Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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athletic season for the girls were their achievements in rowing. In the Youth Division the girls hold top place for the varsity eight, varsity four, and in three other categories. In the B.C. Open Championships, the girls hold the title in the lightweight four division and, as many of you may know, Karen Middleton, Bonnie Robinson, Eliza Massey, Ruth Buchanan and Julia Schenck formed the four with cox that won gold medals at the Canadian Championships. At a school assembly honouring the girl rowers, I neglected to mention Mrs. Garvey, their coach. Along with recognizing the girls, particularly our Canadian champions, for their achievements, I want to pay tribute to all of the staff who worked with them and, in particular, Mrs. Garvey and her assistant. Miss Serup, for the extent and success of their efforts as coaches of rowing. Of course, I cannot hope to deal effectively and in detail with all aspects of the athletic program. I must recognize in rugby, however, the leadership given to it by Jamie Norris as the Captain. Highlighting the year was a tour of Southern France undertaken by the first and second XV. The firsts, playing some of the strongest clubs in Europe, won three out of five games, and the seconds were victorious in two of five. Although our firsts did not do particularly well in independent schools competition, our second XV ' s were once again independent schools champions. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that on the Canadian National rugby side that toured Europe in 1979, three of its members were graduates of this school. I must mention tennis and say that our junior boys team won, for the second year running, the independent schools championships. Led by Michael Lebow and Andrew Gibson, the junior boys had a very fine season. In basketball, our seniors were undefeated mid-island champions. Tim Christian was placed on the independent schools all-star team and Ted King was named as a tournament all-star on two occasions. T.K. Lim continues to hold up the school ' s badminton banner, as for the second year running he was Boys Singles Champion. Our soccer teams were led by the first XI which lost only one of nine games. By the way, interest in that wonderful sport continues to grow. Naturally, we hope to respond to it by attempting to give it greater emphasis. Admiral of the Brentwood Fleet, Victor Lironi, with the help of such seniors as Captain Stephen Read, reports that we once again won the independent schools sailing trophy. To continue for a moment on the topic of water based sports, we qualified 19 people for their scuba diving certification this year and over 200 at various levels of the Royal Lifesaving Program. Indeed, the school was once again recognized by Lt. Governor Henry Bell-Irving for the number of students who go through the Royal Lifesaving Program. When not in the pool, Mr. Pitt took some time off to cycle over 800 miles with the group of ten who reintroduced that sport to our curriculum this past term. I must recognize the excellent work of Murrey Feldberg who finished second in the single island meet in which we were able to participate. Three years ago I mentioned in this address that I would like to see more emphasis upon the track and field. I am pleased to report that this year we have enjoyed some major successes. Indeed, all of us very proudly recognize the accomplishments of Mark Williamson, who won a gold medal inthe400 m. and a bronze in the 200 m. at the all B.C. High School Track Meet. At the junior level, Scott Lervick reigns as Island Champion in the 400 m. and again at the B.C. level, Tim Christian won a silver medal in the discus and was fourth in the shotput. Our relay teams also did well. In the B.C. track finals our 4 x 100 team finished fifth and the 4 x 100 team placed third. The boys track team, by the way, finished fourth overall in the province of British Columbia. I think this is an amazing performance by a school whose numbers in no sense match, those of the huge high schools against whom we compete. Special recognition then must go not only to Mark Williamson and Tim Christian, but to Tom Glenn, Scott Lervick, Ralph Thrall and Budd Iwaschuk and, amongst the girls, Angle Gerst, who finished third overall in the Island 1500 m. competition. I cannot begin to tell you all about our rowing season, apart from saying that the results clearly indicate that we must go beyond Western Canada to find strong com- petition. We are B.C. Open Men ' s champions in four categories, B.C. Youth Champions in all categories of eight oared racing, and winners in all categories of four oared shells. In sculling we won the varsity lightweight and colt singles. The highlights for the lightweight eight, ably captained by Mike McLennan, was their trip to St. Catharines, where they met strong competition and finished a very narrow fourth, and by that I mean a matter of inches, and therefore out of the medal competition. Our heavy eight and heavy four, captained by Harold Backer, will be leaving this Sunday for the U.K. to par- ticipate in the Nottingham, Henley and Bedford Regattas. To date the heavy eights ' year has been highlighted by their victories against eight university crews from the Pacific Northwest. Indeed, in one particular regatta in which the University of Washington Huskies also rowed, our crew posted the best time of the day. We travel to the U.K. in search of stronger competition. I am sure you will all join me in wishing the crew every success during their tour of England. It never ceases to amaze me how many different in- dividuals, because of our insistance upon mandatory participation in sport and, we hope, competent coaching at all levels, surface at the top or near it. In other words, we are not necessarily working with a fine group of natural athletes in these areas where we do so well. On the contrary, in many cases we are seeing the results of plain hard work and dedication from people who, for one reason or another, have decided that they will set high standards for themselves and do the work necessary to meet them. I feel tremendously encouraged by the attitudes, the energy levels and the persistence which I witness in the students of this school. They have been amazingly productive in athletics, sports and in the arts. Indeed where the staff has tended to wear down from time to time, the students have pressed them to offer more. I can tell you that it forms a very pleasing and inspiring at- mosphere in which to carry out our profession as teachers. Because of our extremely intense program and the rural nature of our surrounding community, we sometimes find it difficult to provide opportunities for II

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scholarship awards of $1,450 renewable annually for each year of their degree programs, for a total value of $5,800 each; Miss Wendy Bellham, who was awarded a scholarship valued at $1,850 annually and, in addition, a bursary of $1,450; and Alastair Foreman, who won a follow that by reviewing our athletic attainments. I find it difficult to say forcefully enough how much value I place upon the intellectual stimulation and the personal growth which takes place from the priority which wp pivp tn thp arte Ppr ;nnal|y, and I am sure that the the student and the public this important section of the ly encouraging but, indeed. r painters, drawers, silk s and weavers have quietly g through their programs, oved and many have done Amongst them I should ;o Chiu, Cathy Sloan, Mark s Philipp, David Beckman, jng. To give you an objective cal Cowichan Regional Arts rds presented in the under- ' ent to Brentwood College :am. Wood, Chapman, and have provided us with a ving their work on several delighted by the two lich have been held this St. Michaels University School. The Newman Cup winning team included Richard Attisha, Ruth Buchanan, Simon Monckton and Eduardo Libin. Additionally, we won the Ravenhurst Trophy this year and one of our Grade Eights, namely Leslie Szamosi, was judged top debator. Although our team could not compete because of a conflict with other scheduled school activities, four of our debators qualified for the provincial finals. Nevertheless, the Debating Club had a very successful season for which they are to be commended. While stressing achievement and accomplishment at the senior level, may I pause from that for a moment and emphasize that the academic engine room of the school consists of many, indeed the majority, who mix disap- pointment with satisfaction as they struggle for scholastic success. We, the teachers of this school, must try to excite and respond to this group, as by doing so I believe we not only serve them well but also, as a consequence, we provide encouragement for those who do not do well and competitive pressure for those for whom success may otherwise come with relative ease. This group, in large measure, goes unnamed, but they must not be forgotten as they constitute the force which generates the momentum and inspiration so necessary for this school to continue to thrive academically. Later, within the context of this address, I will be asking the heads of our academic departments to present our internal scholastic awards. Therefore, may I turn my attention now to the arts and d the Band and Choir who s here, at Glenlyon School, :erfield from the Choir and demonstrated particular said about Peter Ling and the piano. The Creative s support to our major , in addition, entered and won the senior division of the Victoria Festival. The ad- judicator, for example, wanted our group to present themselves at a number of schools to demonstrate what can be done if interested students are given the proper guidelines and direction that come from competent in- struction. Without a doubt, however, the outstandingly suc- cess ful artistic event of the year was Oklahoma!! At the risk of going overboard I have to single this show out as one of the very best things we have ever done. The cast and the many staff who contributed in major ways to it all must be congratulated and thanked for the quality of the effort and the pleasure and enjoyment they provided for all of us who had the opportunity to see their per- formance. The Drama Club and all supporting staff deserve our warmest congratulations on a job well done. Moving from the artistic highlight of the year, I should pay tribute to our athletes for some equally exciting at- tainments. Our girls had a banner year. In volleyball, in competition with public schools in the province, they were mid-island champions, second on Vancouver Island and fifth overall in the province. In independent school competition they were finalists in Western Canadian Independent Schools Championships and were narrowly beaten for the top position. Betty Glenn made the first all- star team in all tournaments. In basketball, the girls were again independent schools leaders, as they won the cup for the second time in the last three years. Topping off the 10

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local community service. Fortunately, we have our Rambling organization and our Community Recreation class. John Ebell, ably assisted by Sherry Lampman and a number of other members of the Community Recreation class, plus members of the Mill Bay community, have been running a salmon enhancement program. Through it, 15,000 coho eggs were released and are now maturing in the Millstream. The whole project will be improved upon and continued next year. The Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme is another field in which we actively participate. Again, it has community service amongst its more significant features. Thirteen of our students were awarded bronze medallions, four silver and one, namely Brian Mallett, a gold. The gold medal is a highly significant achievement and will soon be gained by two other students from last year ' s school. I want to thank Mr. Wingate, the sponsoring teacher, and the members of his group, for their contributions this past year. In addition, this school wants to go on record as acknowledging the support given to the youth of this province by Lt. Governor Henry Bell-Irving and his offices. I trust that from the foregoing you will see that we have had a busy year and that the school continues to demonstrate that it has strength in all three aspects of its curriculum. These accomplishments would not have been possible without the work that has been done by all members of my staff, both academic and otherwise. To all of them I want to offer my sincere thanks. From our staff this year I regret to say that we will be saying ' goodbye ' to Mr. John Boel. For eleven years he has been involved as director of our junior and in- termediate bands. As he has been magnificently loyal and very effective we will miss him greatly. Also from our part time staff, John Getgood, who has been with us for several years as our Stagecraft Director, has decided to pursue other interests. He, too, has made major con- tributions for which we thank him. We have one change in the full time faculty, as Mrs. Lynne MacDonald has decided to enjoy a year or two off from teaching as she pursues a career in accountancy. I want to express my gratitude to her and to wish her every success with her new career. We also must regretfully say goodbye to one of our nurses. Miss Laurie Bird. Laurie never stays in one place very long, but in the short time she has been with us she has made a very favourable impression. We wish her well in the travelling that she intends to do and hope that she will always consider herself a close friend of Brentwood, as she has certainly made quite a contribution here. Joining us next year to teach Mathematics and Physics will be Mr. John Allpress, who has been with us, in fact, for the past three months. We are greatly looking forward to having him on deck again next year. To add further strength to that department, we are giving consideration to an additional staff member. Indeed, interviews are scheduled for next vyeek. . , ■ . a. u ■ Altnough he nas been with us smce last September, I want to take this opportunity to formally introduce to you the Reverend Lou Thornton. I am sure you will all join me in offering a rather belated yet warm welcome to the Chaplain. Through his non-denominational chaplaincy, amongst many other valuable services, he is providing a much needed service for the members of our community. I am certain that the Chaplain will quietly and effectively have a profound influence upon the school. I look forward to having you meet Rev. Thornton at the tea that follows. Sharing this enterprising year with all of you has made me once again realize the extent to which success is not dependent upon the efforts of a few. The operation, spirit and morale of the residences is key to everything that we do. Housemistresses and housemasters, their support staff and, in a special category for those who have them, their wives, namely Mrs. Carr, Mrs. Lironi and Mrs. Wynne, deserve my special thanks. I must also mention the house prefects and their captains, Hammond, Christian, Frohn-Nielsen, Vink, Kushniryk, Mah and Roach for the help they have provided this year. Having their support was vital. I value it highly and thank them for it. May I make special mention of John Hammond, our Head Prefect. He has shown a level of perception and understanding of the school, of his peers, and indeed, of the staff, that was rare. Because of this he was a most valuable assistant to me in the day to day running of the school. He could not have done his job, of course, without the support of his fellow school prefects. They were: Per Frohn-Nielsen (Assistant Head) Mark Annable Brian Carr Tim Christian Alastair Foreman John Drost Margaret Kitson Holley Kushniryk Peggy Lloyd Jamie Norris John Roach Eric Sorensen Jeanie Vink All of them deserve and have my sincere thanks. In speaking of our seniors, we experience a sense of loss as they leave us. At the same time, of course, we think of our Grade Elevens who will be charged with leading the school next year. It is important to note that they have already given notice that we can expect a great deal from them as they are, by and large, a talented and very responsible group. We therefore a re heading into next September with excellent student strength from the Grade Eights through to the Grade 12 ' s. Apart from a few remaining places at the Grades 8 and 9 levels, all spaces in the school open for next year have been assigned. There is no question that the type of education offered by a school such as this is in high demand not only from people in Western Canada but from families in many other countries as well. The confidence expressed in us behooves us to continue our efforts towards an absolutely first class job. Naturally, I want to wish our graduates well and thank them for their significant contribution. Indeed, this most excellent and satisfying year is, in large measure, a result of their energy, their dedication, and their genuine loyalty to their school. As major shareholders in it, I sincerely hope that among the paths that they follow in the years to come there will be one that frequently leads them back to Brentwood. W.T. Ross , June 1980 12