the.echo the The St. George’s School Newspaper
Search for principal ends with Lawrence
left with no ideal candidate for the job, Headmaster Matthews names a new interim principal--plans on continuining the search in 2013 By Paul Redelmeier Concluding that none of the interviewed candidates was ideal, headmaster Dr. Tom Matthews suspended his search for a new Senior School Principal, naming Shawn Lawrence, the current head of grade 12, as interim principle instedad. In the interest of giving the school some degree of stability, Matthews also noted that he would most likely elect not to resume the search until fall 2013. “Ultimately, the decision I made was that we didn't have the ideal candidate, what I thought was the ideal combination of skills, experience and predisposition to what kind of person they were … we didn’t have someone who fit that bill,” said Matthews. The decision made during March not to hire any of the 20 different candidates forced the search committee to restart the search, at which point “it would’ve been too late to repost the position … and too late to restart the process,” Matthews added. “At that point in time, someone from another school was not likely to move because they’ve already signed their contract for the next year,” said the headmaster. “So in the independent school world, it’s difficult after April [to launch an external search]. Externally, people generally will not consider moving this late.” Matthews also took the time to clarify Lawrence’s interim status.
“The reason it's an interim position is because I appointed him and he did not apply for the job and so he wasn’t hired through the formal search process … but in terms of the job he does, it’ll be the same.” He continued along those lines to say that St. George’s students won’t see much change concerning the shift in principals. “There’s always a different style … Mr. Patel and Mr. Lawrence are different individuals just in terms of how they speak and so forth, but philosophically, they’re totally aligned. They have the same set of values in terms of the school and expectations of the school … so I would say the boys are not going to notice … significant change coming from that office.” Lawrence concurred. “[Mr. Patel and I] certainly share a lot of common philosophical ground about boys’ education and the strengths of the school [and] … I’m optimistic that I will put my own stamp on things, but the ship is running very strongly in the right direction so it’s a matter of simply supporting current programs and analyzing and looking to have my input where I can.” The school’s new strategic plan, Matthews’ flagship initiative this year, they both made clear, would continue to be implemented without adjustment, irrespective of the change. Mathews also noted, further-
more, that while he was perfectly comfortable with having Lawrence as interim principal for the time being, a permanent hire would have to be made within two years. Lawrence, for his part, was undecided on whether he would apply for the position once the search is resumed. The headmaster also spoke about his level of trust with Lawrence. “I’m really pleased to have Mr. Lawrence take on that job, he really brings a fantastic skill set and range of experience and I have real confidence in him to do that job … [because] he is already doing a pretty significant, substantial job in the school really well as
head of grade 12.” Other qualities that Matthews alluded to included his experience with the school as well as the respect he had from faculty members. Lawrence himself also revealed that he was very excited to assume the position. “I’ve been here for 29 years so I know the community well and have such high regard for this community and it’s exciting to work a little more closely with Dr. Matthews and the senior administrative team.” The internal hire also forces the school to fill Lawrence’s own position, a search that Matthews observed would be considerably shorter and easier to undergo.
“The timeline is totally different: it’s an email message to staff, people are interested within a week or so, they apply and you do the interviews.” The hiring of the new principal had been and will continue to be allocated to a search committee made up of Matthews himself, members of senior management like Director of Human Resources Karen Potter, and other senior faculty members as well as the Chairman of the Board, Rob Cruickshank. Students, Matthews noted, played an important part of the process via several lunches that the headmaster held with students from across all grades.
Students Win First Prize in Business Competition
By Rohan Khara St. Georges’ students Rajeev Bagga and Aman Malhotra recently won first place and $25,000 in the TYE (TiE Young Enterprises) Global Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. The two grade 11 students formed a team with three other students from Richmond and Burnaby including Ravi Chalhotra (Notre Dame), Karnpreet Sanghera (R.C. Palmer), and Dayah Johal (Hugh McRoberts). Chalhotra came up with the bril-
liant idea of building a spray-on cast, which won them the competition in Georgia. It is simply a spray bottle, which consists of two chemicals that react with each other and harden within a short time span. It generally lasts about a day. A broken limb, if not stabilized immediately, can worsen due to movement and stress. “The Regenacast provides a simple, quick and effective method of immobilizing the injury right at the time it occurs,” said Malhotra.
Malhotra also said that one wraps the included bandage around a leg or arm, and then sprays the contents of the spray can onto the bandage. The chemicals infused in the bandage react with those in the spray to form a hard layer within ten minutes. The young entrepreneurs have donated $5000 of their $25000 prize money to the BC Children’s Hospital, under the name “Aiding through GenAid”. The remaining money will be used for registering the business, establishing the patent, and will also be saved for the Research and Development stages of the business. Work on the spray-on cast itself began in November 2011. Bagga said that his goals for the group are to first create the product, and begin distribution worldwide or license the rights to a large-scale medical company. The high school students are in talks with lawyers to patent their product and look forward to launching their new cast and company in the near future. Rattan Bagga (CEO at New World Natural Foods Inc.), and
Amit Sandhu (CEO at Ampri Group of Companies) mentored the group during their recent success in Atlanta. “They helped us at every step of the way, from the construction of the business plan, to rehearsals of the presentation, and even to having fun in Georgia,” said Bagga. The group is currently participating in a competition called Dragon’s Lair, and are looking forward to participating in many case competitions during the remaining part of the year and in 2013. Bagga and Malhotra are confident that their project “will bear fruit to us in many ways.” They already consider it a success in many aspects. “We are positive that it can be done in the near future,” said Malhotra. Although they know it may be far down the road, the group is hoping for the product to eventually be available commercially. The group arrived in Georgia on April 25, competed on April 27, and were awarded first place the following day. Bagga has been brought up in
a very business-oriented household, as many of his family members founded their own companies, and displayed great entrepreneurship. “I simply wish to follow in their footsteps, and this seemed the most appropriate way to do so,” he added. “Taking part in the program was a no-brainer for me, and I am extremely grateful that I was given the opportunity to do so,” said Bagga. Malhotra said that the TYE program begins again in fall 2012, and it’s an opportunity that every Saint’s student would benefit from and thoroughly enjoy. Bagga concluded, "After winning first place and $25,000 at the TiE Young Entrepreneurs Global Business Plan Competition, the team was inspired to give back $5000 to our community and help needy youth by funding vital medical equipment for BC Children’s Hospital. The goal is for our friends, family and others to provide their support and triple this contribution to $15,000! Please contribute at www.bcchf. ca/GenAid!”
the.echo the
the.echo the The St. George’s School Newspaper
Dr. Matthews names new Director of Learning
By Paul Redelmeier In a move that has seen the school implement one of the first steps of Dr. Tom Matthews’ strategic plan, the headmaster has named Jeff Farrington, the current principal of the American School Foundation in Monterey, Mexico, as Director of Learning. The position, said Matthews, is a continuation in the shift in pedagogy as the school continues to focus in on teaching in ways that specifically cater to boys, as outlined in the plan. “In the senior administrative structure,” he continued, “there wasn’t anyone at the senior level responsible for teaching and learning at both the junior and senior schools … There’s no one actually overseeing the core functions of the school which is what happens in the classroom.” Previously, as Matthews explained, such responsibility had been, in what he described as a “Band-Aid or stopgap measure,” allocated to an ad-hoc group called the ‘Academic Team’ — a committee comprised of Matthews himself, the two school principals and their deputies. “The idea was that by meeting once a week we would try to focus on key issues and priorities around teaching and learning.”
That last phrase, teaching and learning, has come up again and again in The Echo’s various conversations with the headmaster, with it playing a key part in the both the September unveiling of the school’s new strategic plan and in this recent appointment. The new Director of Learning, who Matthews billed as a permanent replacement for the ‘Academic Team’ will continue their work while reporting to the headmaster himself. Much of his time will be spent centred around aiding the integration of technology into the classroom. “The Director of Learning,” he added, “will help … to ensure that technology is being used to enhance student learning.” Farrington also figures to work closely with staff and faculty, assisting with professional development, goal setting and perhaps most importantly, defining curriculum. “There’s no one in the school looking at curriculum from grade one to grade 12, so another key area [that the Director of Learning will oversee] is really looking at curriculum from across the school to ensure that it makes sense, that it’s cohesive and that it’s continuous [so] that there
aren’t gaps or unnecessary overlaps and things of that sort,” he added. Along this same vein, Matthews described how the position will allow the school to focus more extensively on diversifying and promoting a wider range of instructional and assessment practices. The strategy has proved to be a central tenet of the strategic plan, which the director will work closely with to implement, lead and bring forward many of the initiatives set forth within it. “My hope is that he will provide greater support, sort of mentoring, for the faculty.” Matthews also took time to defend the long timeframe within which the hire took place. “My view is that the most important thing we do in the school is hire and I think that we want to put as much time and energy as possible in the search process as possible, and never do what’s expedient or quick or easy.” The search process, which included two rigorous interviews, saw the six-member search committee field applicants from across Canada as well as the world. “I’m a great believer in casting the net as widely as possible and looking at as wide a range of
candidates as possible and really making sure that you have the right person and the right fit.” The committee, he further revealed, was in no particular hurry to decide on a candidate. “My view was always that if we conclude the search before the school year then that was really the only time constraint.” The position, which was posted internally and externally, was advertised extensively across the independent school world, specifically on the websites of CAIS and ISA, as well as in the school’s annual print advertisement. Matthews also took time to note that the position of Director of Learning is a common one across the independent school world. “It’s pretty much standard practice … Virtually every independent school in the country, certainly any significant ones, would have a leadership position like this one.” At present, Farrington is the principal of the 2,300 student American School Foundation of Monterey, a fully accredited private, day school for Mexican, American and international students. Since beginning his involvement with international schools in 1994, Farrington has been
involved actively in directing instruction and assessment. He holds a Masters degree in International Education. Farrington has worked closely as a consultant for AdvancED, an organization which works to accredit and distinguish schools sticking to a set of global educational standards, according to their website, and “asks [schools] to critically evaluate their vision, strategies, priorities … and programs.” He will bring to the Director of Learning position both administrative experience as a principal as well as knowledge from his extensive teaching career. During both timeframes, he promoted and advocated the schema method, even contributing a passage about it in Improving Student Learning One Principal at a Time, an educational anthology published in 2009. The schema method is an educational style, which focuses on overtly providing students with an objective at the start of each class and then allowing them to summarize the lesson’s subject matter at the end of it. It is yet to be seen whether or not he will bring it with him to St. George's School.
Triathletes to go to BC Summer Games By Rohan Khara Triathletes Ross Graham and Colin Mitchell have recently qualified to participate in the BC Summer Games taking place on July 19-22. The competition will take place in Surrey, BC. The 14-15 age group will consist of a 500-meter swim at the South Surrey pool, a 10-kilometer bike, and a 4-kilometer run at the South Surrey Athletic Park. The Saints triathlon coach, Jeremy Sayers, has high hopes for both Mitchell and Graham this July. He thinks that they will both get on “very well” at the summer games, although he does not know the caliber of the competition. Triathletes from St. Georges have competed in the BC Summer Games before, including Graham last year. The 46 best young triathletes from all across the province will be competing individually against the two Saints students. Both Mitchell and Graham have personal coaches, and train outside of school. However, there are triathlon practices after school every Tuesday and Thursday where Sayers and occasionally teacher Sarah Coates work with the athletes. The school training consists of a 30-minute bike ride on the
spin bikes, and a run for another 30 minutes. This year, there is no swimming incorporated in the training as the St. George’s pool is under renovation. Many of the 12 students who signed up for triathlon participated in the North Shore Sprint triathlon on May 21. Sayers was impressed with the “very good performances” on the long weekend. Graham finished first in the boys 15 category, and Mitchell finished second, both achieving the necessary results
to qualify for the BC Summer Games. Also, Taira Hunter finished second in the boys 13 category, Brian Tsang came second in the male 16-19 category, and Kevin Yu came third in the same category. Mitchell has a few goals in mind for the upcoming BC Summer Games. In an interview with The Echo, Mitchell said, “I'm willing to do my best to make the medal table in one of the three events: triathlon, duathlon, or aquathon.” The
duathlon consists of a run and a bike ride, and the aquathon consists of a run and a swim. “I’m anticipating doing the best in the aquathon, as swimming and running are my two strengths. Though you never know how the competition could shake up,” said Mitchell. Outside of Saints, Mitchell trains with the age group national squad in the Vancouver Pacific Swim Club. He is currently ranked top 20 nationally by his eight best races. He trains rigorously training 10 times a week, taking up about 27 hours per week. Each practice comes with a one to twohour swim component, and then a half-hour to two-hour dry land training period, in which Mitchell does stairs, weights, med balls and runs. “I will start cycling to swim practices for further training, as they’re about six kilometers away at UBC Pool.” “It does cut deeply into my social life and school life, but I do believe that it’s very much worth it. If I want to achieve my dreams, I will do whatever it takes.” Shortly before the BC Summer Games, Mitchell would just be coming off of the Swim BC AAA Provincial Championships in Richmond. Immediately after that he would be on a plane to Calgary
for the Swimming Canada 2012 Age Group National Championships. In addition, immediately after that, Mitchell will travel to San Jose for the 2012 Far Western Swim Championships, which ends on August 3. Mitchell attended the Olympic and Paralympic Swimming Trials in Montreal as part of Team BC. Mitchell said, “I was genuinely inspired to keep up swimming and chase my dreams of one day attending the Olympics and representing Canada.” Although Mitchell is realistic about his goals, he is highly confident going into the BC Summer Games. He sees himself as being in the middle of the pack, but he said, “I’m going to fight to make it to the front.” He added, “My confidence going into the games is unwavering. It will take lots of determination, and perhaps much vomiting at the end of the race, but only then will you know that you’ve done your best.” Mitchell believes that if “you don’t puke at the end of the race, you didn’t try hard enough.” He concluded, “Needless to say I’m going to try my absolute best and represent zone five. There are three medal shots, and I’m not going to waste single one!”
The St. George’s School Newspaper
Saints boy swims for Olympics By Roy Yang 17-year-old swimmer Edward Zhao became the first Saints boy ever to have competed in the Canadian Swimming Olympic Trials while still attending high school. Held in Montreal from April 1 to 6, these open-age trials for the London Olympics tested Zhao to his limit against the “highest level of competition [he had] ever experienced.” Zhao competed in the 50, 100, 200, and 400-metre freestyle events. Other than his time of 24.9 seconds for 50 free, Zhao swam his best times for every other event. For 100 free, he raced 53.1 seconds. For the 400 free, the Saints swimmer went 4 minutes 11.9 seconds. However, his best performance was the 200 freestyle event, finishing 52nd in the nation. The Olympic trials select competitors who meet the senior national’s standard time for their respective race event(s). Zhao, by swimming 1 minute 55.55 seconds in 200-meter freestyle event, surpassed the national’s standard
time of 1 minute 56.25 seconds. Though he didn’t finish first, the 17-year-old talent pushed himself “to see how well [he could] perform compared to others at this event, and see how far more [he had] to go to be successful.” In preparation for this event, Zhao practiced eight times per week, twice a day on Tuesdays and Fridays with a break on Sunday. Each practice consisted of an hour on dry land and two hours in the pool. “We just followed our normal routine of preparation for this event,” said Zhao. “This way it would not give pressure and just treat [the trials] as any other meet.” After racing at such a high level, the Saints swimmer feels that he still has “a long way to go to reach the international level of swimming.” According to Zhao, he needs to improve his strength and endurance, especially arm strength, so that he can rely less on his legs-his forte. “However I still have four more years to improve more and just
need to be patient with my hard work.” Continually improving year after year, Zhao currently has no ultimate goal. “I only have temporary goals for the next level. When I reach my goal, I make another goal at a higher level. Each time it gets harder but there is no ‘final’ goal.” Though without an ultimate dream in swimming, Zhao continues to swim to stay “fit and healthy.” He considers the sport a way of learning “life’s most important values such as perseverance, courage, and confidence.” “I love the challenges this sport introduces,” asserted Zhao. “I’m sure overcoming these challenges will occur many times in my life in the future.” Currently, the grade 12 swimmer is practicing intensely for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships held in Hawaii this summer. A competition for junior teams from all over the world such as Australia, Japan, and Mexico, Zhao is looking forward to the summer nationals in July to qualify for the Canadian junior team.
Senior Rowing loses in regatta but hopeful for nationals Senior A 8+ fail to continue a two-year winning streak but are working hard to redeem themselves at the CSSR National Championships By Leon Shen Two years of dominance in the Men’s Senior A 8+ category came to a close April 29, 2012 as Saint’s 2012 seniors failed to keep the streak alive for a third time at the annual Brentwood Rowing Regatta, losing out to none other than last year’s national silver medalists, the Brentwood crew. The boys did however defeat Vancouver College, earning redemption for their loss to the Irish at this year’s Saints College Boat-race. “I felt that our performance was solid. Things are really starting to connect within the boat; everything from the mechanics to the rhythm has skyrocketed since our last race. The only thing missing is more speed, and that will come with further conditioning,” reports Cam Howie, captain of the team. With 87 schools and clubs competing, Brentwood Regatta is one of the largest gatherings of the rowing community in North America. Over the course of three days, rowers competed in 1500-meter sprints, battling the strong waves that frequented Brentwood’s waters. Notoriously known for its long delays, the regatta’s schedule was hardly ever on time due to various unfavorable rowing conditions such as strong winds and choppy waters that prevented racing. However, losing in the 8+ had
its consequences. It meant St. George’s would not be receiving an invitation to compete for the Seattle Henley Cup May 5, an event the crew also won two years in a row. So far, this year’s heavyweight 8+ has not won a single race, compared to last year’s almost prefect record. Many crewmates are unsure about competing in the
8+ event at nationals on June 3. “I just don’t have the same confidence as I did last year,” responds bow seat Shane Mullen. “Though the progress we’ve made has been tremendous, we are still a relatively inexperienced crew!” Only four of the current eight were members of last year’s hugely successful crew. That leaves one member who was
shafted from last year’s eight and three new rowers to fill the empty seats. Given their choice, some members, such as Howie, want to race in the heavyweight and lightweight 4+ instead. “Though the heavyweight 8+ is the main event, I don’t want to enter an event in which winning is still a big gamble. I really think we have a better chance at win-
ning in some other events.” Overall though, the school’s performance was still no less than exceptional, walking away with three gold and three silver medals. With another regatta and a mini training camp still ahead, Saints crew still has lots of time to improve their game before the CSSR National Championships roll around.
the.echo the
the.echo the The St. George’s School Newspaper
Pool renovation to go hundreds of thousands over budget By Paul Redelmeier Director of Operations Neil Piller predicted this month that the ongoing pool renovations would cost upwards of a couple hundred thousand dollars more than the school had originally budgeted for the reconstruction and that the timeline for the building had likely shifted into the first or second week of July. “There’s been lots of surprises [and] it’s been a bigger project than we initially thought, mainly because there’s been lots of rotten wood and things that we sort of hadn’t really anticipated,” said Piller. Piller, however, defended the extra expenditures by adding that the scope of the project itself had increased since building began. “We’re doing a much bigger repair than what we’d originally thought we were going to do,” he continued. He was adamant, furthermore, that any additional costs would not come out of tuition, but instead out of a combination of fundraising and borrowing. “We’ve actually done some fundraising for it and had some pretty significant contributions to the tune of half a million dollars and the balance we’ll end up just borrowing and paying over time." Piller also maintained that extending the timeline for completion by a week or two would ultimately not have a huge effect on the summer camps, which run at St. George's each summer. “They’re already working on an alternate plan and their first week is a fairly quiet week anyways … so they’re just not going to have the pool as part of their program for the first couple of weeks.” The Director of Operations and Risk Management highlighted
several structural issues as the culprits for the potential delays. “Rotten beams, rotten roofing and the fact that we’ve also done a seismic upgrade as part of this as well so that it’s meeting new water and seismic standards … those have been sort of the main ‘biggies’ in terms of extras that we’ve been doing.” Decaying roofing had played a part most significantly in that it forced the building team to work on the western portion of the pool’s roof as well as the eastern part — a section that they had not originally planned on renovating. Instead, the team had to include it in its seismic upgrade of the building as well as its increase of the overall building’s snow load capacity, a problem that has arisen in recent years. “We’ve had to replace all the compromised wood … everything that was either rotten or underbuilt … that’s all been done and it’s all gonna be reroofed,” he continued. Pool buildings, clarified Piller, were naturally susceptible to such problems. “Natatoriums (as the structures are called) are inherently problematic because you’ve got a lot of water [and] a lot of moisture within some kind of a building envelope … Wood rots, steel rusts, so both of those are a problem.” A poor air handling system unequipped with the challenges of controlling humidity levels contributed to the difficulties that they ran into. This was not aided, furthermore, by a building design, which was inefficient at preventing moisture from getting into a lot of the different areas in the building. These complications had led to a situation where humidity levels
registered at up to 90% around the attic, compared to an ideal situation of 55%. Engineers hope to fix this problem by replacing the rotting planks, changing the building envelope and upgrading the air handling system so that it actively dehumidifies the building. Also helping to increase the longevity of the wood being used will be a new UV/Chlorine water treatment system, set to reduce the number of chloramines — a corrosive gas created when organics in the pool mix with the chlorine in the water — produced, previously a persistent problem. Piller forecasts that these new additions — all of which should eliminate the problems that had consistently hamstrung the previous natatorium — will hopefully
allow the new structure a lifetime of at least 25 years until it requires work. “It’s one of these things where we have to inspect it every year, and if we see a problem, then we have to deal with the problem while it’s small, but it’s always going to be challenging when you’ve got that much water and moisture mixed with a building.” The inspection process will see the school monitor “a few key watch areas where we’ve had challenges and where we know it is challenging, and so we’ve just got to put that on our annual maintenance inspections so that we get in there and have a really careful look.” Piller also took some time to describe some of the other facets of the pool building that have been
or will be completed or upgraded on top of the new roof, air handling, and water treatment systems. “We’ve got ... all new skylights, — the old ones had failed and had cracked … new siding associated with it, and then inside we’ve upgraded the structure of the beams and all the seismic steel.” At the pool level, a new, all-tiled basin will be completed. A trip to the-under-construction building exclusively granted to The Echo confirmed this, with all of the various features being shown in their various stages of development.The pool renovation was prompted by an inspection that revealed, beyond the surface level that the situation in the pool, in the words of Mr. Piller “wasn’t very good.”
This year, the Vancouver Police Department has a new ally, stalking the streets like some sort of one-man bureau of investigation. His name, is spy-guy. Indeed he never rests, striving for a day, which he knows, is impossible: when no crime exists. Yet that does scare him, and as such he continues on his quest, without reservations. Q: How do I get Canucks’ tickets from this kid (who I hate) in my class? A: Well a great man once said, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer!” This is exactly what you are going to do. I remember a time in Monte Carlo when I had to become friends with a lady named Natalya Petrov, an accountant working for Johnny Fontaine, a mob boss who had a tight hold on all the casinos in town. Now normally I wouldn’t care about Fontaine’s mundane criminal activity (I’m a spy not a cop), but Fontaine was using his ill-gotten gains to fund groups who were against Her Majesty’s government. So there I found myself attempting to get close to Petrov. Now I know most of you would be thinking this is a sweet deal getting close to a lady in the sublime environment of Monte Carlo but you’d be wrong. Petrov was the loudest, most annoying person I’d ever met, constantly whining about something or the other. After a particularly nasty incident in the Hotel De Paris involving a drunken Petrov and a rather large bloke, I had had enough. Luckily, I was able make a copy of her hotel key and stole the papers that I needed. Now if you feel you’re not strong enough to befriend your enemy or that you might kill your mark, I do have another suggestion. For this type of mission you will require a car, fake id in the name of your target, and a syringe with an anesthetic. On the day of the hockey game, pay close attention to your target at school. Once school ends and he heads off, get into your car and follow him to the game. As soon as he parks the car, box him in with your car and quickly take out the syringe. Most likely, he will be too shocked to react, so quickly inject him with the anesthetic and grab the tickets. Then you’re free and clear! Enjoy the game and relax. Both methods have worked for me in the past and should work for you. Now if you excuse me, the Queen is calling.
The St. George’s School Newspaper
Diversity Sought by Careers Day By Paul Redelmeier Citing a general lack of diversity amongst many of the presenters at this year’s career day, Brian Lee, the school’s director of student services, revealed this month that St. George’s plans to reverse many of the changes that have been recently made to the event. The past year has seen the school change the event from a ‘Career Café,’ so-called because speakers would move to a new room after 20 minutes, giving students an opportunity to hear from a diverse range of lecturers, to a day featuring half as many presenters speaking for longer periods of time. The move comes as the school prepares to address the lack of heterogeneity and range of career options that had hamstrung this year’s career day. “I think [the career café approach] gives our kids that variety in terms of experience and the mentorship that we’re looking for,” said Lee. Events like career day, which is organized by both faculty members like Lee as well as the Georgian Committee, which selects the speakers, are ones that the future Associate Principal of Student Life hopes will become more frequent as the school moves forward in its bolstering of its career
Dr. Tom Matthews speaks expressively in front of an audience at Career’s Day in the auditorium. and post-secondary support for students. “I think our planning and HCE [Health and Career Education] classes are excellent vehicles for this learning as well, but some sort of prep and support and planning at an earlier stage is definitely something that we’re working on,” he continued. This added support may come in
the form of a summer work experience opportunity that Lee mentioned as a potential component of this bolstered education. “[We are considering] the possibility of building … some sort of experiential learning for our students beyond just the classroom, [such as] connecting our students in the summers with our Georgians in the community to work shadow.”
The use of Georgians as mentors to students was one that he alluded to frequently, with Lee noting that well-connected Georgians in the community are an invaluable resource that he hopes to tap so as to allow students to “make networking connections with those individuals [as well as] giving [students] the opportunity to learn from the experiences of [Geor-
gians] ... who understand where [students] are coming from.” Regardless, however, Lee stressed the necessity of using time more efficiently in planning and HCE classes so as to find time to bolster the careers aspect of those classes. Careers day elicited rave reviews from most students who attended it. “I thought careers day was an overall rewarding experience because it was good to see where a number of old boys have ended up because there’s a lot of pressure in the St. George’s community … and careers day sort of allowed me to focus more about personal choice,” said one such student, Bijhan Virji. This year’s event was themed around following one’s passion, a topic, which was certainly pertinent today. “I think the message for the boys is that they should definitely pursue that goal, but to be prepared for other outcomes,” said Chris Boltwood, a Georgian and a current member of the board of directors. “And if you can’t match a career to your passion,” he continued, “don’t ever turn your back on that passion in the name of your career – the key to happiness is often in balancing your life.”
Students help build new village in Guatemala By Kevin Lee Fourteen students from St. George’s assisted Project Somos in the building of a children’s village in Guatemala over the spring break. The group, consisting of grade 10s to 12s, was accompanied by three teachers, and also toured nearby historical and tourist sites in Antigua, a city located in the central highlands of the country. Neil Wu said that the trip was “definitely memorable” and that it was a spring break well spent. The project’s goal was to build a security fence around the perimeter of the village. The fence consists of 146 sections with each section containing about 50 to 60 adobe bricks placed by hand. Most of the work involved brick transport and mud making. Alan Sherman said, “All St. George’s students behaved in an exemplary manner. They all got behind the project and gave 110%.” Wu said, “Resources are scarce so we had to control our water use and electricity use at the hotel.” The students had their first lessons in resource conservation when the hotel ran out of water. Sherman’s most memorable moment was when the St. George’s
group hosted a games day for the local village children. “We had over 100 little visitors to the site. They ate apples for the first time, played games, listened attentively to stories and generally had a brilliant time interacting with out students.” “Even with a language barrier,” Wu said, “we connected with the children and helpers through a limited Spanish vocabulary and a wide array of body language. Simple words such as mud, water, and brick were enough for us to construct a 500-meter wall around the site.” Sherman concurs, saying that although there was no common language, there was never any communication barrier. “All of us knew what the goal was and we were all equally committed to achieving it.” The $6400 raised from the Fundraising Night supplemented the individual $3000 cost for the trip. Surpassing their original goal of $6000 at the fundraising, Sherman said that the funds went directly to the Project Somos organization and will “go towards paying for materials and labour in the construction of the children’s village.
”Communication between the Guatemalan workers (many of whom were only marginally older than our students) gave the students some insight into life inside of developing countries. Wu says, “There were many lessons to be learned from this service trip. Firstly, we must view the people in developing countries as fellow human beings, and not statistics. The media stereotypes many different cultures and this must be changed. Also, I learned that there is more to life than what we perceive to be success and happiness. “The power of community is one not to be taken for granted, so we must slow down and enjoy the people in our lives instead of pushing ourselves to get ahead of everyone else. We must also learn to appreciate what we have and find contentment for we are very fortunate here in Canada. The bricks we used to construct the wall were made of just mud and twigs, and it is very strong. Building the wall in Guatemala has taught me that we can find other ways to reach our goals when we just stop and see what’s available around us.”
the.echo the The St. George’s School Newspaper
Rowers defeated by V.C By Leon Shen The senior heavy-weight eight plus ended its two-year winning streak after losing to long-time rivals Vancouver College in a close-fought battle on the 24th annual Saints College Boat Race. “Though VC got the better of us today, I think the boys learned a lot from this experience,” reported Darryl De Leeuw. “The team is not discouraged by this loss. It’s only going to drive us to preform even harder next time at Brentwood.” The seniors kept pace with “the Purple” throughout the course, trailing by no less than half a boat length. Though Saints made a final push to gain three seats towards the last 250 meters, VC held steady and fought off “the Red” until the finish line. The races were held on Saint’s home turf at the M.S. John Lecky Boathouse beside the Fraser River. The course spanned 2.5 kilometers, passing the Olympic Oval and under two bridges. Of the three boats competing, the only triumph came from Saints’ Junior B crew, crushing their opponents by a devastating twenty-four second lead coming into the finish line. “VC never had a chance from stroke one. We weren’t pushed from start to finish so there was never any real competition,” responded stroke seat Jeffrey Hou. Members of the boat considered this victory redemptive for their
loss to much of the same VC crew in 2011. “This time last year, we had just started to figure out the balance and mechanics of the boat. One year later, we are now much more skilled and adept at what we’re doing,” said Till Tietz, one of the crew members. Postponed until the very end, the much anticipated alumni race
By Faeez Ahmed As my fellow classmates and I began grade 11 several months ago, we were looking forward to several new and exciting opportunities. The best of these is the ability to finally drive. As the year goes on, I have become accustomed to at least one excited Facebook post a week about one of my friends obtaining his learner’s license. As we put our freshly earned Ls on our cars, there is a serious concern that we should keep in mind: driving and texting. I know that each of us has seen people cruising in their cars outside school with their heads down, furiously “BBM”ing (Blackberry messaging) and totally oblivious to their surroundings. The fact is that driving and texting is extremely dangerous and can be fatal in some cases. Let’s start with some facts. According to a recent Globe and Mail edition, about 300 people were killed in Canada last year because of distracted drivers using a cell phone in some way. AT&T, the leading American telecommunications corporation, reported, “Anyone who sends text messages while driving is 23 times more likely to commit an accident.” For teenagers, texting is usually our only way of communication, and the consequences of that are beginning to show. Andrea Brands the director of consumer safety and education at AT&T, commented on this phenomenon, “With texting as teens’ main mode of communication, at an average rate of more than 3,400 per month according to Nielsen research, the implications are alarming.” These implications directly impact us, our behaviours and our safety. While this information by itself is disturbing, more research indicates even more cause to worry. “Three quarters of teenagers… said in an online poll that texting while driving was common among their friends,” according to the Globe and Mail.
received much applause from the stands. Notable graduates participating included Ronan SaboWalsh 07’, past head-boy and current head-coxswain of UBC Varsity Men’s Rowing Team, along with Taylor Fell 11’, who was a member of the previous heavy-weight eight, which struck gold at Nationals for the second time last year.
Sevens disappointed with loss in BC Finals
By Rohan Khara umphed over Sentinel Secondary, St George’s School finished Carson Graham, Oak Bay, and second in the BC Rugby sevens Earl Marriott to reach the final, tournament losing in the final to but fell short when they needed rivals Shawnigan Lake School. the win most. The team lost heavily 31 to sevAlso competing were St. Mien. Mike Stiles, a teacher at St. chael's University, Vanier SecGeorge’s and one of the coaches ondary, Glenlyon Norfolk School, of the team, said that the team lost Lord Byng, West Vancouver, because they “didn’t have enough Kelowna, Burnaby North, and possession” in the final. The tour- Columneetza Secondary. nament occurredTam at St. George’s10 lays Stiles did in of factadobe expect(athemixteam Christopher of Grade a brick School andstraw) 22. win the Guatemalan tournament, assun. this has tureonofApril clay21and in thetointense The rugby sevens team tri- been a very strong year for the
Driving and texting equals Danger
sevens, compared to recent years. Saints won its last BC rugby sevens championship back in 2008. Stiles added that our main rivals were Carson Graham, Oak Bay, Earl Marriott, Shawnigan Lake School, and St. Michael's. All of the members on the rugby sevens team play on the First 15, and they were selected after several trials. Connor Hamilton in grade 12, a strong leader and hard worker, captains the Sev-
These statistics coupled with teenagers themselves admitting to texting proves that we have an immediate danger that must be stopped. Now how do we stop young people from driving and texting? While most provinces have made it illegal to use a handheld cellphone while driving, this is not nearly as effective as it needs to be. For these reasons, there are many other strategies being implemented. In Quebec, for example, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (Quebec Automobile Insurance Corporation) is developing commercials to emphasize the dangers of driving and texting. In Winnepeg, an 18-year-old boy named Dustin Vernie now talks to high schools about his accident. According to the Winnepeg Times, “Vernie had picked up his cell phone to send his friend a text message. He crossed into the opposite lane hitting [an] SUV and almost dying in the accident.” Vernie now uses a motorized wheelchair and is beginning to learn how to walk again. Showing teenagers the outcomes of these types of accidents may be the best way to convince them of the danger. Now, thanks to the increased technology available for use, it seems that even accidents have gone “digital”. So as you get ready to get behind the wheel, think about how your impatience and desire for immediate gratification might impact yours or another person’s life. There’s no law against pulling over if you really need to respond to an important text. ens. Stiles also added that James Pitblado stood out for him as being an extremely skilled and hard working player on the team. The rugby sevens game is similar to rugby 15s, with a few rule differences. Firstly, there are eight fewer players on the pitch, the game only last 14 minutes, the scoring team always kicks off after a try, rather than the conced-
ing team, and conversions must be dropkicked. There are no more upcoming tournaments for the senior sevens rugby team. Senior school principal Bud Patel was the head coach this year of the rugby sevens. Bill Chamberlain also helped out with the team as he was an assistant coach and in charge of video analysis.