The READ magazine (Winter 2017)

IN THIS ISSUE … THE ACCIDENTAL FILMMAKER … RETHINKING OUR CLASSROOMS FIGHTING CHILDHOOD CANCER … ORGANIC RUGS … MUSIC IN THE BARRIOS … I COVER AFRICA THE MAGAZINE FOR THE BRANKSOME HALL COMMUNITY WINTER 2016–17

HIGH FLYER Alison VAILLANCOURT Murphy’03 is part of a rare breed—a female airline pilot PAGE 16

DAY CAMPS

IT’S TIME FOR A SERIOUS

DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT OF:

Okay, quit the giggling. It’s time to make a momentous decision because, before you know it, summer will be here. And, Branksome Hall’s super-fun summer camps fill up fast.

So, will it be Robotics or dance?

Musical theatre or tennis?

Swimming or Minecraft?

Multi-sport or photography?

Whichever camp you choose, your kids will have as much jollification (yes, that’s a word) as possible, right here in the heart of Toronto. Oh, by the way, did we mention that our new Athletics and Wellness Centre on our beautiful 13-acre campus is a remarkable place? Seriously.

Our camps run from June 19 – August 18.

Visit us at: branksomecamps.ca Get in touch: camps@branksome.on.ca

Branksome Hall Vision To be the pre-eminent educational community of globally minded learners and leaders.

Branksome Hall Mission Each day, we challenge and inspire girls to love learning and to shape a better world.

WINTER 2016 – 17

Contents Alison VAILLANCOURT Murphy’03 photographed at Pearson International Airport.

ON THE COVER

THE READ COMMITTEE

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14

46

CONTRIBUTORS

FEATURES 16 High Flyer

34 Top Performer

Alison VAILLANCOURT Murphy’03 has focused her adult life on becoming part of a rare breed—female pilot for a major airline

Adrienne WILLIS’97 has combined her love of business and theatre by establishing an innovative performing arts centre in New York State

20 The Accidental Filmmaker

Toni TROW Myers’61 has become the queen of IMAX documentaries, taking us from ocean depths to outer space 24 A Passion for Healing

Dr. Margaret MacMILLAN’81 is devoted to her young patients and committed to curing cancer

IN EVERY ISSUE 2 3 4

37 Alumnae Update

Our evolving board Family Fun Day Travels: U.K. edition Winning Women: Alum Award recipients Ann DOWSETT Johnston’71 and Emma BEQAJ’06

30 Reading Buddy

For 30 years, Mary BAWDEN Wood’51 has instilled the love of books in the lives of disadvantaged children 32 Finding Music in the Barrios

Dorothy BARNHOUSE’49 reflects on her work and how music enhances the lives of poor kids in Nicaragua

Principal’s Message Editorial School Scoop

Rethinking the classroom Meet student Emma Lozhkin A powerful 30th reunion project Restoring a treasured landmark

28 The Good Weave

Linda ALEXANIAN’85 has taken action against child labour and is the brainchild behind the production of organic rugs

Tanya Pimenoff, EDITOR Berton Woodward, EDITORIAL ADVISOR Cris Coraggio Karen L. Jurjevich Lydia Levin Karrie Weinstock

46 48 66 72

Fun photos from Reunion 2016 Class Notes* Passages A Day in the Life

Sarah CARTER’88 takes us Into Africa

Dorothy BARNHOUSE’49 Vincent Carbonneau Sarah CARTER’88 Miro Cernetig George Clark Chris Daniels Jamie Day FLECK’00 Patricia Hluchy Lauren HUGH’05 Jeff Kirk Andy Lee Liz Lynch Johanie Maheu Ruth Ann Penny Robert Rutkay Janet Sailian Caley Taylor Lesley Young

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Michael Cherkas + Associates

Branksome Hall 10 Elm Avenue Toronto, ON M4W 1N4 Tel: 416-920-9741 www.branksome.on.ca Email: tpimenoff@branksome.on.ca Winter 2016 – 17 Volume 56, Number 1 Canadian Publications Mail Agreement No.40010445 The polybag containing this publication is made from recycled materials and is 100% biodegradable. *View The READ online at branksome.on.ca/alumnae.

For privacy purposes, Class Notes is not available in digital format.

From the Principal

On Fire at Stanford (but not my hair) My summer in the Executive Program was all about leadership and embracing change

BY KAREN L. JURJEVICH

Recently back from her Stanford experience, Principal Karen Jurjevich welcomes guests at a Branksome event last September.

SPEND A SUMMER studying at Stanford University in Silicon Valley and you are encouraged (actually expected) to think outside the box and create what has yet to be created. And, if you have a brilliant idea which doesn’t succeed, that is fine as long as you fail fast, fail cheap and get stuff done. The term “innovation” is common language—in fact “disruptive innovation” is what we are all about; as well as design thinking, exploration and exploitation. Everyone has experienced the driverless car. Entrepreneurs rule. We ride our bikes to the Apple Store in Palo Alto to purchase our Apple Watches. During class lectures we are scaling up, slowing down and thinking creatively. In the evening, we adapt to residential life in the Graduate School of Business Schwab Centre and to the challenge of absorbing multiple case studies, which collide with our desire to explore our phenomenal surroundings and drink up the California sun.

Welcome to my life at Stanford University.

My classmates are engaged and they are thinkers. Diversity of opinion is received

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with interest and respect. First-hand experience, coupled with deep knowledge, are evident as we work on collaborative projects.

Participants are fluent in multiple languages.

Issues are analyzed through multiple perspectives. We are driven to make the most of

“In the hectic world of work, coupled with our demanding lives, Condoleezza Rice reminded us of the importance of focus, preparation and composure.”

each day, whether it be 6 a.m. boot camp or late evening conversations in the courtyard of our dorm at the Schwab Centre.

I was part of SEP 2016—the Stanford Executive Program in the Graduate School of Business where the motto is “Change Lives; Change Organizations; Change the World.” We were a diverse class of 162 students from 37 countries, representing multinational corporations, entrepreneurial start-ups, technology firms and not-forprofit organizations, who had travelled from far and wide to participate in Stanford’s six-week flagship program. We were at Stanford to embrace change and participate in lectures, case studies, field trips, boot camp and residence life—all designed to inspire, motivate and impact the way we think and how we lead.

Late in the course, the former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, was our guest lecturer. She offered her insights on topics ranging from 9/11 to the post-Second World War global economy to the American election. We were vividly aware that we were

From the Editor

A Story About a Story The power of serendipity

BY TANYA PIMENOFF RICK MILLER

spending time with a seasoned politician who possesses a razor-sharp mind and a down-to-earth personality. Rice knew that she was speaking to a group who had embraced the Graduate School of Business’ motto about change, and she took the extra step of sharing her personal beliefs about leadership: “Leadership begins with planning. When you see things changing, you cannot simply say, ‘We’ve got this.’ You must have a plan. A good plan only comes from informed, thoughtful discussion, wise decisionmaking and a commitment to seeing it through.”

As I listened intently, Rice’s comments resonated with me in my role as Principal of Branksome Hall. She offered her views on great institutions: “Great institutions need leaders who connect the past to the present and to the future. Leaders recognize the impact and contributions of those who have gone before them.

They accept the responsibility for today’s decisions and pave the way for future leaders.”

And finally, as our lecture came to a close, the former Secretary of State injected some humour into her words of wisdom and said: “Never run into the room with your hair on fire!”

In the hectic world of work, coupled with our demanding lives, Condoleezza Rice reminded us of the importance of focus, preparation and composure.

I stepped into my Stanford experience with an open heart and a growth mindset, which allowed me to nourish my desire for knowledge, curiosity and reflection. I have returned to Branksome Hall with a deeper understanding of how great institutions are sustained and grow, and the determination to ensure that my hair is never on fire! R

ON OCTOBER 28, I co-hosted a national webinar along with the University of Alberta.

It was organized by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education and we were to focus on the value of print magazines.

My 20-minute session would be specific to “finding content.”

In other words, where do magazine stories come from? A lot of readers ask editors this question, and it’s relevant whether we’re talking about digital or print.

Generally, ideas for stories originate from a variety of sources, such as what’s trending, what’s making news, communication with alumnae, teachers, administrators and parents, social media, and simply by way of everyday curiosity and inquisitiveness.

But another source is pure serendipity— it just happens. The Accidental Filmmaker, which appears on p. 21, came about precisely this way, with a final fitting twist. So, here’s a look at the story behind the story.

It all started during a phone call with Toni TROW Myers’61. Sorry to miss her 55th reunion last May, she mentioned she had been travelling quite a bit to promote her new IMAX film, A Beautiful Planet. I had heard of the film, but had no idea Toni was behind it in a very big way. I could tell as we spoke that Toni was very modest about her work. Even so, I gently suggested I’d like her story for The READ. She thought that would be OK, and we agreed to talk again later in the summer.

Meanwhile, Sarah CARTER’88, an acclaimed CBS News producer and journalist living in South Africa was writing her story for

“A Day in the Life,” which appears on p. 72.

In 2008-09, Sarah had been one of two journalists invited by the UBC School of Journalism to be a Canwest Visiting Professor.

I knew this interesting tidbit about Sarah, but a quick look at her Branksome record revealed that this “other professor” was a Vancouver guy called Miro Cernetig. At the time, Miro’s writing and television documentary work had earned him a National Newspaper Award and myriad other honours.

I needed a writer who could tell Toni’s story. Would Miro be interested? I contacted him via social media, explaining Branksome and the “Sarah” connection, a bit about our magazine, Toni and the IMAX story and, within hours, I had my writer.

But that was not the end of the happenstances. When the story came in, it turned out Miro had led with the idea of “serendipity” to describe how Toni’s film career got started and progressed. And in our cover story on WestJet pilot Alison VAILLANCOURT Murphy’03, writer Berton Woodward also used the word in recounting the crucial turning point in her life.

Perhaps you could say we have an accidental theme issue this year, drawn from the way real life often unfolds.

Serendipity indeed! R

The READ Winter 2016–17

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SchoolScoop NEWS FROM THE BRANKSOME HALL COMMUNITY WINTER 2016–17

How Girls Learn

Head Girl Anna Lisa Lowenstein delivers her Installation address.

Launching the Chandaria Research Centre IN SEPTEMBER 2016, Branksome Hall was proud to estab-

ON THE BRILLIANT morning of October 7, in the impressive venue of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Branksome paid tribute to students from Grades 6 to 12 who will take on leadership roles this year in co-curricular clubs and societies.

Following the presentation of graduation pins to the Class of 2017, and once clan chieftains and prefects had officially been installed, Head Girl Anna Lisa Lowenstein took to the podium. Anna Lisa, who recently qualified for the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in Sydney, Australia in April, explained this year’s Prefects’ motto, Seek Your Spark!

“With so many ‘sparks’ in our community,” she said, “it is no surprise that we girls are bright and powerful.

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Sometimes, also, extremely loud and dramatic. But, we need to remember that a roaring fire takes friction to ignite. It’s all right to feel frustrated, it’s all right to clash, it’s all right to speak out.” These words are sure to offer encouragement to students in everything they do in the year ahead and beyond.

Dr. Margaret MacMILLAN’81 was this year’s Installation keynote speaker, and addressed the audience with a moving account of her life since Branksome and her limitless passion for her work.

Even as a child, Margy knew she wanted to “cure cancer.” Now a pediatric oncologist at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, she stressed how one must expect failures along the way. “In order to succeed,” she said, “you have to be willing to fail. Everyone fails. It is how you deal with the failure that really counts.

Failures force you to re-evaluate, learn from your mistakes and make adjustments so that you are more likely to succeed in the end.”

Margy shared stories how some of the challenges she has faced have shaped her career (see p. 24). Excerpts from Margy’s inspirational speech can be found at bhdemo.com/blog.

Dr. Mira Gambhir

CALEY TAYLOR

SPARKS AND PASSION AT INSTALLATION

lish the Chandaria Research Centre for Girls’ Learning, Wellness and Global Engagement (CRC). Dynamic and experienced researcher Dr. Mira Gambhir was appointed as the inaugural director, aiming to develop the CRC as a hub of inquiry, collaboration, and creativity.

Dr. Gambhir holds both a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Education from OISE at the University of Toronto, and a concurrent B.A. and B.Ed. from the University of New Brunswick.

“I am committed to designing a research centre that serves our students and teachers in meaningful ways,” says Dr. Gambhir. “Not only will the CRC conduct research into girls’ learning, wellness and global engagement, it will also use research to help inform teaching and learning throughout the school.”

Dr. Gambhir is a strong believer in collaboration and consultation and, in developing the CRC’s mandate, has consulted broadly with faculty and students. She recently held two workshops with Grade 6 students to find out what questions they thought were important research topics.

“Now that our doors have opened,” says Dr. Gambhir, “we are bringing many voices to the table to help define our activities as we forge new ground for the school.” In future, Branksome plans to partner with other schools, universities and organizations in Canada and internationally.

Recognition

IS PRINT DEAD?

PAGES OF SILVER AND GOLD

Not if you ask us

Last June, the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE), representing universities, colleges and independent schools across Canada, presented Branksome with three Prix d’Excellence awards.

IN THIS ISSUE … OUR AWC SUCCESS … MAKING BABIES … A CREE CHAMPION THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGAN DONATION … BUILDING ’BOTS … MY LIFE UP SCHITT’S CREEK THE MAGAZINE FOR THE BRANKSOME HALL COMMUNITY WINTER 2015 –16

ON BEING TRANSGENDER TWO STORIES, TWO CHANGED LIVES Reed WANLESS’04 and Andy SPRUNG’04 talk about their transitions PAGE 12

The READ picked up Silver in the Best Print Magazine category, while one of the main profiles, Being Andy, by Berton Woodward, received Gold in the Best English Writing category.

Transformational

2014–15 Donor and Giving Report

Transformational, the 2014-15 Donor and Giving Report received Silver in the Best Report to Donors category.

THAT WAS THE provo-

cative title when Tanya Pimenoff, Associate Director of Alumnae Relations and Editor of The READ, co-hosted an e-learning webinar with Lisa Cook, Associate Director of Communications at the University of Alberta, on October 28.

With both institutions recipients of Prix d’Excellence awards in the Best Print Magazine category, it was a great opportunity to share knowledge in areas of content and design, and discuss the continuing value of print in a digital age.

Turning the Spotlight on Hannah What the star of Matilda is learning from acting

BY LESLEY YOUNG NOT MUCH THROWS Hannah Levinson— one of three leads who played Matilda last fall in the acclaimed Mirvish Production Matilda, The Musical—not even surprise questions. The vivacious and eloquently spoken Grade 5 student handles them all with aplomb, barely pausing before answering honestly and cheerfully, thanks in no small part to her improvisation training.

“Sometimes, in everyday life, you have to think quickly on the spot,” she explains.

“Like in school, if I won’t be there or I get homework, I think, ‘How will I do this?

I might have to skip recess to do it, or whatever.’ Acting helps you with that.”

Hannah certainly had to think on her feet in order to juggle schoolwork with the gruelling production schedule that had her performing or available to perform at the downtown Toronto theatre six days a week. A typical day in Hannah’s words: wake up refreshed, have a healthy

meal, steam her throat (to warm up her vocal chords), rest and/or attend school, arrive at theatre, warm up, rehearse with the director, run through “safeties” (any dangerous stunts) and then wait calmly for half an hour before show time.

Hannah says it was tiring, but worth it, in part because performing helps her understand how to interact in the world.

“I love that you can make acting so unique. You can play around with it and just be free. I love going into [characters’] emotions to experience what they are feeling. And you can do that in everyday life, too. Whenever you say stuff, you stop and think, ‘How will this make them feel?’”

It also helped that Hannah fed from the audience’s adoration for the lead character: Matilda. “Whenever [I was] on stage, I kept thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so good!’ Lots of people look up to Matilda. And, through her character, I’m inspiring other girls.”

Lesley Young is an award-winning writer and editor based in Toronto.

The READ Winter 2016 –17

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RE

THINKING

THE CLASSROOM Branksome is trying out new kinds of learning spaces—including ‘campfires’ and ‘watering holes,’

BY CHRIS DANIELS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY LEE plus tables you can write on

View our Remarkable Spaces bhinfo.ca/remarkablespaces

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WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT in cutting-edge, modern classrooms: the amount of computer power students can access, or the chairs on which they sit? The answer may surprise you.

New technology is changing the way students learn in the classroom. But it’s not the only factor. Gone are the days many of us remember, with traditional desks facing forward, as teachers lecture in front of a chalkboard.

The research on good classroom design is pointing to the importance of different options for seating—from wobble chairs to treadmills—to keep students active and engaged. Features such as adjustable-height tables and interactive white boards are revolutionizing the classroom experience and how educators teach or “roam and interact” with students in these spaces.

“Teachers have traditionally worked in one-size-fits-all environments with rows of chairs and desks,” says Amanda Kennedy, head of the Middle and Senior Schools. “But the classroom of the future will be much more flexible and learnercentric. Research shows classrooms work better for students when they have a choice in their learning environment. The belief is that students who own their approach to learning also become more invested in it.”

Branksome will create two pilot classrooms and put the learner-centric approach to the test with teachers and students. The research that comes out of

SchoolScoop

Interactive white boards encourage creativity and create immersive learning experiences

Latest technology and robotics keep students learning and innovating

Adjustable-height tables provide flexibility for students who prefer to stand

Modular couch, “campfire” and “watering hole” spaces allow students to collaborate and share ideas

Treadmills and exercise bikes keep students active and engaged

Exercise balls and wobble chairs give students more active seating options

Students learn the basics of coding by having fun programming robots.

the classrooms will be overseen by Dr. Mira Gambhir, Director of Branksome’s Chandaria Research Centre.

The model classrooms will look different—and will also function differently from what teachers and girls are used to. At “campfires” and “watering holes,” they’ll engage in more collaborative and active work, where they can choose to break off into groups to connect, discuss and make shared decisions. Alternatively, there will also be “cave” areas that serve as outlets for quiet, personal reflection.

“While these classrooms can be costly, the potential impact on our girls is huge,” says Kennedy, who predicts all girls will start seeing the benefits of the classroom research in two to four years. (continued on page 8)

The READ Winter 2016 –17

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SchoolScoop

(continued from page 7) Some elements of these classrooms of tomorrow are at Branksome today. They include the Grade 9 and 10 Hub, the Junior School Makerspace and the Senior and Middle School Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) Studio. These spaces use new furniture, such as moveable adjustable chairs and sofa-like seating, as well as glass, whiteboard tables (another great tool for group work!).

“The Hub is amazing,” says Grade 9 student, Lauren Armstrong, “I especially love the new tables you can write on. They’re great when we are working on group projects—one person in a group can take notes that everyone else can easily see and add to.”

Francesca Johnson and Ryley Fowler, both in Grade 10, add their approval of the space’s flexibility.

“We spend at least an hour a day in and around the Hub and use it for socializing, working in groups and just relaxing. The furniture is the best part because you can move it around easily, depending on how you are using the space.”

Of course, technology still plays a critical role. Michael Ianni-Palarchio, Director,

Technology and Innovation, says the new spaces seamlessly merge classroom set-ups with new tech. The Makerspace and STEAM Studio, for instance, are designed for multiple purposes, so that a child can use a high-tech tool such as a 3D printer or a traditional tool such as a sewing machine towards solving a design problem, such as the use of wearable technology for the elderly.

“It’s where girls go to explore and experi-

ment—it’s meant to be collaborative,” says Ianni-Palarchio.

“We are all challenging ourselves and how we’ve worked in the past,” says Kennedy.

“This could completely transform the way we teach our girls and the way our girls learn.” R Chris Daniels is a Toronto freelance writer and editor who has worked for Maclean’s, Hello!

Canada and other publications.

Students collaborate on a project in the Junior School Makerspace.

The Headmasters’ Daughter

JAMIE DAY FLECK’00

GROWING UP, Jennifer PRATT Peters’81 would sit around the dining-room table over conversations with her family about what goes into making a school truly great.

“I had two dads. My real dad was the founding headmaster of The Country Day School in King City, Ontario. And my stepdad was the founding headmaster of Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School in Calgary,” Peters explains. “I spent the whole first part of my life hanging out with headmasters. It gave me an understanding of what it takes for a school to be able to offer a high-quality level of education.”

She didn’t follow in either of her fathers’ footsteps. Peters works as a portfolio manager at wealth management firm 3Macs, but she is still at the table having those conversations about improving student outcomes.

For the past seven years, she has sat on the Board of Governors for Branksome, where her daughter, Eliza, is currently enrolled in Grade 9. When the proposal for testing the classrooms of tomorrow was brought to the board, Peters says she had an opportunity to make a larger financial contribution than usual to the school. She devoted it entirely to this project.

“I have been a parent here for the last 10 years, and have seen how the school takes on projects and initiatives that are well thought out and well researched,” says Peters. “It is important to me that I support the progressive ideas of Branksome and, as a private school, I know how it needs and benefits from donor support.”

CHRIS DANIELS

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Student Profile

Through the Hoops Emma Lozhkin competes internationally as a rhythmic gymnast

JAMIE DAY FLECK’00

BY GILLIAN MINSKY RIBBON, HOOP, BALL and clubs—these are all part of Emma Lozhkin’s gym kit.

When she’s not studying as a Grade 12 student, Emma is an accomplished rhythmic gymnast. “It’s almost like a combination of ballet and circus tricks,” she explains.

Everything is done on the floor using those props. “It can be hard not to get tangled in the ribbon,” says Emma with a laugh. “It can even just depend on whether the air conditioning is on in the stadium.”

Emma competes at the national and international level and has been on the Senior National Team since 2015. Her September 2016 trip to Tokyo for the

AEON Cup gave her the chance to explore the city as well as compete internationally.

“The actual experience of competing there was amazing,” she says. Emma’s team finished in 14th place, a feat she is very proud of.

Participating in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, was a highlight of her gymnastics career. As a member of the winning team at the Junior Pan American Championships in Florida, Emma travelled to China and participated in two group routines, with five girls on each team. “It was almost like synchronized swimming,” she says. “In one routine, we each had a pair of clubs—so 10 clubs in total on the carpet at one time—which was really cool. The other routine involved hoops.”

Walking through the Olympic Village stands out as a moment Emma will never forget. “Just being around all the different athletes from different countries who are just as invested in sport as you are…it’s amazing.” Her team placed an impressive fifth at the Games.

When not jetting around the world to compete, Emma is also an enthusiastic student. She describes English as “one of the best classes at Branksome,” but says that math, physics and chemistry are her favourites. “I’m very analytical and I like problem solving.”

A natural leader, Emma worked as a plenary head at the World Affairs Conference held at Upper Canada College last year. She is also actively involved in Model United Nations. And as a member of the school’s Debating Team, she recently competed at the provincials with three other Branksome students.

Outside of school, Emma enjoys reading classics. “I love Gone with the Wind, Catch-22 and Crime and Punishment,” she says. “It’s a combination of how they’re written, the stories they tell, and the meaning behind them.”

She also loves food. “If we’re travelling, I’m always the person who finds restaurants—I’m a big foodie.”

How would Emma describe Branksome to someone who has never been? “It’s a very close community,” she says confidently. “It’s amazing that you can really be yourself without anyone judging you.”

After Branksome, the analytical problem-solver may pursue a career in computer science. “In Grade 10, I took a computer science class and it really sparked my interest to keep pursuing it,” she says. “I’ve studied coding outside of school and I’ve made a variety of websites and apps.”

She adds, “I might even consider engineering. Definitely something in a STEM-related field.” For Emma, that’s no big leap. R Gillian Minsky is a Communications Officer at Branksome Hall.

The READ Winter 2016 –17

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SchoolScoop

JAMIE DAY FLECK’00

“I wanted to expand my role to help students tap into their potential and passion.”

Teacher Profile

Taking the Lead Denise Power is changing how students learn about leadership DENISE POWER IS barely stopping for breath. She’s describing the most recent changes to student leadership learning at Branksome and her enthusiasm mounts as she goes deeper into the topic.

One of the school’s top strategic priorities is to embed transformational leadership in both students and adults alike. As Director of Student Life, Denise was charged, two years ago, with bringing this priority into action among the girls.

And she was a natural for the job.

Denise received both an undergrad degree in physical education and an M.Ed. from Brock University. She says her passion was the leadership aspects of athletics—sports councils, sports prefects, working with coaches and life lessons for students. Previously the Director of Athletics at another school, she came to Branksome six years ago to take on the Student Life position because, she says, “I wanted to expand my role to help students tap into their potential and passion.”

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Denise, in the Grade 9/10 Hub located in the Senior School.

Branksome’s task force on leadership, which Denise established, uncovered an interesting challenge: while the school has long espoused the notion that every individual possesses leadership capacity in some form, only the most formal leadership positions have received support through learning and training.

That led Denise and the task force to create a sequenced leadership education program. It begins in Grade 9 with Global Leaders in Action.

In Grade 10, all students take part in the new Alumnae Leaders Fellowship Program (facing page). The following year, it’s Week Without Halls, an outdoor experiential learning opportunity. And in Grade 12, an array of formal individual leadership roles await occupancy.

The program is already showing considerable success, particularly as Grade 10 girls take to heart the inspirational messages they receive from alumnae. But it’s not Denise’s only major task. She now oversees Athletics and all co-curriculars— community service, exchange programs and the IB Creativity, Activity and Service coordinator.

And she’s currently involved in a leadership project bringing together Special Olympics Ontario, where she once worked and continues to volunteer, and Branksome’s Grade 9 girls. In February, the Grade 9s will do a day of service working with the Special Olympics curriculum to effectively run a sports day for students from Sunny View Public School, which serves elementary students with intellectual and physical disabilities.

The Branksome students are given six weeks to research a range of accessibility issues in a true IB learning experience. “A leader takes the time to research and truly understand the needs of the people with whom they are working before they create a program,” she says.

Sound like a lot? There’s more. At home Denise has four-year-old twins Abigail and Aidan with her husband, fellow teacher and fellow ex-Brock athlete Benjamin de Bray, who shares a lot of the work. To wind down, “at 5 p.m. I like to go to the Athletics and Wellness Centre boot camp, where I’m joined by colleagues from across the campus.”

But her day is not all workouts and leadership meetings—she likes a good laugh, too. Driving home, her latest guilty pleasure is Amy Schumer’s audiobook, Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. R

Guiding Mentors The Alumnae Leaders Fellowship Program connects grads to Grade 10 students under the leadership of Denise Power, Director of Student Life (see facing page), we appealed to alumnae from graduation years 1995–2005, who are leaders in their field of employment or studies, to indicate their interest in working with our Grade 10 students. With the mandate to develop leadership skills, we focused on four fields of interest—the arts, STEM, law and entrepreneurship.

This new Alumnae Leaders Fellowship Program required the grads to prepare an on-site 45-minute lecture, one in-person mentor session, and up to two follow-up sessions via Skype, Facetime or email.

According to Denise, the program has had a profound impact on

LAST SPRING,

On May 10, lawyer Indira STEWART’98 captivates Grade 10 students with her work and life post Branksome.

students. Often, the alumnae reveal their own periodic failures and setbacks, she says, and their forthrightness frees the girls to think about their own doubts and dreams in a more grounded way. The girls learn that leadership is a set of competencies, not a gift from above, and that leadership calls on all kinds of traits, not just a few traditional ones.

Meet the diverse and talented participants who were back on campus last May

Meg BUSH’04 With a background in digital brand marketing, Meg now manages advertising strategy for Google and YouTube Canada’s tourism clients.

She works with Canada’s largest advertisers to help them tap into the power of Google to share their messages, products and ideas.

Education: B.A. (Hons) Specialization in Political Science, Western University; Master of Communication, University of Leeds

Rowena LEUNG’03 Rowena is the first in-store dietitian with Loblaw Companies Ltd. in Ontario. She educates the public about healthy eating and interacts with all age groups from babies to seniors. Rowena’s role involves cooking and also exploring the newest additions to the grocery store aisles. In a grocery setting, she is able to emphasize the message of developing a healthy relationship with food. From time to time, Rowena appears on OMNI TV (Mandarin and Cantonese), Fairchild TV & Radio (Cantonese), and Rogers TV’s daytime toronto.

Education: B.Sc. (Foods & Nutrition), Western University; Dietetic training, St. Michael’s Hospital

Virginia WRIGHT Seymour’02 Virginia oversees the wholesale division for clothing designer EILEEN FISHER in Canada. An international retail executive, Virginia developed a love for fashion and the retail industry at a young age, often finding herself walking the luxury Bloor Street shops and discussing trends with her decorator mother. She started her career as the international trainee in the Saks Fifth Avenue Executive Excellence Program and graduated top of her class. This led to a position as a designer and contemporary buyer for saks.com.

She also held buying positions at Holt Renfrew and Joe Fresh.

Virginia has a keen ability to predict trends and drive retailers forward in the fast evolving retail industry, while balancing her favourite role as mother to two young boys.

Indira STEWART’98 Now a barrister in her own law firm, Simcoe Chambers, Indira specializes in criminal trials and has experience representing clients in criminal appeals and in professional discipline matters. Notably, in a lengthy first-degree murder trial, she was co-counsel in the successful defence of Richard Kachkar, a mentally ill man who was found not criminally responsible for killing a police officer with a snow plow.

Indira and her husband Greg, also a lawyer, are the proud parents of son Milo, 4, and daughter Daya, 2.

Education: B.A. Literature and Film, Brown University; LLB, University of Ottawa

Education: B.A. Political Science, Western University

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SchoolScoop

NOVEMBER 8, 2016

A Sold-out Luncheon HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER, Dr. Fiona SAMPSON’81, C.M.

captivated the audience of 140 Branksome parents at a luncheon held at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club.

Dr. Sampson, the founder of the equality effect (e2), works collaboratively with an international team of human rights advocates to make girls’ and women’s rights real, enabling girls to be safe from sexual violence, obtain an education and make a contribution to society.

CRISTINA CORAGGIO has joined us as the Executive Director, Advancement and Community Engagement (ACE). In this newly created role, she will be a key member of Branksome’s Senior Leadership Team, and will oversee marketing and communications, community engagement, alumnae relations and fundraising.

Cris holds a B.A. in Journalism and Communications from Concordia University in Montreal, where she grew up. Prior to joining Branksome last summer, she was the Director of Marketing and Communications at Upper Canada College for seven years, where she developed the branding and marketing around the school’s $100-million Think Ahead Campaign. Cris previously worked as the Assistant Dean of External Relations at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, Executive Director of the Canadian Journalism Foundation, and Associate Director of Advancement Communications for the University of Toronto’s $1-billion Great Minds Campaign.

You can find Cris and her ACE team at 16 Elm Avenue, where visitors are always welcome.

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Fiona SAMPSON’81, left, and Branksome parent Sophia KELSICK Plumb’81, at the luncheon.

ANDY LEE

WELCOME, CRIS

THE GREAT UNVEILING A new donor wall shows gratitude and success THE ATHLETICS AND WELLNESS CENTRE would not be the spectacular new landmark on Branksome’s

campus were it not for the generosity of parents, alumnae and friends who, collectively, helped the school exceed its $15-million goal in the recently completed Branksome Becomes Campaign.

On September 27, the colourful, ultra-modern plaque, listing donor names at the $25,000-plus level, was unveiled at the Branksome Circle Reception—an annual event which includes everyone who contributes at the Circle level of $1,000 or more in that fiscal year.

Linton CARTER, left, and Janice FRANKLIN Moratz, right, met with Joelle Therriault in November to discuss the implementation of the five-year initiative.

RESPECTING HUMAN RIGHTS How we support gender diversity IN THE 2015–16 issue of The READ, we introduced Branksome Hall’s Transgender Working Group, chaired by Deputy Principal Karrie Weinstock. Its mandate was to develop recommendations and guidelines regarding our approach to supporting and accommodating current and prospective transgender students.

The Transgender Working Group made its recommendations in the Spring of 2016, stating that Branksome remains committed to its mission as a girls’ school, and will apply human rights principles to all gender issues, in compliance with the Ontario Human Rights Code. As a result, our set of guiding principles recognizes and supports individuals as the gender in which they live.

“Branksome will consider admissions applications from applicants who identify as female,” says Karrie Weinstock. “Should a student transition while at Branksome, the student will be eligible, based on criteria used for all students, and in discussion with their family, to continue studying at the school.”

These principles reflect best practices and uphold Branksome Hall’s commitment to the values of open-mindedness, inclusivity and care.

EMBEDDING MENTAL HEALTH IN SCHOOL CULTURE A powerful 30th reunion fundraising project surpasses its $10,000 goal has made a powerful statement and, in honour of their 30th reunion in 2016, raised $10,125 towards the Class of ’86 Mental Health Initiative.

This new fund will allow for special programming to further enhance Branksome’s ongoing mental health efforts throughout the school year.

For five years, commencing during Mental Health Week in January 2017 and until January 2021, the Class of 1986 Mental Health Initiative fund will disburse $2,000 annually in support of activities that educate the community, promote positive mental health and decrease mental health stigma. Initiatives will include funding guest speakers, training opportunities, and other school-wide activities.

This project was initiated by Linton CARTER’86 in consultation with her classmates and in tandem with Deputy Principal Karrie Weinstock and Lead Social Worker Joelle Therriault. A huge thank you to all involved, especially the Class of 1986 for supporting the Branksome community’s commitment to positive mental health and wellness.

THE CLASS OF 1986

Our Athletics and Wellness Centre is an exciting new venue for cocktail receptions, sit-down dinners, product launches, conferences, weddings and parties.

Come and check out the beautiful spaces for your next event. www.branksomevenues.ca 416-920-6265, ext. 181.

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SchoolScoop

Restoring A Treasured Landmark

The Weston Drawing Room, located inside the portecochère entrance at 10 Elm Avenue, has undergone an extensive renovation. Completed last summer, the project restored the 19th century room to its original grandeur PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT RUTK AY

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The two impressive fireplaces were temporarily removed and stripped of decades-old paint, revealing intricate inlay composed of ebony, burled walnut, oak and maple. A long-lost photo depicting three young ladies in what appears to be uniforms, had fallen behind the west wall fireplace along with some pine needles from a bygone holiday (see p. 48).

An original light fixture from the Weston Drawing Room was re-designed and hung in the admissions hallway, shedding muchneeded light on the newly-cleaned honour boards. Other improvements include a softer colour palette and a newly-improved seating area with re-upholstered furniture and new lighting.

Among numerous improvements to the room, the restoration of Margaret Scott’s portrait (Principal, 1903–10), at the far end, serves as a legacy to the first principal’s early days at Branksome. The Victorian furniture and pre-existing sofas were all re-upholstered for a more contemporary look. The floor proved a more challenging task due to its unsalvageable condition, and was replaced with wideplanked Norwegian Oak. Newly restored is Margaret Scott’s original roll-top desk, left, which was kindly donated

by Margaret WINANS Elliot’49 and Flavia ELLIOTT Redelmeier’43 in 2003.

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Cover Story

H I G

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F L Y E

Alison VAILLANCOURT Murphy’03 has focused her adult life on becoming part of a very rare breed—female pilot for a major airline

BY BERTON WOODWARD / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF KIRK

N HER HONEYMOON, she went swimming with sharks in French Polynesia. As a teenager, she joined a circus school and flew on the trapeze.

At Branksome, she started an up-thewall rock-climbing club. In her warm, straightforward manner, Alison VAILLANCOURT Murphy observes, “I won’t say I’m an adventure seeker, but…” as her voice trails off. But in fact, she kind of is, in the best way, and today her biggest adventure is the job she has—international airline pilot.

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Alison is now a proud first officer with WestJet, sitting in the right-hand seat in the cockpit and on track to become a captain one day. This is no small achievement. Only five per cent of the pilots for major airlines in North America are women.

This is not for lack of trying—in Canada, the airlines are among the federally regulated industries that must report on their progress in achieving employment equity in four areas including gender.

Analysts cite a variety of factors that can make (continued on page 18)

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(continued from page 16) flying unappealing to women, including the high cost of tuition, low pay at smaller companies and potential absences from family. But for many industry experts, the biggest reason is simply that young women rarely think of aviation as a potential career.

HAT WAS THE STORY for Alison.

She grew up near the Scarborough Bluffs, a very outdoorsy area for a girl who thrived on activity. She loved to travel and go places with her father, a lawyer, and her mother, a teacher. But there were no pilots in the family, which aviation educators say is still one of the biggest predictors for women entering the profession. She was even interested in flying. “I took some introductory flight lessons in small planes as a teenager,” she says. “I loved it, but I didn’t think of it as a career opportunity.”

In Grade 9, she started at Branksome, ramping up her activity with after-hours sessions at the Toronto School of Circus Arts and heading out with her new club members to scale rock walls at a local climbing gym. “I like high-action scenarios,” she says dryly.

She also had another attribute that pilots need: “My strongest subject was math,” she says. “I loved calculus—along with fashion!”

Branksome, which is committed to helping girls succeed in the traditionally male-dominated fields known as STEM—science, technology, engineering and math—was an ideal place to pursue her love of numbers. It also gave her something else—the school’s renowned worldview. “My experiences at Branksome were always very positive,” she

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says. “They really foster an environment where you believe you can become anything you want to be. There are no gender-specific careers and no restrictions as long as you’re willing to work hard enough.”

But still the piloting penny failed to drop.

After Branksome, she entered Western University in kinesiology. Then came her eureka moment. She happened to have a business class, and a fellow student told her he was enrolled in the school’s commercial aviation management program, which included a full pilot-training option. “At that moment, I said, ‘That’s what I want to do! I want to fly airplanes for a living,’” says Alison. “I had never made the connection as a teenager that I could be paid to do this.”

It was a fateful crossroads in her life, infused with serendipity. Alison could have chosen to study kinesiology at just about any Canadian university, but Western is unique in offering the aviation program she was able to transfer into. Moreover, she soon met the man who would become her constant partner in flight and in life.

Alison first knew London, Ontario native Barry Murphy in the aviation program, but they didn’t become an item until after graduation, when they both taught in Western’s flight school, building more flying hours.

Amazingly, this pattern of working together continued as they flew for a series of smaller airlines in Alberta before joining WestJet. “All the way along, we had the same jobs at the same companies,” says Alison. “At a certain point, we had the exact same resumes, so if one of us interviewed somewhere and got hired, it wasn’t hard for the other to be hired too.”

For Alison, much of the thrill of flying is the vista from the cockpit. Her voice quickens as she talks about the view coming into lit-up Las Vegas at night, or flying across Canada and seeing the Northern Lights.

“It’s the best view in the world,” she says.

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They flew, sometimes together, around western Canada, to such places as Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Swift Current, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, as well as Calgary and Edmonton.

Their employers carried names like Swanberg Air, Air Georgian and Canada North. There were charters and scheduled flights, often ferrying rough and tumble guys in the oil business. Some of the runs involved piloting specially equipped Boeing 737 jets that could handle gravel landing strips in far northern destinations such as Cambridge Bay in Nunavut and the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories. She had a few hair-raising experiences—an engine caught fire once while they were still on the ground—but nothing life-threatening.

For Alison, much of the thrill of flying is the vista from the cockpit. Her voice quickens as she talks about the view coming into lit-up Las Vegas at night, or flying across Canada and seeing the Northern Lights. “It’s the best view in the world,” she says. “It’s easy to

ALISON TAKES A SEAT IN THE COCKPIT OF THE WESTJET BOEING 737.

poor personal communications, including a first officer unwilling to challenge a captain when something seems wrong.

Alison received the call about her dream job while she was eating dinner with her husband by the side of a Venetian canal.

Barry followed her to WestJet a little while later, meaning that after about 10 years, she should be first to reach the rank of captain and perhaps have her husband as her first officer now and then. What about getting a baby on board? “We definitely want to have kids,” she says, “and that is a big challenge in aviation.” She notes that WestJet’s system of crews bidding equally for specific routes and days each month means she and her husband can plan ahead to have at least one of them at home most of the time.

hasn’t found her gender to be any kind of a career issue, or even much of an issue for the public. “In the lower levels of aviation there are a lot more women. The oil field workers fly all the time. They’re used to female pilots and are not shocked at all.”

Now, at WestJet, she doesn’t hear disapproving remarks about a woman in the cockpit. But she does have seemingly endless anecdotes about passengers’ “automatic assumption” that she’s a flight attendant, especially since WestJet uniforms don’t include caps. Once, she had to stand for a moment near the galley and a nearby passenger asked her for a snack. She smiled to herself and got him some pretzels.

She also treasures the moment in the Los Angeles airport when an elderly woman in a wheelchair took a long look at her and said loudly, “You’re a pilot?” The woman’s daughter turned red with embarrassment and tried to hush her mother, but her mom then added, “That’s great!” To Alison, that validation carried a lot of aviation history. R

A forget how lucky we are to see it on a daily basis.” Not to mention the blue waters of Turks and Caicos or Montego Bay on her Caribbean runs.

the personal travel perks. Even the smaller airlines had arrangements with larger ones for standby travel, and after she and Barry joined WestJet in Calgary in 2013, they had the pick of the world’s destinations, from Thailand to Peru. “Every available chance we get, we like to travel,” she says. Now, living in Guelph, the couple can take a quick run along the 401 to Pearson International and be off.

Barry proposed to her in 2014 on the Greek island of Santorini, at the edge of a cliff at sunset, after they flew there on standby. Ditto their honeymoon last May—a standby trip to the French Polynesian atoll of Rangiroa, where the two avid scuba divers swam with dolphins and potentially dangerous sharks, including the large and at times

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HEN THERE ARE

aggressive silvertip, blacktip and whitetip varieties. “I was using my GoPro, trying to get close to them,” she says with a smile.

“Occasionally they were interested in us, but for the most part, they’re more afraid of humans.”

Alison was also on a standby vacation with Barry, this time in Venice, Italy, while she waited for word about her WestJet application. “My goal was always to work there,” she says. “Every decision I made in my career—and my life, for that matter—was so that I could eventually be hired at WestJet.” Many of the qualifications for a major airline pilot are cut and dried—hours, aircraft experience, rank at previous jobs—but there is also an interview. “It was one of the most stressful interviews I’ve ever had,” she says. “I had been looking forward to this moment for so long.” Alison notes that in modern aviation, interviewers look for cues about how prospects might interact with their colleague in the cockpit. Research has shown that many safety incidents have occurred because of

LISON SAYS SHE

Berton Woodward is a Toronto-based writer, editor and communications consultant.

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Features

THE ACCIDENTA 20

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How Toni TROW Myers’61 became the queen of IMAX documentaries

AL FILMMAKER

BY MIRO CERNETIG

The READ Winter 2016 –17

JEFF KIRK

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ERENDIPITY, TONI MYERS will tell you, is that wonderful force in life that shows up unexpectedly and, well, just changes everything.

It first touched her in Toronto, in the 1960s, a young woman not long out of Branksome Hall, who realizes she doesn’t really have the driving passion to (continued on page 22)

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(continued from page 21) be a full-time painter. So she drops out of the Ontario College of Art after a year and suddenly needs to find a job. A friend tells her there’s an ad in the newspaper, from some film editor looking for a personal assistant, to make tea, look after his books, etc.

She goes for the interview, and finds herself in front of Donald Ginsberg, who won his Oscar for editing at 23. He happens to be one of the pioneers in Toronto’s emerging film business. And he likes her. Myers is hired, and soon she’s being taught how to splice film and edit commercials, documentaries and feature films. One day, the CBC calls and asks her to help on a show called This Hour Has Seven Days, which just happens to change TV journalism forever. That’s serendipity.

“Serendipity has always been a big part of my life,” laughs Myers. “It’s being in the right place at the right time.”

That’s what happens in 1965, when she’s in New York, hanging around the Village checking out the music scene. She goes to a party, and a guy named Graeme Ferguson, whom she’s never met, says he’s starting a very experimental multi-image film for Expo ’67. Would she be interested in working on it? Sure, she says. The film Polar Life, a project with 11 projectors and a moving audience, is a technical nightmare to edit and run, but a smash hit.

After Expo, most of Myers’ friends go to sunny California. Myers decides to give London a try. But she’s not a great tourist, and soon finds herself feeling desperately lonely, wondering if she made a horrible mistake. She’s about to head back home, when she meets a girl named Jennifer Rae (the sister of future Ontario Premier Bob Rae)

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SPACE STATION 3D DOCUMENTS THE ON-ORBIT ASSEMBLY OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.

who asks, “Are you Canadian?” She invites Myers to the local pub, where she meets some other Canucks and Brits, who just happen to be plugged into London’s thriving film and TV scene.

In no time, Myers is post-production supervisor on a BBC series for Allan King, another Canadian legend, already famous for his ground-breaking films Warrendale and A Married Couple. Then, one day, Yoko Ono and John Lennon drop in to King’s London studio where Myers is working, and ask if she would like to edit some experimental films for them. She says sure, and now she’s collaborating with John and Yoko, and working for the Beatles.

“It’s amazing, being in the right place at the right time. One day, Carlos Santana came in and asked us to make a documentary of the band’s European tour,” recalls Myers. “I don’t

have anything against going to film school, you learn lots of things there, too. But there’s nothing like just learning on the job.”

The big break that would make Myers one of Canada’s most successful editors, directors and producers came while she was in London, when Graeme Ferguson wrote to her. Would she come back to Canada to edit a film on a new method of showing movies that he and two others had invented? It was called IMAX. Once again, Myers said yes. Soon she was editing a film called North of Superior, the first 70mm IMAX creation made for the towering screen at Ontario Place. She edited in a stunning effect: the first few seconds of the film open in what looks like a standard frame, like any theatre at the time. It made the audience think, this is it? And then, pow, a jump cut with the full 70mm power of IMAX explodes onto the screen, instantly revolutionizing the film experience.

“We knew we had something special,” recalls Myers. “It was a whole new way of seeing movies and the world.”

From there, Myers would go on to edit, direct, co-produce or write 17 IMAX documentaries. She has literally made the planet and universe her subjects. Myers has taken us into the ocean depths as editor of Nomads of the Deep, and into orbit with Hail Columbia!, a look at the maiden voyage of the space shuttle, and The Dream Is Alive, where she trained the astronauts how to be filmmakers using IMAX cameras in space.

In 2002, she documented the on-orbit assembly of the International Space Station.

Then she took us on a journey deep into time and the universe with Hubble 3D, considered the most visually arresting film ever made about the cosmos.

But despite blazing those cinematic journeys, Myers’ editor’s eye never really left Earth, the tiny planet she recalls seeing floating over her on Ontario Place’s gigantic IMAX screen so many decades ago. “I’ll never forget that as long as I live,” she recalls, still awed by the moment. “It was as if I had absolutely gone to space. I remember saying something completely silly like, ‘The Earth really is round!’”

At that moment, Myers was looking at a scene from 1990’s Blue Planet, which she wrote, edited and narrated. It was meant to give us a sense of space travel, but also deliver one of the first warnings that the Earth below

faced global environmental risks from its billons of human inhabitants. “Back then people talked about the Ozone Hole, and the prospect of climate change was only beginning to emerge,” says Myers. “I wanted that film to reach young people, to allow them to see Earth. When we showed it to teenagers, they cried.”

Myers has brought that message back home once again with A Beautiful Planet, which she wrote, directed, edited and produced (though she left the narration to Jennifer Lawrence). Now being screened around the world, it takes us on a 3D voyage back to the International Space Station, with an awe-inspiring view out to the cosmos but also a gaze down to the magnificent yet fragile planet below. “I find after looking out for many years, I wanted to look back down here. I’m worried about where we are going, though I think there is hope.”

At 73, Myers insists she has grounded her cameras. “Now my mission is to be a good grandmother, to have the time to spend time with my three grandkids and myself. When you do these IMAX films, you’re not around a lot. They really do take four years—you

Myers has taken us into the ocean depths as editor of Nomads of the Deep, and into orbit with Hail Columbia!, a look at the maiden voyage of the space shuttle, and The Dream Is Alive, where she trained the astronauts how to be filmmakers using IMAX cameras in space.

A BEAUTIFUL PLANET OFFERS AN AWE-INSPIRING VIEW OF THE COSMOS AND OUR OWN FRAGILE PLANET.

POSTERS © IMAX CORPORATION. USED WITH PERMISSION.

HUBBLE 3D IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST VISUALLY STUNNING FILMS EVER MADE ABOUT THE COSMOS.

have to get them financed, convince NASA they ought to fly your cameras to space, and train the astronauts before you can actually start making the film!”

Don’t count Myers out of the business just yet, though. The late film critic Roger Ebert’s site called Beautiful Planet “a blockbuster experience of the God’s-eye view.” Serendipity doesn’t leave talent like that alone. R Miro Cernetig’s latest film is Facing Saddam for National Geographic. A former Globe and Mail foreign correspondent, he is the founder of Catalytico, a strategic branding company based in Vancouver.

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Features

A PASSION FOR HEALING

Renowned pediatric oncologist Margaret MacMILLAN’81 is determined to make things better for kids in life and death situations

BY PATRICIA HLUCHY / PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEY TAYLOR

often uses the word “passion” when describing what she does. Many of us would add the word “heroic.” The Toronto native is a pediatric bone marrow transplant physician at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. A doctor for 25 years who did much of her medical training in her home city, Margy deals with children who are very sick—from cancer and other diseases such as Fanconi anemia, a rare and life-threatening hereditary illness in which she is a renowned specialist.

A couple of weeks before our interview, one of her patients, a six-month-old baby with leukemia, died from an infection after a bone marrow transplant. Such losses don’t get any easier, Margy concedes.

“Sometimes people think or have said to me, ‘When a child dies, you must get kind of used to it.’ I would say the exact opposite. The first time you witness a child die, it’s like a dagger in your heart, but with each subsequent child that I’ve seen die, it’s like a twist of that dagger.

It’s cumulative; it gets harder.” (continued on page 26)

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ARGARET “MARGY” MACMILLAN

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THE MACMILLAN/BLACK FAMILY LEGACY FOLLOWING HER KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT INSTALLATION ON OCTOBER 7, MARGY IS JOINED BY FAMILY MEMBERS—NIECES SARAH BLACK (SPORTS PREFECT) AND SOPHIE BLACK (GR. 5), SISTER SHEILA MACMILLAN BLACK’81 AND NIECE MEGAN BLACK’14.

(continued from page 24) Many people, including members of the medical profession, shy away from work that involves so much tragedy. As Margy points out, she sees patients for whom easier therapies have failed and bone marrow transplantation “is a treatment of last resort.

These kids, unfortunately, get really sick when they’re going through it and many of them don’t make it. Even if they do survive, there can be a lot of life-threatening complications, but fortunately, incredible advances have been made through research.”

When she was a young doctor doing a four-year residency at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, Margy committed to taking on those challenges as her life’s work. She remembers attending to a two-year-old boy with cancer. He was “the classic unwell-looking child who was bald, in bed. I remember walking out of the room and thinking, this is just too hard. And turning back and looking

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at him and thinking, no, I have to help him and all the little ones who follow. It was really like a pull—I felt blessed that I can do this.”

Her fraternal twin, Sheila MacMILLAN Black’81, says Margy has always been an empathetic, hopeful and “very, positive person—overridingly positive.” She adds that her twin has been a mentor to her four daughters, noting that the eldest, Julia, was clearly inspired by Margy to study medicine—she’s in the first year of medical school at Duke University in Durham, N.C. Margy says of her career that “it’s not a job; it’s a passion.” That fire makes her a leading researcher as well as clinician, one who puts in at least 60 and as many as 100 hours a week. The importance of finding work you love, and of expecting failures along the way, were the messages she brought to Branksome Hall’s Installation, where she was the 2016 keynote speaker. “Branksome has

given you an incredible opportunity to make a difference in this world,” she said. “Seize this opportunity and enjoy the journey to your success. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable during your journey. Don’t be afraid to fail. Learn from your mistakes and move forward. It takes incredible effort, focus and sacrifice to make a difference in the world but the rewards are well worth it.”

her calling when she was a little girl. From an early age, she told family and friends she wanted to “cure cancer.” It’s still a mystery where that came from, she says, since she did not know anyone with the disease and there were no physicians in her family.

Her father, Charles, was a litigation lawyer while her mother, Julie, was a teacher who became a homemaker and community

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ARGY FIRST FOUND

volunteer. The youngest, along with Sheila, of five children, Margy held onto that ambition through elementary and high school. “She loved solving puzzles,” recalls Sheila, “and at a very early age I think it distressed her that there was no cure for cancer. That might have been her catalyst.”

Margy credits Branksome and “its teachers who really pushed you,” including revered English teacher Nora McRae, with instilling in her a love of academics that led her to study for another 18 years after graduation. Not only does the school hold a place in her heart—“That sense of community was wonderful!”—but it’s also a family tradition: her older sister Barb and twin Sheila also went to Branksome, and two of Sheila’s daughters are graduates while the two younger ones are still there. For a time, Sheila taught Grade 5 at the school.

Margy first earned a B.A. at the University of Western Ontario (now Western University), majoring in physiology and psychology (and taking an English literature class in honour of Nora McRae). She went on to get her master’s at the University of Toronto in nutritional sciences. “I used to decapitate rats and dissect their brains and analyze them,” Margy says, laughing. She was still working on her master’s when she started medical school at the U of T, such was her “laser-focus” on her goal.

Getting her M.D. was followed by a four-year pediatrics residency at the Hospital for Sick Kids, the final year as chief resident, and then a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at U of T. Knowing she wanted to specialize in blood and bone marrow transplantation, in 1997

she headed down to the University of Minnesota, a leader in the field, for what was supposed to be a six-month fellowship. It lasted another two years and, in 1999, she joined the U of M faculty. She has been there ever since.

Margy says about 40 per cent of her time is devoted to patients, and the other 60 per cent to research in two main areas: Fanconi anemia and graft-versus-host disease, a dire complication which affects many people who get blood and bone marrow transplants. She says combining research with clinical work helps her withstand the loss of patients. “You’re at the bedside, and it helps you identify what the major issues are that we need to improve on, and that fuels your research idea.”

Margy is a “translational researcher,” bringing lab findings on mice to humans for the first time in clinical trials. She is currently in charge of 10 clinical trials and involved to varying degrees in about 40 others. “I think if all I did was clinical work I’d be very frustrated. I’d be asking why aren’t we improving upon what we’re doing?”

been an outlet for Margy. It’s another practice she thanks Branksome for—she was on many school teams and ran cross-country.

She went on to participate in three Boston Marathons and seven Ironman Triathlons. In 2005, she was part of a relay team of 24, led

by Lance Armstrong, that cycled from San Diego to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness for cancer research. In 2010, while preparing to go to the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, she was hit by a car and seriously injured. Margy still cycles, swims and lifts weights regularly, but ongoing back and ankle issues prevent her from running very much. Still, every morning she gets up early to take her puppy, a goldencoloured cockapoo named Poppy, for a walk.

For someone with a very challenging career, Margy has a surprisingly lighthearted

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She recalls attending to a two-year-old boy with cancer.

“I remember walking out of the room and thinking, this is just too hard. And turning back and looking at him and thinking, no, I have to help him and all the little ones who will follow.”

disposition and laughs frequently. She’s buoyed by the fact that 50 years ago, less than 10 per cent of children with the most common type of leukemia survived, and now 90 per cent make it. She knows that with further research, advances will be made in other childhood cancers. Margy finds it particularly uplifting to reconnect with young adult patients whose transplants she did when they were small, including a young man now in medical school. “They come for long-term follow-up and that’s quite fun.

They are trying to decide what to study or whether to get married. It’s incredibly rewarding to see them grow into young adults who are studying and doing well.” R Patricia Hluchy is a Toronto freelance writer and editor who has worked for Maclean’s, the Toronto Star and other publications..

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Features

THE GOOD WEAVE Bearing a famous rug name, Linda ALEXANIAN’85 has spent her life fighting child labour and improving how carpets are made

BY BERTON WOODWARD

ALL HER THE fruit of the loom.

Linda Alexanian grew up among rugs and rug-making.

She was part of the third generation of Alexanians who famously sell imported rugs and other floor coverings across Ontario and online. So it was perfectly natural that she would plan, after university, to enter… law school?

Well, that was the plan anyway.

It’s a story she’s told many times—how she was travelling the world in 1989 in a gap year before studying law, how she’d met up with her family in India on a rug-buying mission, and how she’d suddenly seen, up close and personal, just how involved young children were in rug-making. She was appalled, and said so.

“There were children everywhere,” she says. Estimates were that one million kids toiled in the industry. “Nobody was making a secret of these children. It was just considered a way of life.”

Her parents listened to her full-throated criticisms, “and, finally, by week three, they

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said, ‘If you care so much, do something about it.’”

So she did, and the rest is part of recent history. She “delayed” law school and, as head of rug-buying for Alexanian’s, managed, in the next three years, to wean the company completely off suppliers who used child labour.

She teamed up with an Indian company that became a founding member in 1994 of Rugmark, now GoodWeave, the international organization that certifies rugs as child-labour free; its founder, children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. By the time 12-year-old Craig Kiel-

burger and his brother Marc arrived on the scene in the mid-1990s with their high-profile Free the Children Foundation, Alexanian’s was far out in front on the issue. Linda herself had become an outspoken campaigner in India and Canada against child labour in the industry.

After the arrival of the first of her three children in 1998—Arianna, now 18, James, 16, and Lily, 14—she stepped away from rug-making for a while and moved with her family to Montreal. But now she’s back at it, more progressively than ever. Since 2011, she has run her own company, Organic Weave, that offers rugs made by adult women in India

In 1996, Linda was part of a high-powered Ottawa panel on child labour, with senior officials from government and industry. She remembers walking around the room, asking each person, “Do you know where your clothes are made? Do we know this was not made by a child?”

JEFF KIRK

LINDA, WITH A SAMPLING OF HER RUGS, MADE FROM ALL-ORGANIC FIBRES.

from all-organic fibres—cotton, wool or silk.

She says her school friends had a prediction for her: “Linda, you’re going to save the world, and you’re going to do it in a nice car.” She agrees she likes her creature comforts, but that has not stopped her quest for social justice at ground level.

T HELPS TO come from a family that has a tradition of helping others. Her Armenian grandfather, Aris Alexanian, lost his family in the horrific Armenian genocide in Turkey during and after the First World War, and came to Canada around 1920.

He was instrumental in helping the Canadian government bring dozens of Armenian orphans to Canada, known as the “Georgetown Boys” because they settled in Georgetown, Ont. Then, in 1925, he started a rug business in Hamilton and arranged for an Armenian bride to come to him from Egypt. “It was kind of a romantic story,” says Linda. “They had

I

never met, only corresponded, but they had a nice marriage and three sons.”

One was her father Armen, who had six kids with her English mother, Jane, and worked in the expanding family business in Kitchener. “We had rugs galore in our house, and we always joked that ‘rug’ was our first word,” says Linda. “Whenever a store opened for Alexanian’s, the whole family would make their way to the new store and it was a big celebration. We’re all very proud of how our family business has operated into the third generation, without the feuding or squabbles that affect many such businesses—none of that.”

In Grade 9, she came to Branksome as a boarder and made lifelong friends from around the world. “Those women were my family as well as my friends,” she says. “Thirty years out, we are still in touch.” She also praises Branksome for its rigorous educational experience— “my other schools were not as demanding.”

She later graduated with a B.A. from McGill, and started her gap year. After she

joined Alexanian’s, “law school just fell off the radar as I was enjoying the work.” In the first year, she would make sudden visits to the firm’s 13 Indian suppliers, checking for children, and whittled the list down to one—a founding member of Rugmark, run by a man, Damodar Das Barnawal, who her grandfather had begun working with in the 1940s. Her problem became finding more suppliers to service the family’s stores and she had to switch to machine-made carpets for a while. “I wasn’t the favoured child,” she admits, but her father, then leading the company, backed her.

At the same time, Alexanian’s became an advisor to the people setting up Rugmark and spoke out to the media in Canada and India. In 1996, Linda was part of a highpowered Ottawa panel on child labour, with senior officials from government and industry. She remembers walking around the room, asking each person, “Do you know where your clothes are made? Do we know this was not made by a child?” The response: “Everybody woke up. It was like I had given them a jolt of espresso.”

Linda looks back at that period with great pride. Now, she is again improving lives with Organic Weave. She works with women’s cooperatives in India that produce rugs made from organic materials, free of chemicals that could trigger allergies. “We have many clients who are chemically sensitive,” she says. “And they appreciate that it is a sustainable product.

Everything from the cultivation of the raw materials to the finishing of the product— seven steps, including dyes and moth-proofing—is certified organic.”

In India, she has partnered with the grandchildren of Damodar Das Barnawal in organizing her all-female corps of rugmakers.

“I work with women and I went to an all-girls school,” she says. “It makes sense. My main takeaway from Branksome is that women can access their own power. You find your true north, and that’s what the school encouraged us to do. I believe very strongly that when women are following their passion, the world is a better place.” R

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Features

R E A D I N G B U D DY Mary BAWDEN Wood’51 has brought the joy of books into the lives of disadvantaged children for 30 years

BY JANET SAILIAN

reading is a bright torch that can illuminate whole worlds from any little corner. Mary Wood has lit that flame for hundreds of students during her 30 years as a reading volunteer at Yorkwoods Public School in northwest Toronto.

Once a week, in any weather, 83-year-old Mary piles carefully selected books into her car for the 40-minute drive from her midtown Toronto home up to Jane and Finch, the gritty neighbourhood of high-rise apartment buildings and modest townhouses centred around the crossroads of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West. Her reading kids, who struggle to master literacy, eagerly await her, and Mary won’t let them down.

This commitment exemplifies Mary’s lifelong devotion to children. She brightens the lives and opens the horizons of disadvantaged kids from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 5 at Yorkwoods. Many are recent arrivals to Canada, representing 37 countries and 25 languages.

“Mary has literally changed the lives of so many of our kids through her tireless and passion-

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ate dedication, working alongside newcomers to Canada and children with learning disabilities,” says Andrea Shuman, Reading Recovery and Grade 1 teacher at Yorkwoods.

“She takes the time to truly get to know each of her students’ interests and then searches for the perfect book to bestow upon them.”

Mary reflects: “I’ve worked with kids from war zones, from Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa.

Some came from very difficult situations and some had traumatic experiences.”

One such pupil was Christian. “Teachers

CALEY TAYLOR

IN A QUIET AREA OF THE YORKWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY, MARY READS A SPOOKY HALLOWEEN STORY WITH TWO OF HER YOUNG STUDENTS.

said he was not motivated to learn how to read. I worked with him, and after one year he could expound on questions such as: ‘Which was the greatest empire—Greek or Roman?’ A few years after he graduated, Christian waited for me in the parking lot on a day when he knew I’d be at school, so he could thank me for helping him learn. That was very moving.”

Mary’s gifts are not only in-depth knowledge of phonics and teaching strategies, but generosity, patience, and caring. Plus a knack for celebrating with holiday and school year-end parties where Mary provides gingerbread houses, Easter eggs, lemonade and other treats.

“I work individually with five to six kids per year,” she says. “I want to show the children not just how to read but how to love reading.

I always try to find a special book each child will enjoy.”

This zeal for learning and volunteering was ignited more than 65 years ago, and grew to cover many roles serving youth, community and Branksome Hall.

At age 16, Mary and Branksome classmate Mary Lue Farmer began helping young people as junior counsellors at a camp for children with disabilities in Georgian Bay. Later, Mary volunteered for years at what is now Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, working with primary and senior students.

And, over the ensuing years, Mary has continued to reach out wherever need arises.

She has been a Girl Guides leader, a years-long board member for Katimavik—a nonprofit that promotes youth volunteerism— and president of the Current Events Club of Toronto. She is a generous Branksome Hall donor and volunteer, serving on the Parents’

Association, the Alumnae Association Executive Committee and, to this day, as the Class of 1951 Year Rep. “When I graduated from Grade 13 my father said: ‘You need to support your school.

And girls’ schools are not supported at the same level as boys’ schools. So here is your first donation.’ He handed me an envelope, which I gave to Miss Ainslie McMichael, the school secretary,” Mary recalls.

Since then, she has continued to donate to Branksome every year, particularly directing her gifts to the Alumnae Association Endowed Bursary Fund in support of student financial aid.

Mary joined Branksome in Grade 9, commuting daily from a farm in then-rural Markham. “Miss Read and Miss McMichael were so good to me. They never marked me late, although I often was,” says Mary.

a one-room country elementary school through Grade 8, so she was awed by the size and urbanity of her new school. But she quickly made friends whose camaraderie still endures.

Last May, Mary hosted a luncheon at her home during Branksome’s Reunion Weekend to celebrate her class’s 65th anniversary.

“I made such wonderful friends; we had a lot of fun,” she says. And in high school, her fascination with history and English literature took root.

After graduating in physiotherapy and occupational therapy from the University of Toronto in 1954, Mary completed the one-year Teachers’ College program and taught at Pape Avenue School, where some of the children struggled to read.

“One child had spent three years in Grade One,” says Mary. “I tried to help but I wasn’t trained for it. At that time, there was no established remedial or special-needs education.”

The pull of studying history drew Mary to brand-new York University in its first year of

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HE HAD ATTENDED

“I’ve worked with kids from war zones, from Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa. Some came from very difficult situations and some had traumatic experiences.”

classes. “There were only two of us majoring in history, and we had first-class profs,” notes Mary of her three-year B.A. program.

While at York, Mary wed Jim Wood. Soon son James and daughters Kathy and Elizabeth arrived. But the drive to help children in need didn’t abate. Mary volunteered at Grenoble School and then moved to Yorkwoods. For many years, her friend and Branksome classmate Geraldine JEPHCOTT Nightingale also came to Yorkwoods to teach reading.

Mary speaks with pride of her daughters, both Branksome alumnae, who in turn credit their mother as an inspiration for their own volunteer work. Elizabeth is head of a large special education department at a high school in Surrey, B.C. and volunteers with Special Olympics. Kathy is a librarian at Langara College in Vancouver and aptly says: “My mother taught me that Branksome’s motto, ‘Keep Well the Road’, is about a path to be shared in nurturing those less well off and, above all, in contributing to the well-being of your community.” R Janet Sailian is a freelance communications consultant, writer and editor.

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Features

FINDING MUSIC IN THE BARRIOS

For a decade, I helped poor kids in Nicaragua discover their own musical talents

BY DOROTHY BARNHOUSE’49

Branksome Hall after my father, a Presbyterian minister from Philadelphia, had a conversation with Principal Edith Read following the death of my mother.

I was 10, and had been homeschooled. “Send her to me,” Miss Read said, and I am so glad she did. Her advice helped me enter Radcliffe College, part of Harvard University, and go on to my career in singing, musical education, languages, and a very special time in Central America.

As a student in the 1940s, I didn’t spend much energy thinking what I would be doing 40 or 50 years later. It certainly didn’t occur

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to me that after decades of study, marriage, children and work, I would find myself in the barrios of Managua, the poor, earthquakeshattered capital of Nicaragua.

How did that happen? In the 1930s, I remember standing with my nose at the height of the table as my father pounded on it, despairing that so many good people in Europe had looked the other way as fascism and antisemitism tightened their grip. I grew up with a clear message: know what your government is doing and never look the other way.

During the 1960s, I knew my government was wrong about Vietnam, but as I was dedicated to my small children, I didn’t do much.

During the 1970s and ’80s, I knew the govern-

ment was supporting the bad guys in much of Central and South America. Here in California and with a sound knowledge of Spanish, I was surrounded by Central American refugees.

This time, I found it impossible to look the other way.

I joined many rallies at the U.S. Congress to protest its support of the right-wing Contras against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua that had overthrown dictator Anastasio Somoza. But it felt more like beating my head against a wall.

I decided that teaching in Nicaragua might do more good than demonstrating. In 1988, I was asked to be part of a small team to start an English department at their Agricultural University, since most of the literature on tropical farming is in English. Friends asked, “But Dorothy, you are a musician! Why are you doing that?” I would feel superior, thinking that education of agriculturalists in a poor country was more important than the luxury of music.

In Managua, I met Jordi and Judit from Barcelona, who had taken vows of poverty.

They were part of a team that provided a study hall where kids could do homework.

They gave health classes for pregnant and nursing mothers, and much more.

I loved the work they were doing and everyone I met in the Barrio René Cisneros. One day, one of the Sisters suggested we think of some activities for the children. I heard myself saying, “Well, I could start a little choir if any are interested.” The following Thursday, eight children arrived. I taught them a Sunday School song I had learned in Spanish as a child and, at their community’s next mass, they stood up and sang it. The following Thursday, there were 15 children. And it went on from there.

Someone gave me a small electric keyboard to help keep them on track. Several said they wanted to learn to play. I said, “OK,

“As a student in the 1940s, it certainly didn’t occur to me that after decades of study, marriage, children and work, I would find myself in the barrios of Managua, the poor, earthquake-shattered capital of Nicaragua.” anyone who wants a piano lesson, line up and I’ll give each of you a 15-minute lesson.”

Nine children stood in line.

One evening after the choir rehearsal, someone was waiting for me with some children from the neighbouring barrio, wanting to know why I wasn’t doing this in their barrio.

Word had gotten around and more requests came. How on earth could I fill them? another barrio where many of the teenagers had learned to play guitars and recorders.

We asked some of them to join us, and within months we had 10 teenagers teaching recorder to about 100 children in six barrios, and we had choirs in three. But, we needed a name—the teen teachers chose “Música en los Barrios.”

By now, it had become clear to me that music was not a luxury for these children and I began phasing out my work at the Agricultural College. This project was not something that some “first world”, “privileged” people decided should be “given” to the “third world” “underprivileged.” From those first eight children, all the growth happened only because the children demanded it. I began to design organizational tools to keep this rapidly growing operation manageable.

One day, when working with my original choir in Barrio René Cisneros, a little boy stood outside the window, throwing stones and mud. Sister Blanca told me Manuel had been semi-abandoned by his mother and could hardly speak. When I left that night, I heard a little voice behind me, singing one of our songs perfectly. It was Manuel. He had been listening outside for weeks and, by throwing the stones, he was saying, “Please let me in.” Of course we did. When he sang, his smile lit up the barrio.

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Along the way I met a German music teacher, who came to Nicaragua for a few weeks each year to work with elementary school teachers. Luise Scherf taught the teachers “dinámicas”—songs, musical games, dances—she had gathered from all over Latin America. A few of the teen teachers learned all the dinámicas to teach the children, and they soon began to put on little shows for their communities.

By now, I had been in Managua for nine years and it was time for me to leave. The teen teachers asked if that meant there would be no more Música en los Barrios. “That depends on you,” I said, and showed them a list of the administrative tasks I had been doing. They chose people for each task and, during my last year, I worked with these young administrators until they didn’t need me anymore.

The only thing they could not do was to

raise money to meet the expenses. Luise and I told them we would be responsible for that, and stay in touch from “the north.” About a year after I left, Luise wrote that a German organization, Pan y Arte (Bread and Art), which supported various projects in Nicaragua, had asked if they could take over responsibility for Música en los Barrios. A huge worry dropped from my heart. I knew the children of Managua would continue to be able to satisfy their hunger for the “luxury” of music. R Dorothy has performed as a mezzo soprano soloist in Germany, Boston and the Bay Area, and has long taught classical voice and piano for adult beginners. In 2012, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the California Association of Professional Music Teachers. She lives in San Francisco.

OF BREAD AND ART ‘Pan y Arte’ stands for equality of opportunities and equal access to cultural education in Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in Central America.

Development cooperation means more than just financial support for material needs; we are convinced that culture and the arts are equally important. Both are basic human needs and therefore indispensable. The focus of the projects are children and young adults who are encouraged and strengthened by music and painting, reading and writing, dance and drama. Our work is permanent. We believe that culture should not be a luxury.

LUISE SCHERF, Pan Y Arte board member www.panyarte.de

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Features

Adrienne WILLIS’97 loves business and theatre.

Today she oversees both of those elements at Lumberyard, an innovative performing arts centre in New York state. But how she got there is a winding story that involves landmines, Vietnam war veterans and plenty of Washington power politics

TOP PERFORMER

F YOU ATTENDED Branksome Hall during the mid-1990s, chances are you remember the ambitious school productions of Annie and Peter Pan. They were the first to be directed by a student, recalls Adrienne Willis, and she should know—she was the director. “It was really fun,” she says. “We put in a proposal for an all-student production, and they let us do it. The whole school was involved.

Even the musical directors were students.

It was great to have a school that let you try your hand at something so big.”

Not only that—Adrienne did some serious fundraising. She pulled in around $70,000 for each production in 1996 and 1997, with money left over for school theatre improvements.

So it will not surprise you that today, Adrienne is Executive and Artistic Director of Lumberyard, an innovative performing arts centre based in New York state’s Hudson Valley and in Manhattan, where she oversees both the creative and the administrative and fundraising sides of the organization. But even then, it’s still pretty surprising how she got there. It’s a winding story that involves landmines, Vietnam war veterans and plenty of Washington power politics. “It was a really weird trajectory that I took,” Adrienne says with her open-faced smile.

Toronto-born, Adrienne attended Branksome from

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Grade 7, when her parents moved to Rosedale. “I came out with a lot of confidence,” she says. “Risk-taking was encouraged at Branksome, which was nice—to be in a community where you could fail and it would be OK.” She also formed a bond with her English teacher, Diane Watson, that has lasted to this day. “I talk to her often and I see her every time I’m in Toronto. She even helped me with my papers in grad school.”

From Branksome, Adrienne went on to Sarah Lawrence College, just outside New York City, so that she would be able to study both theatre and economics at the same time. Things began to take off in her senior year. Looking for a project, she teamed up with fellow student Jason Wells to create Watch Your Step, a play about the scourge of landmines. It was a subject she knew well, as her American-born mother, Arlene Willis, lost her brother to a landmine in the Vietnam War and was involved with anti-landmine programs and fundraising.

“The project pulled in so many elements I was interested in,” says Adrienne.

But Watch Your Step became bigger than just a student production. A well-connected faculty member invited some high-profile activists and ranking members of the U.S. State Department to see the show, which led to an Off-Broadway performance and a meeting with Bobby Muller, the charismatic, wheelchair-assisted head of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Muller and the (continued on page 36)

LIZ LYNCH

BY BERTON WOODWARD

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(continued from page 34) VVAF had helped found the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and was famously supported by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Muller became a major figure for Adrienne.

“So much that happened in my life is because of him,” she says.

Muller asked her to take the show on tour under VVAF sponsorship, which she did for the year after her graduation. The high point was a performance at a State Department dinner in November 2001, attended by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Queen Noor of Jordan, celebrating the fourth anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty to ban landmines. “We were able to show this audience what the arts could do for a topic like that,” says Adrienne, who introduced the play. “It was such a great experience.”

After that, Adrienne tried law school but didn’t like it. She then entered a master’s program at New York University offering global economics with a concentration in international business. She also interned at CNN International in New York. But at the same time, she was staging plays at NYU and OffBroadway. They were always edgy. “I didn’t want to do commercial theatre,” she says.

So, Adrienne: Theatre? Business? Which is it going to be? wondering the same thing as she graduated in 2006—when Muller offered her a job on his communications team in Washington, starting immediately. “I moved in four days,” she says. Soon she was director of strategic communications, overseeing much of the advocacy work the group did with Congress and the media on veterans’ issues.

And there was a synergy. “Bobby thought I was good at politics and people because of my theatre background,” she says.

As the VVAF merged with another group to become Veterans for America (VFA), Adrienne was also taking an interest in the man down the hall who would later become her husband, Alabama-born director of policy

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“Everything we do puts the artist and the artistic process at the centre,” says Adrienne.

Jason Forrester, a strong Democrat. When Barack Obama took office in early 2009, Forrester followed the new president into a highpowered job at the Pentagon, becoming deputy assistant secretary of defense for manpower.

After Obama’s victory, Muller wound down VFA, leading Adrienne to go out on her own as Willis Strategies, doing communications and branding work for non-government organizations and other high-level clients in Washington. “I loved being a consultant,” she says. “I had free time. I was very much in control of my own life.”

But she never lost touch with Muller. In 2010, he called again, to take her on as a consultant for a small ballet school in Rockville, Maryland supported by his ex-wife—surgeon, dancer and philanthropist Solange MacArthur, granddaughter of billionaire John D. MacArthur. Soon she asked Adrienne to become executive director, and bring a national vision to what was already called the American Dance Institute (ADI). “I saw an opportunity to make it something better,” says Adrienne.

She began turning ADI into an incubator for contemporary dance and performance art groups, showcasing them for audiences in the Washington, D.C. area. She also revamped the organizational structure and, more recently,

brought in her former Branksome classmate, Alison SCHWARTZ’97, as chief operating officer. In 2012, Solange MacArthur died, leaving a major endowment to ADI. With some further help from the state of New York, Adrienne found a new and much larger home for the institute on a waterfront stretch in the Hudson Valley town of Catskill, NY, where it is due to open in the spring of 2018. Last summer, the name of the organization was changed to Lumberyard, reflecting the former use of the property, and its mission was expanded to support new works across all the performing arts, including contemporary dance.

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Jason, who left the Pentagon in 2015, and their four-year-old son, Adrienne travels the country, looking for top-quality performance companies who can benefit from working with Lumberyard. In most cases, these groups are getting ready for an opening in a larger centre, whether New York or Los Angeles or Minneapolis, but need the fine-tuning that Lumberyard’s facilities and talented crew can provide. “We help them realize the last piece of their vision,” says Adrienne. “We become partners with them in the final stages.” Once the new centre is open in Catskill, each group will spend one week in residence during the summer, intensively perfecting their artistry from Monday to Friday, then performing for a weekend audience of locals and visitors from Manhattan. “There has never been a facility like this before,” she says. “Everything we do puts the artist and the artistic process at the centre.”

So, Adrienne: Theatre? Business? Which is it?

“I’ve tried to keep a foot in both,” she muses. “I always had these two sides of my brain I couldn’t satisfy. It was very satisfying to be working in the communications world and on international issues, but there was obviously an artistic side, too, that needed to be nourished. I never thought it would be possible to find a job where I could do both, until now.” R

ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION MISSION STATEMENT To unite, engage and grow Branksome Hall’s alumnae community of globally minded learners and leaders.

AlumnaeUpdate

NEWS AND EVENTS FROM THE BRANKSOME HALL ALUMNAE COMMUNITY

ALUMNAE EXECUTIVE 2016–17 Allison ROACH’51 Honorary President Tenley GIBSON’94 President Officers Karen CORDES Woods’99 Vice-President, Engagement Melanie LANGILL’03 Treasurer Alanna TEDESCO McLaughlin’03 Communications Norah DEACON Matthews’98 Secretary

Our Evolving Board Meet the newest members of the Alumnae Executive

Members-at-Large Marielle BRYCK’07 J.J. DAVIS’03 Barbara DUNLOP Mohammad’70 Jennifer GAUTHIER McEachern’99 Carolyn HELBRONNER’79 Jennifer JARVIS’95 Deena PANTALONE’95 Rita STUART’03 Ex-Officio Cris Coraggio Karen Jurjevich Andrea McAnally Tanya Pimenoff Alexandra Waddell, Advancement Student Rep

STAY CONNECTED, GET INVOLVED The Branksome Hall Alumnae Program It’s all about Community, Networking, Volunteerism, Friendship, Traditions and Giving Back www.branksome.on.ca/alumnae Please contact: Tanya Pimenoff, Associate Director of Alumnae Relations tpimenoff@branksome.on.ca 416-920-6265, ext. 285

J.J. DAVIS’03

Chair, Networking Committee J.J. is a sports marketing specialist. Although she has worked for various agencies focused on partnership and event marketing, most of her career has been working in corporate partnerships for Tennis Canada. Soon after receiving a B.A. from Dalhousie University, she completed a sales-focused sports business program in Tualatin, Oregon. J.J. is excited to join the Alumnae Executive, and looks forward to getting involved with the Alum Shop and the Networking committee.

Jennifer GAUTHIER McEachern’99 Member,

Engagement Committee In addition to taking care of her three little girls, Grace, Mabel and Leila, Jennifer works part-time managing the marketing and communications functions for the McEachern

family business, Just Craft Soda.

She graduated from Queen’s University in 2003 with a B.A. and went on to pursue a career in public relations, servicing fashion retail and lifestyle brands both in Toronto and London, England.

Jennifer enjoys volunteering in her community school, and looks forward to contributing to the initiatives of the Engagement Committee.

Rita STUART’03

Member, Engagement Committee Rita is an experienced arts administrator, dealer and fundraiser and, most recently, took on the role of art curator for the Alumnae Association

take pART fundraiser, held on

September 21 (see p. 40). Upon graduating with Honours in Art History from Queen’s University, Rita completed internships at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. In 2008, Rita joined the Nicholas Metivier Gallery, one of Canada’s largest commercial art galleries. She has held volunteer positions for such organizations as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Canadian Art Foundation, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Peacebuilders International.

Alex Waddell

Advancement Student Rep Alex has been at Branksome since Junior Kindergarten. She has been on the rowing team for three years and participates in the Best Buddies and Ambassador programs. Alex has taken on many leadership roles at Branksome, such as the Grade 10 Service Learning Rep and the Grade 11 Grade Rep. This year, her course load includes higher level physics, chemistry and geography. Outside of school, Alex enjoys guitar, tae kwon do and coaching soccer in her neighbourhood.

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AlumnaeUpdate

Much Appreciated These volunteers have recently retired from the Alumnae Executive The growth of the alumnae program is realized through the dedication and commitment of volunteers who devote their time and expertise to many areas of the alumnae program.

the Women in Leadership networking event in March 2013, was MC at Reunion 2014 and at the take pART fundraiser last September. Lindsey served on the Alumna Awards Committee in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Kathryn CAMPBELL Holland’80 (2012–16)

Laura GIBSON’00 (2013–16)

A long-time volunteer, Kathryn served in various capacities before taking the role of Secretary for the Executive in 2013. She chaired the Plaid Tidings Committee in 2010 and was co-chair in 2012. She worked as an annual appeal parent volunteer for many years, and was her class reunion rep in 2005 and 2015. A keen rower, Kathryn was instrumental in organizing the participation of alum rowers at the 2013 Head of the Trent and the 2014 Alum Recreational Row at Argos.

Laura was a career speaker in 2010 and, during her three years on the Executive, was a member on the Networking Committee.

Jocelyn DEEKS’95 (2014–16)

Katie McCABE Cheesbrough’03 (2010–16)

During her two-year term, Jocelyn played a key role as co-chair on the Alumna Awards Committee and was instrumental in the design of two new award plaques, which hang in the Admissions area of 10 Elm Avenue.

Katie was a class reunion rep in 2003. During her six years on the Executive, she chaired the Networking Committee, which launched its first successful event in 2012 with the popular “speed-networking for entrepreneurs” evening.

She also worked on planning networking evenings in conjunction with her counterparts at other independent schools.

Lindsey DELUCE Ball’99 (2013–16)

Lindsey was the keynote speaker at the June 2011 Green Carpet celebration for Grades 7 to 11. Accomplished behind a mike, she took on the role of moderator at

Alex GILLAM’08 (2013–16)

During her three-year term, Alex served on the Communications Committee and was often seen tweeting at alum events. In 2016, she organized the Executive and Honorary Executive year-end dinner, which was held off-campus.

Carol McCLELLAND McCabe’68 (2014–16)

Carol has a long history of volunteering at Branksome. In the late 1990s, while a parent at the school, she was an annual appeal class captain and worked on various school activities, including the Plaid Tidings Committee in 1998, 1999 and 2000. In 2008 she served as a class rep for her 40th reunion.

In 2013, Carol joined the Executive as a member-at-large and was instrumental in providing guidance during the planning of An Exclusive Evening for Alumnae, an event held in September 2015 to showcase the new Athletics and Wellness Centre.

Gabriella SICILIANO’06 (2012–16)

Before joining the Executive, Gabriella had volunteered as a university panelist in 2008 and a class reunion rep in 2011. In 2012 she was a committee member for the “speed networking for entrepreneurs” event and cochaired Reunion 2012. For the past four years on the Executive, Gabriella has been active on the Networking Committee.

Jennifer SULLIVAN Willmot’95 (2012–16)

During her four-year tenure, Jennifer was a member-at-large and also played a key role on the 2013 take pART Committee, which raised over $41,000 towards the Athletics and Wellness Centre.

APRIL 27, 2016

An Evening with Mayor John Tory

Alumnae enjoy the mix and mingle reception. Top, from left: Hubie YU’08, Tori CARL’08, Allie CHAITON’08, Maya ZUZEK’10, Janine FUNG’10 and Alex GILLAM’08. Bottom, from left: Olivia PIERRATOS’10 and Elizabeth CUNNINGHAM’10.

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THE DOWNTOWN OFFICE of Cassels Brock was a perfect venue for alumni from Branksome Hall, Upper Canada College and The Bishop Strachan School to gather for a unique evening of conversation with special guest Mayor John Tory.

Organized by UCC alum and the Mayor’s Chief of Staff Chris Eby, guests heard about Toronto’s economic growth and the opportunities and challenges facing young professional leaders in business and the political arena. Mayor Tory took many questions from the audience before departing for yet another event.

“The Alumnae Association wanted to appeal to alumnae with young children, giving them the opportunity to share their alma mater with their families and friends.”

Karen CORDES Woods’99, Alumnae Association Vice-President of Engagement

NOVEMBER 6, 2016

A Whole Lot of Fun WITHIN MINUTES of the doors to the Athletics and Wellness Centre opening for Family Fun Day, kids and kids-at-heart were swarming the many games, refreshment stands and other interactive activities on offer.

Highlights included two bouncy castles, a magician, an espresso bar (for the parents!), face painting and a display of live birds of prey. Turnout surpassed all expectations, with over 300 attending at some point during the four-hour event. It was the first chance many had to visit the new Athletics and Wellness Centre and several also took the opportunity to visit the Alumnae Shop—proceeds from which support Student Financial Aid for deserving Branksome girls.

Thank you to the Alumnae Association for sponsoring the event and to our many volunteers.

Karen CORDES Woods’99, with daughter Kathryn, mom Sharon CordesAtkinson, and step-dad Lloyd Atkinson.

The birds of prey show attracted a large audience where attendees could get up-close to the fascinating flying creatures.

Enjoying family time are sisters, from left, Norah DEACON Matthews’98, Grace DEACON Popowich’01 and Emily DEACON’96, with kids Samuel Matthews, Freddie Popowich, Rosemary Matthews and Cecily Popowich.

Sweet Mama’s donut truck (in background) was a popular stop. Frances BIRCH Mendez Barcelo’81, holding new granddaughter Natalia, enjoys the unseasonably warm weather with her daughter-in-law, Joseline Carranza, and granddaughter Camila.

From left, Danna GIROUX Dominelli’97, Vicki MENDOZA’97 with daughter Mireya, Isabelle BOYER Osmar’96 and Joanna FOSTER’98.

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AlumnaeUpdate

Guests turn their attention to Principal Karen Jurjevich, who took a moment to welcome everyone to the popular event.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

An Evening of Culture and Surprises The Athletics and Wellness Centre gym was transformed into an impressive art gallery for this popular evening of culture and surprises, organized by the Alumnae Association. Treated to specialty cocktails and scrumptious hors d’oeuvres, guests mingled and perused dozens of original art pieces. Bidding at the impressive silent auction was competitive and was spurred on by encouragement from MC Lindsey DELUCE Ball’99.

Thanks to co-chairs Jennifer JARVIS’95 and Christie GORRIE Chapman’96 and their committee, as well as our sponsors and generous supporters. The event raised over $10,000 for Student Financial Aid and, importantly, further engaged our community in the work of the Alumnae Association.

Co-chair Christie GORRIE Chapman’96, left, with the event’s silent auction coordinator Jennifer GAUTHIER McEachern’99.

SPONSORS

Principal Karen Jurjevich with parent Ann Deluce (Aynsley’94, Dana’96, Lindsey’99).

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Representing four class years, from left: Jamie FLECK’00, Karen CORDES Woods’99, Tenley GIBSON’94 (President of the Alumnae Association), Shannon LEWIS’96 and Emily DEACON’96.

Parents Gary Bryck and Renee Barrette (Marielle’07, Nicole’10, Carolyn’13).

From left: Fraser Chapman and Susan Capman (husband and mom-in-law of co-chair Christie GORRIE Chapman’96) chat with new Branksome parents Kelly Kyle and Dan Rees.

ARTISTS Andrea Arnoldo Macy Awad Bernadette Badali Darci MacPHEE Barrett’99 Robert Bateman Barbara BICKLE’66 Jill Blakey Eleanor BOTHWELL’98 Nicole Charles Rob Cummings Virginia Dixon Debbie Farquharson Simon Hermant Anne Marie Higgins Kyle Howard Paul Johnston Anja KARISIK’05 Ciba Karisik Ellyn SENNEMA Lusis’95 Kyra Kendall Sarah KENNEDY’00 Niki Kingsmill Suzanne Kingsmill Marie-Andree Lasalle Eric Laurins Audrey Lawson Cindy Leech Grace LEUNG’03 Taiga Lipson Kathryn MacNAUGHTON’03 Norah DEACON Matthews’98 Barbara McGIVERN’73 Laurie McGugan Rob McKinnon Meredith McRae Carolyn Megill Sarah MERRY’89 Betsy Miller Erin LYNCH Millman’98 Christopher Monette Michaela Nessim Mike Palmer Allyson Payne Rundi Phelan Jacinthe Roy Beverley Richardson Caroline SCOTT-CHARLES’02 Rita STUART’03 Siobhan Sweeny Harrison Taylor

Classmates from 1966 gather around the impressive painting by artist Barb BICKLE, who travelled from Halifax to contribute her work and attend the event. From left: Felicia HOUTMAN, Felicia STUART Warcop, Frances FRASER Laws, Barb, Janet CHAMBERLAIN Williamson and Wendy MORGAN Deeks.

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AlumnaeUpdate

Alum Outreach: U.K. Edition During several days last March, Principal Karen Jurjevich, Nanci Smith (then Director of Athletics), Tenley GIBSON’94 (President, Alumnae Association), and Tanya Pimenoff (Associate Director, Alumnae Relations) enjoyed a remarkable week with alumnae, witnessing, on every occasion, how miles cannot break that common bond of youthful times shared at Branksome Hall.

LONDON LUNCHEON MARCH 8, 2016 A delightful luncheon, to honour alumnae who attended Branksome during the war years, was graciously hosted by Claire ANGUS’83, and held in her home (interestingly, once occupied by the Rolling Stones).

Seated, from left: Jane BOWEN Fitzsimmons’48, Susan DAVIS Hunt’42, Rosanna PARBURY McCarthy’43 and Jean NORMAN Loudon’42.

Standing, from left: Tanya Pimenoff, Tenley GIBSON’94, Pamela CHURCH Saunders’43, Lesley HINDER’87 (Claire’s neighbour), Anne CRUIKSHANK Colvin’50, Karen Jurjevich, host Claire ANGUS’83 and Claire’s friend, Sue GIBSON Drew’84.

EVENSONG AT ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL MARCH 9, 2016 Following Evensong, the Branksome group climbed the narrow stairs which led to the main organ loft. There, they were captivated as Canadian organ scholar, Rachel Mahon, performed several pieces which resounded throughout the magnificent cathedral. Before going for supper in a nearby pub, they stopped to take in the beauty and history of the surroundings.

From left: William Garriock, Viv HO’04, Patty McCABE Garriock’70, Karen Jurjevich, Rachel Mahon and Tenley GIBSON’94.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND MARCH 12, 2016 Alumnae studying at the University of Edinburgh joined Tanya Pimenoff and her daughter, Katie REIFFENSTEIN’04, for lunch at Howie’s Restaurant.

From left: Ciera McCARTNEY’13, Amanda PUN’13, Julie VINCENT’13 (on exchange from Queen’s University), Caroline WILLIAMS’13, Katie, and Lauren CAMPBELL’14.

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CANADA HOUSE RECEPTION MARCH 10, 2016

This much anticipated reception was held at the newly renovated Canada House, just steps from Trafalgar Square. As alumnae from the 1940s to 2000s arrived at the spectacular venue, the room quickly took on a very Branksome ambience, with school videos and slides playing on large screens, and classmates happily greeting each other and renewing friendships.

Brigitte DUCHESNE Boudreau’79, Counsellor, Public Diplomacy, Canadian High Commission, welcomed guests to Canada House. Tenley GIBSON’94 brought greetings from the Alumnae Association before introducing Karen Jurjevich, who presented an update on school initiatives and spoke of Branksome’s place in the wider world of Canada’s international outreach. In closing, Principal Jurjevich encouraged everyone to continue enjoying the reception, which they did, well into the evening.

Anne HOWITT White’44 holds up The Road Well Kept, which documents Branksome’s history and the arrival of Branksome’s war guests.

With her are, from left, Felicity JEAN Field’48, Caroline JEAN Mather’48, Sheila McCLOUGHRY Harvey’44 and Elizabeth CAPENER Jenne’44 (proudly displaying her Branksome pin).

Classmates from 2004 and their guests.

Back, from left: Andrew Mahon, Jan Florek, Allison BURNS, Luca Rimoldi, Katie REIFFENSTEIN, Denise HEARN, Ryan Glasgo, Victor Plange and Viv HO. Front, from left: Alex DAVIDSON, Tiffany RAMSUBICK and Houston MAUSNER.

Alums representing six class years are, from left: Lesley HINDER’87, Andrea DINNICK Kennedy’85, Anthea MARS’88, Nancy ROSS’86, Melanie BRIGHT’89 and Rachel STARK’96.

Classmates from 2011, from left: Zeenia FRAMROZE, Nicole ABERNETHY, Neela THAMBIRAJAH, Ariella MINDEN, Ava MUSTOS and Emily BRODIGAN.

From left: Sarah MURPHY’94, Ros PRICE Minson’94, Meredith KELLY Oke’94 and Caroline ANDRUS Head’93.

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WinningWomen The Alumnae Association has bestowed its prestigious annual awards on two high achievers

Breaking the Silence 2016 Allison Roach Alumna Award: Ann DOWSETT Johnston’71 Ann DOWSETT Johnston, you soon notice the thick bracelet on her left wrist emblazoned with: “Never Never Never Give Up”.

She writes about that phrase in her book, Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol. The international bestseller combines her groundbreaking journalism with a searingly candid account of her own journey.

She first put on the bracelet, a gift from a friend, during her struggle for sobriety which she dates from 2007. But the phrase may be the perfect summation of the way Ann has approached her entire life. It’s certainly part of what makes her such an inspirational figure, as she continues to talk about women and drinking as a sought-after public speaker, an award-winning writer and a co-founder of two advocacy organizations—the National Roundtable on Girls, Women and Alcohol; and Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada.

“My passions are to jumpstart a broad conversation about the impact of our favourite drug, including on public health and on public policy, and to destigmatize addiction, which touches nearly every Canadian,” she says.

In recent years, she points out, risky drinking by women, especially educated, professional ones, has skyrocketed. Her message, in part, is: “You know how to do your ‘downward dog’. You know how to live gluten-free. Count your drinks. Alcohol problems are progressive, and they’re sneaky.”

Her bracelet also displays the attitude that propelled her through a stellar career in journalism, including close to three decades at Maclean’s magazine where she was the chief architect of the magazine’s famed annual university rankings, and in higher education, as a vice-principal at McGill University.

It may even be emblematic of the determination she showed in early life, growing up in the northern Ontario mining town of Copper Cliff. When she was nine, her geophysicist father moved the family to a tiny village in South Africa. Ann was suddenly immersed in a school where the only language of instruction was Afrikaans, but she learned it.

The family returned to Canada two years later, first to Copper Cliff, then Toronto, and Ann eventually entered Branksome. She remembers the warm welcome she received. “I thought I wouldn’t fit in with girls who had been there for years, but the polar opposite happened. These are my dear friends to this day.”

From Branksome, it was off to Queen’s University with several of those friends, then to a job at Maclean’s in 1977. She had her son Nicholas with then-husband Bill in 1984, won a prestigious Southam Fellowship in journalism, then returned to Maclean’s to take on major projects. In 1992, she overhauled its brand new university rankings.

WHEN YOU MEET

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The Ann version became a huge phenomenon—the biggest-selling issue every year, and a major influence on post-secondary education— and earned her five gold National Magazine Awards.

In early 2006, she left Maclean’s to accept her hugely responsible role at McGill, in charge of development, alumni and communications. There, she oversaw a record increase in fundraising, but longed to return to journalism. She later received the prestigious Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and wrote a 14-part series on women and alcohol for the Toronto Star in 2011. That led to Drink, and acclaim that included its selection by The Washington Post as one of the 10 Best Books of 2013.

Ann now devotes herself to advocating and consulting about the complexities of risky drinking, for which she has won a series of national and international awards, including a Transforming Lives Award from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Among her many speaking events was an address she gave to a combined audience from four Toronto girls’ schools, including Branksome. It led to a new initiative at Branksome to inform students about alcohol.

“I feel a responsibility to contextualize what’s happening to young women,” Ann says. “Our stories set us free. What I am doing is breaking the silence on alcohol abuse, on the price of perfectionism, and on the ‘pinking’ of the market.”

Currently she is working on a new book which explores the nature of resilience. “There are many dimensions to thriving in a woman’s life,” she says. “I’m keen to explore them all.” R BERTON WOODWARD

Catering to Success 2016 Young Alumna Achievement Award: Emma BEQAJ’06 IF YOU LOOK in the grad section of the Branksome yearbook for 2006, you’ll see a picture of Emma BEQAJ’06 as a kid. The bright-eyed four-year-old is sitting on the kitchen counter, arms outstretched, holding a sifter next to a mixing bowl.

That’s Emma. Now the proprietor of a successful and fast-growing catering firm, she feels like she’s always been in the kitchen—and loving it. Her mother, Wendy Pitblado, made sure her three kids helped with the cooking. “We were always involved, and everything was from scratch,” says Emma.

Her mom was also a stickler for sit-down dinners and proper table settings, with linens and candles. So it may not be surprising that by Grade 7, Emma was holding formal dinner parties for her Branksome girlfriends.

“I would cook a three-course meal, and I would have my sister and her friend put on black pants and a white blouse and be our servers for the night,” she recalls. “I would go into the kitchen between

each course and plate everything how I wanted it. So I think the love of entertaining and catering has been there forever.”

Four years ago, she started Emma’s Eatery Catering out of her own condo. “I emailed everyone I knew,” she says of her start-up. She serves meals and buffets for groups of people in homes, at corporate events, at cottages and, increasingly, at weddings.

“Catering is more than just the food,” she says. “It’s always different venues, so you’re creating the entire ambiance for an event with the linens, the décor, the flowers, the table settings. It’s something I’d always thought about and it seemed like the right step.” A little over a year ago she got her own work space and hires event and kitchen staff as needed.

She is getting plenty of notice. She has appeared on City’s Breakfast Television, Global’s The Morning Show and Rogers TV’s daytime toronto. In early 2016, she was the last chef standing on an episode of Food Network Canada’s Chopped Canada, winning $10,000 to put against the lease on her new premises. “I wanted my own kitchen,” she says. “That was my pitch.”

Her clients love her food, but they sometimes trip over her surname.

Emma spells it phonetically as “bay-key-eye,” said quickly. Her father, leading Bay Street figure Jim Beqaj, is of Albanian heritage.

Emma grew up in Toronto and started at Branksome in Grade 3.

“I had nothing but positive experiences,” she says. Spanish teacher Debra Mustos, who retired in 2015, had a “massive impact” on her, she recalls. She was also the alumnae student rep in Grade 12.

Emma went on to Acadia University in Nova Scotia, studying languages, then entered chef school at George Brown College in Toronto. She worked for a time at a prominent Italian restaurant, but soon found that “the restaurant industry was not for me. I knew I wanted to be more than just a line cook.”

Since making that leap of faith, she has steadily built a client roster that now includes the National Ballet School and Branksome. Every day is different, she says, and she still does her own fresh food buying.

“I see it as part of cooking—it’s not just being in the kitchen. I go to my cheese supplier, my meat supplier, my fish supplier, and we talk and you try things. I love that part of my day.”

She regularly consults her collection of some 95 cookbooks— “I read them as literature”—and hopes to write one herself someday.

She has also benefited from the mentorship of two prominent alumnae, Kathryn BULEYCHUK Champion’82, a caterer and former president of the Alumnae Association, and TV host and food author Trish MAGWOOD’89. “I would love to have my own TV show,” Emma says.

Coming from a family known for philanthropy, Emma is also active in charity, working with Eat to the Beat, an annual foodie event featuring 60 female chefs to benefit Willow Breast & Hereditary Cancer Support. She has also used her services to support Leave Out Violence (LOVE), which helps youth challenged by violence.

And she keeps on cooking. “I just love how food brings people together.” R BERTON WOODWARD

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1951

2006 1986

1981 1956

1971

Reunion 2016

Reunion classes were treated to a fun-filled evening on May 28. Held in the Athletics and Wellness Centre, the many “wow” features included a popular photo booth (sponsored by the Alumnae Association), a fun-filled cocktail reception, a hot plated dinner, candy table and even a special visit from Ribbit. Visit the Alum Facebook Page to see all the weekend photos.

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1961

2011

2006

1976 2011

1996

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Passages Marriages 1973 Sandra BOLTÉ to John Burns on December 17, 2016, in Toronto.

Libby STOKER-LAVELLE to Daniel Dillon on July 19, 2015, near Creemore, ON.

2004

Please be sure to let the Alumnae Office know when your baby arrives, and you’ll receive one of our tried and true super bibs in the mail. alumnae@branksome.on.ca

1997 Katie MUSGRAVE to Jesse Holmes on February 2, 2016, in Toronto.

1999

Libby, Dan and maid of honour Jenn MASON’02.

2003 Melanie LANGILL to Charles Joyce on November 5, 2016, in Cambridge, ON.

Meghan PAYNE to Daniel Rosenfield, on August 2, 2015, in Toronto.

Births 1994 Aynsley DELUCE, a daughter, Harlow Estelle, on June 29, 2016, in Toronto. A niece for Dana DELUCE’96, Lindsey DELUCE Ball’99 and Heather WRIGHT’03.

Laura SMITH to Dennis O’Connor on July 25, 2015, in Fairfield, Connecticut.

2002 Courtney STARR to Jared Solinger on May 30, 2015 in Toronto.

Amy SISAM to Jake Cassaday on October 15, 2016, in Toronto.

Maggie DILWORTH to Chris Weatherbee on August 20, 2016, at the family cottage in Muskoka.

1996 Shannon LEWIS, a daughter, Olivia Rose, on November 5, 2015, in Toronto.

1998 Taylor HEINTZMAN Green, a son, Caleb Matthew, on August 13, 2015, in Toronto. A nephew for Erin HEINTZMAN Tierney’93.

1999

Paula STAVRO-LEANOFF to Brian Lynch on June 25, 2016 in Toronto.

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Lindsay HASTINGS, a daughter, Lucy, on December 12, 2016, in Ottawa. A granddaughter for Louise COFFEY Hastings’55.

Adrienne BUREGA Heaney, a son, Quinten, on April 26, 2012, and a son, Blake, on November 28, 2015, both in Sydney, Australia.

2002

Laura SMITH O’Connor, a daughter, Cosette Alexandra, on October 6, 2015, in New York City.

Christine WATSA McLean, a daughter, Mira Quinn, on December 9, 2016, in Toronto. A niece for Stephanie WATSA’01.

2001 Grace DEACON Popowich, a daughter, Cecily Rose, on February 27, 2014; a son, Frederick, on November 24, 2015, both in Toronto.

Grandchildren for Elizabeth RUSE Deacon’68; a niece and nephew for Emily DEACON’96 and Norah DEACON Matthews’98; a great-niece and greatnephew for Margaret RUSE’62 and Mary RUSE Musgrave’66.

Jessica NEWTON, a son, Hayden James, on November 12, 2015, in Toronto.

Kimberly HORVATH to Euan Gray, on August 13, 2016, in Toronto.

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GET YOUR BRANKSOME BABY BIB!

Kaja KONIECZNY, a son, Nico Magnus, on September 19, 2015, in Toronto.

Libby STOKER-LAVELLE, a daughter, Sophie Aurora, on September 3, 2016, in Flin Flon, SK. 2003

Kim-Eden ENGLISH, a daughter, Blake Emily Anne, on February 27, 2016, in Barrie, ON. Karen GREEN, a daughter, Sophie Yvonne Heather, on May 21, 2016, in Toronto.

Kelly LYNCH Power, a daughter, Blythe Erin, on May 10, 2016. A niece for Erin LYNCH Millman’98.

Alanna TEDESCO McLaughlin, a son, Leo, on October 15, 2016, in Toronto.

Michelle TESLIA, a daughter, Isabel Brigette, on March 4, 2016, in Toronto. A niece for Lauren TESLIA’04 and Andrea TESLIA’07.

Left to Right: Sophie, Isabel, Blythe and Leo Heather WRIGHT, a son, Henry Esten, on September 24, 2016, in Toronto. A nephew for Jody WRIGHT’01, Emily WRIGHT’09, Aynsley DELUCE’94, Dana DELUCE’96 and Lindsey DELUCE Ball’99.

2004 Tess CECIL-COCKWELL, a son, Felix. A grandson for Wendy Cecil, former chair of Branksome Hall Board of Governors.

2008

Alisha GULAMANI Kurji, a daughter, Inaya, on January 4, 2016, in Toronto.

Retirements

Gayle Reid

Nanci Smith

Teacher Librarian (1988–2016)

Geography Teacher (1976–96) Dean of Students and Residence (1996–2008) Director, Athletics and Residence (2008–12) Director, Athletics and Rowing (2012–16)

As Senior School librarian, Gayle has been an amazing department head. As a teacher to many, she has diligently enforced timelines and due dates for years, and has supervised Grade 11 students writing their Extended Essay as part of their IB Diploma. Gayle is also an excellent researcher, which became very evident as she took on the additional role of in-house archivist several years ago. An avid reader, Gayle prides herself on keeping up-to-date with trends in fiction. We should not have been surprised when she came in one Monday morning and revealed that she had read Fifty Shades of Grey over the weekend.

Gayle cares for her colleagues. She does not pry but is there to help you with anything. She has done this for us countless times.

On occasion, Gayle worried that some of her decisions, such as where books should be placed, would be questioned. Gayle, every decision you made was thoughtful and made for the good of the students and staff. We can only hope that those who come after you will care half as much, know half as much, and be half the person you are.

We wish you well in your retirement. You will be missed in your full-time role, but we look forward to welcoming you back every Thursday to continue your good work in the archives.

DEANN ROUSSEAU,

Imagine a job description that reads, “Wanted: an individual to simultaneously perform the following roles—teacher, coach, Dean of Students, Director of Residence, Director of Athletics, Head of Safe Schools, CISAA Executive Member and Rowing Team Manager.” You might expect the applicant pool to consist of one person: Superwoman. Luckily for Branksome, that superwoman is Nanci Smith.

Being a multi-tasker is all in a day’s work for Nanci.

She is always cool, calm and collected, and everything she does is for the community and well-being of the students. I know this from working closely with her, but I also know it because I was her student. Nanci always listens when you speak, makes you feel valued and important, and lets you know she is on your team.

Nanci, Branksome was so lucky you answered the “Superwoman Wanted” ad. You have dedicated many years to Branksome, including a decade on campus with your husband, Mark, and your sons, Kyle and Leigh. I know I speak for everyone in this room when I say that these halls will be emptier without you, but you will always have a place here. Your legacy will continue to energize, inspire and motivate us and we wish you the very best as you enjoy your well-deserved retirement.

Library Manager and Exchange Coordinator

DENISE LISCIO SMITH’94,

Phys Ed Teacher

Includes edited excerpts from the tribute given by Deann at the employee year-end celebration last June.

Edited excerpts taken from Denise’s tribute to Nanci at the employee year-end celebration last June.

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Passages

Deaths In some notices, excerpts have been taken from published obituaries.

1931

Donalda MacLEOD, age 103, on October 12, 2016, in Toronto. Aunt of Elizabeth MacLEOD Davidson’67.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Donalda was an Imperial Oil Pensioner, having worked as the executive assistant to the CEO of Imperial Oil. 1938 Barbara MARTIN Bensen, age 94, on February 9, 2015, in Damariscotta, Maine.

After graduating from McGill University, Barb enlisted in the Canadian Air Force and reached the rank of captain, a fact that caused some amusement to her subsequent family as she outranked her future husband. Barb and her husband, Ben, settled in Connecticut where they raised their four children before retiring to Maine.

Barb remained proud of her Canadian heritage and the travails of her beloved Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Mary Jane WATERMAN Bierer, age 97, on April 3, 2016, in Toronto.

by her three children, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

1940 Ruth OWEN Pook, age 92, on October 8, 2015, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Ruth’s passion for painting began at an early age. Her portraits and landscapes hang in galleries and homes throughout North America.

Frequent subjects were the landscapes surrounding her summer home on St. Joseph’s Island, Ontario, and the farmlands of eastern Pennsylvania.

1943 Jean SEIFERT Bradford, age 91, on December 23, 2015, in Peterborough, ON. Mother of Nancy BRADFORD Bos’66.

1941 Joan VANSTONE Livingston, age 93, on July 5, 2016, in Toronto.

Joan served in the Second World War, when she joined the Wrens and travelled to the naval base in Esquimalt, BC. There, she drove the camp commandant’s car, put the cook to bed drunk, and learned to do her marvellous baking. After the war, Joan married and enjoyed a life filled with family and community service.

1942 Natalie KEMP Nixon, age 91, on February 11, 2016, in Toronto. Grandmother of Sarah NIXON Carr’92.

Natalie and her husband, Joe, raised their family in Montreal before returning to Toronto in 1969. During their retirement years, summers were spent at the cottage on Lake Simcoe, and winters were spent in Florida. Natalie is survived

1944

Board of Education. She loved spending time with her family and friends at her cottage on Peninsula Lake and at her ski cabin at Osler.

Dorothy MANSELL Eastmure, on August 9, 2016, in Huntsville, ON. A graduate of the University of Toronto in physiotherapy, Dorothy was an educator, storyteller, family historian, feminist and voracious reader.

1945 Shirley BROWN Brayley, on September 7, 2016, in Lindsay, ON.

Joan CHALMERS, on December 2, 2016.

A true “Arts Angel,” Joan gave her time and money to many organizations and also served on the boards of the Ontario Arts Council Foundation and the Stratford Festival. Over the years, she provided to artists in the fields of theatre, dance, film, music, and the visual arts. Joan was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987, promoted to Officer in 1992, and made a Companion in 1997. She also received the Order of Ontario in 1994 and was recognized for her contributions to the arts with a Governor General’s Award in 2001.

Elizabeth CUMMING Irwin, on October 1, 2015, in Comrie, Scotland.

1946 Anne BLAKE Murphy, on December 7, 2015, in Montreal.

Helen GERMAN Read, on July 3, 2016, in Toronto.

Mother of Jody READ’77, Meribeth READ Tikkanen’82 and Janet READ Hockin’86; sister of Elizabeth GERMAN Scott’47; cousin of Ann LLOYD Plummer’55, Sandra BOLTÉ’73 and Andrea AMELL’03.

Joan ROSS Clark, on November 30, 2015, in North Vancouver.

Joan WARDELL Woodcock, on June 9, 2015, in Huntsville, ON. Education was an important thread throughout Joan’s life. She was the chair of the Huntsville Board of Education and the first district chair of the Muskoka

Eunice WRIGHT Mercer, on June 24, 2015, in Waynesboro, Virginia.

Eunice was passionate about politics and made many contributions to the League of Women Voters. A gifted painter in her youth, she endured a lifelong battle with hearing and vision loss.

1947 Anne BURTON Smith, on February 13, 2016, in Ottawa. Mother of Heather SMITH’69, Stephanie SMITH’71, Leslie SMITH’75 and Megan SMITH’77; aunt of Clayton STUART Scott’70; great-aunt of Callaway SCOTT’99 and Susannah SCOTT’02.

Janet SAYLOR, on February 6, 2016, in Toronto. Sisterin-law of Shirley DODDS Saylor’47.

1948 Frances DAFOE Bogin, on September 23, 2016, in Toronto.

Carmen GRIFFITH Anglin, on January 17, 2016, in Toronto. Mother of Vicki ANGLIN Parrish’72, Leslie ANGLIN Edmison’73 and Laura ANGLIN McBeath’74.

Aunt of Marilee TISDALL Smith’74 and Martha TISDALL MacFarlane’74.

Alma HATCH Howson, on May 4, 2016, in Cambridge, ON.

In Memoriam

Jean SEIFERT Bradford’43

Helen GERMAN Read’46

Anne BURTON Smith’47

December 23, 2015

President of the Alumnae Association, 1980–82 Assistant, Senior School General Office (mid-80s to mid-90s) February 8, 1929 – July 3, 2016

1930–2016

My mother boarded at Branksome in Grade 10 while her parents were in the process of selling their home in Quebec City. After their move to Toronto, Mom became a day girl, and after graduation, went on to study at Victoria College, University of Toronto. She always stayed in touch with her many Branksome friends and for years she was active in the Lawrence Park community. My parents loved their time at “Westerly,” the family cottage on Balsam Lake.

—Nancy BRADFORD Bos’66 Editor’s note: The Branksome Archives is now home to Jean’s china cup and saucer set—donated last year by her daughter Nancy. Since 1943, Jean had treasured it as a memento of her boarding days.

Helen had a tremendous passion for life. She learned how to play the drums because she loved the primal beat; went camping for the very first time at the age of 60; tried skateboarding; and bombed around in her red sports car affectionately known as Sexy Lady. She loved the theatre, gardening, bridge, and cottage life.

Helen graduated from Western University with a degree in hematology, then worked at the Banting and Best Institute, where she taught doctors about blood disorders. Helen adored her family—children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews...she thought she had won the lottery. She was part of so many communities— her Branksome and Western friends, Grace Church, her investment groups, book club and current event club, her neighbours, and recently, her new friends and fellow bridge players at The Claremont retirement home.

Strong and courageous, Helen faced increasing health problems stoically and never gave up. Throughout her life she possessed an absolutely beautiful laugh that was joyful and infectious. It never deserted her.

—Edited excerpt from the eulogy written by Helen’s daughters and read by their cousin, Susan LeRoy.

In the early 1970s, with her four children older, Anne returned to studies at the University of Toronto. Equipped with a B.A., B.Ed. and M.A., as well as a specialist certificate in ESL from OISE, she spent the next 18 years teaching ESL at Bloor Collegiate. She became head of her department, head of Toronto’s West End Reception Centre and held several executive positions at TESL Ontario. During that time, she also did volunteer work for the Malignant Hyperthermia Association.

When her husband, Duncan, died in 1982, Anne took a year’s sabbatical and went to China to teach English at the Tianjin Foreign Languages Institute. She immersed herself in the Chinese language and culture—a passion that stayed with her when she returned home. She also sponsored to Canada an adult “fifth daughter,” Wang Ruowen.

In her retirement years, Anne continued to travel and learn new languages. She enjoyed winter breaks in Puerto Vallarta, transcribed family letters into books and spoiled her cat, Bobby, who moved with her to Ottawa. But by far her favourite activity was spending summers at her true home, the cottage on Miller Island, Muskoka, which she and Duncan bought in 1957.

—Excerpts taken from Anne’s obituary in The Globe and Mail.

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Passages

1949 Constance COPSES Gagas, on January 7, 2016, in Oswego, New York.

Alison ZIMMERMAN Taylor, on December 31, 2015, in Toronto.

Alison was Head Girl in 1948–49. She graduated from the University of Toronto in occupational therapy.

1950 Joan STREATFIELD Wiseman, on June 30, 2016, in Toronto.

Joan was an avid gardener, cook and Blue Jays fan who made all family gatherings look effortless. Joan attended Parson School of Design in New York City and went on to run a successful interior design business, becoming a role model for female entrepreneurs.

1951

1954 Mary BROWN, on October 11, 2016, in Toronto.

Norma DELLOW Fraser, on July 10, 2015, in Regina, SK.

1955 Lynne PRINGLE MacLennan, on March 2, 2016, in Toronto.

Lynne was the Director of Volunteer Services for the Hugh MacMillan Centre, in Toronto, for over 25 years.

She was active in volunteer work in the performing arts and was an elder at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.

1958 Mary Lee HENDERSON Milne, on February 3, 2014, in Toronto.

1961 Susan BRADY, on April 25, 2016, in Toronto. Sister of Sally BRADY’67.

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In Memoriam

2001

Diane MORICE Avery, on July 12, 2016, in Markham, ON. Sister of Jean MORICE Palmer’51.

1959 George-Anne McCAHILL Cherrie, on May 7, 2016, in Niagara Falls, ON.

Gil WALWYN Gunton McPhedran, on June 28, 2016, in Niagara-on-theLake. Mother of Christy GUNTON’77 and Laurie GUNTON’81; grandmother of Kim REGAN’05; sister of Louise WALWYN Goldring’48 and Suzanne WALWYN Winchell’57; aunt of Cathie GOLDRING Bowden’73; cousin of Jerry WEIR Chitty’48.

1989 Marlene APAU, May 2016, in Malaysia. Sister of AnnaMarie APAU’88 and Lorraine APAU’90.

1962 Martha COFFEY, on September 30, 2016, in Peterborough, ON. Sister of Louise COFFEY Hastings’55; aunt of Lindsay HASTINGS’99.

1981 Leslie COLE Linn, on April 28, 2011, in Waterloo, ON.

Frances DAFOE Bogin’48 December 17, 1929 – September 23, 2016 Kirsty BRUCE, on April 20, 2016, in Toronto. Sister of Fiona BRUCE Tompkinson’96.

Kirsty will be remembered for her many achievements, her biggest being bruceSTUDIO Architecture +DESIGN. She will be deeply missed and cherished in the hearts of her many family members, friends and colleagues.

Former Employees Judith Phelan, Senior School Art Teacher from 1985–99, on July 18, 2016, in Toronto.

Suzanne Worsley, Kindergarten Teacher from 1982–93, on January 10, 2016, in Toronto.

Former Board of Governors Aileen Anderson, on September 5, 2016, in Toronto. Mother of Alexandra ANDERSON’88.

Adam Zimmerman, Chair, Board of Governors from 1974–79, on October 19, 2016, in Toronto. Father of Barbara ZIMMERMAN Rios’73.

Frances was an accomplished figure skater and award-winning designer. She and skating partner, Norris Bowden, were four-time Canadian Pairs Figure Skating Champions, two-time North American Champions and two-time World Pair Figure Skating Champions—the first Canadian pair to win the World title. They won silver in the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy.

After retiring from skating, Frances continued to contribute to her sport as a World and International figure skating judge. She also enjoyed an awardwinning career as a costume designer in television, theatre and ballet. From 1956–94, she designed costumes for shows such as Wayne and Schuster and Air Farce. Frances lent her design talent to 18 original productions at the Charlottetown Festival, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and later, for Stars on Ice. For the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, she designed and oversaw the production of over 650 costumes for the closing ceremonies.

After she turned 80, Frances wrote her first book, Figure Skating and the Arts: Eight Centuries of Sport and Inspiration. She is survived by her four sons and five grandchildren.

—Excerpts taken from Frances’ obituary in The Globe and Mail.

Martha, winning Henley in her single, in 2013.

A TRIBUTE TO OUR FRIEND

Martha COFFEY’62

Judith Phelan

Mary Lee HENDERSON Milne’58

September 30, 1943 – September 30, 2016

Senior School Art Teacher, 1985–99 July 18, 2016

Martha was with us at Toronto Argos for only 15 years, but oh, how she changed this club and made things happen!

She joined the Board in 2003 and became President in 2006. She steered the club through a lot—a harassment complaint, board resignations, a human rights complaint, contract renegotiation, purchase and sale of equipment, merchandise, building the trophy room and office, moving the office upstairs, renewal of the Branksome agreement, head coach hiring and employment release, and two successful Trillium grant applications.

Martha grasped that it was all about team work. She knew that we would be better together and so she got us to work together. She made it look easy, but that was because she knew how to motivate and encourage people. It was the way she was.

Martha was our social butterfly. She was interested in your spouse, your kids, your job, your promotion, your house sale, your roof blowing off, whatever. She cared. And now that Martha isn’t around anymore to make people feel special, to smooth over the rough edges, to show that she cared about all our trials and tribulations, we all have to do that for each other now. We all have to show that we care about each other in the same way that she cared about us. We all have to be Martha now.

—Judy Sutcliffe Chair, RowOntario Umpires Committee Board Member, Argonaut Rowing Club

Judith was an accomplished watercolorist who inspired her students—many of whom have since pursued a career in a creative field— with her never ending enthusiasm for the visual arts.

In the 1990s, Judith took over what had been a Butterfield and Robinson art program in Siena, Italy, and developed the Siena Art School.

It offered a Grade 13 visual arts credit course given in July. I taught with Judith for several summers until the program ended in 2001 and, during that time, witnessed her knowledge of the language, the cities, the art and architecture. Students will remember visiting duomo after duomo, making art at The Studio, dinners at La Finestra, surviving the Palio, and the great gelato challenge.

Judith retired from Branksome in 1999, but often attended reunions.

She enjoyed catching up with her students and took a genuine interest in their lives. She will be missed.

—Heather Pratt, Judith’s friend and colleague

Lee died on February 3, 2014.

The following are memories from her dear and lifelong friends, Adrienne ALLAN Pitt and Lois SMITH Sullivan.

Lee, the “new girl,” and I met in Grade Three, however, I had been at Branksome since Kindergarten. When we had a bit of a scuffle to see who would be first in line, our moms, who did not know each other, pulled us apart, told us to apologize and to “be friends, right now!” So we did—sister-friends forever.

We had years of fun at Branksome—Miss Read’s wild toboggan run (broken bones), chocolate-caramel sundaes after school on Sherbourne Street, blind dates for the Strawberry Festival (boys, finally!), then careers and families, and always staying closely in touch.

Lee was my happy, caring, dear friend of 66 years and is deeply missed.

—Adrienne ALLAN Pitt’58 I met Lee the summer we were 16, at our cottages in Muskoka. Being an only child, she enjoyed my noisy family of five siblings. When my parents sent me to Branksome in the hope I would settle down and work, little did they know that on the first day of school I would meet Lee there! She had never mentioned she went to Branksome.

We used to go to Lichee Garden (all you can eat Chinese buffet) after exams were over and stay for hours.

One time, we went down to the courthouse to watch my lawyer dad in action. Even though he had forbidden the family to do this, I really wanted to see him, and Lee had the courage to go with me. Wearing our Branksome uniforms, we hid behind the pillars at the back. It ended well, as dad saw us and even proudly introduced us to the judge and the other lawyers.

Branksome was a big part of a lifelong friendship and we always had fun along the way.

—Lois SMITH Sullivan’58

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A Day in the Life

On board Air Force One, flying from Nairobi to Addis Ababa, during President Obama’s trip to Africa in July 2015.

Into Africa I cover the continent, often with my daughters at my side

BY SARAH CARTER’88

I WOKE UP today with a great sense of privilege. That word is so loaded with meaning, here in South Africa, that I don’t use it lightly.

Privileged that I have unusual access to people across the African continent, and sometimes further, who share their lives and challenges with us—each one embracing the rawness of life with a passion and courage so startling in their honesty. Privileged that I get to share these stories, and sometimes the people themselves, with my family.

My three daughters, aged 16, 12 and 10, have logged some miles. They have gone

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into homes—some might refer to them as shacks—of child-headed households and met kids orphaned by AIDS. Often, the eldest are the same age as my eldest, and now responsible, both emotionally and financially, for their siblings. When they were younger, my kids worried about who would look after these kids and questioned me regularly about how they were. As they have grown, I can see in their eyes they have connected the dots and don’t need to ask. They understand the massive challenges these children face and the exponential implications of a generation wiped out by AIDS.

They are often in the car and listen to me talk on speakerphone. They will never forget hearing a call from Aisha, who, at 13, was sold by her father to Boko Haram to be a suicide bomber. She called from her hospital bed near the Cameroonian border, wondering when we would arrive. We have been battling for months to get visas to go back to Nigeria to tell her story and those of several other girls. My kids will often message me from school to remind me to make another call to the Ministry in Abuja to push for approval.

Our cameraman, Mish, has spent the week being tear gassed as students in Johannesburg protest tuitition fees, often clashing with police. My kids smell it on him when they arrive home from school. They see his burning eyes as we set up for an interview in our garden for a story on “canned lion hunts,” where lions bred in captivity are shot in a small fenced-in area by wealthy trophy hunters. They’ll see the horrific footage we have been given of an illegal hunt. It will air tonight on the CBS Evening News as the CITES meeting on endangered species wraps up with little change in the protection of Africa’s lions.

All of these people have come to shape my daughters’ views of the world and their passion for life. It’s what they know, and I suspect they don’t see this exposure as a privilege, yet. It’s more like how Mom’s work impacts their lives. But I hear it in their conversations, in the papers they write for school and even in some of the choices they make.

Tonight, my youngest daughter has the privilege of dancing with the Johannesburg Ballet Company in Cinderella. So I am off, switching gears to embrace the biggest challenge of the day, for me—a French braid. R Sarah Carter is Johannesburg Bureau Chief for CBS News.

UpcomingEvents Visit branksome.on.ca/alumnae for details and registration.

2017 Call for Nominations

Nominations for the 2017 Allison Roach Alumna Award and the

2017 Young Alumna Achievement Award are being accepted until Wednesday, February 15, 2017. Please visit the website for details and submit your on-line nomination for a remarkable alumna. The awards will be presented on Sunday, May 28, 2017, at noon. A complimentary buffet luncheon follows.

Family and friends are welcome to attend.

DEADLINE

CONVERSATIONS WITH PARENTS SPEAKER SERIES Alumnae are welcome to attend.

Admission is free; however, advance registration is required.

The Age of Vulnerability: Young Women, Binge Drinking and What We Can Do About It Wednesday, January 25, 2017 7:00 p.m.

Allison Roach Performing Arts Centre, 10 Elm Avenue Register at: branksome.on.ca/conversations Seasoned speaker and bestselling author Ann DOWSETT Johnston’71 (Drink: the Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol) is the founding chair of the National Roundtable on Girls, Women and Alcohol and a founding director of Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada.

February 15, 2017

Managing the Ups and Downs: The importance of struggle for your daughter and your role in helping her navigate life’s challenges.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017 7:00 p.m.

The Eaton Common Room, 10 Elm Avenue Register at: branksome.on.ca/conversations Annabelle FELL’85 is a registered social worker with 15 years of experience.

She is the founder of the Fell Group where she specializes in the mental health of children, adolescents and young adults.

FURNITURE-PLUS SALE Saturday, March 4, 2017 Weather date: Sunday, March 5, 2017 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

10 Elm Avenue Branksome has done an early spring cleaning!

Treasures galore and vintage items for your home or cottage—desks, lamps, coffee tables, dining tables, benches, storage chests... and more.

All proceeds will support the Alumnae Association Endowed Bursary Fund.

Watch for further details!

Our e-newsletter will provide you with information on all upcoming events.

Find us on

REUNION 2017 Your friends. Your class.

Your school. (see back cover) May 27 and 28 On May 27 we honour alumnae from the years ending in 2 and 7.

On May 28 we honour our award recipients and welcome family and friends to attend the award presentations and complimentary luncheon.