School From One Century to Another IN THIS ISSUE: CENTENNIAL REVIEW THE CLASS OF 2006 FALL 2006 • ST. MicHAELS UNIVERSITY ScHOOL A New Century of Excellence St. Michaels University School has shaped the lives of a century of students by giving them the opportunity to find their excellence. As an alumnus, you now have the opportunity to shape our next century by helping us connect with prospective students in your community. Consider becoming a SMUS ambassador to your local area, supporting the Admissions office in their efforts to spread the word about our school and find candidates who will benefit from the SMUS tradition of excellence. For more information, contact the Admissions Office at (250) 370-6170 (toll free in North America at 1-800-661-5199) or send an email to [email protected] Financial assistance available • Visit our website at www.smus.bc.ca • Co-educational • Day School - Grades K-12 • Boarding - Grades 8-12 • ESL - Grades 8-10 Outstanding preparation for higher learning and for life. Kimbell Hall and David Heffernan are the Centennial Year Head Girl and Head Boy. See page 6 for details. School Ties is distributed to more than 5,700 members of the St. Michaels University School community, including current families, friends, and current and past staff and students. The goal of the publication is to communicate current activities and initiatives and provide articles and reports on the alumni community. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this publication, please contact Louise Winter at (250) 370-6176 or e-mail: [email protected] Published by the Advancement Office at St. Michaels University School, 3400 Richmond Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8P 4P5 Telephone: (250) 592-2411 Admissions: 1-800-661-5199 e-mail: [email protected] School Ties magazine and archive copies can be found in the publications section of the school website: www.smus.bc.ca About the cover: Editor: Jenus Friesen Eric Onasick captured this vivid photo of Jennifer Fraser, Senior School English teacher, Alumni Editors: at the exciting Centennial Saturday event, held May 13, 2006. Jennifer is sporting two Louise Winter, Cliff Yorath tattoos – the crest of St. Michaels University School, and the Blue Jaguar, the mascot and symbol for our sports teams. There was a liberal sprinkling of temporary tattoos Contributors (in no particular order): on faces, arms, legs and more throughout the crowd. Robert Snowden, Susan Saunders, Robert Wilson, Ian Hyde-Lay, Brenda Waksel, Janice Iverson, Donna Ray, Kevin Cook, Xavier Abrioux, Louise Winter, Cliff Yorath, Jeannie Fuller, John Reid, Linda Rajotte, Campbell Editorial – School Ties Fall 2006 Hall, Patty Davis, Evelyn Zapantis, Sean Hayden, Laura Authier, Peter Leggatt, new school year has begun and what a year it will be! The School House Rea Casey, Jennifer Walinga, Terence A restoration is nearing completion as I write, including seismic and life safety Young, Taylor McKinnon, Alan Jones, upgrades to current code standards and improved office and classroom spaces. The Gord More, Julie Fossitt, Keith Jones, Barker Library has been expanded to approximately four times its original size, and Maria Goncalves, Donna Johnson, will include a new addition, mezzanine, atrium, and clerestory. School House will Donna Williams, Cam Culham, Michael Symons, David Angus, Greg resume its role as the centrepiece of our school in October, and everyone will move Marchand, Larry Devlin, Mike Lambe, back in again – you can only imagine the excitement and anticipation felt by all. Over Michelle Jones, Heidi Davis, the summer, handsome common rooms, additional accommodations, and laundry Margaret Skinner, Jennifer White. and health services facilities were constructed on the Richmond Road campus. We apologize for any omissions. A new Community Service programme has been added to the curriculum, introducing awareness and charity through a number of outreach activities. Photography: SMUS community members Additionally, we have expanded the rowing programme, thus bringing greater athletic Cover photo: Eric Onasick opportunities to our students. Many of these great strides are due thanks to your Inside back cover: Evan Effa generosity, through your involvement with the school and the Annual Fund. In this celebratory centennial year, we look back down the road we have travelled. Production: Reber Creative Thousands of alumni, friends and family – old and young – from every corner of the Printing: globe, joined together this year to celebrate the 00th birthday of this great school. Lithographed in Canada Sit back, read and enjoy this newly designed volume of School Ties magazine. W by Hillside Printing Ltd., Victoria, BC Many people have contributed their ideas and energy to bring this issue to you today. Take a browse through some of the exciting initiatives and accomplishments as we If you are interested in attending enter our second century. Vivat! school events, call (250) 592-2411 Jenus Friesen, Editor for further details, or visit the school’s website Calendar of Events: www.smus.bc.ca SchoolTies - Fall 2006 from the Head of School Experience and education have this small fact at my fingertips. This lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid conclusion also coincides with work we again – and that is well; but also she will have been doing at the school over the never sit down on a cold one any more. past few years around the idea of what So what we are talking about is is becoming known as “experiential not new. education.” When we began to look at experiential Mark Twain would have said that education, our staff conducted an audit education was largely experiential, whereas to identify the extent to which our one wouldn’t necessarily say the same programme was already experiential. thing about schooling. What do we mean After all, the school has always proposed by “experiential”? to educate the whole student and Robert Snowden, Head of School, beside the Over the past few years, several of – through the students’ experience of cornerstone of School House. our teachers have made it a focused part athletics, extracurricular activities, service of their work to explore the merits of and residence life – has strived to teach “ ever let schooling interfere experiential education for our school. At students lessons that can only be learned N with an education.” This phrase, a recent retreat during the summer, Becky by these activities outside the classroom. attributed to Mark Twain, distils a Anderson, the teacher who is currently As we discovered, there were many reservation about schools that certainly guiding this work, gave a presentation examples of this kind of active learning in was not new when it was written. Twain describing experiential education thus: many parts of the programme, including wasn’t being anti-intellectual here, because Experiential learning is the process of in the academic programme, where there he did care deeply about education. In actively engaging students in an authentic are frequent and extensive field trips to the a similar vein: a couple of years ago, experience that will have benefits and ocean shore, to hospitals, to universities. Pat Basset, the director of the National consequences. Students make discoveries and We also discovered that there were many Association of Independent Schools, told experiment with knowledge themselves other parts of our broader curriculum – us of a study that compared the university instead of hearing or reading about both in and out of the classroom – where success of independent school students the experiences of others. with the success of well-funded suburban Students also reflect on their high schools. The study discovered that experiences, thus developing independent school grads had an 80% new skills, new attitudes chance of finishing their degrees, whereas and new theories or ways of The learning of leadership the suburban high school grads had a 40% thinking. chance. But it was not superior academic She displayed a slide grows naturally out of the preparation that caused this success. True, showing a picture of a the academic preparation did get the cat with a bamboozled soil that is our school, but it students into university in the first place, expression on its face, but what led them to stick it out was the accompanied by this is not simple, and takes the ability, learned at an independent school, description: contribution of many people. of dealing with complex demands, full A cat who sits on a or overfull schedules, and the stresses of hot stove, once burned, a busy life. Most of our schools insist, will never sit on a hot like SMUS, that students lead a life full stove again. But it will of academics, sports, arts, and service to never sit on a cold stove their community, and that they aspire either, because it did not extract all possible we could think about introducing more to roles of leadership and responsibility learning from the experience. Experiential experiential opportunities. while they are doing it. We do this learning gives us the opportunity to be wiser Some learning is naturally because we believe in the education of than the cat. intellectual, built on abstract principles the whole student, but it appears to have Interestingly, this thought is stolen and reasoning that require the traditional practical consequences in university also. from Mark Twain, who said in his 897 scholarly concentration and private At this point, some readers will be book Following the Equator: application of one’s abilities to resolve scratching their heads, wondering why We should be careful to get out of an questions. This will not change. It is true, it took the work of a researcher to draw experience the wisdom that is in it… lest we though, that all learning requires the SchoolTies - Fall 2006 this conclusion.