

To be heard. That longing has never left me. Unexpectedly, I found myself as a writer, not in response to any great calling but because it seemed a good way to establish a voice, whatever its message or volume. Eventually, I found not only a voice but an audience, and ultimately a following. That little Jew-boy ousted from Central Europe began to make waves. The journey was anything but smooth.

Looking back, I cannot help but cringe at my mistakes, regretting the times I spoke when it would have been wiser to remain silent, and more often vice versa. Still, for each incident that caused me remorse, another inspired gratitude. For all my faults and misjudgments, I was able to lead a life at the centre of the action and use whatever talent I inherited or possessed. I was able to experience first-hand the events that shaped Canada for the past 78 years. At the same time, I pursued my passions: the Royal Canadian Navy, where I rose to the rank of captain in the Naval Reserves, becoming the first Jew to do so; the passion of the written word; the life-affirming rhythms of jazz and playing drums in my own big band; and, of course, the tranquility of sailing, sailing, sailing— without exploding boats in front of me.

That voyage from Breclav to Burlington turned out to be a blessing. Much of it was through luck, or the process of elimination, fortunate navigations and my father’s power of persuasion, plus his foresight to send me to Arthur Killip to learn how to become a Canadian. Through my books, I was able to corner and dissect the unfolding adventure I encountered along the way, to make sense of my adopted country, my brave new world and my evolving self. I felt that whatever recognition I gained was incidental to the quest for understanding and the crusade to validate my still fragile sense of self and hope of belonging.

I accepted all this as the cost of leading an eccentric, unscripted life. I would like to pretend that the currency of my life has been valued on a single, immutable scale, and that I always knew where I was heading. But that would be untrue. I have led my life following the twin beacons of exhilaration and curiosity. It has been a fabulous journey.

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IT IS ANOTHER BUSY DAY FOR SALIMAH MUSSANI ’97,

whose phone buzzes like a pocketful of honeybees. To start with, there are the four jobs.

She is an associate golf professional at the private, century-old Vancouver Golf Club in suburban Coquitlam, where good money will get the hitch out of your swing. She is also a pro for Golf Burnaby, a municipal department that operates four public courses, including Riverway, where she teaches, an 18-hole championship course with fescue-lined fairways.

At the University Golf Club, which is sandwiched between the tony residential neighbourhood of Point Grey and the bucolic campus of the University of British Columbia, Salimah is one of eight instructors at The Academy. A private hour-long session to get the yips out will set you back $125.

Then there’s the new gig as a co-manager of a Best Western, a tentative dip into the world of hospitality, a business not unlike catering to the whims (and whiffs) of struggling golfers.

Four jobs can be a burden. Driving to four locations in the congested sprawl that is British Columbia’s Lower Mainland is a misery. Her weekly rounds take her from the university course in the west to Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley, an hours-long tour of clogged roadways and stop-and-start motoring in her Nissan Altima. “It’s nothing special,” she says of her car, “but it’s my home.”

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If only that were the case. Vancouver is one of the most expensive cities for housing on the continent. Salimah is also the proud new owner of a condominium near the Olympic Village. A glass box in the sky costs a fortune in a city where one can golf and ski on the same day. (Though not on this day, during which a winter rain has put a damper on both activities.) She’s not complaining about any of it, but it explains the jobs and the drives. Living in paradise comes with a price tag.

Salimah grew up in Burlington and spent a happy childhood at HSC. Five years of study in the United States was followed by a career as a professional golfer. The tour is more gruelling than glamorous, though it had its moments.

Salimah won the Canadian PGA Women’s Championship in 2007.

While on tour, she also had some fun with her friend Mo Martin, who had earlier been an opponent in college tournament play. Salimah stands five-foottwo-and-a-half and is slight. Martin, who would go on to win the British Open in 2014, is a hair shorter. On occasion, when they were preparing for a practice round at a course, sponsors and other men would challenge the diminutive young women to a match. The pair feigned reluctance before agreeing, suggesting the round be made more interesting by playing for money in match play. The men quickly discovered there was a price to pay for braggadocio.

Golf was not the first sport to captivate her. At HSC, she tried them all— soccer, softball, basketball, volleyball, field hockey, cross-country running.

“I’ve always been competitive,” she says, finding in sports, as well as academics, an outlet for her desire to be the best. Her parents, father Anil and mother Shamim, believed education to be the guarantee of a solid life. They were among the 6,000 people of South Asian descent expelled from Uganda in a political persecution in 1972 who emigrated to Canada. “They had nothing,” their daughter says, “only the clothes on their back.” He became a physician, she a pharmacist. They expected similar from their three children.

On a family trip to North Carolina, the parents left the children to amuse themselves at the driving range while they got in 18 holes. Soon, a golf cart raced over to interrupt the parents’ game. Had the children caused trouble?

Had one been hurt? No. The pro urgently wanted them to know Salimah’s swing was so smooth and powerful, even as a beginner, that she had potential to be a professional herself. The girl was just 13.

Until then, she had preferred the quarterbacking role of point guard in basketball. She added golf to her repertoire, playing with and against boys. She eventually convinced friends to form a girls’ team. Her game had one quirk: she putted left-handed but swung right-handed, a legacy of her time playing field hockey. From that modest beginning, she showed great promise, winning two Ontario junior championships (1995, ’96) and two Canadian junior titles (1996, ’98).

In Grade 12, she faced a monumental decision about her future. She decided to pursue a full golf scholarship in the United States, leaving classmates behind to complete Grade 13 without her. It was not an easy call to leave HSC. “I’d been there since I was five years old,” she says. “Such a loving place. You were constantly reminded of your past. Even in Grade 12, you saw your kindergarten teacher in the halls.”

The change was more jarring than the teenager realized it would be. Instead of the cohort of about 60 students with whom she had attended classes for more than a decade, she was a newly-arrived nobody in a class of 670 strangers at a

Salimah readies a putt at Riverway in Burnaby, B.C.

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high school in San Antonio, Texas. It was a difficult senior year, though she won a state championship and gained a full scholarship to play as a Longhorn at the University of Texas at Austin. After two years, Salimah transferred to Stanford University outside San Jose, Calif., where she competed as a Cardinal and completed studies in psychology and business.

She turned pro in 2003. Being on tour sounds exciting, but it is more of an exercise in being a one-person travel agent. Her day-to-day life was dependent on a binder in which she tracked routes from golf course to grocery store to gym to wherever she happened to be staying.

At the same time, she struggled with lupus, a draining, autoimmune disease triggered by stress and sunshine, both of which are par for the course for golfers. Some doctors wanted her to hang up her clubs, so she tried others and was eventually prescribed a chemotherapy drug which has lessened both the frequency of attacks and her symptoms. The disease made the grind of weekly tournaments all the tougher. She still competes in British Columbia and has won match-play tournaments and the 2014 PGA of B.C. women’s championship.

HSC has changed greatly since Salimah left for Texas all those years ago. She was disoriented at first on her return to the campus for induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. In time, she found familiar hallways, heard in her memory the old voices, remembered lasting friendships, and could not help but wonder what might have been the outcome had she stayed one more year.

“I’d been there since I was five years old,” she says.

“Such a loving place. You were constantly reminded of your past.

Even in Grade 12, you saw your kindergarten teacher in the halls.”

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Dr. Apple YouTube star ‘Dr. Mike’ Evans ’82 is carving out another improbable career in Silicon Valley

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By Berton Woodward Photography by Jamie Hogge IN THE WORLD OF TECH, Dr. Mike Evans ’82, formerly of Toronto and Hamilton, now stands at the apex of cool. He works for Apple in Silicon Valley.

OK, you say, so HSC produced yet another PhD tech wizard—what’s the big deal? Actually, Mike is a medical doctor, with more than two decades of experience in Toronto hospitals. And looking back, even that seems a stretch—originally he graduated in English literature. He then ambled around the world, meeting the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa along the way. At HSC, he didn’t feel specially cool and not at all techie—more of an athlete with a gap-toothed smile. And though he does remember being inspired to excellence by a few HSC teachers, he doesn’t remember much in the way of great marks. How on earth did he wind up at Apple?

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W Well, if you already know about “Dr. Mike”, also known online as DocMikeEvans, it won’t be quite so surprising. In recent years, he and his talented partners have produced some of the most memorable animated YouTube videos about your health that you’re likely to see. One of them was featured in an early episode of Orange is the New Black on Netflix and quickly reaped 5 million views.

That one is called 23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?, and explains to viewers that if you devote just half an hour a day to exercise, even something as undemanding as walking the dog, statistics say you are likely to live longer, reduce your biggest health risks and have a much better quality of life. Other videos in the series tackle such topics as diet, alcohol, stress management and even flatulence. What has made the videos such a hit is Mike’s ability to turn medical research into pithy stories in an engaging “whiteboard” production style, in which he narrates while a sped-up hand draws clever pictures and words to highlight what he’s saying.

Along the way, Mike has also advanced patient education by launching a “Mini-Med School” for the public, founded a health media lab and a film company, been a medical expert on television and radio and served as a doctor at the Sochi Olympics. Oh yes, he was also a social entrepreneur.

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So perhaps it was inevitable that Apple would approach the self-described “geeky doctor” in Toronto to help with the user side of its medical plans. “Apple is very interested in health,” says Evans, speaking from its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., where he has worked since the fall of 2016. He notes that most patients only see their doctor two or three times a year. “But the real game in town is the other 362 days a year,” he says. “Medicine could use an improved user experience and Apple is the world leader at that.”

Building from health studies around the world, Mike is focused on prevention. “The most interesting part is trying to figure out how we can nudge people towards positive change. We’ve learned it’s less about your life and more about your week, more about small changes than big ones, less about pure motivation than changing your choice architecture, and less about perfection than about consistency.”

Apart from the interactive health advice and coaching that can be offered on iPhones and iPads—not to mention by asking Siri—smartphones and smart watches also have sensing capabilities, such as the human pulse. Already, Apple has begun trials of an app for the Apple Watch that monitors atrial fibrillation, a form of heart palpitation that greatly increases the risk of stroke. “This is a good example of where we can use a sensor and combine it with some education to prevent a really bad thing from happening,” Mike says.

“I’m sure we’re just at the beginning of that.”

But as a venerated Bay Area band once said, it has been a long, strange trip to Cupertino from Hamilton, where Mike grew up in a family of HSC grads. They include his father John ’55, a prominent Hamilton lawyer and “an inveterate yarnspinner”, according to a warm 2013 profile in the Toronto Star, plus his uncle Richard ’62, his siblings Tony ’83 and Roz ’87, and, later, his step-siblings, twins Avia and Zeke Peacock ’94.

A K-13 Lifer, Mike especially remembers a lot of travelling with the basketball, soccer, football and hockey teams, as well as “some wonderful times, some great teachers—it was a place with a rich tradition where you felt taken care of.” He especially recalls creative Grade 5 teacher Sandy Sanderson, who had a Volkswagen Beetle cut in half in his classroom for students to explore, and P.S. Waters, also in the middle years, “kind of old-school strict but I really felt was in my corner”. But he readily asserts, “certainly my science teachers wouldn’t have projected a career in medicine for me.” He also fondly remembers Michaele Robertson (then Callahan), a vice-principal and English teacher, who mentored him in writing. “Basically, she is the reason I did a BA in English lit at McGill.”

“Medicine could use an improved user experience and Apple is the world leader at that,” Mike says.

His diverse sporting career also continued. He went to McGill to play soccer, but soon switched to rugby and toured Europe twice. He was selected to the Quebec team and then to the national team. A “super-lucrative” job in the High Arctic gave him some savings, and after graduation, with little idea what he wanted to do, he headed to Asia. In those couple of years, he trekked in Nepal, got to the Mt. Everest base camp, stayed in an Buddhist monastery in India where he high-fived with the visiting Dalai Lama—“he’s a very mirthful guy”— and volunteered in a leprosarium in Calcutta, where he worked for Mother Teresa. There, for the first time, he thought about medicine.

But he wasn’t there yet. He came home and launched an environmental consulting company to help offices go green—which took off. In the meantime he started the long application process for medicine at McMaster. He only went to the interview because his office booked it when they couldn’t contact him (he was backcountry skiing). After his acceptance, it took “a bit of soul searching” before he sold the company and went to med school.

Qualifying in family medicine, he left Hamilton in 1996 to work in Toronto hospitals, first the Toronto Western for 16 years, then St. Michael’s, both teaching sites for the University of Toronto where he mentored students and residents. “I was a pretty typical academic doctor, and then my career took a turn when we launched the Mini-Med School for the public,” he says, describing a health information program that included prominent speakers and, at times, actors portraying medical situations. “I learned three things: The public didn’t want medicine dumbed down, they wanted powerful storytelling, and I loved making that happen.”

His flair for the dramatic also led him into media, with regular appearances on Citytv and CBC television and radio, notably “Fresh Air” on Radio One. And at St. Mike’s in 2011, he helped start the Health Media Lab to combine media talent and medical knowledge. Tossing around ideas with his longtime

Mike at St. Mike’s in 2016

friend, Toronto filmmaker Nick de Pencier, the two came up with 23 and 1/2 hours using the whiteboard approach, and brought in illustrator Liisa Sorsa, whose hand really does do the visuals. A series of topics followed, as well as a second, live-action series, Locker Room Doctor, in which Mike uses his love of sport to focus on men’s health. In 2014, Mike was awarded the McNeil Medal from the Royal Society of Canada in recognition of his outstanding ability to promote and communicate science to the public.

Then Apple got in touch. “It was a tough decision because of the ripple effect on my family,” he says. “But we thought it would be neat to have a different chapter in our lives.”

His wife, Sue Edwards, is a physician as well, and was involved with medical education at the University of Toronto. Eldest daughter Willa is at McGill and doing a third year in Copenhagen, middle son Finn has a hockey scholarship to Princeton, and youngest son Angus is doing high school in the Bay Area while playing hockey for the San Jose Jr. Sharks. While most of his time will be spent at Apple, Mike has also joined the clinical faculty at Stanford University and will keep his hand in practising medicine part-time.

And the long, strange trip? Mike says he may have been a late bloomer academically but, “I think my meandering has helped when I finally figured out a direction. I was with some parents who were driving their kids into career-oriented degrees, and I enjoyed pointing out it was my arts degree that made my science career.”

He offers this advice to the coming generation: “Hey, if one HSC student reads this and can see that their path might not be as direct as everyone around them thinks it should be—and that maybe that variability is what can make a career—I’ll be happy. I am still figuring out what I am going to be when I grow up.” Good prescription, Dr. Mike.

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ineering Her Success Jane Gowing ’81 has built a standout company in a male-dominated field

By Barbara Wickens Photography by Kevin Patrick Robbins

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I IN 2012, JANE GOWING ’81 TOOK WHAT SHE DESCRIBES AS A “LEAP OF FAITH.” The president and CEO

of Gowing Contractors Ltd. tendered—and won—a bid for a construction project that was four times bigger than any of her 15-year-old company’s previous undertakings.

Based in St. George, Ont., Gowing Contractors already had a well-established reputation as specialists in water and wastewater treatment engineering projects.

Most of its contracts for municipalities throughout southern and central Ontario were in the $5-million to $10-million range.

Government infrastructure spending is largely counter-cyclical, so contractors like Gowing, whose bread and butter is public works, had been busy with projects launched during the 2008 recession. But with the economy improving, governments were cutting back and the work was drying up.

There was a notable exception: Toronto had issued a tender for its $150-million Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant project. Securing a $40-million portion of the multi-year venture has kept the Gowing workforce near its peak of 40, with work expected to continue throughout 2018.

So a leap of faith it may have been, but it wasn’t a blind one. It was a calculated risk and it wasn’t the first. Since starting her business, Jane has demonstrated both an entrepreneurial spirit and no-nonsense business acumen. Considered a leader in her field, she’s earned numerous kudos and appeared frequently on Profit magazine’s annual list of Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs of the Year.

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Having a strong support system has been invaluable, Jane says, especially when times were tough. Chief mentor and cheerleader is her mother, Pamela, who Jane says is the smartest person she knows. Early on, Pamela had some advice that Jane still takes to heart.

“She told me to never go to a meeting unprepared,” Jane says. “Credibility is always a challenge; don’t make it a bigger challenge. People will take you seriously once they know you know what you’re doing.”

The support and encouragement she received at HSC also played a key role in Jane’s early development. The school’s philosophy of fostering each student’s personal growth meant it was an ideal environment for a girl who excelled in sciences and math. “Everything starts with a good foundation,” she says. “I enjoyed the smaller class size at HSC and a number of teachers made a positive difference.”

Born in Ramsgate, England, Jane was 5 when her family settled in Hamilton.

Initially enrolled in the local public school, she switched to HSC after her parents disagreed with the public school principal. They wanted Jane, an advanced reader by Grade 1, to accelerate; he refused, saying they should not have taught her to read as that was the school’s job.

At HSC, Jane completed Grades 2 and 3 in one school year, Grades 4 and 5 the next. After living outside the catchment area for several years, she returned to HSC for Grades 9 to 13.

In the meantime, her parents had divorced and her mother was now married to Charlie Bennett. His firm, Bennett Mechanical Installations Ltd., introduced Jane to the field of water and wastewater treatment and it was while working there part-time during high school that she discovered she loved building things. That led her to enroll in water resources engineering at the University of Guelph.

Already familiar with the contractors’ side of the construction industry, Jane applied upon graduation to various engineering firms. But with that market in a slump and nobody hiring, she returned to Bennett, working full-time as a project manager and estimator. In 1998, she started her own business with her stepfather’s support, launching Gowing Contractors from her home basement.

It expanded rapidly in the first three years, prompting a move to new facilities. Today, they include the St. George headquarters and a nearby fabrication plant that makes piping spools both for Gowing Contractors’ own use and for other contractors and clients. Pamela, who worked with Charlie until he died four years ago, now assists Jane.

Early on, Jane had expanded her portfolio with engineering consulting work. She recently qualified as a Professional Quantity Surveyor (PQS), an internationally recognized designation based on academic qualifications and approved industry experience. Quantity surveyors can provide a range of services, including cost estimating and forecasting, and advise on other issues such as procurement processes and contractual matters. “For some in the consulting business, having PQS after my name legitimizes what I’ve been doing all along,” Jane says.

In 2015, she was one of 40 leading entrepreneurs invited to participate in that year’s QuantumShift. With a curriculum from the Ivey Business School, the rigorous five-day seminar focuses on topics like leadership, strategy and innovation aimed at helping participants shift their business to the next level.

As with the PQS designation, being a QuantumShift Fellow affords ongoing opportunities for professional development. Jane traces her commitment to keeping her skills and knowledge current to lessons and values imparted at HSC. “It’s not enough to just show up,” Jane says. “What effort did you did you put in? You have to learn how to learn.”

“Being on a team teaches you skills you need to succeed in business,” she explains.

“You learn how to set goals and work toward them as a group while managing your time effectively. You learn how to be a good loser and a good winner.”

Jane also credits HSC with introducing her to varsity athletics. “Mrs. Jones threatened to fail me if I didn’t join the field hockey team,” she says with a wry smile. She went on to play both field and ice hockey at university, earning a Rookie of the Year nomination.

While golf is now more her style, she maintains her enthusiasm for team sports.

She even raised funds to sponsor hockey player Jennifer Botterill for three years leading up to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Jane was motivated to act after learning there was a huge discrepancy between the fundraising for the women’s Olympic hockey team and the salaries for the men’s team.

Botterill, who assisted on the winning goal in Canada’s 2-0 victory over the U.S. for the gold medal, showed how her appreciation by sending Jane a Team Canada jersey signed by everyone on the women’s team. The framed jersey now hangs in a high-traffic corridor in the head office.

Jane at her facility in St. George, Ont.

Team principles influence the business side as well. Since 2013, Gowing Contractors has hired co-op students and, while reviewing resumes, Jane looks beyond grades for extracurricular activities. “Being on a team teaches you skills you need to succeed in business,” she explains. “You learn how to set goals and work toward them as a group while managing your time effectively. You learn how to be a good loser and a good winner.”

Women are studying engineering in ever greater numbers, but Jane notes that most gravitate to the consulting engineering firms or project management roles. She wishes that more women would instead take on construction.

Although the sector is still largely male dominated, it can offer rewarding careers.

For women who are reluctant to try it—or any profession where men still outnumber women—Jane has some wise counsel: “Believe in yourself. Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do it. Do what you love.”

Spoken by someone who has clearly taken her own advice.

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Shredding It Ben Gulak ’07 has been a successful inventor since his days at HSC

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By Nora Underwood Illustrations by Drew Shannon

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Photo courtesy of Benjamin Gulak

B BENJAMIN GULAK ’07 is many things, but traditional is definitely not one of them. What he is is a risk taker, an entrepreneur, an artist, a science nerd, a designer—a renaissance man.

Before the age of 20, Ben had been to three international science fairs, had an invention on the cover of a major magazine, won $1.25 million on Dragon’s Den, and been accepted into one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

It all started for the Milton, Ont., native in his grandfather’s workshop. “He was an engineer, so I grew up in a creative, inventive environment,” says Ben, whose childhood hero was inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla.

“As a kid I used to build neat projects on the weekends. I was able to have ideas, and we could build them together.”

What turned a weekend passion into a life-changing experience was his Grade 9 Science Fair. Ben’s grandfather was sick and died partway through that school year, leaving the workshop to his grandson. “I remember thinking, if I was going to spend a couple of months working on a project, it would have to be something interesting,” says Ben. His “Magnets in Transportation”—a train built out of fridge magnets that shot around a track using accelerator coils—earned him a place at the International Science and Engineering Fair. “After that, I was hooked.”

Ben at the Edison Awards

Each year after, Ben went to the international fair with a different project, but what he created for his final year there was on a whole different level. The previous summer, Ben and his mother had accompanied his father on a business trip to China.

“I was in the epicentre of everything bad happening in the world, environment-wise,” says Ben. “I looked out my window and it was a sea of gas-spewing and pollution-causing vehicles.”

It was there that Ben decided to do something green for his final project. “I wanted to inspire people that being green could be cool,” he says, and the Uno was born. Ben’s idea was to combine the coolness of motorcycles with the green technology of Segways. The electricpowered unicycle-type vehicle was unveiled for the first time in 2008 and won a Top 10 prize on Popular Science’s list of best inventions for the year, where it was featured on the cover.

Ben appeared on CBC TV’s Dragon’s Den and won $1.25 million in venture capital toward further development of the Uno. He was also a guest on The Tonight Show to talk to Jay Leno about it. He deferred his acceptance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for mechanical engineering for a year to form his SPRING 2018 | 37

“I feel like artificial intelligence is the direction everything will be going. Being able to be a part of what shapes the future and understanding the new technologies as they come out is critical.” company, BPG Motors, and continue work on the Uno. Ben did build two more prototypes, but in the end the Uno wasn’t practical enough to be commercially successful.

The young designer had more success with the DTV Shredder, a portable all-terrain vehicle with Segway-type handlebars and tank-like treads that can tow up to 400 pounds. The idea, developed with co-designer Ryan Fairhead, was to make something for the younger generation that combined the freedom of skateboarding and snowboarding with the power of off-road vehicles, such as ATVs and snowmobiles. “The action sport industry is a side passion of mine,” Ben explains. With the Shredder, Ben was hoping to create a brand-new sport.

He completed the first prototype of the Shredder in 2009, then set up a manufacturing facility in China and saw it right through production. He knew he was really onto something after he posted videos of the prototype online: in the first day, the video accumulated 50,000 hits; within the week, a million. Since then, he’s sold about 2,000 Shredders internationally and has been certified to sell in North America. Last year, Ben received a gold Edison award for design and innovation for the Shredder. “It took a little longer than I had envisioned,” he says, “but all the goals I had set up for myself I had achieved.”

Not surprisingly, Ben’s recent life has taken a couple more interesting turns. An avid art collector—and a fan of pop art—Ben decided he should try painting himself two years ago. Within 18 months, Ben was showing his work at Art Basel in Miami and is already in nine galleries internationally. “Getting into galleries is very difficult,” he says, though he acknowledges that the skills he learned doing business have served him well. “Every project and everything I’ve been involved with my entire life have given me tools to help me moving forward.”

38 | HSC REVIEW

And right now, he’s circled back to MIT to finish his degree, though now he is focusing on computer science and data and statistics analysis. “I feel like artificial intelligence is the direction everything will be going,” says the freshman, who is about 10 years older than his classmates. “Being able to be a part of what shapes the future and understanding the new technologies as they come out is critical. And I’m lucky I’m at the best university in the world for these technologies.”

Though the path Ben has taken has certainly been, by almost any definition, unconventional, he has had the support of his family for every twist and turn along the way. “I definitely was not an easy child by any means,” he says. “In school, I didn’t care about my grades—I just focused on my science projects.

I was winning all these awards and I’m pretty sure I was getting C’s at HSC. I

Photos courtesy of Benjamin Gulak

got into one of the best universities in the world and I dropped out to start a business. It wasn’t all smooth sailing.”

Sometimes the stress of his choices carried over into the family, but he says his parents always believed in him and encouraged him whenever he had a “weird idea.” Adds Ben: “I absolutely couldn’t have done it without their support.”

Still, even the young man who has proven capable of succeeding at whatever he puts his mind to has to work late most nights in the school library getting back up to speed on complex math. “I was nervous about coming back but at the same time I have much better focus as to what I want to do,” says Ben. “I’ve been challenged in ways I haven’t been in a while.” He adds: “When I was younger, it was my projects I was passionate about. Now it’s actually school work, and that’s a first for me.”

Ben after riding the DTV Shredder (above); the sleek Uno (right)

SPRING 2018 | 39

Top Honours

Top Honours

2017 – 2018

40 | HSC REVIEW

Standout People

A look at the individuals who received HSC’s top honours in the past year

Top Honours

The Alumni Award of Distinction

The HSC Alumni Award of Distinction Program celebrates the achievements of alumni in our community who have lived the aspirations of the Hillfield Strathallan College Vision and developed into global citizens who have in effect bettered the world around them.

A Global Volunteer

Lawyer Colin McNairn ’56 has dedicated himself to literacy and development

Photo by Jeff Kirk

WHILE SOME PEOPLE MAY ASPIRE TO EXCELLING IN JUST ONE FIELD, Colin McNairn has had

a life full of personal and professional accomplishments in various spheres. In addition to a distinguished career in law, he has devoted considerable time and energy to literacy and international development work, both at home and abroad.

“I’ve always believed it’s good to change gears from time to time,” Colin says. “Instead of getting into a rut, I want to keep my mind open.”

After completing graduate studies in law at Harvard University, Colin began his career as a law professor at the University of Toronto.

From 1975 to 1999, he practised with Fraser Milner Casgrain (now Dentons Canada), a leading Canadian law firm. He subsequently served as chair of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, one of several provincial and federal bodies that have benefitted from his expertise.

His involvement in international development work began early, when he was a summer volunteer with Crossroads International in Zimbabwe. Next he volunteered with CUSO (now Cuso International) as a tutor in law at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Colin McNairn ’56 For over four decades, Colin has been associated with CODE (Canadian Organization for Development through Education), an NGO that focuses on advancing literacy in regions of the world in greatest need. He has taken on a variety of short-term assignments, primarily in Africa, and has served CODE in numerous of capacities, including chair. Since 1994, he has been Honorary Life Counsel to CODE. In 1996 he received the Lewis Perinbam Award for International Development, which honours Canadian volunteers dedicated to improving people’s lives across the globe. In 2009, CODE named him the recipient of its Director’s Award for Literacy Promotion in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the cause.

While he was practising law, one of his partners introduced him to Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber. Colin facilitated setting up a foundation in the diplomat’s name that annually awards the prestigious Lionel Gelber Prize for the best book on international relations. Colin went on to serve as a director of the foundation for 10 years.

Colin is himself a published author. His first works were standard texts, he notes. “These were practical legal tomes – I had to be very technical.” He revealed considerably more literary flair in two well-reviewed books on the English language aimed at general audiences: In a Manner of Speaking: Phrases, Expressions, and Proverbs and How We Misuse Them, published in 2015, and Sports Talk: How It Has Penetrated Our Everyday Language, which came out last year. To quote from the latter book, Colin swings for the fences.

SPRING 2018 | 41

Top Honours

The Alumni Hall of Excellence

The Alumni Hall of Excellence celebrates alumni who embody and promote the ideals of Hillfield Strathallan College. By honouring this distinguished group of alumni, the College continues its tradition of inspiring others through the legacy of alumni who have come before them.

The Quality of Life

Dr. Christopher Chung ’93 is a pioneer in women’s pelvic surgery A STRONG DESIRE to help others has led Dr. Christopher Chung to excel in a rarefied branch of medicine. Since 2013 he has worked as a staff surgeon in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at City of Hope, a top U.S. cancer treatment and research centre in Duarte, California. There he is pioneering methods to improve the quality of life for women with pelvic floor disorders or gynecological cancers.

As a urogynecologist—a specialist with training in both urology and gynecology— Christopher takes a unique approach to reconstructive surgery, using minimally invasive techniques and the patient’s own tissues.

This means no mesh or other foreign materials are needed to treat pelvic floor disorders and patients are left with no visible incisions.

42 | HSC REVIEW

It’s rewarding work, he says, because the wellbeing of his patients often improves significantly. “Pelvic floor disorders can be very detrimental to daily living,” he explains. “Some women are so embarrassed they give up socializing.

I want to restore their quality of life. And sometimes the improvement can be seen immediately after treatment.”

Christopher is also leading the way in using similar surgical procedures to advance pelvic cancer surgery. His methods are so new, in fact, that he says they are not yet covered in medical textbooks.

It’s a long way from when Christopher arrived in Canada from Taiwan in 1990 speaking little English. While math was not a problem—“it’s just numbers,” he says—he struggled with biology. He was considering a career in architecture, but the exceptional support he received at HSC enabled him to pursue his first love, medicine.

“I’m so grateful to my teachers,” he says. “They were always so patient and so willing to give me the extra time and help that I needed.” As a result, Christopher learned not only everyday English, but became proficient in the specialized terminology he’d eventually need for a career in the medical sciences.

Today he is a published researcher, with numerous papers to his credit.

Christopher is an assistant professor at City of Hope who, in addition to teaching medical students, offers free seminars to the public. In medical school, he was involved in community projects such as providing free medical exams for the homeless. He continues to provide service to California’s underserved rural population.

Photo by Sheri Geoffreys

Christopher Chung ’93

Top Honours

Academic Passion

Sarah Wakefield ’91 is an expert on how people make change

Photo by Frank Zochil

A FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY COURSE THAT SARAH WAKEFIELD CHOSE almost at random has taken

her down a career path that has turned out to be as fulfilling as it was unexpected. She had enrolled in the communications program at Ottawa’s Carleton University, which also required her to take an elective. She chose a geography course primarily because of what it didn’t have—there was no mapping component. Says Sarah, “I’ve just never been that interested in maps.”

Still, she had grown up close to the land in Ancaster, where her mother had cultivated a large garden. That inspired Sarah to develop a wide range of interests, from food production to how people experience their environment.

So when the geography course pointed to a way to combine her passions, she switched majors.

Upon graduation, Sarah returned to Hamilton and earmed both an MA and PhD in health geography at McMaster University.

Today, Sarah is an associate professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto. She is also director of the undergraduate Health Studies Program at University College and is past chair of U of T’s Social Sciences, Humanities and Education Research Ethics Board.

As a tenured academic, she divides her time among research, teaching and service. The latter two usually require her to commute from Hamilton, but her hometown often features in her research.

Sara Wakefield ’91 Sarah’s expertise is in social geography, a discipline that examines not only where people live, but how they fare in given locations. Her research is wideranging, from environmental sustainability to food security to community development. The underlying motif is Sarah’s academic passion for social activism and understanding how individuals and organizations can work together to effect social and political change.

Sarah recalls her appetite for such issues being whetted at HSC. “Dr. Moffatt was a strong influence,” she says. “He was very interested in the environment and one time he led a march to City Hall. As my first piece of activism, it was a formative event.”

The ethnic diversity she first encountered at HSC also exerted a positive influence. “There were lots of opportunities to learn from one another,” she says, adding that the study of geography also includes learning about others’ experiences.

She’s especially enthusiastic about a current project, the Neighbourhood Action Evaluation. Funded by independent third parties, Sarah’s team is exploring how the City of Hamilton’s Neighbourhood Action Strategy is working, and how to make it better. The findings will be shared with stakeholders, policymakers, other academics and the public.

SPRING 2018 | 43

Top Honours

Top of the Table

John Hedden ’69 is a generous leader in the financial services industry AS FAR AS JOHN HEDDEN’S CAREER HAS TAKEN HIM , his thoughts have never been far

from HSC. “I’m grateful that the lessons and values I learned attending Junior and Senior School helped me to develop into the person I am today,” says Hedden, who in return is a steadfast supporter of his alma mater.

Give his achievements, that’s saying a lot. During 40 years of leading a team of financial and insurance advisors at Bryan and Hedden, he has become widely recognized as a leader in his industry.

One sign of his professional success: he has reached the highest level of membership in the Million Dollar Round Table, a worldwide association open only to the highest achievers in the financial services field. For 23 years, John has been one of only 100 people in Canada to achieve MDRT’s Top of the Table International status.

At the same time, he has worked tirelessly to promote both the professionalism and the interests of his industry. He is a founding and current member of the Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting, a 25-year member of sister organization the Financial Advisors Association of Canada, or Advocis, and has been an active participant in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

John’s ongoing involvement with HSC attests to his gratitude for the role 44 | HSC REVIEW

it’s played in his life. An annual donor, he’s also an avid proponent of the Alumni Golf Tournament. He served on the HSC Board of Governors for 10 years, chairing the Development Committee. He was also the first chair of the Board of Trustees.

In the community at large, he has served as a hockey convener and coach through the Hamilton Kiwanis Club and was also on the Leadership Board of the United Way for three years, soliciting major gifts from donors.

John also served on the board of the Hamilton Humane Society for 20 years, chairing it for two terms while he oversaw the society’s move to its current site on Dartnell Road. In relocating the animal shelter, John had to draw on all his diplomatic skills.

“We had to work with all three levels of government,” he recalls. “We had to take everybody’s opinion into account, but in the end I was able to persuade Governor General Romeo LeBlanc to attend the opening.”

Photo by Frank Zochil

John Hedden ’69

HSC Lifers 2017

Top Honours

Every year as we celebrate the graduating class at HSC, we say goodbye to a group of students we know as “Lifers�. These students joined the College at the start of their education and have been part of the HSC community throughout their school years.

Front Row (left to right)

Photo by Eric Bosch

Sarah Williams-Habibi Daniela Dejong Amelia McNiven Fontani Megan Emanuele Samantha Josling Emily Maradin Laura Watson Stvon Sormaz

Second Row (left to right) Kenj Marshall Tom Nenninger Sasha Paikin Arundhati Nair Rachel Dickenson Leah Ippolito Megan Herring Sam Poloniato Alexander Rufenach

Third Row (left to right) Nick Lovric Kristian Canaris Michael Russell Noah Losani Eric McConachie Elias Larazabal Thomas Vacsi Jacob Kennedy

Back Row (left to right)

Dinesh Moro Quinn Clanachan Renato Mesaro Christian Kwiecien-Delaney Liam Younger Lucas Bauer Nick Dekort Conrad Boris

Top Honours

Singular Students

The Alumni Association Leadership Award scholarship is given to one male and one female Grade 9 recipient who embodies the College’s Mission, Vision and Values, especially through outstanding leadership potential.

Kaitlyn Treleaven Yre House

KAITLYN TRELEAVEN joined HSC in Grade 6 and

Pine House

quickly took advantage of the opportunities the College had to offer. She was provided with early leadership positions which she eagerly embraced. Throughout her time in Middle School she performed well academically and in Grade 6 was honoured with the Nina Devillers Award for all-around achievement. She also won the highest General Proficiency Award in both Grades 7 and 8.

Kaitlyn is passionate about sports, especially team-based activities. She has been a member of the soccer, volleyball, flag-rugby, track and field and cross-country teams. In Grade 8, she was an Yre House Captain and enjoyed making connections with the younger students and faculty. She participated in house games and volunteered at College-wide events.

Outside of school, Kaitlyn plays rep soccer, participates in adventure running and enjoys spending time with her family. In the Senior School, she has joined the cross-country and CAIS soccer teams. She has applied to be an ambassador, takes enriched courses, feels excited to be part of an exchange to France and looks forward to getting involved with many other College events and opportunities.

“I am not only grateful for this recognition, but for the teachers, coaches, faculty and alumni who made it possible for me to be here,” she says. “These people devote their time and effort with the intention to help us learn and succeed. They care about each of us and are passionate about what they do. I am proud to be a student at HSC and hope to continue to share this enthusiasm with others.”

THROUGHOUT HIS TIME in both the Junior and Middle Schools at HSC, Myles McArthur has excelled academically, proved himself as an accomplished athlete and musician, and held many leadership roles. In Middle School, he captained the rugby, soccer and basketball teams to several consecutive CISSA Championships, culminating with the U13 CAIS National Soccer and Basketball Championships. As House Captain, he led Pine House to win the coveted Gibson Shield.

Throughout his Middle School years, he won many academic, music and athletic leadership awards, including the Lucas Junior Sports Award in Grades 7 and 8.

Myles has maintained a high academic standing and is proud to represent HSC in math competitions such as the Math Olympics. As an HSC Ambassador, he enjoys the opportunity to promote HSC within the community. He was also an active participant in the Middle School concert and jazz bands and enjoys playing the saxophone and piano.

Outside of school, Myles is busy playing competitive soccer and provincial basketball.

In the Senior School, Myles continues to develop his leadership skills as a member of the CISSA U16 soccer team and the Senior Jazz Band. “HSC has provided me many amazing experiences,” he says. “In Senior School I look forward to exploring new opportunities that permit me to grow as a leader and to give back to the HSC community.”

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Kaitlyn Treleaven

Myles McArthur

Photos by Frank Zochil

Myles McArthur

Top Honours

Great Grads

The Colin McNairn ’56 Alumni Award of Distinction Graduate Scholarship is given to one or more departing students who epitomize the nature of service and leading by example.

Kassandra Hill ’17

Laura E. Watson ’17

AMONG HER EXTENSIVE VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES,

LAURA GRADUATES from HSC as an honour student with advanced standing in both French and Math. Her community leadership and deep volunteer ethic are evident in her roles as a leader of Hats for Humanity—a club that creates hats on looms for the homeless in Hamilton and for newborn babies at McMaster Children’s Hospital—and as a peer tutor.

Laura wrote: “I remember becoming involved with service initiatives at a young age, which later developed into a lifelong passion for helping others.”

Serving on the HSC Me to We Committee since Grade 9, and as co-chair from Grade 11, Laura emphasized education for children in Africa. “Together, we worked tirelessly to raise enough money to build a school in Kenya,” she wrote in her candidate essay. “Through hard work and dedication, we were able to raise in excess of $15,000. Our school room would be built and stocked with school supplies!”

The Montessori Prefect in 2016-17, Laura maintained standing on the Honour Roll from 2013 and received the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for volunteering.

In addition to her sterling academic and volunteer record, Laura was a key contributor to the rugby team, the Jazz Ensemble, the Wind Symphony and the Wellness Club.

Laura wrote: “I will always be involved in supporting community initiatives at a local and global level, regardless of where I attend university.”

Photos by Frank Zochil

Wellness Leader

exemplifying HSC’s commitment to joy and purpose, Kassie has focused particularly on the concept of wellness.

From 2015, she served as the Wellness Prefect. She planned and executed 2017 Wellness Week, oversaw the wellness “takeover” of HSC’s Instagram and Twitter accounts and created Wellness Wednesdays.

She spearheaded the wellness room in Senior School’s Student Success Centre, providing “a designated wellness space for faculty and students to enjoy,” as she wrote.

Her dedication to community extends far and wide. Kassie attended the Global Young Leaders Conference in 2016. She fundraised for and participated in a service trip to Kenya in 2016, which resulted in a boys’ school opening in January 2017.

As co-chair of the Me to We Committee, Kassie organized HSC Mini We Day in 2017, presented at the World Issues Conference and organized the Masquerade Ball.

A stalwart on the rugby team, she also delved into the dramatic arts as a performer in the musicals Cabaret and Grease and as a volunteer at Senior Music Night and Arts Night.

Holder of The Centennial Graduating Class Award, Kassie wrote: “I have always enjoyed leadership and taking initiative, so I am sure that no matter where life takes me, I will continue to carve my own path and constantly work towards bettering the world around me!”

Passionate Volunteer

Kassandra Hill

Laura E. Watson

SPRING 2018 | 47

Top Honours

Perfect Prefects

These students are this year’s leaders across the College. Here’s what they’re into.

Stephanie Gerend

Favourite musician

Darius Mahdavi

Favourite musician

Sofia Beraldo

Favourite musician

Future ambition

Favourite school lunch

Future ambition

Favourite school lunch

Future ambition

Favourite school lunch

Favourite subject

Sciences⁄Writer’s Craft

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Favourite subject

Favourite subject

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Nikola Tesla

Communications Technology⁄ Writer’s Craft

Sophie Dyment

Favourite musician

Karling Frankel

Future ambition

Favourite school lunch

Future ambition

I love kids, biology and helping people, I’ll see where that takes me :) Biology

Anastasia Drakos Service Prefect

Future ambition Surgeon

Favourite subject Calculus⁄Biology

Favourite musician Ed Sheeran

48 | HSC REVIEW

Mumford and Sons

Sausage⁄Pierogies

Marc Kielburger

Favourite school lunch

Chicken burgers

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Queen Elizabeth II

Head Boy & Academic Prefect

To have a part of the school named after me

Wellness Prefect

To inspire others in their pursuit of wellness and happiness

Favourite subject

Physics⁄Kinesiology

Khalid

Christmas lunch

Shawn Mendes

Vegetarian tacos

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Oprah

Media & Public Relations Prefect Graphic designer

Arts Prefect Doctor

Favourite subject Biology

Favourite musician Frank Ocean

The Weeknd

Veal cutlet

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Misty Copeland

Favourite school lunch Grilled cheese

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Alexander McQueen

Photos by Frank Zochil

Head Girl & Middle School Prefect

Top Honours

Karishma Mehta

Junior School Prefect

Future ambition

To make a difference in whatever I do

Favourite subject

Math⁄Communications Technology

Jayden Sohal

Montessori Prefect

Future ambition Fund manager

Favourite subject Calculus

Favourite musician Flume⁄Kid Cudi

Favourite musician Lauv⁄Post Malone

Favourite school lunch Grilled cheese

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Ellen Degeneres

Favourite school lunch Veal cutlet

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Nelson Mandela

Nikhil Natarajan Chapel Prefect

Future ambition Entrepreneur

Favourite subject Communications Technology

Favourite school lunch

Chicken burgers

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

DJ Khaled

Christopher Neibert

Favourite musician

Future ambition

Favourite school lunch

Male Athletic Prefect

To become better, like Morgan Freeman without the cool voice

Favourite subject History

Favourite musician Drake

Julia Watson

Favourite musician

Avery Webber

Future ambition

Favourite school lunch

Future ambition

Spirit Prefect

Corporate lawyer

Favourite subject Calculus⁄ Communications Technology

Beyoncé

Chicken burgers

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

The Obamas

Female Athletic Prefect ¯\_(·o · )_/¯

Favourite subject Biology

Favourite musician

A$AP Rocky⁄Lil Uzi Vert

Chicken burgers

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Tupac⁄Basquiat

Favourite school lunch

Kale + cranberry salad

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?

Prince Harry

Khalid

SPRING 2018 | 49

Giving

2017 – 2018

$1.5 million

A New Place to Play and Learn

Giving

You can help HSC raise $1.5 million to revitalize its playgrounds with an awardwinning design

50 | HSC REVIEW

OUTDOOR PLAYGROUNDS ARE TRULY SPECIAL PLACES. Learning should always be an adventure for students, and on playgrounds, adventure and self-discovery occur spontaneously. Moreover, children report being happiest at play, and literature from many disciplines supports the idea that play is biologically based and crucial to kids’ personal development. As Maria Montessori put it, “Play is the work of children.”

At HSC, our playgrounds have served as marvellous learning spaces for many years and for hundreds of alumni, and we are grateful for the enriching experiences they have given our children. Now, the time has come to give these spaces a new kind of creativity and bring them new life.

Our playgrounds are in eager need of revitalization.

As you may know, HSC must be in compliance with the Canadian Standards Association for children’s play spaces and equipment. The College is required to do daily, monthly and annual inspections of our outdoor play areas. During a recent inspection, it was determined that a number of the outdoor play structures were no longer suitable under the Education Act and will need to be replaced. Moving toward natural structures that powerfully stimulate a child’s sense of wonder and discovery will ensure that the needs of our students, as well as compliance with various laws, are effectively met.

New evidence also suggests that children should be kept “as safe as necessary” while playing, not “as safe as possible”. Free play—or play involving risk-taking—is the kind that helps children test their limits, problem-solve, develop relationships, and learn to adjust to their environments, while also helping them build their understanding of societal roles, norms and values.

As a member of the HSC community, you know first-hand the impact that playgrounds can have on a young person’s life and education. Whether you are an HSC alum or parent or both, you surely agree that kids today need quality outdoor spaces more than ever.

In this spirit, we have proudly launched The Playground Project to raise the necessary funds to create and install vibrant new playground and outdoor learning spaces throughout our campus.

We are looking to you, our HSC parent and alumni community, to help raise the $1.5 million needed to take our timeworn playgrounds into the future. After all, for many of you, these spaces are your old stomping grounds—who better

Giving

Our playgrounds have served as marvellous learning spaces for many years and for hundreds of alumni.

Now, the time has come to give these spaces a new kind of creativity and bring them new life.

to help create new adventures for generations of HSC alumni to come? And for parents new to HSC, quality playgrounds ensure that your children continue to have an active life of exercise and fun outdoor experiences.

HSC parents and alumni are already stepping up to the challenge. When Jill ’84 and Adam ’84 Bienenstock heard about The Playground Project, they were more than ready to get involved. After months of hearing proposals from prominent local designers, HSC has chosen their organization, the award-winning Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds Inc., to facilitate this endeavour.

“HSC shared their vision with our team, and Jill and I saw this as an opportunity to make a difference for our school,” says Adam. “We are thrilled to play a role in this piece of HSC history.”

In fact, even before they are built, HSC’s new playground proposals have been honoured with an Award of Excellence for Design, presented to Bienenstock at the 2017 Landscape Ontario Awards last January.

HSC is facing an invigorating time in our future, and The Playground Project is off to a brilliant start. For our school to fulfill its vision of creating a new outdoor world of possibility for our students, we need our parents and alumni to step forward and give their support. With your help, we will create the new and exhilarating outdoor play spaces our children deserve.

If HSC has made a difference in your life, please make a difference for our school. Come play with us! Give your support to The Playground Project today by visiting www.hsc.on.ca/playgroundproject.

Photo by Frank Zochil

Students and teachers look forward to using the awardwinning designs of Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds

SPRING 2018 | 51

Passages

Lives Lived

Hillfield Strathallan College notes with sorrow the passing of these graduates and faculty

ALUMNI

WILLIAM HOLTON YOUNG ’35, successful businessman and former

CEO of the Hamilton Group Limited, member of many boards including McMaster Medical School and Stratford Festival, graduate of Royal Military College in military science, husband of Joyce (née Ferrie) ’43, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, memorialized as caring most about “his family, his community, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and a good martini”; former HSC Board Chair, Patron, Builder and HSC Corporation life member. On April 21, 2017, at 98.

ALEC ZEALAND BEASLEY ’37, longtime Hamilton lawyer and proud

descendant of Captain Edward Zealand, who sailed with Lord Nelson and was killed in 1869 by a runaway heifer on James Street North, husband of Anne (deceased) and father.

On Jan. 28, 2018, at 96.

GEORGINA “BABS” WILLMOT WOODS (NÉE YOUNG) ’38, HSC Head Girl

(1937-38) who drove 18-wheeler trucks for the Women’s Army Corps in the Second World War, mother of five with husband Blakeney (deceased), grandmother and great-grandmother, sister of William Holton Young (above); HSC Corporation member. On March 30, 2017, at 95.

LETITIA MAY FRASER (NÉE JACKMAN) ’40, former social worker in

Hamilton and Oakville, wife of Arthur Wallace (deceased) and Craig Fraser (deceased), mother, grandmother and great-grandmother; HSC Corporation former member.

On Feb. 14, 2018, at 94.

ELIZABETH CAMPBELL (NÉE SOMERVILLE) ’43, rancher, mother of seven sons raised with husband John Campbell (deceased) on their spread near Black Diamond, Alta., philanthropist, Boy Scout leader, grandmother and great-grandmother, described as “gentle yet rascally” with licence plate WKT WCH and cattle brand WWW for Wicked Witch of the West.

On June 27, 2016, at 89.

ERIC PHILLIP (PHIL) MUNTZ ’46, professor emeritus of astronautical engineering at University of Southern California, holder of 25 patents, honoured Fellow of two academic societies, lectured around the world (and once flew with pilot wife Jan from Los Angeles to Europe in their Cessna 310), CFL halfback for Calgary Stampeders (1956) and Toronto Argonauts (1957-60), father and grandfather. On Aug. 1, 2017, at 83.

52 | HSC REVIEW

Passages

RICHARD “DICK” MAXWELL WOOD ’46, engineer who spent most

his career travelling the world for Cambridge-based Babcock and Wilcox Canada Ltd., served on the Cambridge Memorial Hospital Foundation board, husband of Susan, father and grandfather. On Dec. 31, 2017, at 87.

EDWARD PALONEK ’78, entrepreneur, philanthropist, founding donor of Hamilton’s Eva Rothwell Resource Centre (named for his mother), major donor to its Larry Paikin Literary Express project, founder of FoundMoney.com (now defunct) to track unclaimed assets, appeared twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show, former husband of Angela and father. On June 14, 2017, at 58.

MICHAEL MOES ’54, longtime investment executive for RBC and

TD Asset Management, early member (1972) of the Burlington Oldtimers Hockey Club, husband of Susan (née Peacock) ’57, father and grandfather. On July 8, 2017, at 79.

JOHN MCCOLL BRADEN ’59, environmentalist, languages teacher, world traveller who worked in Cameroon and Japan, author of a book on how to read Japanese and the recent e-book Because the Future Matters: Let’s Stop Letting Modern Economics and Our Energy Addiction Ruin Almost Everything!, husband of Judith Wolfe, father and grandfather. On June 23, 2017, at 75.

SYDNEY V. HAMBER ’62, longtime Hamilton real estate executive, husband of Jane (née Hamber) ’68 and father; former HSC Governor. On Sept. 12, 2017, at 74.

WILLIAM “BILL” GEORGE VALLANCE ’64, retired Stelco employee, husband of Betty, father and grandfather. On March 25, 2017, at 73.

ALAN EDWARD BOWLER ’66, landscape architect whose work is visible in green spaces throughout the greater Hamilton area, passionate scuba diver and instructor, husband of Janet, father and grandfather. On Aug. 19, 2017, at 70.

MURRAY SCOTT DOBBIE ’66, executive with Dobbie Industries

who grew up in the Dobbie family’s former textile business in Cambridge, husband of Cynthia and father. On Oct. 23, 2017, at 70.

DOUG JACQUES ’76, retired teacher with Halton District School Board who spent his career in Outdoor Education and particularly the Bronte Creek Project leadership program for Grades 11 and 12, husband of Valerie Atkinson and father.

On Oct. 12, 2017, at 59.

PETER TOMLINS HOGARTH ’84, owner of multiple Tim Hortons

and Wendy’s franchises, philanthropist active with the Hogarth Family Fund as well as the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation, husband of Maggie and father. On May 18, 2017, at 52.

ROBERT ROSS-TODD ’96, longtime employee of Pioneer Family

Pools, loved paintball and gaming. On March 1, 2018, at 40.

LEAH BATTISTA ’15, talented, outgoing student in third year at Queen’s University majoring in Global Development with minors in Spanish and Business, passionate about singing, foreign languages and writing, first-year scholarship winner for highest mark in Spanish, recipient of Ontario Gold Medal in voice from Royal Conservatory of Music in 2008, Dean’s list, dancer, foodie, active volunteer (including Me to We), known as kind, empathetic and funny. On Nov. 4, 2017 of an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism, at 20.

FACULTY

BRYAN WYLIE, teacher of Latin, English and drama at HSC from

1969 to 2002, Head of Senior School from 1983 to 1993, Senior Master from 1993-2002, innovative educator whether in the class, on the stage or conducting walking tours in Venice (“He made it all so vivid,” remarked TVO’s Steve Paikin ’78 in 2000), winner of the 1989 Marshall McLuhan Distinguished Teacher Award, known in retirement for work with Philpott Memorial Church and a highly successful Hamilton lecture series on arts and culture. On Jan. 30, 2018, at 70.

JEFFREY CAMPBELL DIGBY ’77, Brantford-born lumber executive

for Macmillan Bloedel and Weyerhauser in Vancouver and Athens, Georgia, black belt in Taekwondo, husband of Lolita.

On Aug. 30, 2017, at 58.

SPRING 2018 | 53

By the Numbers

Where the Grads Are Canada 40 27 26 3 21

118

The Class of 2017 has gone on to study at top institutions across North America

The Breakdown 15 15 13 13 12 6 6 6 5 5

Western University Wilfrid Laurier University McMaster University University of Toronto Queen’s University Dalhousie University McGill University University of Waterloo University of Guelph Gap Year

4 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1

Brock University Carleton University Ryerson University Sheridan College University of Ottawa Acadia University George Brown College Mohawk College OCAD University University of British Columbia

Local View

United States 54 | HSC REVIEW

Business ⁄ Commerce

The Head of College’s Award for the Head Boy: Haydn Wain-Lowe

The HSC Gold Pin: Lukas Bauer, Kenji Marshall, Dinesh Moro, Sasha Paikin, Laura Watson

4

The Breakdown

1 De Paul University 1 Parsons School of Design 1 Stanford University 1 Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Fine Arts

Awards

The Governor General’s Academic Medal: Ruihan Wei

ON

Science ⁄ Health ⁄ Mathematics

Engineering ⁄ Architecture ⁄ Technology

2017 Alumni Award of Distinction Graduate Scholarship: Kassie Hill & Laura Watson

QC

BC

Arts ⁄ Liberal Arts ⁄ Arts & Science ⁄ Humanities ⁄ Social Sciences

The Helen Simpson Memorial Award: Arundhati Nair

NS

USA

Majors

The HSC Silver Pin: Temi Akintan, Mark Belostotsky, Tom Campbell, Chloe Castell, Christian Kwiecien-Delaney, Daniela DeJong, Anastasia Drakos, Ryan Fiotakis, Raj Gogia, Kassie Hill, Max Horne, Sahana Kapur, Elias Larrazabal, Keegan LeBlanc, Nicholas Lovrics, Emily Maradin, Eric McConachie, Karishma Mehta, Arundhati Nair, Nitai Pandith, Kenneth Payyapilly, Brooke Rowland, Alexander Rufenach, Allison Snopek, Cate Steblaj, Allison Stephen, Haydn Wain-Lowe, William Younger, George Zhou The Hillfield Strathallan College Parents’ Guild Award: Victoria Altmann The Alway-Bremner Tray: Lukas Bauer

The Mary Kelday Memorial Cup: Kassie Hill The Vallance Cup: Laura Watson The Award of Dedication: Dinesh Moro The M.G. DeGroote Cedar Award: Nicholas Lovrics The Maiero Family Lifer Award: Thomas Nenniger The ‘Carpe Diem’ Award: Barry Chen The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award: Lukas Bauer, Sydney Hobbes, Emily Maradin, Sasha Paikin, Rachel Struthers, Christine Sutcliffe, Sarah Williams The Centennial Graduating Class Award: Stephanie Gerend & Julia Watson The Jim Campbell Memorial Award: Nico Corrado The John A. Carruthers Tray: Christopher Neibert The Margaret Kim Memorial Prize: Chloe Castell The Lieutenant Governor’s Community Volunteer Award: Thomas Lim

The 2018 HSC Golf Classic is SOLD OUT!

HSC GOLF CLASSIC Don’t miss your chance to participate as a sponsor.

Check out www.hsc.on.ca/golf2018 for remaining sponsorship opportunities.

The HSC Alumni Association Presents the 22nd Annual HSC Golf Classic Tuesday, June 26, 2018 Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club www.hsc.on.ca/golf2018

IN APPRECIATION OF OUR 2018 TOURNAMENT SPONSORS Title Sponsor

Dinner Sponsor

Registration & Lunch Sponsor

Hole In One Sponsor

Golf Cart Sponsor

Retired Faculty Breakfast & Foursome Sponsor

Gift Sponsor

Cocktail Reception Sponsors JDI Cleaning Systems (John Simpson ’75) National Bank Financial (David Simpson ’73) Judith King-Siganski ’62 Whitley Wodehouse Chartered Professional Accountants (Herb Wodehouse ’71) Taylor Leibow Accountants and Advisors (Mark Hunter ’88) Brownlow Partners Chartered Accountants (Brianne Barton ’03)

Hole Sponsors Clearcable Connects Bryan & Hedden Financial Capo Industries Ltd. ESB Lawyers LLP Global Fuels Inc. MNP LLP Mortgages.ca Putting Green Sponsor Waterdown Collision Driving Range Sponsor TD Wealth Management Mulligan Sponsor Pearson Dunn Insurance

ATTENTION ALUMNI Join us for the day to participate in all that Homecoming has to offer! It’s an excellent opportunity to visit campus and reconnect with the old friends and cherished faculty, making for a truly memorable weekend.

REUNION CLASSES It’s your turn to celebrate and reminisce as we honour those classes ending in ‘3’ and ‘8’.

You don’t want to miss out on this year’s Homecoming celebrations taking place Saturday, May 12. With a full day of fun events, athletic games and entertaining activities happening, there promises to be something for every age and interest. Check out what’s planned for alumni, students, parents, alumni parents, former and current employees, their guests and families!

HSC 2018

For complete event information including online registration, visit: www.hsc.on.ca/homecoming.

Please note, to assist us in our planning, registration is required for some Homecoming events.