Root THE UTS ALUMNI MAGAZINE SPRING 2020 MEG GRAHAM ’89 & PETER ORTVED ’67 FORGING NEW PATHS IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PRESIDENT'S REPORT We Rise to the Challenge of COVID-19 We always rise to a challenge at University of Toronto Schools, and UTS alumni are no exception. To our many alumni serving on the front lines fighting COVID-19, our thoughts and hopes lie with you. To our school, I want to thank the leadership and staff for their quick action to ensure the learning continues online. We persevere with an eye to the future. Thanks to alumni, and your unprecedented support, we have a strong foundation for what comes next. In 2017, we set a lofty goal of raising $60 million for our Building the Future campaign to build a new, world-class home for UTS. We knew we were aiming high, but we also knew how much this school means to alumni, how the transformative education you experienced here helped set you on the path to your future lives. Collectively you answered our call for support, once again showing how UTS is Mark Opashinov ’88 far more than then the tangible halls and classrooms, science labs, and gyms, but the PRESIDENT, UTSAA source of a strong and enduring community that cares deeply for UTS and everything we stand for. Together, 1,260 alumni from 16 countries gave their generous support to the Building the Future campaign, from a 1916 alumnus through his estate — a legacy that keeps on giving — all the way through to an alumna from the Class of 2019. Every single one of our 20 Founders — donors who raised or gave a million dollars or more — are alumni, including individuals and three groups — the Bruce MacLean, First Girls, and Class of 1977 initiatives. Many of you banded together, creating an impressive 28 group projects, and 160 of you stepped up to give your time and energy as campaign volunteers. At the same time, you stayed true to your roots, continuing to back the UTS bursary program. Thank you to our generous alumni, for being such a force, and the overwhelming source of the success of this campaign. We enjoyed 110 years in our historic building, and because of you, we are looking well into the future in the renewed school, upholding the long-standing tradition of high-calibre education and caring community that makes UTS such an extraordinary place to learn, grow, and become who you are. F TORON O TO Y IT S UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO UTSAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS S C H R E O V O I L PRESIDENT TREASURER HONORARY PRESIDENT N S U SCHOOLS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION V E S Mark Opashinov ’88 Sara Son Hing ’97 Rosemary Evans L U U T M A [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] AR R BOR ITA 371 Bloor Street West, Room 121 Toronto, Ontario M5S 2R7 VICE PRESIDENT SECRETARY HONORARY VICE PRESIDENT Laura Money ’81 Aaron Dantowitz ’91 Nancy Dawe [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Phone: 416-978-3919 DIRECTORS Jonathan Bitidis ’99 Peter Frost ’63 Avanti Ramachandran ’09 Fax: 416-971-2354 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Aaron Chan ’94 Adarsh Gupta ’12 Morgan Ring ’07 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Web: www.utschools.ca/alumni David Dodds ’73 Oliver Jerschow ’92 Tim Sellers ’78 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Facebook: www.fb.com/utschools Anne Fleming ’85 Peter Neilson ’71 Ian Speers ’98 Twitter and Instagram: @utschools [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Bob Pampe ’63 [email protected] If you would like to receive your copy of The Root electronically, please contact [email protected] or 416-978-3919. CONTENTS 8 FORGING NEW PATHS IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Peter Ortved ’67 and Meg Graham ’89 tackle the challenge of sustainability. 14 WHEN A POWERFUL ENGINE OF MOBILITY BREAKS DOWN In his new book, Paul Tough ’85 examines how the U.S. college system fails young people. REGULAR FEATURES UTS Board Report . 4 Construction Corner . 18 Principal’s Report . 4 Annual Alumni Dinner . 20 Advancement Report . 5 Alumni News . 21 In School . 6 Mark Your Calendars . 23 PUBLISHER DESIGN ON THE COVER Martha Drake PageWave Graphics Inc. Meg Graham ’89 and Peter Ortved ’67 view the progress at our renewed school facility at 371 Bloor Street West. Photo credit: Dahlia Katz. MANAGING EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHY AND STAFF WRITER Dahlia Katz ABOVE Kimberley Fehr Emma Jenkin ’03 Peter Ortved ’67 and Meg Graham ’89 outside our school. Photo credit: Dahlia Katz. CONTRIBUTORS EDITOR PRINTER Our thanks to this issue’s contributors: Alisha Atri ’16; Derek Bate ’71; Graeme Sumner & Lang Colour Systems Inc. Bate ’75; John Bate ’73; Alexandra Birkenshaw ’16; Luigi Cifa; John Della Serra; PROOFREADER Martha Drake; Rosemary Evans; Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72; Emma Jenkin ’03; Morgan Ring ’07 Amalia Jimenez ’81; Mark Opashinov ’88; Karen Sumner and Warren Lang. Published spring and fall, The Root is available to all alumni, parents and friends of UTS. The Root is also available at: www.utschools.ca/root. Contact us at [email protected] or 416-978-3919 to update your address or to receive your copy electronically. UTS BOARD REPORT There are very few times in our lives when we are presented with an opportunity that can truly be described as once in a lifetime. The Building the Future campaign is one of those times. Nearly three years ago, we set an unprecedented goal of raising $60 million to revitalize our school building at 371 Bloor Street West. I knew we were aiming high, but I also knew how much UTS means to everyone in our community. Now, I am so happy to report that we did it! The entire UTS community came together in a true collective effort of alumni, parents, parents of alumni, staff, and supporters of UTS to raise an incredible grand total of $61,041,566. We will have our renewed school and everything it means for the future of UTS! A total of 2,161 of us from 16 countries gave our support ranging from $5 to $5 million dollars. Also incredibly impressive was how we banded together, creating 28 group initiatives that raised over $4 million. In this magazine at the start of the campaign, I called for donors to become UTS Jim Fleck C.C. ’49, P ’72 Founders, by giving or raising $1 million or more. Now, UTS is fortunate to have Board Chair, UTS 20 Founders who have met the challenge, including individuals and groups. A campaign of this magnitude is a success because of the strength of our community. My immense thanks goes out to the everyone who stepped up: the leaders of the group initiatives, 185 campaign volunteers, Honorary Campaign Co-Chairs Hal Jackman and Michael Spence, and UTS Principal Rosemary Evans. The renewal of our school building is a lasting legacy that will enhance high-calibre education at UTS for the next 100 years, maybe even more. Now, the excellence of our students will be empowered by the excellence of our facilities. The future is coming and it is going to be brilliant, thanks to your enduring support! PRINCIPAL'S REPORT No matter what challenges our community faces, our mission at University of Toronto Schools endures. The learning will go on. When COVID-19 shuttered schools across the city and around the world, our entire school community came together in an orchestrated collective effort to shift to online learning. As we broke for March Break, it had become clear that education as usual was no longer an option. We took just over a week to transform UTS into an online school. This extraordinary feat of technical adaptation led to all hands on deck, many late nights, lengthy conversations with staff, the school captains, UTSPA, the UTS Board, and indeed the entire community and an incredible amount of flexibility from everyone involved. We did it! On March 24, our school dove into the brave, new world of online education, striving for the personal touch of live teaching in real time, which continues to ramp up. The first week went smoothly as staff and students embraced new Rosemary Evans technologies like Google Meet for live classes, and Google Classroom, Slides and Principal, UTS Docs for supporting materials like videos and assignments. Our teachers refined their courses and developed new materials conducive to online learning, and continue to adapt and learn on the fly. Already students are taking part in online co-curriculars like Dungeons and Dragons, chess and Risk. We are planning an alternate venue and time for Graduation. No matter what transpires, we will celebrate our graduates! Our primary focus continues to be the well-being of our students and staff. These new realities mean that our dedicated staff may be juggling their teaching with young children at home, as daycare centres are closed, or dealing with other new personal responsibilities. Students too may be facing unusual challenges, so it’s important to be understanding and to take a little more care. Times like these create the greatest opportunities for learning. The world changed, and we changed with it. The past weeks have been truly unprecedented for UTS, Canada, and the world. When faced with adversity, we rise to the challenge, stay true to our mission and press forward, knowing there is always more to learn.