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Welcoming the associate principal By Roy Yang After an extensive search, St. George’s has appointed Brian Lee, current Director of Student Services, as next year’s Associate Principal of Student Life at the senior school. The announcement was first made public to students in the senior assembly, who answered with a roar of applause. “It was one of the most meaningful moments of my career,” said Lee. “The reaction and approval from the students means that I’m having some impact on the boys and that I’ve built a [special] connection with them.” According to Lee, the faculty’s reactions were also supportive, with many congratulating him on his new promotion. “I’m very excited,” continued Lee, “and energized by the direction our Head, Dr. Matthews seems to be taking our school. Having the opportunity to even apply [for this position] was an honor. And in a school with a faculty and administration of this calibre, this is not something that I take for granted. The 2012-13 administrative structure will have two Associate Principals – Mr. Bill Collins, responsible for Academics and Mr. Brian Lee, responsible for School Life. The new senior school principal is still waiting to be named. Lee currently oversees University Counseling, Personal Counseling, Learning Resources, Services and Charity and Health Services. For Lee, working as the Director
of Student Services, the largest department at Saints, was crucial in preparing him with valuable administrative skills. Having had the opportunity to work with such large number of faculty and staff was “definitely a valuable experience that moves in naturally with this new role [as associate principal].” As the Associate Principal of Student Life, Lee will be responsible for character education. Whereas Collins focuses on the academic education of the boys, Lee will be responsible for what he calls the “student life piece … supporting the development of good character.” As associate principal, Lee will oversee the Advisor program, Heads of Grades structures, Personal Counseling, Health Services, Service Learning and the Clubs program. Also, with Paul Cohee’s departure as Head of Student Administration and Standards, Lee will work alongside the Heads of Grade in the management of that office. Though he had some dealings with escalated discipline issues as a counselor, Lee looks forward to the administration aspects of discipline. “[I see it as] a wonderful opportunity,” said Lee, “to take a preventative approach and reframe discipline situations as an opportunity for character development.” “I can’t overemphasize the fact that kids make mistakes, and part of growing up is learning from those mistakes. When a student
makes a bad judgment, there’s a teachable moment there. It’s about helping kids become better people, helping them understand the ramifications of their actions. And if they can understand that it is part of the developmental process, there’s a growth opportunity there.” Though the role presents new challenges, it also gives Lee a chance to work more closely with the senior administration team and various faculty members, especially the heads of grades, the leaders of the school. In Lee’s view, the heads of grades bring a “wealth of experience” that he hopes to draw from and apply in the “best interest of students”. To Lee, it is crucial that
all decisions are based on “a student-centered approach and that every decision is made in consideration [of] that aspect.” The location of Lee’s new office is undecided, but he would prefer it to remain where it is. According to Lee, his office is at the junction of a high traffic area of students and staff where there are plenty of opportunities to connect. Because Lee will no longer be involved in university counseling, which was a huge opportunity for meeting and bonding with various students, he desires any means to stay close to the students. “One of the things that I don’t want to happen is to lose connections with students. As a university counselor I had the opportunity
to really interact with students on a daily basis and that is what I enjoyed the most. Because I won’t have an assigned caseload, I want to make sure I can still connect with the kids. By remaining in this office, I can at least still physically bond.” The Director of Student Services first started out at Saints as a personal counselor and a computer science teacher. Over the years, Lee also took on the role as a university counselor, fulfilling both positions at the same time. “Securing the Associate Principal role is nothing that I imagined or hoped for when I first came to Saints,” said Lee, “but it is an opportunity I will certainly try to make the most of.”
By Paul Redelmeier Boy-O-Boy speaker Dr. Thomas Lickona acknowledged February 15 that the discussion of controversial topics that had filled his presentation would have been better reserved for health and career education classrooms where they could have been poured over more thoroughly. The speaker, whose presentation to students that same day at the middle school assembly ignited controversy across the student body and faculty, remained adamant, however, that his presentation’s con-
tent had been both appropriate as well as necessary. “My thought here was that the advisory groups are in place for that discussion to take place,” said Lickona. “And I’m hoping,” he added, “that faculty will continue that conversation.” The advocation of abstinence rather than contraception had been the source of much of the controversy, with some in the school disputing the effectiveness of this teaching. His prolife statements on abortion also aroused similar sentiment. A man of faith, Lickona maintained, however, that these points “were not intended to be religiously based. [Rather, he] was just trying to make the case that it’s in the best interest psychologically, physically, and so on for students not to be involved in an activity that puts them and others at risk.” On the latter issue, he maintained that he simply “wanted to get it into these students’ heads
that … if a student does get a girl pregnant that they don’t want to be thinking of abortion as just a quick fix.” Lickona was insistent, furthermore, that the issue of abortion remained relevant in a discussion on character, saying that “respect for life is about as fundamental as you can get [as] all other values build on that.” Lickona also provoked controversy by talking, towards the end of his presentation, about faith, in particular, one’s relationship with God. “What I was saying in my presentation was that you shouldn’t necessarily believe in God, but if you do you might want to deepen that.” Many students, however, didn’t see it that way, a view that Lickona also recognized, saying, “You can still say legitimately ... [that] I did it in a hurried way, that I did it in a way that didn’t really do justice to other perspectives or nontheistic views ... I can see how people could take offense.”
Ironically, Lickona admitted that his normal approach to dealing with controversial issues would have been to examine them “in a fuller way where people have a chance to ‘dial off’.” Lickona agreed that, as an educator and as a psychologist, there are more advantages to taking a slower approach “where people have a chance to unpack [the issue] and consider it from multiple perspectives.” The psychologist acknowledged, moreover “that it can be problematic, that people can shut down … and so it can be counterproductive and indeed it may have been.” The school was quick to act on the issue, with Brian Lee, the school’s Director of Student Services and future Associate Principal of Student Services addressing the issue immediately. “I was a bit uncomfortable about some of the things he was saying and so … I let him know about the appropriateness of some of those
comments and the environment that we’re in and that you know moving forward, that that piece is not one that he has to extrapolate on because there’s no real purpose in terms of why he’s here,” said Lee. The result of this were two later talks — first to parents that night and later to students from grades 11-12 — which featured none of the contentious content that the first did. Lee was adamant, however, that Lickona’s content concerning character education was excellent in terms of helping the school bring character education to the forefront of its curriculum, a fact evidenced by the very positive feedback, generally speaking, that the school received from the evening presentation. “Bringing him in for that piece to help our school move forward made a lot of sense, and still does make sense.”
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He stressed, furthermore, that, though the school had been blindsided by his comments that first assembly, it had done its due diligence in its background check. “We spoke to other schools that have brought him in,” said Lee, “[and the] report from them was that he was excellent.” Ultimately, concluded Lee, the controversy gave the school “an opportunity to discuss the importance of being critical and analytical when you receive information from anybody … and it was very much a learning opportunity from
that end.” Susan Matheson, who was part of the Boy-O-Boy steering committee that organized the series, concurred, defending the school’s decision to bring in the speaker. “I think one of the benefits with bringing in speakers is that sometimes you’re exposed to opinions or values or thought processes that are very different to your own,” said Matheson. “…It sometimes is good to challenge our own concepts and this may be one that is very controversial … that may have ruffled
a few feathers. [However,] I think that’s great, because what it does is it makes us all talk about it, it makes us all think about it, and it makes us form our own decisions.” The unorthodox approach was prompted, according to Lickona, by the giant repercussions at stake in a conversation that concerns sexual health. “Whatever the good intentions are of the young men in the audience, some of them will slip into sexual involvement, some will get a girl pregnant and many of those will
be tempted to pressure her into abortion,” he added, “and so at the risk of not doing it in the ideal way, my preference would not be to do only that, my hope would be that that would be the start of the conversation at St. George’s — not the end.” Much of the rest of Lickona’s talk was spent on ideas more easily associated with character: mainly, the need for integrity and honesty in education. These ideas and issues were ones that Lickona argued were especially relevant, considering the
remarkable increase in the number of single parent households, as well as the surge in the amount of violence in the media that today’s youth consume. The school’s new strategic plan is, according to Lickona, a step in the right direction by making character education a priority. Lickona added, however, that increasing student responsibility in school affairs, particularly as far as the student council is concerned, is essential.
year. It will be an emotional time at the end of June 2012, when Patel assumes his new role as headmaster of Brentwood College School, located on Vancouver Island. Patel, his wife Wendy and their two children, Matali and Antara, says
they will miss Saint Georges, and the wonderful friends and staff members “Saint Georges will always have a special place in my heart,” said Patel. Patel took the offer to move to Brentwood College because it means that his daughters can attend a boarding school, and it will provide a challenge, which Patel loves. “I have very mixed feelings about Mr. Patel leaving; he is a very close colleague and a fantastic school principal and the best principle in the country. His shoes will be incredibly hard to fill. I feel sad about his departure, but on the other hand I’m really happy for him,” said Dr. Tom Matthews, Headmaster of Saint Georges. Patel started at the school in September 2001, after eight years at Shawnigan Lake School. He initially took the role of administrative master and dealt with the disciplinary issues of the school. In 2006, Patel assumed the role of principal of the senior school.
Patel was given this position for only one year, but the board kept him on because of his performance. As principal of the senior school, Patel’s goal was to keep up the great work the school was doing in becoming a happy, industrious school and becoming more community orientated. “Patel would also provide visions for the school, and he would make sure that those visions were put into place,” says William Collins, Directory of the support staff Patel also played a key role in the development of the new strategic plan. His significant contribution was a great indication of his leadership skills and his visions for the school in the future. Although Patel rarely had time for his friends and family, he would make time to attend almost every Saint George’s camp, sport and athletic event, award ceremony, musical performance and much more. For his dedication and perseverance, he earned the respect of anyone with whom he came in contact.
Patel was driven to strengthen the school’s culture of respect, and he was keen to see every student gather his confidence in the environment of Saint Georges. Anyone who comes in contact with Patel will see that he carries himself in a professional manner, and he encourages students to set and maintain the same high standards he does. Patel, however, will always maintain an excellent sense of humor and he will never hesitate to give advice or an encouraging slap on the back to students. “I will always have strong emotions towards Saint Georges, and there will always be a special place in my heart for the school,” said Patel. Bud Patel provided not only a wonderful energy at the school, he contributed in many ways to sports programs and the new strategic plan. He was an excellent asset to the school community, and he will be missed the staff, faculty and students of the school.
St. George’s campus Discplinarian of Saints to to be redesigned depart for Stratford Hall a master plan in the coming
Farewell and goodluck to Mr. Patel
By Connor Dyson Bud Patel was not only a principal of Saint Georges School; he was a leader, friend, role model and one of the most down-toearth people you will ever meet, but unfortunately he will be leaving us at the end of the academic
By Connor Dyson On January 24 through 26, Saint Georges conducted a meeting with two Architectural Firms, to discuss the future physical aspects of both the Senior and Junior School. The two firms, Fielding Nair International, and Graham Hoffart Mathiasen are in a partnership together for this contract, and on the January 24, both companies are coming in for a “discovery visit,” says Neil Pillar, the Head of Operations. “Saint Georges is embarking on a facilities audit and campus master planning undertaking,” says Pillar. In the discovery visit, F.N.I and G.H.M conducted meets with
over a period of 10 to 20 years and it will result in multiple phases of development. “There will be some pretty significant changes in the physical aspect of the schools,” says Pillar. Saints publicized a request for a proposal and there were 10 candidates in the running. The school picked the top 5 nominees and interviewed all of them for the contract, but there were two stand outs and they were F.N.I and G.H.M.A. Fielding Nair International is an International Firm based out of the US, and they provide service in over 36 countries. They have currently worked on three schools in Vancouver: The Lord Kitchener School, Acadia Road
New Director of Advancement to fundraise 1.5 million
SPY GUY FAEEZ AHMED
Every day, as you walk the halls of St. George’s, a former night-time vigilante, trained in a 162 ways of killing, marches by your side. Some say he’s better than Batman, others say he taught Batman, and a third, group says he is Batman. The fourth group say, who is this Batman of whom you speak. A secret agent whichever way you cut it, he has moved from tackling international gangsters based in Monaco and elephant poachers in Nairobi., saving the world daily from Russian Oligarchs and Ne’er-Do-Wells alike, to tackling the problems of daily St. George’s students. He is our very own Spy Guy. Q: It’s a Sunday morning. I’ve realized that I have forgotten homework at school. How do I sneak in and retrieve my homework? A: Well there are several methods in breaking and entering. One of my favorite methods is called the Chameleon Sneak. For this you will require a laser glasscutter, suction cups, a basketball and a computer. Before you enter the premises, you will need to hack the school’s security camera to find out the exact carpet that is used near your locker. Once you find this out, use CIA sewing techniques and construct a suit made of the exact same carpet. Now, once you have all of your equipment, go to your school and wait in your car (preferably something sporty in case the situation gets sticky) and wait until nightfall. When nightfall arrives stealth walk to a window nearest your locker. Attach your suction cup to the window and cut a 15-inch diameter hole into the glass; this should provide enough space for you to crawl in through the window. Sneak in through the hole and immediately flatten yourself against the carpet. Now slowly crawl to your locker. Once you have arrived at your locker, take out your laptop and activate a preloaded static virus, which will shut down the security cameras for at least five seconds. In this time get your homework out of your locker. That’s it! Mission completed! Now crawl out of the window hole, put the glass back in place and put the top down on your sports car as you speed home to do ten hours of algebra.
By Roy Yang The senior school’s current Head of Student Administration and Standards, Paul Cohee, will leave St. George’s next year and become the next Director of Stratford Hall Junior School. Cohee, who has worked at Saints for five years (his first year at the junior school and then four at the senior school), is “absolutely excited” for his upcoming role. He reasoned that a director’s role would require greater administration skills, and found this to be the main incentive of the Stratford offer. Stratford Hall is one of 2500 schools worldwide that supports the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Cohee, who has worked at the IB based Mulgrave School, is drawn to Stratford Hall by its educational philosophy. Cohee says the biggest reason he’s excited is the opportunity the new role affords him to grow his administrative skills and take the lead role at a school. As Stratford Hall is a younger school, Cohee says he looks forward to focusing more on the future, in contrast to Saints, which is “tradition rich and history strong.” Cohee anticipates “creating a history rather [than] building on it.” At St. George’s, Cohee has been a disciplinarian but also a Japanese teacher and a basketball coach. Through the years, Cohee says he has deeply appreciated the Saints’ experience. “I enjoyed working with the boys, whether it was basketball, PE, or Japanese. [St. George's School] is a great school, has great faculty and staff. It has a really friendly and warm student body, probably more warm that most people expect from an all-boys school. It’s an accepting environment, and I really enjoyed seeing that in the hallways.” Cohee has had many accomplishments over his five years at Saints. While he considers “even surviving” for five years as an accomplishment, one of his most significant achievements was the implementation of social responsibility in the Saints’ community. “I’m very proud of the initiation of the social responsibility piece that comes out of this office. [Prefects for Social Responsibility] started last year, and that was a big thing for us. My hopes for the initiation were to show that there’s another aspect of discipline. I wanted to debunk the myth of discipline, and that we are just trying to help by allowing boys to be socially responsible. But they [the boys] see it as a negative place.” Having to constantly deal with the consequences of misdeeds, Cohee says he often found staying positive a challenge. For Cohee, keeping a positive frame of mind while constantly handling difficult situations was the “most challenging aspect of the job.” While he leaves a large role to fill, Cohee wishes nothing but the best for the students and faculty. “My hope is that Saints will continue to take a very fair approach to all students, because everyone makes mistakes, and help those students to learn from the mistakes and soldier on. I want the students to keep striving, and be the best they can be. It has been great working with everyone here. The staff and faculty here were just wonderful and professional.” The Saints community appears to feel likewise. In the words of Dr. Tom Matthews, headmaster of St. George’s, Cohee was “thorough, organized, and great to work with.”
staff, teachers, student councils and students and discussed the positive and negative aspects of the school. They investigated aspects of the physical plant that inhibit learning. Once the companies had all of the information and ideas they needed, they proceeded with the building plan also combining it with 21st century school design, in which F.N.I specializes. “I’m very excited about the campus master plan, because it will be in the best interests of the student,” said Dr. Phil Webster, Head of Grade 10. There is yet to be a budget or a fixed number, but it is estimated that it will be a significant development of the school. The master plan will take us
High School, which they worked on with G.H.M.A, and Sir James Douglas School. The local firm, Graham Hoffart Mathiasen Architects will be conducting the majority of the design draw up, and when it’s time to start the construction, they will be the ones working directly with the tradesmen. “The firm itself has done work in approximately 500 schools in the Greater Vancouver area,” says Pillar. To deal with the expense of remodeling and rebuilding the schools, there will be multiple fundraises to help pay for the construction. The person overseeing these fundraise will be the new Director of Advancement.
By Faeez Ahmed St Georges—This January, the school welcomed Adrienne Davidson, who has become the new Director of Advancement. Davidson has been working in the field of advancement for eight years. Prior to working at St. Georges, she worked at an independent school in Hamilton, Ontario, with Dr. Tom Matthews, the current headmaster of St. Georges. Before transitioning into the field of education, she worked in marketing and sales. “There’s a lot in similarity between sales and marketing and what I do here,” Davidson commented. The advancement office has three main responsibilities: communications, alumni relations, and fundraising. In terms of communication, Davidson stated, “ My office would be the one that looks after publications, the website, e-communications with parents, that sort of thing.” For the responsibility for Alumni Relations, the advancement office has already taken new steps, as Davidson attests, “We have just hired a new staff member…
Mr. Chris Blackman… he will be joining the advancement office as the head of alumni relations.” Fundraising is the most significant component and “is probably the one that people tend to associate most often with advancement,” says Davidson. Families pay tuition for their sons to attend the school, but the fees do not cover the entire cost of their education. Fundraising is necessary to pay for items such as new buildings and to provide additional finances for the operational budget. St. Georges raises money from donations, and provides tax receipts for eligible donations. As an independent school, it is registered with the Canada Revenue agency. Similar to a hospital foundation or charity, the school is considered a non-profit organization. Davidson notes, “Fundraising is a really big piece of what we do but it doesn’t happen in isolation.” She focuses on building close ties and relations with the school community and the community at large. Donations may come from the students’ families and from alumni.
One of the long-term goals for fundraising is creating a campus master plan. The master plan reviews the school’s facilities and programs, and analyzes what is effective and what requires improvement. This is a lengthy process that examines issues that may be present over the next five to 20 years. Davidson believes that the school might have a tentative campus master plan by the end of this school year, and a better idea by the end of next September. While Davidson is unsure of how big the master plan will be, she is certain that “it will support the current strategic plan: One Boy at a Time.” However, her focus is on immediate fundraising needs. St. Georges has a goal for raising money for the annual giving campaign at the school. The monies will go towards the unrestricted fund, an important reserve that will be used in emergency situations. Davidson states that this year’s goal is to raise $1.5 million, and that currently the school is about half way to achieving that goal.
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Sharepoint, a new approach By Paul Redelmeier In it’s continual revamp of the school’s technological infrastructure, the IT department has begun to roll out SharePoint, a social media platform set to allow students and teachers to share a variety of information electronically, across the Internet. “SharePoint,” said Roger Pimenta, the head of the school’s IT department, “is the equivalent of the collaborative suites that are available today. So on the internet you’ve got Facebooks and Twitters and MSN Messengers and Gmails — all that kind of stuff — and SharePoint is kind of the Microsoft conglomerate, the consolidation of all those different tools in one package.” The SharePoint experience, continued Pimenta, revolves around what is called a ‘My Site’, the equivalent of a Facebook homepage. From there, students will build and create a social presence over the course of their stay at St. George’s. This social presence, only accessible by members of the St. George’s community (staff, fac-
ulty, students and parents), will then give students the ability to go ahead and share information, contacts and work done in classrooms, amongst other things, with teachers and fellow students. Though much of this could be theoretically provided by one of the Internet’s multitude of social media programs, legislation in BC and across Canada barring the use of Facebook for classroom use necessitated the inclusion of an internal, social media solution accessible only to the community. SharePoint, which started as a simple document repository before it expanded into its present form, has, however, hit some stumbling blocks as the IT department prepares to roll it out to the entire community. The department, admitted Pimenta, “…[was] kind of hoping it’d be faster than it has been.” Currently it has been implemented and taken to pilot where it has been opened up to some faculty, with the current timeline set to introduce it by the start of next year, with the necessary training also available.
The current iteration of SharePoint features two distinct options, as far its implementation is concerned. One is to standardize, allowing users, in this case the school community, a fixed set of templates that provide the “same look and the same feel for every person using it, [with] the other [being] that [the IT department] could go ahead and leave it wide open so that people could actually do their own development … creating their own templates and their own colours and things like that.” After talking to several individuals from other schools, the department decided, at least for the time being, that it would elect to go with the latter in the students’ cases. The skill set needed, continued Pimenta, towards using SharePoint, is a bit more robust than for other social media platforms, and as such “the stumbling block that [the IT department] is hitting right now is just getting people — getting their skills — up to a point where they’re more comfortable with SharePoint.”
Even once SharePoint is rolled out, there remains some challenges. Chief among these is “really getting people up to speed with it and getting people to use it.” Pimenta, however, is confident that within five years, the program “will become the LIS: the learning information system that a lot of other schools employ where teachers have classrooms [but] they’re [also] online and they can update homework, make assignments, keep in contact and communicate with students dynamically so that [SharePoint becomes] a real-time, mobile app.” As this scenario comes to fruition, he continued, existing services around the school, which provide more or less the same services, namely, Wikispaces, will be slowly phased out. “We are being careful though that we’re not introducing something or any kind of service that doesn’t at least offer what the existing services we use do,” added Pimenta. The phasing out of these services will mean that the school will not be renewing its existing
Wikispaces licencing agreements, set to run out in six to 12 months. As such, the switch is expected to save the school money (though Pimenta declined to disclose the official figure), given that the SharePoint platform had been, much like the Outlook Web App, already negotiated and paid for by being part of the school’s existing licencing contract with Microsoft. “[And while] there are some additional costs: up-front costs like development and framework costs,” continued Pimenta, “beyond that it really becomes a management cost. These overhead costs are in part attributed to the increased tax that the program will place on the network. However, Pimenta was adamant that “…from an infrastructure stand point … it’s not going to cost us any more, it doesn’t have that much of an environmental impact because we run everything pretty much in the school on a virtual platform … [and as such] it actually wasn’t that hard to implement, it was just more of a programmatic shift.”
School’s wind ensemble may compete on national level By Rohan Khara The wind ensemble is an elite group of the top 35 music students at St. Georges School. The music department has been working hard for the last 15 years to find the right formula for a top music group and they have now found one. Organized by six students, the wind ensemble’s goal is to play the highest possible level of music with the school’s best musicians. The wind ensemble rehearsed
for two terms last year, and one term this year, because the group only performs in term one and term three. There is an audition to join the wind ensemble because it is intended for only the top players of the senior school. Marko Rnic, in an interview with The Echo said, “The whole idea of wind ensemble is for really outstanding students to play really outstanding music.” Rnic, the only adult instructor, practices with the group every Wednesday and from time to time
they perform at various assemblies or concerts. The wind ensemble has recently been invited to Musicfest Canada, which is a national competition set to take place in Ottawa this year. Although nothing is finalized yet, the wind ensemble hopes to travel to Ottawa in May to perform alongside 300 other ensembles from all over Canada. Last year when the wind ensemble participated in the nationals they achieved the gold standard in
the highest possible class, which was the equivalent to university level music. Musicfest Canada is the only festival that the wind ensemble has participated in so far; however, Rnic expects more opportunities to come up in the future. Rnic also added that the competition aspect of the wind ensemble is secondary, and simply playing a lot of high-level music is the main goal. “We’ll do the competitions as they come up,” said the music teacher.
The wind ensemble works in a similar way to a symphony orchestra, in that each individual instrument has its own unique part. This allows different and more advanced music to be played. Philip Monagan, a member of the wind ensemble, said, “I participate (in the wind ensemble) because it is a great chance to play with very talented players.” Monagan explained that he plays in the wind ensemble for enjoyment, but he also gets better and improves at the same time.
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New school-store expansion plan
By Kevin Lee The St. George’s school store has new expansion plans for the school year. Besides changing the school logo and switching suppliers, the store plans to have a broader range of merchandise for a wider customer base. Ashwin Benny, the manager of the school store says, “We plan to raise the bar and create a set of standards for our store.” She will introduce a whole new range of products not aimed at the students, but instead at other members of the Georgian community. “We hope to get that gift for mum, and more items for alumni and other Georgians,” Benny says as she shows me a Saints hoody from the Kukri sporting company. “A mom wouldn’t want to show up at a recital wearing one of these. Instead, I’m thinking of something fancier, more silky.” In general, she hopes to expand the store to “target a broader audience”. Benny is “ecstatic” about the fact that the new senior expansion is “actually a store” and is very pleased about the layout and the location. However, she does have
some exceptions. “When I walk into a store, I cringe when things aren’t folded.” She explains that the new standard for clothing organization will allow more focus on the presentation aspect and less on stockpiling their already “overstocked” inventory. Benny says, “Presentation is very critical to our image and we need to dedicate more time to keeping things sharpened and crisp. A major problem is that we have items that are overstocked. Things like sweaters and coaching merchandise are often left sitting on the shelves because few people buy them. The senior school store plans to organize an online store in the near future. “It’s definitely being considered,” Benny said, “and will most likely incorporate both the junior and the senior school stores.” The junior and senior school stores are separate purchasing entities with two completely separate shipping addresses. Although purchasing from the same companies, they stock inventory separately but will on occasion transfer merchandise that can be
lighters,” Benny says, gesturing to a set of flamboyantly neon highlighters still inside the package. Benny is very happy about the numberd customers that come by everyday and provided one of her
visions for a possible future for the store: “I want this store to be more like a Georgian Gift Shop, with not only items that cater to the student and teaching body, but to the parents, alumni, and members of the St. George’s.”
Students break school, national The YPI: winning money and International copyright laws for best charity initiative
Scholarship eligibility drastically altered by Ministry of Education
By Paul Redelmeier Citing unused scholarship money caused by declining participation, the Ministry of Education has decided to eliminate the optional provincial exams that had previously awarded these grants. “As of the 2011-12 school year,” read the ministry’s press release, “scholarship criteria will shift to focus on students’ performance in grades 10, 11 and 12 required provincial exams.” Where in the past, students needed to write both the required and optional grade 12 provincial exams to become eligible for a scholarship, this year’s will be doled out solely based on the mandatory exams. Instead, students will need an A (86% or above) in one exam, a B (73% or above) in three other exams (one must be the English 12 Provincial) and an English 12 course mark of at least 73% to qualify for a scholarship worth $1,000, with the top-20 students in the province (based on their exam percentage) receiving an additional $1,500. The change has been warmly received by faculty. “I think 100 percent it’s going help [students] … because people weren’t taking advantage of the optional exams at all,” said Hayley Jacobs, the Grade 10 counsellor, adding, “You’ll probably end up finding that many more students at Saints will end up attaining scholarships than before.” The shift, the latest in a string of changes made by the ministry over the past decade to the province’s standardized examinations — 2004 saw the removal of all but one mandatory grade 12 provincial exam (English 12) and the creation of the current transitional system— is one that the ministry hopes will see the scholarship money reaching “the maximum number of B.C. students.” Much like the previous change, which was made to give students “more flexibility and choice in their course selection,” this reflects a changing of the times rather than a rebuke of the previous system. When post-secondary institutions changed their admissions criteria, no longer using the optional exam marks, the past qualification didn’t make sense anymore. “We’ve modernized our provincial scholarship criteria to better assist and reward students in their pursuit of higher education,” added Minister of Education George Abbott in the press release. Some students however, particularly those who had already taken their grade 10 and 11 provincials, were unhappy with how much emphasis the changes put on the Grade 10 exams. For these students, retakes are possible, though St. George’s is not responsible for them. “The retakes are all done by the ministry,” continued Jacobs, “and so if you’re wanting to take rewrites you basically do your rewrite at the next provincial sitting.”
transferred on the other campus. “The senior store caters more to senior students’ needs. There are different stationary items, different clothes, there’s no more swimming t-shirt, no more track shirts…there’s erasable high-
By Harmanjot Uppal With students downloading movies, music applications and games illegally, the IT department plans to revoke internet privileges for those who continue to break rules. Roger Pimenta, head of the IT department, sent a mass email in early December to every member of the school community to remind people that illegal downloads are prohibited on school grounds, and that there will be consequences for those who continue. “We know members of the school are illegally downloading materials so the size of the problem becomes irrelevant when measured against something as
serious as theft. Even a minor theft is a serious issue which won't be tolerated by the school community,” Pimenta added. He stated that the IT department is taking further steps to identify those who continue to download illegally. Those students will no longer be able to use the school’s Wi-Fi, which is the only network available on campus. Those people will not be able to access the Internet until school faculty and administration hold a discussion. The discussion will only happen after the student asks for his Internet privileges back. Pimenta said that rules that were being broken by students were school regulations, as well as Canadian and International
Copyright Laws that specifically protect owners’ rights to protect their intellectual property. Pimenta added that the school could potentially be fined for anyone who breaks Canadian laws. The size of the fine depends on the quantity and type of the material being downloaded. He also said that besides the monetary fine, the school’s reputation is at great risk. When asked if the school has been fined before, Pimenta answered: “As of yet, the school has not been fined but has received a great deal of warning from legal departments representing the copyright holders. Students as well as all community members need to understand that downloading, distributing and sharing of materials obtained through inappropriate sources not only puts themselves at risk but the school's reputation and that of the entire community. It will not be tolerated and will be immediately addressed by the school's administration when reported.” Pimenta mentioned that every member of the community should be familiar with school rules and regulations for Internet usage. The technology policy and expectations as defined by the school’s code of conduct are available in every student handbook.
By Harmanjot Uppal The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) for grade 10 students is continuing after its introduction to the school in 2010, and will be an integral part of the grade 10 program in years to come. The YPI allows students in grade 10 to get into groups of three to four with members of their homeroom, and groups research major issues within their community. The groups then find a charity or other agency that helps or deals with the chosen issue. The students must come up with an event that can contribute to solving this problem, and they must present their ideas to the entire grade. The group that persuades the grade to undertake their initiative, will receive $5,000 from the Toskan Casale Foundation. Not only is the money given to the winning charity, but the grade participates in an activity that further aids the agency. Dr. Phil Webster, Head of Grade 10, said that YPI is only available for grade 10 students because the program suggested that age group. He added that by keeping the program available to only that age group, all younger grades will get a turn to participate, because the school plans on repeating the program for the next few years. Webster did not specify exactly how long this initiative would be available to students at Saints. Heather Morris, Head of Service and Charity, introduced YPI to the school last year. Webster said that Morris, who is currently on maternity leave, brought the program to Saint George’s after learning that schools like York House were already involved. Webster added that for a couple of years now, the school was looking for an initiative that allowed students to use innovative ideas to help their communities. Webster said that Saint George’s is hoping to achieve two things through YPI. He said that firstly, it raises awareness for students about local social service agencies, and local issues. Secondly, it gives the students a lasting sense of philanthropy and by adding the element of competition, it allows students to really care about the agency they have chosen. Saint George’s has already looked at the possible problems that the program may create, such as adding to workloads, or the fact that some students may do more work than others. Webster said that Morris was enthusiastic about the programs, and added that the pros outweigh the cons.
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the.echo the The St. George’s School Newspaper
Club writes to bring change By Paul Redelmeier Despite it being thousands of miles away, several dedicated St. George’s students are making a difference for the people of the Niger Delta. The students, all members of the school’s Amnesty International Club, have begun a new letter-writing campaign aimed at pressuring the Nigerian government to end the deplorable conditions in the region. Yet, unlike past campaigns that the club has been a part of, this one saw a full-scale presentation at an assembly on November 23, all part of a new recruiting drive by the club to get more students participating in the campaign. “We tell everyone, it’s just one letter, but that one letter magnified a million times makes a huge difference,” said Patrice Dixon, the club’s teacher sponsor. Ultimately, this is a main focus of the club, and moreover, the organization. “[Amnesty International is] promoting the idea, that though alone, we think we can’t do anything, our voice — even if it’s one voice — can be very powerful, and if we focus our voice with other people who think like us — because there are many people who can see an injustice and want to do something — … than we can make a difference,” continued Dixon. This idea, of channeling all those voices to the people who need to hear it, — namely, government leaders — is one that struck a cord with other members of the
group, particularly Jeff Choi, the grade 10 student who spoke at the assembly. “Unlike other clubs,” added Choi, “Amnesty International really deals with real people to foster real change in communities across the world.” The current campaign began after a report commissioned by Amnesty International found that Shell had failed to own up, pay up, or clean up two major Niger Delta oil spills in Bodo, Nigeria. Consisting mainly of letters being sent to the Nigerian government to call on them to force Shell Oil to abide by international environmental regulations, the campaign is a perfect example of the heavy emphasis that the club places on physical, hand-written letters. “Petitions are fine, and they’re fast, and they’re easy,” said Dixon, “but there’s nothing that can really compare to a government receiving sack-fulls and sackfulls of letters from international individuals saying, ‘We’ve heard about the situation, we’ve seen articles about the situation, we’ve seen videos about the situation and we just want you to know that we think it’s wrong and that you need to do something.’” And because the issue “[concerns] the way we live, the products we use, and that sometimes we don’t give a lot of thought to why we’re getting all these amazing things in our life [at a cheap cost],” she continued, it had resonated with the students, and so the club felt that it was important to publicize that.
School’s Amnesty Internation Club writes to “end deplorable conditions” The topic, she added, was a very rich one, namely because of how pervasive the name Shell Oil was in our culture. It was this pervasive nature, said Choi, coupled with the fact that the spill had gone largely unreported in the western media that had further inspired him to get out the word. After all, that remains one of the core activities of Amnesty International: spreading awareness where others have failed to do so, yet another reason why the club decided to present at assem-
Senior school tinkers with smartboards By Rohan Khara St. Georges School took steps toward twenty-first century education this past summer by purchasing three SmartBoards. Each SmartBoard, with the educational pricing, cost $4,200 with installation. The money used to buy the SmartBoards came as a result of parent donations and fundraisers. Both the junior and senior school principals, Greg Devenish and Bud Patel made the final decision on the recent SmartBoard installations. Teachers at St. Georges weren’t complaining about having only whiteboards in the classrooms, but the SmartBoards are there simply to help the teacher add a greater visual component to their teaching. Roger Pimenta said, “The SmartBoard augments their (the teacher’s) ability to show, interact and collaborate in the classroom. SmartBoards will not replace whiteboards, but will simply act as another tool that a teacher can use to pass knowledge on to their students.
The idea for the SmartBoards was originally proposed in 2004 and was first adopted by the junior school. At the moment, almost every class at the junior school is fully SmartBoard equipped. There are only two SmartBoards in the senior school, and they are located in rooms #229 and #113. Teachers are using the SmartBoards daily at the senior school, despite not having formal training to use these machines. However, according to Pimenta, teachers that do need assistance learning how to use SmartBoards take it upon themselves to train and find support. The St. Georges’ senior school will decide over time on a direc-
tion to go with this SmartBoard idea. The school is reviewing the long-term benefits. “SmartBoards may or may not be the chosen technology in the future but for the moment it’s valuable,” said Pimenta A SmartBoard is a machine that enhances the learning experience for students in a classroom. A SmartBoard is connected to the teacher’s computer, and works as a projector screen for the computer. The teacher’s finger, as well as the mouse on the computer can control the SmartBoard. In addition, four coloured pens can be used to draw lines or diagrams on the screen, which of course can be erased.
bly, in hopes of raising both the issue and club’s profile. It was not enough, concluded Dixon, to simply put up posters to let people know about the club’s campaigns. As such, the club, alongside Amnesty International, will continue to work on this particular, targeted campaign. This, said Dixon, is part of the power of the organization and of the letter writing process. “Part of the power of writing the letter is that all the letters arrive at once, so we want to be part of that, and we want our
work to be part of that, [so that] instead of 15 letters arriving, two million do.” The club is a student branch of the non-governmental organization, Amnesty International, which works to “prevent any grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated." The club’s activities, said Dixon, are especially important given that “there are abuses throughout every country … even in Canada.”
New I-Desk in library has no definite future
By Paul Redelmeier In a move designed to make the Information Technology department at St. George's School more accessible, a new I-Desk was put in place just inside the library’s main entrance. The desk, whose services will include helping students and staff become more acquainted with their new Outlook email addresses as well as helping them with log-in issues, will also be available to help troubleshoot a variety of other computer-related problems. The I-Desk will also assist students and staff who have problems connecting to the Internet. The hope is that these services, though already provided by the service desk downstairs in the IT offices, will now be more widely taken advantage of by the school community. “We [the IT department],” said K. Kang, “wanted to have more of a presence [throughout the school].” Kang, who is one of the three technicians in the I-desk’s rotation, continued to say that this new location was a
major part of this goal. Kang, however, alongside Roger Pimenta, the head of the IT department, stressed that the program was, at this point, still in its pilot stages, which means that its existence, at least at this point, is temporary, though it will remain for the remainder of the school year. “Over the course of the summer,” Pimenta continued, “[the IT department] is going to assess and look back on the types of issues that were brought to the desk up there [library] … [and ultimately] assess whether or not it’s going to be effective to have a desk up there.” At the moment, however, said Kang, “The students have already started to pick up that there is a service desk in the library area, in an accessible location.” As such, the desk is currently considered a success. Head librarian Marc Crompton, who took some credit for the Idesk concurred, saying, “It’s an area where there’s the potential for great good.”
The St. George’s School Newspaper
New club establishes awareness of diversity
“Although the intention was to always give these guys [gay students] a place to feel comfortable, it’s really also a club for anyone in this school.”
By Leon Shen Members of the student body have recently introduced the Gay Straight Alliance Diversity Club to Saints with hopes of establishing awareness or sexual diversity and well being throughout the school community. The club runs every Tuesday at lunch in Room 212 and is chaired by a group of Grade 12s with Mr. Sauer as the sponsor teacher. The Diversity Club is a studentoriented forum for students to discuss and debate various issues surrounding the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transsexual community. As St. George’s is an all-boys’ school, topics concerning homosexuality will especially be emphasized. In speaking with a founding member of the club, Liam Anderson (gr. 12), the soon-to-be graduate wants to stress that the Diversity Club is for all students and was not solely created for homosexuals. “Although the intention was to always give these guys (gay students) a place to feel comfortable, it’s really also a club for anyone in this school. Maybe you’re a kid that isn’t the best at academics, sports, or arts but this club can give you a place to go meet people in the same situation as you. It’s also a support club for anybody at Saints.” Anderson assures students that “every member will get a chance to talk. Sometimes it can be a debate [about] how people are seen in society and people perceive them, but it can also be educational, maybe we’ll throw a well-
ness day! I’m excited, personally, as someone who’s grown up in a religious background to talk about religion and homosexuality. There’s so many taboos about it.” “The religious talks are going to be exciting because as a diverse school, not everybody is going to agree with us…and that’s what’s going to make this exciting is the amount and quality of debate going on. I think everyone’s just going to be educated through the forum instead of a lecture.” Anderson says the intentions of the club are good, but admits the lack of expertise and support from specialists will be especially apparent in a student-oriented club. The Diversity Club plans on bringing professionals in to fill in the gap. “There are lots of questions surrounding sexuality that we (students) do not have the answers to, so we are definitely hoping to bring in some experts. I know we have a new sponsor who is involved with Vancouver Coastal Health and teaches sex education in public schools. He also happens to be gay. We also have a lot of support from staff members, namely Mr. Sauer, Ms. Jacobs and Ms. Leblanc!” The idea of a GSA club has been floating around Saints for several years now. According to Anderson, however, the ball only got rolling this year because as enthusiastic and encouraging as many staff members were in years past, some never thought that the idea of establishing a GSA club at Saints was possible. Although administration and important figures, such as the headmaster, were always supportive of the club’s establishment, Anderson speculates that various members of the Saints’ community, for example parents, might not have had the same positive
feelings. “I don't think people are opposed to the group overall. That being said, I, along with the group, also believe that everyone has the right to their opinion, and this club was never about forcing people to change their views. If people are opposed to the idea that some students are of a different sexual orientation, we accept that. I think the only major obstacle was within the group; planning how we were going to run the club to make sure it succeeds.” Instituting sexual awareness and constructing a safe haven for gay students is only step one for Anderson and his group. Anderson ultimately wants to change how sex education is taught at Saints by having homosexual sex education in addition to heterosexual sex education. “We are not forcing people to be ok with homosexuality; we’re not trying to force opinions on anybody. I think it really helped that the school recently changed its focus to ‘one boy at a time’. Once you have that written as the goal statement of your school, you can’t really deny someone the basic right that falls onto that. I mean every boy needs to be educated differently; every boy also needs to be treated differently.” Anderson maintains that the group does not want to change the entire foundation of sex education. “We are not out to make drastic changes; it’s about tweaking the little parts so everyone can feel comfortable.” A major step towards improving sex education will be raising awareness regarding the use of improper pronouns during conversation. So instead of saying words such as “girlfriend”, use “partner” and replace “he” and “she” with “they” among other minor alterations. According to
Anderson, “Improper use of pronouns will lead that one kid in the class who is gay to feel really awkward and abnormal.” Many students have not been happy with their time at Saints because they’ve been ridiculed for being homosexual. Anderson compares gay students at St. George’s to those at public highsschools. “I could probably say kids in public schools are a lot more successful in coming out of the closet. Maybe it’s because they have a lot of female friends. They might believe that females are the only group of people they can connect with. We don’t have girls at this school, but what we do have now is a highly supportive club catering to the needs of those gay students. When they attend these sessions, they are going to see that they are not the only ones out there.” Anderson believes the Saints’ community is moderately open to people being gay, but “we don’t give them the adequate atmosphere for them to think that they’re not going to be made fun of.” Anderson attributes the negative atmosphere to once again, verbal communication insensitivity. “I think the biggest thing at this school is synonym awareness. The word ‘faggot’ does not mean gay in this school, it means not cool or something stupid because people use it so readily. However, to students who are thinking about their sexuality or are gay, when they hear someone say: ‘You are such a fag!’ that’s going to turn them off from wanting to come out. They don’t necessarily hear something undesired or dumb, they hear the actual definition of the word. Imagine if the ‘N’ word was used instead.” As for the female component, the club plans to work closely with York House and Crofton
House, as they both have very active, established Gay-Straight Alliances. Establishing a GSA club within a single-sex school will undoubtedly raise controversy and obstacles along the way. Anderson predicts the biggest problem to be making sure younger students realize that joining and participating in the group does not mean that they are gay. “If various members are in fact gay, or even struggling with their sexualities, we'll be glad to be there for them as a support group, but overall, the GSA will serve as an active group forum to discuss and debate issues regarding not only homosexuals, but all people in society.” In establishing this club, St. George’s will have effectively categorized itself as a near-extinct species among the private school community. “There were always people who wanted to start a GSA here, but thought that it might receive a poor reception. Every graduating class that has passed through this school has had its own culture. Now, however, I believe that the overall school culture is ready and willing to embrace the GSA, and hopefully that culture will continue way after we all graduate.” The GSA club here will look towards its public school counterparts for inspiration and guidance. As private schools are separate from the provincial education system, Saints does not have to conform to the exact standards of the government. “We’re really looking to get input form all the established GSA's across Vancouver. I think they all have attributes that make themselves successful; we're going to be looking to draw as much as we can from them, and then decide what will work for us.”
New artist in residence: potter Gailan Ngan
By Rohan Khara St. George’s have recently acquired a new artist in residence in the ceramics studio. An experienced potter, Gailan Ngan has been working in the St. George’s studio for a couple of weeks now, and is there mainly to work on her own projects, but she often helps boys whenever asked and teaches them to throw pots. From Hornby Island, Ngan has been around clay her whole life, as her father, Wayne Ngan was also a potter. Ngan graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 2002, and also has her own studio on Hornby Island. Ngan said, “I do pottery because it is a creative process of making things in a field with endless possibilities.” It was an easy decision for Ngan when she was offered the artist-in-residence spot at St. George’s. “I did not have to think about it for long as I knew it would be a unique experience in a well-appointed studio in a new environment,” said Ngan. The potter has previous experiences in the studio before she came to St. George’s as she came in as a guest artist in previous years. Ngan will leave St. Georges on March 9, but until then, she will continue working two to three days each week. Ngan often works about six hours a day, but 30 percent of that time is spent planning, office work, design, research and selling. Currently, Ngan is testing many of the glazes and mixing them to make some of her own. However, the firing temperature at St. George’s is different than temperatures Ngan is used to, producing varying results. Ngan is making many large platters and bowls, but she also is working on some small teacups. The artist prefers wheel throwing to handbuilding, but she admitted that handbuilding “needs practice too.” The B.C. native is best known for her bowls and wobble cups, which are cups with a rounded bottom, and are glazed throughout. When Ngan starts on a project, she usually has a rough plan, allowing for some improvisation along the way. Ngan said, “The best thing about my job is the life it affords me and the daily creativity of work.” She also added that despite living a frugal artist’s life, she loves how much variety there is and how she gets to create new interesting projects. Ngan has many short-term goals, so she plans her life month by month. She said that it makes sense in ceramics because it involves many stages to finish a pot. Ngan said, “Goals for a self-employed person is a necessity for life.”