HSC Review 2023

HSCReview

Spring 2023

The Inspirational Giver

Michael G. DeGroote Hon. ’09 left a towering legacy of generosity at Hillfield Strathallan College

The Inspirational Giver

Michael G. DeGroote Hon. ’09 left a towering legacy of generosity at Hillfield Strathallan College

For Love of Horses

The Vince sisters—Ainsley ’96, Courtney ’98 and Sydney ’01—all became talented equestrians making their mark in the world of show jumping. HSC helped.

The Nice Fighter

Since he jump-started the wrestling team at HSC, Mike Malott ’09 has reached the top level of UFC combat

The Magic of Fantasy

Dr. Sarah Olutola ’03 loves being a serious academic and, by another name, a best-selling young-adult author

Sky's the Limit

Nelson Bradshaw ’02 has grown his Executive Aviation company to Canada’s largest private ground handling outfit

Kawenní:io (Beautiful Words)

Lauren Williams ’01 is helping to revive and spread the endangered Mohawk language.

The Man Who Gave So Much

WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO SHARE WITH YOU this latest issue of HSC Review, which is a chance to celebrate so many of the amazing things that are happening daily at the College and many of the achievements of our amazing alumni.

This edition of the magazine is also an opportunity to honour the life of Mr. Michael G. DeGroote, Patron of HSC, who passed away this past fall. The creation of the profile that you will read in this issue was a labour of love to put together as it was an opportunity to connect with family and friends and share stories of this great man who has meant so much to HSC.

Obviously, Mr. DeGroote and the entire DeGroote family have given so much to HSC in terms of philanthropy (their gift of $19.5 million to the Transformation HSC campaign was one of the largest in CAIS history), but the greatest gifts that Mike Sr. gave to HSC were inspiration and confidence.

When discussions began to have a campaign to build a new Senior School and Athletic Complex in the late 2000s, it seemed fanciful. HSC was not considered a school with an ingrained history of philanthropy at that level and it seemed too ambitious to many people. The joke amongst the long-serving faculty was to call the project, “Shangri-La”. That was until Mike Sr. stepped in.

With his initial pledge of $10.5 million in 2009, the tone was set that this could be done. All Mike asked of HSC was to ramp up participation in the campaign. He understood that not everyone could give on his level, but he hoped that this gift would inspire others to do what they could and that the confidence that he showed in the mission of HSC would be infectious.

Thanks to Mike Sr., we were able to not only complete the entire Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Excellence in 2014, but the ripple effects of this project have been felt in so many ways. Mr. DeGroote’s support put HSC on the national landscape for excellence in independent schools in Canada. We were no longer CAIS’s best-kept secret. We have been able to have record enrolments and deep philanthropic support that would, I’m sure, make Mike Sr. smile.

As we head into the implementation of our new Campus Master Plan, we can lean on the inspiration of Mr. DeGroote and be confident that we, as an HSC community, can dream big and deliver if we honour his legacy of giving. We will keep trying to make Mike proud and keeping moving HSC forward.

By Marc Ayotte Head of College

In this issue, we also celebrate the past with some amazing alumni profiles and updates from the community. Hopefully, more alumni will be inspired to reach out and share their stories of accomplishment with us by sending an email to communications@hsc.on.ca.

Please enjoy this issue, and thank you for your continued support of HSC.

Photo by Will Vipond Tait

“All Mike asked of HSC was to ramp up participation in the campaign.”

Michael G. DeGroote put HSC on the national landscape for excellence

Of Change and Belonging

As I prepare to step down, I still feel as welcome in the HSC community as I did all those years ago

AS I’M NOW IN MY (GASP) 38TH YEAR AS AN HSC ALUMNA, I can say there are two things that truly make the school so special: the first is that everything has changed and the second is that nothing has changed.

Let me explain.

When I returned to HSC as a member of the Alumni Executive in the fall of 2017, I’ll admit it, I got lost on the campus. Everything had changed! The scope and scale of the school has evolved far beyond what I ever could have imagined back in 1985. And I’m not just talking about bricks and mortar. While I can’t comment on the approach to education (and how that’s changed since 1985), I can comment on the approach to the campus experience—for students, families and alumni like me.

Walking through campus, the energy and enthusiasm for novelty, innovation and embracing our differences is palpable. I congratulate the many leaders who made this happen, from alumni to parents to leaders to teachers to students. Your efforts will continue to echo in the years to come. I have always been proud to be an HSC grad—it is amazing to continue to be part of a contemporary, forward-thinking community.

My inability to navigate HSC’s halls aside, I also note that nothing has changed. By this I mean that the HSC community continues to feel like home.

I feel as welcome today as I did in 1985. Through the strength of our alumni network (for which, again, I congratulate the many individuals who laid such a solid foundation for its success), I have a much wider circle of friends and colleagues, but the ethos is the same: you belong. This sense of community isn’t just about feeling good while on campus. A sense of belonging—for individuals and the entire community—has a profound impact on wellbeing and mental health. In some ways, a trip to campus is a little bit like a shot of Vitamin C for the soul. How many of us have received a notice for an HSC event and thought, “Yes, that sounds like fun, I think I’ll attend that.”

By Sue Owen ’85 President, HSC Alumni Association

And this is the delightful paradox that is HSC today. While it has evolved to keep pace with today’s learners, the way we experience the school—those feelings of warmth and belonging— remain steadfast.

To the members of the Alumni Executive, our alumni relations officer Bianca Barton ’03 and the rest of the HSC community, thank you for entrusting me to steward the alumni for these past four years. I am so ever grateful for the support. I leave you now in the hands of my successor, Rob Alexander '89, in whom I have the utmost confidence.

“In some ways, a trip to campus is a little bit like a shot of Vitamin C for the soul.”

Photo by Arran Svadjian

College Life Greener than Ever

HSC and its people are making the campus a sustainability standout

Stories by Alex Berry

ASK ANYONE ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP at HSC and they’ll likely mention the name John Hannah. A teacher and science subject coordinator in the Middle School, Hannah has been instrumental in shaping HSC’s learning landscape—a College-wide initiative to maximize student and staff action in mitigating the impact of climate change and supporting local biodiversity through purposeful use of our 50-acre campus.

Working collaboratively with a passionate group of faculty, staff and students, Hannah promotes a sense of urgency for environmental stewardship fuelled by hope and joy. “We are trying to make a difference,” he says, “not only to improve the academic achievement, health, wellbeing and happiness of our students but also to improve the community that surrounds us and the land beneath our feet.”

HSC’s sustainability journey can be traced back to 2007, when then Headmaster Tom Matthews invited experts from the Royal Botanical Gardens to survey the campus and provide guidance on how best to introduce naturalized areas to the property. Flash forward 16 years and HSC has made a name for itself as a leader in campus naturalization and biodiversity conservation. Hannah credits Head of College Marc Ayotte for championing HSC’s eco evolution. “He has been critical in driving the realization of ideas over the last decade by engaging the Board of Governors and ensuring that a sustainability lens was applied to the Strategic Plan and Campus Master Plan.”

Sharpening HSC’s focus on operating environmentally meant understanding existing strengths and weaknesses. In partnership with the Sustainability Leadership Program, a municipal advisory committee that provides guidance for

HSC's 100 per cent electric bus is among a fleet of the most fuel efficient and low-emission buses on the market.

Photos by Frank Zochil (left), William Vipond Tait (right)

businesses to set and achieve sustainability targets, as well as the Climate Action Accelerator Program (CAAP), a group of environmental leaders in the Canadian K-12 sector, HSC was able to establish a baseline year using data from 2019 to measure its greenhouse gas emissions, then track electricity, water, gas and paper usage and continually measure for improvement.

Eco-friendly changes can be seen across the campus, from the 2021 introduction of a new bus fleet with the most fuel-efficient engine available to the installation of solar panels covering the roof of the transportation building. Mark Mitchell, a member of the Middle School faculty and the College’s Sustainability and Biodiversity Committee, was instrumental in bringing solar power to HSC. “My motto has always been ‘think globally, act locally,’ so installing as many solar panels as possible on our campus rooftops is just one way I am bringing that philosophy to life,” says Mitchell.

While the actions of College leadership play a major role in advancing progress towards the goal of net-zero carbon emissions, students are leading a groundswell of action across campus, including the Green Team and their work on HSC’s EcoSchools certification as well as the World Wildlife Fund-sponsored LivingPlanet@School program. John Bulger, a Senior School teacher and member of HSC’s

Sustainability and Biodiversity Committee, gives a lot of credit to students. The way he sees it, they are key agents of change. “It’s encouraging to see more and more students working to find real-life solutions for climate change, and their desire to have an impact is not for a good grade, but to have a positive influence on the world.” Among the Green Team’s projects for the year is analyzing data and evaluating companies as part of an audit to recommend the most sustainable, efficient and cost-effective vendor for the College’s waste management services.

Grade 12 student Ali Panju, HSC’s inaugural Environmental Prefect and a member of the Green Team, spoke during the group’s weekly meeting about the influence of HSC’s environmental student leadership. “Compared with other independent schools, HSC offers a lot of student-led initiatives,” he says. “In my position as Prefect, I get to meet and work with students from other schools to share information on the ways we are working to mitigate climate change.” The week prior, Panju put together a presentation to share with CAAP’s members outlining all the positive work being done across HSC’s campus.

Time and again, the phrase “whole school approach” comes up when discussing sustainability at HSC. From faculty and staff to students and parents, all members of the HSC community play an important part. Collective efforts, whether Used Uniform Sales by the Parents’ Guild or staff measures to go paperless, continue to improve the College’s environmental, social and governance record. When asked what the future holds for HSC’s environmental sustainability, Bulger aspires to a planned obsolescence of sorts. “I hope that a lifestyle of stewardship becomes so ingrained in who we are as a College that, one day, we no longer need the Green Team.’’

Students (above) learn about the heritage of trees on campus from Jonas Hall, Head of Grounds at HSC; planting (right) for LivingPlanet@ School.

In Good Company

A unique arts tradition connects past with present to showcase the legacy of HSC talent

THE STAGE IS SET. It’s Thursday, April 30, 1987, and the mayor of Hamilton, Robert Morrow, joins acclaimed Canadian author and patron of the arts Mavor Moore at the doors of the newly built HSC Artsplex, now known as the Virtue-Fitzgerald Centre for the Arts (VFC). The two men are welcomed as guests of honour by College faculty, staff and students for a ribboncutting full of pomp and ceremony. “We had a special piece of music prepared for the day,” recalls John Beaver, former faculty and director of arts at the time. He remembers it, fondly, as an extremely busy period in his life. “I am absolutely overwhelmed when I think about how much I got myself into during those years—all of which I’d do again if given the chance.”

It’s easy to understand Beaver’s perspective when looking back at the calendar of events from those years. With roughly four productions per year, sometimes more, the VFC has hosted over 100 artistic productions since its opening. From an opera to Legally Blonde and Concert Bands to a ballet, the theatre at HSC has transported audiences to many worlds created by talented students, faculty, staff and family members. As Beaver shares memories of various performances, it’s clear there was something special about HSC students. He speaks of their unique ability to understand often complex characters. “I was always amazed at the students’ ability to play roles written for adults—they would transform themselves in ways that showed such maturity.”

Among such performances was the 1996 revival of I Never Saw Another Butterfly, a one-act play originally put on at HSC 10 years earlier by a mix of staff and students. Both productions were spearheaded by a much-beloved teacher, the late Bryan Wylie, who directed countless productions over his 30-year HSC career. Current Director of Arts Nora Hammond ’98, who played the lead role of Raja in the revival, recounts the impact of the performance, set in wartime

Czechoslovakia. “The play is a powerful true story about Terezin Concentration Camp, and incredibly, a woman who had been best friends with the lead character was able to come and see it. She spoke to our cast about her time as a youth in Terezin, which was quite a moving experience.”

In addition to the many student plays, musicals and band concerts, HSC created the Staff, Alumni, Parent (SAP) production with its inaugural showing of The Pirates of

by

From top down: The cast of Middle School's Matilda JR. in spring 2022; Mrs. Peacock from the Senior School's 2022 production of Clue!; Inga and Igor from the 2023 SAP; a musical number from the Senior School's 2019 production of Chicago

Photos

Corey Martin, Frank Zochil, Arran Svadjian

On Stage

1978 The Pirates of Penzance

Penzance in 1979. A tradition that started with faculty and staff only, the SAP now brings former students, current and past faculty and staff, as well as anyone connected to HSC’s community, together every four years or so to celebrate the community-building power of the arts.

Hammond produced this year’s SAP musical, Young Frankenstein, and brought a full circle perspective to the show. “The first one I was a part of was Guys and Dolls in my graduating year, directed by Mr. Wylie, and they made an exception to include students as part of the pit band. ” Hammond sees a direct correlation between the arts curriculum and the productions put on by community members. “Support for these stage shows brings increased attention to our arts programming as a whole and helps lift the profile of the projects that our students are creating.”

Together with fellow faculty member Brandon Vedelago ’98, who directed this year’s SAP, Hammond reminisced about the evolution of arts at HSC through the lens of this cherished tradition. “Those of us who have been lucky enough to experience the arts program at HSC have a strong affinity for it,” says Hammond. So much so that some community members are willing to travel great lengths to show up for the SAP. “We had a cast member in the last SAP who would fly in every week to be here for rehearsals,” Vedelago says. It’s a voluntary commitment, and anyone with a connection to HSC can join the cast and crew. “We’ve had retired staff, parents of alumni and new families show up and it’s amazing to watch lifelong friendships form across such a wide range of community groups.”

Shared anecdotes from over the years include many impressive dance numbers, a few unintentional wardrobe malfunctions and a real drink or two during a bar scene to alleviate nerves. By Hammond’s account, the list of people who have been instrumental to arts programming at HSC is long. For fear of leaving anyone out, she suggests looking back at the cast and crew list from past SAP productions to get an idea of just how dedicated HSC’s arts enthusiasts are. “Many members of this year’s SAP have been involved from the start—that’s an over 40-year commitment.” Dedication like that is what makes the College a place people keep coming back to.

Annals of Generosity

HSC philanthropy over the years

As the College embarks on a historic campaign to transform its campus, here’s a look back at just a few of the philanthropic initiatives that have had a major impact on our community.

GIVING TO HSC

HSC formalized its philanthropic and fundraising endeavours with the creation of a dedicated Advancement Team in 2005. The largest single donor was the late Michael G. DeGroote, whose lifetime contributions to HSC totalled over $19.5 million (see page 50).

GIVING BY HSC

HSC’s long-time relationship with the United Way charity started in 1970 with the introduction of Grub Days and Dress-Up Days to raise money.

With support from donors, HSC students are able to apply to receive one of 12 scholarships to put towards tuition costs.

For more than 15 years, students have met with newcomers to Canada as part of HSC’s English Conversation Circle.

Since the inception of The David Tutty Joy and Innovation Fund, more than $400,000 has been invested in over 65 projects that give HSC students new opportunities to explore their potential as innovative leaders.

Over $26,000 was donated to Empowerment Squared in 2021 to support programming for newcomer families

Annual student-led fundraisers have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations over the last decade for Neighbour to Neighbour, St. Matthews House, Adelaide Hoodless Public School, McMaster Children’s Hospital and the Canadian Cancer Society.

The College introduced the Alumni Awards of Distinction in 2005 as a way to honour alumni who exemplify HSC’s values.

In 2010, the HSC community rallied together to raise over $32,000 in a single day for Haiti earthquake relief.

1980

Pinafore 1986 The Boyfriend

The Boys from Syracuse

Crazy for You

2011

2013

2016

2019

Young Frankenstein $32,000

$400,000

years

$19.5M $26,000

Back to Basics

Teaching tech skills with a hands-on approach in HSC’s Montessori School

IN THE 1946 LONDON LECTURES, considered the first training course given by Dr. Maria Montessori on her method of education, she spoke on the importance of children’s hands as an instrument of intelligence. “The child gives us a beautiful lesson—that in order to form and maintain our intelligence, we must use our hands.” When researching the integration of information technology in classrooms, Montessori Principal Danielle Hourigan ’82 along with VicePrincipal Erica Otaguro ’07 set out to expand on Dr. Montessori’s philosophy by asking the question, how does a hands-on approach to learning coincide with our modern digital age? What they discovered was more than a happy coincidence.

“Though Dr. Montessori could not have conceived of technology at the time, her understanding of how children learn through experiential and sensory-based learning applies seamlessly to digital literacy,” says Otaguro. Knowing the negative impact of screen time for young learners, she sought to understand the best approach to integrating technology in ways that supported healthy development and age- and stage-appropriate milestones.

Otaguro was pleased to discover that the solution was simple: follow the Montessori method. “With a firm foundation in sequencing, spatial awareness, categorizing, classifying and comparison, the Montessori approach nurtures the logical and reasoning skills that students need for their eventual use of technology,” she says.

Hourigan wasn’t surprised by the natural correlation between Montessori’s hands-on learning and digital literacy. “Our students learn the skills of computing before they’ve even held a device,” she says when describing the school’s approach to technology. “Montessori materials have built-in self-correction characteristics, so when a child is using the materials and they make a mistake, the materials give them authentic feedback so they can go back and find ways to correct. This process mirrors coding and programming.”

While HSC’s CASA classes (ages 3-5) do not have technology, the materials used by the youngest students cultivate critical thinking skills to develop patience, multi-step processing, creativity, and problem-solving—work habits that prove vital when navigating a tech-first world.

As a precursor to computer coding, M5 students are given unplugged coding materials that may represent robots or cards and grids with which they execute the various coding instructions. The school introduces technology as a learning tool in M6, offering a bank of communal computers in each classroom.

Hourigan points out that the students are trusted to use top-of-the-line equipment, and explains that the addition of this tool is always purposeful and meaningful. “It’s amazing to see the unique ways that students use technology for project-specific exploration and research, with each child finding a personalized way to present and celebrate their learning with others.”

From day one, students are informed of the responsibilities that come with using technology, including safe browsing, smart sourcing, information sharing and data privacy. “Every year we add a layer of depth to our conversation about digital citizenship,” Otaguro says. “This ensures that when students are old enough for a personal device, they know how to use it safely and responsibly.”

It is only in the spring of their final year of Montessori that students are invited to incorporate their own personal device into their learning tools in preparation for their Middle School career. Hourigan describes this moment as a major milestone, though she’s aware that many of the children already own a device of one kind or another before graduation. “The reality is that our students are digital natives, so our primary goal is to empower them with the problem-solving and critical-thinking skills that will ensure they’re adaptable to the pace of an ever-changing world.” As the Montessori method has done for more than 100 years.

Photos by Arran Svadjian

M8 students play Robot Turtles, a board game that teaches precoding skills.

CASA student (right) gets hand-on with cylinder blocks and M9 student (below) works on a project using animation software.

Cultivating a Growth Mindset

A new Garden Curriculum in the Junior School is sprouting emotive results

IT’S NOT UNCOMMON for a tear or two to fall during a typical day in HSC’s Junior School, but on one particular fall morning, Grade 2 teacher Allison Wall witnessed something extraordinary. “I came in to find one of our students crying as he marvelled at some freshly sprouted mushrooms in the classroom garden,” she says. Why the tears? His response was one of joy and wonder that the classroom project had come to fruition—quite literally. For Junior School Curriculum Coordinator and teacher Kathleen Collins, moments like these “prove to us just how engaged and invested in the curriculum our students are.”

The curriculum Collins speaks of is modelled after Kaci Rae Christopher’s The School Garden Curriculum, an educational guidebook and comprehensive place-based science program that connects to the new Ontario science curriculum and exposes students to the natural world through

gardening. Jennifer Adams, Junior School Life Coordinator, teacher and champion for eco-education, was among the faculty leads involved in bringing the program to life at HSC. “By integrating this model into our daily lesson plans,” she says, “we aim to not only teach the students how environmental systems work, but also foster an environmental ethos in the Junior School.”

The process of incorporating the program into day-to-day learning was quite seamless, and, as Adams notes, there was already great momentum towards environmental education College-wide. “We’ve been focused for a number of years on Indigenous Ways of Knowing and on getting students into nature, so this was a natural evolution of that learning journey.” She speaks of the strong ties between the Garden Curriculum’s mantra of “care for self, care for others, care for the land” and the Junior School’s own REACH framework, which focuses on five core character traits: respect, effort, attitude, control of self and honesty. “Through these lessons, students approach learning with curiosity, passion and a growth mindset with the ultimate goal of developing into confident, world-aware citizens.”

Collins says that because cross-grade collaboration is ingrained in the curriculum, students gain valuable social skills along the way. “Each class relies on other classes for various aspects of the garden lifecycle and so students learn to interact in a positive way, with empathy and respect.” From seed and bulb planting in the kindergarten classes to harvesting and taste testing in Grade 2 to worms and vermicomposting in Grade 4 and everything in between, the students take pride in sharing resources and knowledge with one another. Another big piece of the program is enhanced overall student wellbeing. Take, for example, students’ relationship to food that comes from the harvest. Collins describes seeing a shift in kids’ appreciation for new flavours and increased ability to respectfully articulate their taste (or distaste) for various foods. Through the program, students experience first-hand the energy, effort and resources that go into food production, she says. “By being active participants in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, students have a greater appreciation for the end result and are less likely to take food for granted.” Laughing, Collins can’t help but summarize the multi-faceted benefits of the curriculum with a garden metaphor. “The students get such a wonderful basket full of yields out of the process.”

Junior School faculty (above) prepare to lay the groundwork for outdoor learning by installing raised garden beds; students (left) get to work filling the planters with soil.

Cutting Class for Learning

Middle School students embrace education through experience

WITH 50 SHOVELS, 200 trench bags, wood, saws, hammers, nails and some real artifacts from the First World War, HSC’s Grade 7 and 8 classes arrived at parent-of-alum Steve Fenton's farm in early November 2022 to spend a day in the trenches. And not in the metaphorical sense. “You can tell a lot about students when you put a shovel instead of a computer in their hands,” says trenchbuilding chaperone and history teacher Bob McGall of the experiential learning trip for a unit on Remembrance Day.

British military historian, author and educator Andrew Robertshaw specializes in the history of the First World War and joined students at the farm to teach them firsthand what life was like for soldiers during the conflict. Whether filling trench bags, extending the lines or building the protective trench wall, each student played their part to get the job done. Reflecting on the trip, McGall was encouraged by the students’ engagement and further investigations, and notes how their natural curiosity and active participation shaped positive outcomes. “You can’t work and talk all day without learning even a little something about what you are doing,” he says.

That idea of learning through doing permeates a number of HSC’s Middle School trips, including the annual Grade 5 trip to Saint-Donat, Québec, and the Grade 8 exchange to France. Both the brainchild of Middle School French teacher Laur-Ann Camus, these trips aim to embed students in the culture, community and language of each location not only to cultivate students’ French skills, but to foster their sense of self beyond the comforts of home. “My passion is to offer students out-of-the-book experiences,” Camus says in describing how unique the France exchange is. Nearly every year since 1993, students have been billeted with families from partner schools in Burgundy or, more recently, Nantes, to immerse themselves in the life of their French peers. The relationship blossoms over the year, through letter writing and Zoom chats, and culminates with the students spending

two weeks deep in the culture of their exchange partner.

Camus talks about the engaging activities included in both the France exchange and the four-day Saint-Donat trip, which incorporates elements of live-action role-play as active learning. “The magic of Saint-Donat begins the moment the students get off the bus. Through dramatic and musical historical storytelling, they are transported to another world where they learn to embrace winter fun and experience the joie de vivre of the Québecois. When we are there, we are no longer HSC; rather, we assimilate into different historical legend groups to absorb the area’s culture, language and traditions.”

It’s with that same spirit that McGall led the Middle School’s annual pilgrimage to Sainte-Marie among the Hurons until 2019. Rebuilt in the 1960s, this French mission and trading post sits on the original archeological site of Ontario’s first European community. McGall acknowledges the sensitive nature of the setting, as the site represents the origin for Canada’s conversion efforts. As he explains, “the First Nations’ traditions and cultural practices are explored equally, and, when compared with the Europeans, in a positive way.” This, McGall believes, is because the staff (many of whom are Indigenous, French Canadian, and Métis) are top-notch historians and experts on both cultures. During the three-day trip, students are exposed to life on the site as it was in the 1600s, joining re-enactors in making fires, cooking bannock, building wood longhouses, creating beadwork, playing Indigenous games and more.

While sharing details on other experiential learning events including HSC’s E-Week trips, Martin Birthelmer, Vice-Principal of Middle School Academics, recounts the lasting impression that all of these excursions have made on so many students. “In my 23 years of teaching, I have had countless conversations with alumni where their fondest memories from HSC include visits to the Royal Botanical Gardens or a class trip to Ottawa—these are the moments that serve as formative experiences in shaping our graduates.”

Photo submitted by faculty

Students are guided through the snowy terrain of SaintDonat on skis.

Advancing Student Potential

How college-level courses benefit Senior School students beyond Advanced Placement

SINCE INTRODUCING its first Advanced Placement (AP) course in 2002, HSC has seen more and more students write the U.S.-based College Board’s postsecondary-level exams each spring. Why such growth in the courses that resemble early university study? AP Chemistry teacher Yasmine Abdelaal credits both the calibre of the coursework and the talents of HSC students. “In my AP classes, students run labs that function more like the ones at university or college,” she says. By those standards, the AP program is yet another way HSC lives up to its promise of inspiring students to reach their full potential.

Eight out of a possible 36 AP classes are offered at HSC, which administers the three-hour exam for each subject in May every year. AP Coordinator Carol Mulvey explains the strategy for choosing which courses are added to the Senior School’s academic calendar. “We evaluate the capacity and capabilities of our students to ensure the courses we offer apply to their interests.” And, she adds, there are only so many hours available in the school day. In 2022, 55 HSC students challenged the AP exams, some of which involve coursework not taught at HSC. Students who are keen to write AP exams for courses that HSC does not offer can do so through independent study, says Mulvey. “We offer guidance in those scenarios and will facilitate the exams for students as needed.”

While high scores on some AP exams can count towards credits at many colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada, HSC teachers discourage students from treating the AP classes as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card. Michal Hodal, who teaches AP Physics, recommends that even his top-performing students not skip out on any first-year course during their post-secondary studies because “there are crucial aspects of those classes that AP won’t teach.” Hodal also steers clear of the idea put forward by the College Board

that Advanced Placement can help students, in its words, “stand out on applications” to post-secondary institutions. “HSC’s AP students are not in it to pad their resume; they have a genuine desire to learn as much about the subject as they can,” says Hodal.

Jessica Wilkins, who teaches AP English, shares Hodal’s sentiment, and adds that the students enrolled in her classes aren’t there to get ahead; rather, “they’re the kids who go home after school and read a novel in their free time.” She credits HSC for doing a good job of ensuring students are challenged, without creating a culture of competition.

Grade 12 student Andrew Kang says he enjoys his AP classes both for their academic rigour and deeper exploration of critical thinking. “I’m able to, depending on the course, lay a stronger foundation for my future academic pursuits, or simply more deeply satiate my curiosities.” Academic Prefect Abby Au attributes much of the value of AP to other students in the class who, like her, want a challenge and are passionate about the subject. “I learn a lot from my teachers but also from my peers who ask questions based on their worldview and draw connections to other branches of the subject that I may not have considered.” With a perspective like that, it’s easy to see why so many students are choosing AP.

Photo by Arran Svadjian

Abby Au, Grade 12 student and Academic Prefect, loved the content and conversations from her AP English class.

FOR

The Vince sisters— from left, Ainsley ’96, Sydney ’01 and Courtney ’98 —all became talented equestrians making their mark in the world of show jumping. HSC helped.

By Barbara Wickens

Photography by Regina Garcia

LOVE

HORSES

Photo by

ALL THREE VINCE SISTERS —Ainsley ’96, Courtney ’98 and Sydney ’01—agree that it was Ainsley who first fell in love with horses. But as with many origin stories, some of the details have grown hazy with time.

Courtney says she heard something about Ainsley being enchanted by horses on their grandfather’s farm. Sydney recalls a tale about ponies at a fall fair. Or perhaps it was a unicorn her eldest sister dreamt about.

“I really don’t remember,” is all Ainsley says about what led to her early equine infatuation.

What is clear is that all three are talented equestrians making their mark in the world of show jumping, both as highly regarded competitors and in the business of training the next generation of two- and four-legged hopefuls.

As youngsters, they attended an all-girls independent school in Oakville where the family lived at the time. But when Ainsley became a teenager, she wanted to go to a co-ed school and entered HSC for Grade 9 in 1991. Courtney and Sydney joined her two years later, when they were in Grade 8 and 5 respectively.

It was a fortuitous move. They had always enjoyed the support of their parents, Donald and Marsie, even though the couple weren’t riders themselves. And now the sisters were at a school far more willing than many to accommodate the schedules of students whose aspirations entail heavy demands on their time.

The sisters were travelling and competing regularly as their training and skills progressed in the equestrian disciplines of show jumping, hunter and equitation. Ainsley draws a broad comparison with different types of competitive skating.

“Show jumping is like speed skating where, as long as you follow the rules of the sport, the fastest time wins,” she says. “Hunter and equitation also involve jumping but, like ice

skating, are scored by judges, so deciding the winner is more subjective.”

They were now training with Eric Lamaze, a rising international star in the sport who would go on to become the first equestrian athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal for Canada when he competed at the Beijing Games in 2008. Lamaze was then based in the Schomberg area, so twice a week Marsie would pick up her daughters at HSC, drive nearly 100 km north to the stables, wait there until the lessons were over and then drive them home to the 32-acre property in Burlington where they’d lived since 1988.

“It was 90 minutes both directions,” Sydney says.

“Sometimes we’d carpool with the parents of friends who were also training there. And when Ainsley and Courtney turned 16 and got their driver’s licences, they did some of the driving. Our parents really did a lot for us.”

Even in winter, when the Canadian show jumping scene is largely dormant, the Vinces were often absent from HSC. From January to April, the family spent considerable time in the Wellington area north of Miami, an equestrian hot spot where the sisters could continue training and competing.

“Everybody at HSC was so supportive,” Courtney says.

“They would draw up a plan before we left for Florida so we wouldn’t get behind in our studies. The teachers really made it work for us.”

HSC’s philosophy of fostering each student’s personal growth meant the faculty helped with more than logistics.

Above: Sydney with Maximus TMF.

“The teachers were very supportive academically, but they also understood what it means to pursue a passion and they helped us with that balance,” Sydney says.

As each sister graduated from HSC, their paths began to diverge. Ainsley forged ahead as a professional, making a name for herself as she climbed up the show jumping ranks in Canadian and international competitions.

In 2006, she also launched her own training and sales business, Linden Ridge Limited, at her parents’ farm. One of her first steps was to build a modern 12-stall barn.

Courtney and Sydney attended the University of Toronto, each in turn earning a degree in economics. After graduating in 2002, Courtney worked full-time for Lamaze before co-founding a training and sales business in Belgium with a former partner.

Sourcing, developing and selling top-tier horses, from promising newcomers to proven winners, led her to work with some of the biggest names in the European show jumping industry. The process can include riding the horses in competitions so they’re competition-ready for their new owners.

“Each horse has its own unique personality so it’s easy to become emotionally attached.” Courtney says. “It helps when you’re buying and selling horses to think of yourself as part of that horse’s journey, so it can go on and do well.”

Taking a different path, Sydney followed her father into the insurance brokerage his father had founded. After a series

Above: A coach works with a show horse in the Linden Ridge barn. Right: Ainsley feeds Cal in his stall.

of amalgamations and acquisitions, it became part of Jones DesLauries Insurance Management Inc. where she’s an account executive.

In 2019, Sydney married Ryan Glotfelty, whom she met when she was just 10. Although he’s originally from California, his mother and step-father had a time-share in the Cayman Islands the same week each year as the Vince family. Today the couple live in Oakville with their toddler, Wesley. Thanks in part to some time management skills she learned at HSC, Sydney remains a competitive amateur show jumper.

“Ainsley and I sometimes joke that Syd’s the smart one,” Courtney quips about their sister’s decision to work in another industry.

Enjoying success as a trainer as well as in the ring, Ainsley was on track for another very good year in 2015 when she suffered a serious injury. She was training a client’s horse when it fell down on the approach to a water jump, taking her down too.

“I went into the ground like a lawn dart,” says Ainsley, who was flown by helicopter to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto where she spent four days in a coma. She then spent months convalescing in various rehab hospitals, a long and frustrating process, especially in the early days when doctors couldn’t offer her a prognosis.

Courtney, who was dividing her time between North America and Europe after going into business on her own, was back in Canada around the same time for surgery to repair wear and tear on her shoulder. She kicked into action, moving her horses from Europe so she could manage Linden Ridge and Ainsley’s clients.

Ainsley, who’d been advised to quit riding, did eventually get back in the saddle. Both she and Courtney want to return at some point to high-level competition, but that will depend on a number of factors, including finding suitable new horses. Still, it’s a reasonable goal given that Ian Millar, a 10-time Olympian and the most decorated equestrian in Canadian history, remained highly competitive until he retired in his seventies.

For now, their focus is on Linden Ridge, where they work six days a week. Hidden behind the house where their parents still live, the facility is within sight of the beautiful Niagara Escarpment. It’s grown in stages over the years and today its state-of-the-art amenities and features include indoor and outdoor practice and training rings.

The bright and airy barn was expanded to 22 stalls, where

“Each horse has its own unique personality so it’s easy to become emotionally attached.”

many of the occupants are horses owned or leased by Linden Ridge clients. Highly ranked horses can cost well into six figures so it’s not unusual for them to be owned by a syndicate. But, Ainsley says, people aren’t looking to turn a profit when they purchase horses for junior or amateur riders.

“It’s an investment in their riding careers,” she says. “You can enjoy, learn, grow and benefit from the experience, maybe get certain tax breaks, but you don’t expect to get every penny back.”

The sisters’ business model is to take the long view. Working as a team, they ask their clients, primarily teenagers and young adults, about their goals and then map out a plan that takes the skills and talent of both horse and rider into account.

And it works. All the students met their individual goals in 2022. The year wrapped up at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in November where the Vinces saw their students have their best finishes to date at the Canadian National Finals, including three individual championships in different disciplines.

The barn is also home to their own horses. They include cherished retirees like Darling and Freida, who once took the sisters to great heights in the show ring.

Then there’s Pumpkin Spice, Oreo and Gizmo, three mini horses about the size of a well-fed St. Bernard, whose sole purpose these days is to be adorable.

Sydney, who rides at Linden Ridge on weekends and often a few times during the week, says they were adopted from

Whispering Hearts Horse Rescue. Gizmo was saved from the meat market, while the rescue had taken on the other two when their owner could no longer care for them.

“We wanted to give them a better life,” she says. “Horses have been so good to us—we wanted to give something back.”

Perhaps it no longer matters how the Vince siblings came to love horses. They just do.

Left: Courtney and Dophelia in the barn.

Above: Courtney leads Dophelia out of the stables.

Right: Sydney, Courtney and Ainsley.

THE NICE FIGHTER

Since he jump-started the wrestling team at HSC, Mike Malott ’09 has reached the top level of UFC combat

By Bruce McDougall Portraits by Mike Ford

JUST AFTER ENTERING GRADE 9 AT HSC, Mike Malott ’09, attended a presentation at the school by a martial artist. After demonstrating some basic moves, the guest asked the students to perform them as well. When he saw how readily Mike had taken to the exercise, he complimented him on his prowess. “He said I was a natural,” Mike recalls, “although he probably said that to all the kids.”

Sincere or not, the martial artist’s encouragement added fuel to the fire of Mike’s desire to become an accomplished fighter. “It gave me that little bit of delusion you need to go for it.”

He’d already begun to practise the sport. “I saw it on TV one day,” he says. “It called to me. By the beginning of Grade 9, I knew I wanted to do it. Six months later I was going to a gym.”

Working out twice a week at a mixed martial arts (MMA) club in Waterdown, where he lived with his parents, brother and two sisters, Mike practised religiously, learning kickboxing, ju-jitsu wrestling and striking. His goal was to participate someday in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). He also wanted to compensate at the time for his small stature. “I was the smallest kid in the class,” he says. “I felt pretty angry. I guess I had a case of small-man syndrome. One day, I told myself, I’m gonna be able to fight and no one’s gonna beat me.”

Before this happened, though, Mike still had a long road ahead of him. At five-foot-four and 94 pounds, he was indeed shorter and lighter than his classmates, although he was also athletic. “He was just this small little guy who wanted to muscle up,” says his friend Brett Duncan ’08, who was a year ahead of Mike at HSC.

Mike’s parents didn’t allow him to watch extreme fighting on TV, but he used to smuggle DVDs of UFC fights into his house and watch them after his parents went to bed. “Other kids my age were hiding Playboys under their beds,” he says. “I was hiding UFC DVDs that I got from Blockbuster.”

Mike didn’t just entertain himself when he watched his

movies. He studied the fighters, memorizing their moves so he could imitate them later at the gym.

As Mike advanced through HSC, friends like Brett recognized his passion for wrestling and other martial arts. “MMA was my entire identity in high school,” Mike says.

Curious about this sport that had absorbed their friend’s interest, Brett and a few others joined Mike at his gym in Waterdown and began taking classes twice a week. “At first it was just Mike whipping our butts,” Brett says. “He was extremely good.”

By Grade 12, Mike was not only practising MMA four times a week, he was participating in sports at HSC as well, including volleyball, hockey and rugby. When other boys began asking him about wrestling, he thought the school should get more involved in the sport. “In my time, there was no wrestling team at the school,” he says. “So one day I rolled out the mats and talked to Ms. Mancini and Mr. Neibert about forming one.”

“He basically founded wrestling at HSC,” adds Brett.

Since then, HSC’s wrestling team has distinguished itself in inter-collegiate competitions, including a gold-medal performance at the 2019 Ontario provincial championships by Amaan Gulacha ’22. Mike returns every year to visit HSC and last year attended a wrestling tournament in which the school’s team was participating.

After graduating from HSC, Mike enrolled in a bachelor of commerce program at Dalhousie University in Halifax. While he was pursuing his degree, he was also rising steadily up the ranks of MMA fighters.

Licensed to participate in professional MMA competitions, he won his first three bouts against more experienced fighters, earning $300 for each victory. In the meantime, he continued to practise every day at a high-level gym in the city called Titan’s.

“I went to the gym more than I went to my classes,” he laughs. “I like to say that I got my BA at Dalhousie and my MA at Titan.”

After completing his studies in 2013, Mike moved home to Waterdown, where he continued to prepare himself for more professional fights. A few months later, he suffered the only loss of his career against Hakeem Dawodu in the World Series of Fighting 14, in Edmonton, a match that was televised to a North American audience.

By the time of his next bout, in San Jose, California, a draw against a French fighter named Ousmane Thomas Diagne, Mike had saved his money and moved to Sacramento,

California, to join a club called Team Alpha Male.

A leading school in North America for teaching MMA, particularly to lighter classes of fighter, the club has produced three UFC champions. It has also gained a reputation for its supportive environment. When one of his coaches noticed his obsession with practising, the coach said, “That’s Mike. Trying to get it proper.” One of his teammates said, “That’s a great name.” After that, he became known as Proper Mike Malott. “It’s better when someone else gives you a nickname,” Mike says.

Above: Mike takes a break in between training.

Mike stayed in Sacramento for seven years, supporting himself initially by working in a store that sold pre-cooked meals. “There weren’t too many customers,” he says, “so I could sit all day and watch fights.”

After winning his next fight after 36 seconds of the first round, Mike didn’t fight again for the next four years. Despite his accomplishments, he preferred to focus on ju-jitsu while continuing to work as a coach. “I also became a corner man,” he says, assisting fighters during their bouts, offering advice on their strategies and tending to their cuts and injuries.

In that capacity, Mike says, “I had a lot of say in the way fighters performed. In the process, I picked up a lot of new tricks. I cornered more than 100 MMA fights.”

Mike was happy as a coach, but he was still in his midtwenties, and other people wanted him to resume his fighting career while he was in his prime. “His coaches could see his talent,” says Brett. “They tried to convince him to go back.”

In 2020, they succeeded. Still fighting in a category just below the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Mike recorded two consecutive victories, one in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the other in Las Vegas, where his fight was the main event. By 2022, he was ready to make his debut at the highest level of professional ultimate fighting. His opponent was Mickey Gall, who had fought at the UFC level for more than six years and

had seven wins under his belt.

With his father and his sister Kathryn, currently in Grade 12 at HSC, in the audience in Jacksonville, Florida, along with Brett Duncan and several other friends, and as more than a million viewers watched on ESPN, Mike decked Gall with a left hook at 3:41 of the first round to win his first UFC fight. Although he was one of the lowest-paid fighters in the UFC, he offered his $10,000 in prize money to the daughter of Joey Rodriguez, his boxing coach for eight years, to help with the cost of cancer treatments for Rodriguez’s daughter and encouraged fans at the event to contribute, as well.

“This sport has changed my life,” he said after the match. “It took my anger and gave me focus and gave me drive.”

After that, he had three fights set for 2023 under the terms of his UFC contract. In February, he defeated fellow Canadian Yohan Lainesse in Las Vegas in the first round.

If you met Mike on the street, you’d hardly guess that he was involved in what he admits is “a violent sport, a cutthroat sport, a brutal sport.”

“He’s not a jerk,” says Brett, who lives in Burlington and works in sales for a technology company. “He’s not trying to be an alpha male. He loves the sport. Not many fighters are like that.

“When he’s with us, he’s the nicest, most quiet-spoken human on the planet.”

Photo by Jeff Bottari

“It took my anger and gave me focus and gave me drive.”

Above: Mike claims victory against Mickey Gall at his UFC 273 debut.

The Magic of Fantasy

Dr. Sarah Olutola ’03 loves being a serious academic and, by another name, a best-selling young-adult author

By Patricia Hluchy

Portraits by Duane Cole

Photo by

THE IMPRESSIVE LITERARY LIFE of Sarah Olutola ’03—best-selling author and accomplished academic—is, in part, a revenge-of-the-geek tale. As a young girl, she was utterly devoted to TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer—as well as Japanese entertainments such as the anime series Sailor Moon, manga comic books and graphic novels, and role-

Photo by

playing games including Final Fantasy, none of which had yet gained mass popularity in the West. “At the time, it was very niche and geeky,” she notes.

“I really loved those stories and wanted to be the young female with superpowers that enabled her to fight evil and save the world. While I was at HSC and, later, attending McMaster University, I was always daydreaming and telling stories in my head. I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if there was magic all around me? And wouldn’t it be cool if my friends and I knew there were vampires and stuff out there, and nobody else knew?”

Sarah attended HSC from Grades 4 through 9, leaving because her father got a job in another community (her two elder brothers, David ’97 and Chris ’00, are graduates). Sarah's passion for writing bloomed at HSC, where she joined the Young Authors Club. “In Grade 5, my teacher actually let me stay indoors instead of going to recess because I really wanted to finish my book,” she recalls. “Every other student would go outside but I was in class, typing on the computer. When I finally did finish my project, I ran into the faculty room to announce that I had done it.”

It has all paid off for Sarah, now the bestselling author of five young-adult fantasy novels, including the best-selling, three-novel Effigies series, about four girls protecting the world from diabolical phantoms, and the first instalment of another three-parter, The Bones of Ruin. The third Effigies book was nominated for a 2019 Canadian Aurora Award, celebrating Canadian science fiction and fantasy. And, marking Black History month in 2019, CBC Books included her in its list of six Canadian authors of Black heritage to watch.

Her series Bones focuses on the mysterious Iris, an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London who cannot die and becomes involved with an English lord, who wants her—because of her immortality—to join his team to compete

in a “Tournament of Freaks” linked to what he believes is the impending end of the world. The second Bones novel, The Song of Wrath, set for release on April 18, will be followed by a third instalment which Sarah is currently working to complete. She publishes her fiction under the pen name Sarah Raughley through the publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster.

On top of that, Sarah happens to have a PhD and is assistant professor of writing at the Orillia campus of Lakehead University. She divides her time between Orillia and Hamilton.

Born in London, Ontario, she grew up mainly in the Hamilton area. Her parents immigrated to Canada from Nigeria: her late father, Patrick, was a diagnostic radiologist and her mother, Margaret, a nurse. She entered McMaster with a scholarship to study honours biology.

“Because my dad was a doctor,” she says, “there was this idea that I would also be a doctor or maybe do engineering, or STEM. In Nigeria but also in Canada, if you go into those fields people put you on a pedestal. But while I was good at biology, it just wasn’t my passion. I took the MCAT [Medical College Admission Test] a few times but didn’t get into medical school—and felt shame about that. I tried a bunch of other things, including taking the LSAT [Law School Admission Test] a couple of times, and did interviews for entering into pharmacy.

“I had never really asked myself what I wanted to do with my life and how I could make a career out of it,” Sarah recalls. “I had taken a minor in writing and a teacher’s assistant at McMaster told me, ‘You would be really good in English, writing and analyzing literature.’”

So, Sarah took make-up English courses to get her bachelor’s in the subject and went on to complete a master’s and a PhD in English and cultural studies at McMaster, focusing on postcolonialism, critical race theory and African-

The cover of Fate of Flames, Sarah's debut novel, published in 2016.

The cover of The Bones of Ruin, published 2021.

The cover of The Song of Wrath, Sarah's latest novel, set for publication in 2023.

“She is able to bring all of her wisdom, intelligence, experience and knowledge of Black history to her novels, and still make them really engaging and really accessible, especially for kids.”

American women’s literature—“all things that made me remember what I loved about writing so much in the first place,” she says.

Her PhD dissertation “looked at the discourse of humanitarianism with respect to African children, and how that circulates in popular culture and in literature. Like, when Angelina Jolie goes to Africa and picks up a baby, how does that relate to earlier colonial discourses of the ‘civilizing era’—Europe is going to civilize the colonies and all of that stuff. And just looking at it through a postcolonial lens.”

While completing her studies, Sarah also wrote fiction. She wrote her first book, Feather Bound, while working on her master’s; it was released in 2014 by a U.K. publisher. That novel was followed by the first instalment in the Effigies series, Fate of Flames, in 2016, which she drafted while completing her PhD.

Another best-selling young-adult genre author, Stratford, Ontario-based E.K. Johnston, has been friends with Sarah for several years. “When I think of her,” she says, “the first thing that comes to mind is how hard she has worked. For her to get a PhD and establish a publishing career on top of that is beyond impressive.

“She is able to bring all of her wisdom, intelligence, experience and knowledge of Black history to her novels, and still make them really engaging and really accessible, especially for kids,” she adds. “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, it’s just a book for children.’ But you have to be at the top of your game to write for them because they will confront you in small details. They’re very demanding.”

As for Sarah—who conducts both volunteer and paid writing workshops in the community for youth and adults, has written on Black issues and culture for the Washington Post and Teen Vogue and has been a commentator on CBC Radio—she says that she doesn’t consider being an academic and a novelist a “double life.”

She explains: “Yes, I use a pen name for my creative writing, but that’s mostly so that children who are looking for my creative

work can find it easily and not be bogged down with academics. My creative output is actually very closely tied to my academic research, and vice-versa, because a lot of what I care about, in my scholarly work, has inspired me to think about how I can bring that into my fiction.

“You can teach in different ways, right? ” she continues. “For example, you can lecture through your scholarly work, or through your articles for academic journals, but you can also teach through the stories that you tell. So, what I’ve tried to do in my books is to include equity, diversity and inclusion, and to put a Black woman front and centre, because that’s something that I would have liked growing up, when I was writing my geeky stories.”

Lorraine York, a professor of English and cultural studies at McMaster who was one of Sarah’s instructors during her master’s—and then hired her as a research assistant while she was doing her PhD—is struck by “her understanding of how broad an audience she can speak to. And I think that comes out of her commitment as a Black scholar.

“So, she’s a novelist, an academic, a community worker, and all of these things speak to each other—they’re not siloed,” says York. “And it’s not something every academic can do very readily or maybe even wants to do. She places community at the heart of absolutely everything she does.”

Especially when there’s a hint of magic in that community.

SKY'S THE LIMIT

Nelson Bradshaw ’02 has grown his Executive Aviation company to Canada’s largest private ground handling outfit

By Diane Jermyn Portraits by Jaime Hogge

ON A SUMMER DAY IN 1992, when Nelson Bradshaw ’02 was eight years old, his dad took him up for his first flight in the family’s Cessna 182, which was kept on a grass runway near their home. Nelson was too small to see out the window, so he sat on a cushion to peek over the side. It was transformative.

“I remember watching the wheels leave the ground and it changed my life,” says Nelson. “It was so cool. I’ve been interested in aviation ever since—wanting to go to air shows, and just interested in everything to do with airplanes, float planes, military planes. I ended up doing my pilot’s licence while I was still in high school at HSC. I could actually fly an airplane solo before I could drive a car.”

Nelson, named as one of the Top 20 Under 40 in Canadian aviation and aerospace for 2022 by Wings magazine, is the president and owner of Executive Aviation, Canada’s largest privately owned ground handling company. Since taking over the business seven years ago, Nelson has grown it from operating at a single airport in London, Ontario, to 20 airports across Canada. He currently employs 1,000 people, providing services to commercial airline partners, private aviators, executive travellers and crews.

When he started in 2015, Nelson saw there were dozens of ground handling companies across the country with all kinds of different equipment and levels of service, so he recognized an opportunity to do it better.

“If you look at pilots, they’ve got clean uniforms, a crisp cockpit, flow charts and checklists, but I didn’t see that on the ground handling side,” says Nelson. “We brought that standardization to our business, plus we’ve been a pioneer in the systems and transparency we introduced.

“With our system, I can see all our flights, equipment, maintenance and training history on one dashboard and we give our partners access to that. For instance, my WestJet counterpart can log in and see how many ice trucks we have in Saskatoon today because there’s a snowstorm coming. That transparency isn’t common in the industry and it’s given me a huge leg up.”

Nelson usually works from home and is in his office, coffee in hand, before the sun comes up. The teams do an operations log at the end of every shift for every airport, so there are hundreds of reports to read, followed by BNN Bloomberg, but Nelson still finds time to be hands on.

“I love getting on the ramp, so I’ll often go for a drive at four in the morning and just show up on the ramp in Waterloo or London to see how the teams are doing,” says Nelson. “I’m

not trying to sneak attack them but I like to see what’s real out there without a big heads-up and connect with my team.”

Nelson likes to be as personal as possible so he tries to get out to every base at least once a year. He credits his wife Monica, whom he met at university, for how they present their friendly and fun culture. With her background in marketing, Nelson says she’s had a huge impact on the company’s branding and social media. “We try to run it like a family business,” says Nelson. “I sign everything on behalf of Nelson and Monica in our corporate communications.”

Born in Simcoe, Ontario, Nelson grew up in Waterford, later moving to a horse farm just outside the town when he was nine. The only boy and a middle child wedged between two sisters—Stephanie ’00 and Nikki ’03—he credits them with teaching him patience and empathy, saying people know him to be “a very patient person.” An active kid who was “always outside on my bike or digging in the dirt,” he recalls his mom patching the holes in his pants instead of buying new ones because he’d just wear right through them.

The family was very entrepreneurial—his dad ran Bradshaw Fuels, the family business originally started by his grandfather in 1956, with gas stations from Sarnia to Niagara Falls—so Nelson learned early on to pump gas and help out. By 15, he was running a business of his own after financing a hay baler

Nelson inside a hanger at London International Airport, home to the head office of Executive Aviation.

that he’d take round to neighbouring farms.

“I did that every summer during high school and university,” says Nelson. “By the end, I had two tractors, employees, and was shipping hay down to Florida. It was a decent little farming business.”

For a long time, Nelson held on to his dream of becoming an airline pilot, enrolling in the aviation management program at Western University so he could complete the flying at the same time as his degree and end up with a commercial pilot’s licence. That changed in his second year after he talked with a few pilots who were in the industry and understood more about the lifestyle.

“You can fly to Cancun, but then you turn around and come back, or you have a few days in Tokyo but you’re by yourself in a hotel without friends,” says Nelson. “That didn’t appeal to me because I knew I wanted to have a family and be home for my kids.

“It was my dad who said, ‘If you like business and like flying, be a businessman and fly on the side.’ That made it a really easy decision. I switched into finance and graduated with a business degree, working in tax practice with a Calgary firm for my first job.”

Finance was a good fit as math was his favourite subject during his years at HSC, particularly stretch assignments with extra problems.

“I remember Mr. Kersley for algebra and geometry and the way he’d push us to find our own answers and not just give them to us,” says Nelson. “I think that’s one of the things that helped set me up for success and problem solving. There are different ways to get there, but it’s either right or it’s wrong—no grey zone.”

Nelson started at HSC in Grade 6 because his parents liked the smaller classes and having more input on education. The school bus picked him and his sisters up at the end of their road for an hour and a quarter drive—each way. The memory of that long bus ride stuck, so after his oldest daughter started at HSC, the family moved to Ancaster to be 10 minutes from the school. All three daughters are students: Charlotte (Grade 3), Elizabeth (Grade 1) and Julianna (JK).

“I feel fortunate I can give them the same opportunities I had,” says Nelson. “Although I travel a lot, I stay very involved. I own a Socata Tobago plane and have taken my girls up a bunch of times since they were six months old. They love it!”

Besides his dad, Nelson credits his executive coach, Ron Bremner ’67, for

having the biggest impact on his leadership. He started working with Ron about three months before taking over the company in London and still has a weekly one-hour standing phone call with him.

“Ron challenges me with books and different approaches to think about because when you’re running a business, you’re kind of an island,” says Nelson. “Having somebody with experience to bounce ideas around with has been very helpful.”

From day one, Nelson has been conscious about building the business around empowering youth and connecting with that demographic. The company has formal partnerships with colleges across the country, such as Mohawk College in Hamilton which has an aircraft mechanic school right at the airfield.

“We’ve set up those partnerships so our business can be a stepping stone for people who want a career in aviation—not just pilots, but mechanics, flight attendants and operations people,” says Nelson. “Having a high standard for safety and quality is first and foremost and we challenge our teams to deliver their best every day. We’ve only got a handful of long-term career roles here, so I love to see people get experience with us and move on.”

Another passion is sustainability, and the company has recently rolled out various initiatives, including more electrical equipment in the fleet.

“I want to do my part, not just in reducing emissions, but recycling batteries and even the neoprene gloves we use in cleaning the aircraft,” says Nelson. “That’s really resonated with Gen Z and sets us apart. Companies absolutely need to be accountable.”

With Nelson in the cockpit, his own company seems sure to keep flying ahead of the pack.

“It was my dad who said, ‘If you like business and like flying, be a businessman and fly on the side.’ That made it a really easy decision.”

KAWENNÍ:IO (Beautiful Words)

Lauren Williams ’01 is helping to revive and spread the endangered Mohawk language

By Mary K. Nolan

THANK YOU. HORSE. HELLO.

That was about the extent of Lauren Williams’ Mohawk vocabulary when she was growing up in suburban Toronto, the daughter of an Indigenous mother and non-Indigenous father.

Now, Lauren ’01 is a full-time teacher of the endangered Haudenosaunee language—Kanyen’kéha— imparting its beauty and complexity to about 50 students in Grades 4 to 8 at Prince of Wales school in Hamilton. Not all of them are taking the class because they share her First Nations heritage or

Photography by Alex Blum

passion for the language. “Some of them are there just to get out of French,” she laughs.

Regardless, Lauren is keen to educate anybody who will listen—including her two energetic Samoyeds who are the rare, perhaps only, dogs who will sit when told to “sátyen” and fetch when they hear “skóha.”

Lauren, whose Mohawk name is Kahsenniyohstha, and her sister Karenna ’04 weren’t raised speaking Mohawk or hearing it in the home. Their mother didn’t know it, despite growing up on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, and their maternal grandparents were “silent speakers” who had some grasp of the language but were never taught at home or in school.

Their great-grandparents, fluent in Mohawk and Cayuga, attended Brantford’s Mohawk Institute, part of the notorious governmentbased network of residential schools now under investigation for systemic abuse of Indigenous children. Punishment was doled out for not speaking English, among other transgressions, and students grew up with neither the ability nor the inclination to teach their languages to their own children. “That’s 100 years of languages lost,” Lauren says sadly.

The Williams sisters enrolled at HSC in 1994 after the family moved from Leaside in Toronto, where they had attended independent schools since kindergarten, to Middleport on the edge of Six Nations.

Lauren, who was in Grade 7, found the transition difficult. She was a shy, quiet, independent girl, but eventually “found more of my voice and my confidence.”

She distanced herself from anyone who gave her a hard time, achieved good

Lauren with some of her beaded creations.

grades, played soccer, developed her abilities in art and discovered an affinity for language and etymology in English class.

Lauren says she responded well to the calibre of HSC teachers and their methodologies, singling out late art teacher Doug Moore.

“He had a really profound influence on me and was an example of how to not only create art, but how to live and act compassionately, learn life skills and life lessons, to think critically and kindly, and value the differences in people. He was fabulous, really a good man.”

After HSC, Lauren earned a degree in English and classical civilizations at the University of Toronto’s Victoria College and went on to do a master’s degree in ancient history and historiography at the University of Bristol in England.

Basically, historiography is the writing of history, but people like her own ancestors relied solely on oral traditions. How did they learn it or remember it? It was one thing for her to remember AC/DC lyrics verbatim, she jokes, quite another to hear the elders and knowledge keepers in her Six Nations community reciting intact stories that were multiple generations and hundreds of years old.

At 25, Lauren took a job as interim executive director of Woodland Cultural Centre, on the grounds of the old residential school, which is dedicated to preserving Haudenosaunee history, language, culture and art. When she was invited to speak at a Sweetgrass language conference later that year, she realized she would have to deliver her remarks in English.

“I felt awful,” she says. “I felt humiliation and shame.” She recalls thinking, “I know why I don’t know this, but I hate that I don’t know this,” and talking about those feelings in her address.

“Afterwards some beautiful older ladies—aunties and grandmas—came up to me and told me that [educator and elder Tehahenteh] Frank Miller was starting a class in Mohawk language at Six Nations Polytechnic and I should sign up. When I got home, he was sitting there in the kitchen with my dad, having tea!

“I think the universe was really kind of pushing me,” she says.

Miller promised that within months she’d be able to say a simple version of the sacred thanksgiving practice, which offers greetings, love, gratitude and respect to the grass below, the stars above and everything between. It’s an acknowledgment of all aspects of creation and the natural world, and can take a few minutes to recite or, for a proficient speaker, up to an hour.

There were about 20 adult language learners in the three-month course, all looking for healing from the historic loss of their native language and eager to understand and participate in common oral traditions of their culture. It began at a higher level than she expected.

With half as many characters as the English alphabet, a polysynthetic structure and long words made up of morphemes, Mohawk is not easy. But quitting is not in Lauren’s nature. “It was critical for me to be able to have that piece of my ancestors and my culture in order to understand my place in the world better,” she says. By the end of the course, as promised, she knew the thanksgiving, which she still offers up morning and evening, every day. She has now been studying Mohawk for more than 13 years.

After a break to see a bit of the world, Lauren returned to Six Nations and began working for Grand River Employment and Training, developing seniors’ programming and simultaneously learning from them, drawing on their wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

Then she was invited to develop an Indigenous students support program in Hamilton public elementary schools, based on the Native Youth Advancement With Education Hamilton (NYA:WEH) program already in place at the secondary level. It would involve cultural education, career planning, co-ordinating workshops and input from artists, elders and the communities, all supporting each child’s unique gifts and interests and examining “what it means to

Lauren near her home wearing her own creationsbeaded earrings and a ribbon skirt.

“I think the universe was really kind of pushing me.”

be an urban Indigenous child.” NYA:WEH nourishes the relationship between mainstream education and the culture of First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth, and is designed to keep those students in school and thriving.

Within a few years, Lauren was in the classroom, teaching Mohawk to middle school kids by special permission from the Ministry of Education. She became fully accredited last year with a bachelor of education degree from York University’s Waaban Indigenous Teacher Education program.

Lauren aims to connect her students with the language not just via words but also through mathematics, history, poetry, weather, cooking, art and other everyday topics. She even has them beading, an ages-old Indigenous art she took up as a child and now enjoys in her quiet time, along with painting,

moccasin-making and sewing traditional ribbon skirts.

Lauren realizes that with so few speakers— an estimated 3,500 in the world, mostly in southern Ontario and parts of Québec and New York state—and even fewer who are truly fluent, Mohawk doesn’t have global practical applications.

“It’s not on the ketchup bottle,” she laughs. “But it helps me connect with the people I love the most.”

Top Honours

Ones to Watch Two Men on the Ball

Stories by Alex Berry

FOR THE BONTIS BROTHERS, Charlie ’21 and Dino ’22, soccer has always been an intrinsic part of their lives. “We’ve been playing soccer together for as long as we’ve been walking, and now we get to play together at Western,” says Dino. Growing up in Ancaster, Charlie and Dino both played for Hamilton Sparta before being recruited to play for the Toronto Football Club’s Academy team. Their busy training schedule required a unique academic schedule, which, as Charlie explains, was made possible in part by the flexibility and support they found at HSC. “For most of our Senior School years, we would leave at lunch to make it to training in Toronto, so we were fortunate enough to have the support system in place where we could stay on top of our studies.”

The brothers also found time to play for HSC’s own sporting teams. Dino says that some of his greatest school memories come from representing the Trojans both in soccer and basketball. “In Middle School, I was lucky to play alongside a great group of athletes and took home four national CAIS championships between the two sports.” In the spring of his final year at HSC, Dino signed a development contract with Forge Football Club, Hamilton’s Canadian Premier League team. The contract allowed him the opportunity to train and play professionally while also being eligible to play on Western University’s team. “It’s been really special to play for my home club on a team that’s proven to be the best in the league.”

For his part, Charlie has made a name for himself as a versatile player with a unique ability to play many different positions. In 2022 he was ranked among the top Ontario University Athletics players for most points (goals plus assists).

“Over the years, I have changed positions from centre forward to attacking midfielder to winger to right back,” he says “I am confident enough to play wherever the coach needs me.”

Top Honours

Despite their professional soccer prospects, Dino and Charlie have made earning their university degrees priority number one. Both young men are intent on graduating from Western’s Ivey Business School and expect to apply their degrees to careers in soccer—either on the pitch or beside it. Charlie nods in agreement when Dino shares his thoughts on what comes after university. “The dream is to earn a living playing soccer, and beyond that, hopefully find a role supporting the development of Canada’s major league soccer teams.”

An Update on HSC’s Alumni Awards Program

The last two years have provided an opportunity to pause and reflect on the way HSC recognizes alumni, parents of alumni, former governors and former staff. Following a review of the HSC Alumni Awards program and of the College’s rich tradition of support from its community, HSC will resume recognition of Builders and Alumni throughout the 2023-2024 academic year.

Nominations may be submitted by any member of the HSC community. Know someone worthy of recognition? Visit www.hsc.on.ca/alumniawards to submit a nomination.

On these pages, meanwhile, HSC Review offers profiles of some Ones to Watch—alumni who are already making waves in their fields.

Dino Bontis ’22

Charlie Bontis ’21

Above The Bontis family (left to right): Stacy, Dino, Nick, Charlie and Tia.

“For most of our Senior School years, we would leave at lunch to make it to training in Toronto, so we were fortunate enough to have the support system in place where we could stay on top of our studies.”

Ones to Watch

A Planetary ‘Hero’

MANVI BHALLA ’15 CALLS VANCOUVER HOME and has no plans to leave anytime soon.

“I’ve already handed in my Ontario licence,” she says. “I’m here for good.” Many would say that she’s there for good in more ways than one. In addition to working through her PhD at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Manvi is an active community organizer working to address issues related to climate justice, health and gender inequities, anti-discrimination and racism.

Her current roles include co-founder and president of the national youth-led non-profit Shake Up The Establishment as well as co-founder and director of missINFORMED, a non-profit working to improve the health of women and gender-diverse peoples. She is also a member of the Canadian Coalition for Environment and Climate Justice and joined other leaders as part of the B.C. Council for International Cooperation’s delegation to the 66th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in March 2022.

Manvi is recognized as one of Canada’s leading youth activists, having received numerous awards, including most recently being named Youth Eco Hero of the Year in 2022 by Planet in Focus. The way she sees it, being involved at a local and regional level on environmental issues is one way to combat climate anxiety and grief. “We often feel anxious because of a sense of uncertainty and so the work I do strives to make things more certain,” she says. As for her plans for the future, Manvi takes it one day at a time. “I try not to overthink where I’m going to be in five years, and instead, I set out each morning with the intention of doing something meaningful for myself and my community, using my value system as my guide.”

“We often feel anxious because of a sense of uncertainty and so the work I do strives to make things more certain.”

Photos submitted by Manvi Bhalla '15

Clockwise from top: Manvi at a rally for change; delivering a lecture at the University of Guelph; with friends in B.C.

Manvi Bhalla ’15

Ones to Watch Focused on Excellence

IN THE THREE SHORT YEARS since she graduated from Western University with an honours degree specializing in accounting, Daniela D’Ambrosi ’16 has made a name for herself as a rising young leader at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). “I’ve taken a unique path to my current role,” she says. “I joined in October 2020 as part of the 30-month CPA Pre-Approved Rotational Program, and with support from my executive sponsor, was tapped to be a part of a new project under the Chief Audit Executive Group.”

D’Ambrosi, who also serves as HSC’s Young Alumni Representative, was among a small team tasked with reimagining RBC’s approach to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or SOX— an American law mandating certain practices in financial record-keeping and reporting for corporations listed on U.S. stock exchanges. “I was asked to exit the CPA program a year and a half early to explore pathways for running a new target operating model for SOX testing,” she says. Today, D’Ambrosi is part of a team of roughly 50, working as senior manager, strategic initiatives and innovation lead with the Chief Audit Executive Group.

Along the way, D’Ambrosi has had a seat at the table meeting with key C-suite stakeholders across all lines of RBC’s business. “I’ve been brought into the room for all of the presentations,

pitches and approvals. It’s been incredibly rewarding to be the voice and strategy behind one of the largest projects that RBC’s internal audit division has done to date.” Responsible for overseeing the launch of RBC’s SOX Centre of Excellence in Bedford, Nova Scotia, D’Ambrosi spent a week at work in Bedford before setting sail on the RBC 2022 Performance cruise—a reward for winning the prestigious Leo Award.

Photo submitted by Daniella D'Ambrosi '16

Daniela D’Ambrosi ’16

Singular Students

The Alumni Association Leadership Scholarship is given to selected Grade 9 students who embody the College’s Mission, Vision and Values, especially through outstanding leadership potential.

Ready to Take Flight

Sadie Avram

SADIE AVRAM HAS NO FEAR OF MISSING OUT, partly because she rarely does. “I’ve learned over the last few years that it’s better to focus on all the things you can do, rather than worry about what you may be missing out on.”

A glimpse of her schedule proves that she lives by her word. Her involvement in the HOSA-Future Health Professionals Club, E2@HSC, the Senior Girls Soccer team, swimming, hockey, and more, provides her with no shortage of leadership opportunities. As a Senior, Sadie looks forward to giving back to younger students through HSC’s Reading Buddies program and by mentoring U12 athletes. During her own Middle School career, Sadie earned recognition as the Most Valuable Ambassador and Most Valuable Swimmer in addition to winning the Grade 8 Band Leadership Award and Community Service Award, among others.

When asked about her future aspirations, Sadie’s biggest dream is to become an astronaut. “I love math and science and flying, so going into space would bring all of my favourite things together,” she says. Even if she doesn’t make it to space, Sadie is certainly setting herself up for a place among the stars.

Teams Player

Everett

Hamel

LOOKING AT THE LIST OF ATHLETIC TEAMS that Everett Hamel plays for, it’s clear he has a passion for sports. “I’m trying to play on as many teams at HSC as I can fit into my schedule,” he says. Well on his way, Everett played on both the Junior Basketball and Junior Volleyball teams and joined the Baseball team this spring.

Everett spent his first few months getting the lay of the land as a new student at HSC, following in the footsteps of his brother Liam, who is a grade above. “We play on a lot of the same teams, and it’s been nice having that family connection,” says Everett. He hopes to carve out more opportunities for leadership during his freshman year and beyond and can see himself becoming a House captain and even Athletic Prefect in his graduating year.

With aspirations to one day make a career out of his love for sport, Everett is determined to spend his Senior School days sharing his talents with younger athletes. From his perspective, being a leader always has a winning outcome. “I really enjoy helping younger players strengthen their game because I always end up learning something about my own abilities in the process.”

One Smart Cookie

Anum

Manzoor

SELF-PROFESSED “cake and cookie maker extraordinaire,” Anum Manzoor turned her passion for pastry into a business where proceeds go to a charity of her choosing. Since starting A Baker’s Dozen, Anum has raised more than $5,000 for the Oakville Hospital Foundation.

“One year, for Ramadan, I decided to celebrate the spirit of giving by baking for my community,” she says. Her Eid cookie boxes—kits that families can take home to create together—have become a hot-ticket item on her Instagram page.

Anum is also an accomplished golfer with the Glen Abbey Golf Academy. In 2019, she came third in putting at the PGA Drive Chip and Putt Semi Finals and competed at the Callaway Golf Invitational World Championship the same year. New to HSC, Anum has made friends quickly and is excited to get involved in student life opportunities including rugby, theatre and HSC’s own golf team.

Though she’s got plenty of time before she has to decide on a career path, Anum is interested in medical studies and would like to one day be a pediatrician. One thing’s for sure: anything she puts her mind to should be, for Anum, a piece of cake.

Photos by Arran Svadjian

A Student of Life

Sonia Trivedi

WHEN THE TIME COMES, Sonia Trivedi wants to know that she can change her own flat tire. “Students need to know math, science and the traditional subjects, but what about other life skills, like preparing a simple meal, sewing on a button, and jump-starting a car?”

Sonia’s pitch for a “Life Skills” course at HSC was influenced by her mom, whose career as a surgeon inspires Sonia’s own interests in the field of medicine. “My mom knows how to do a lot of things, yet she often says that she wishes someone had given her a course in basic life skills.” An eager learner, Sonia serves as a House Captain and Ambassador for the Middle School in addition to various leadership roles at HSC, including as a member of E2@HSC, Model UN, Senior Girls Field Hockey and the track team.

Off campus, Sonia is the youngest student in her dojo to achieve her junior black belt and won an award from the City of Hamilton for her Bollywood dancing. When she’s not busy with her extracurriculars, she does her best to pitch in at home, hoping to add some of those essential skills to her already impressive resume.

Great Grads

Fearless Leader

Peyton Bear ’22

WHEN PEYTON BEAR ’22 STARTED her freshman year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she didn’t know a single person. “It was one of the reasons I decided on this school. I wanted to experience something completely new,” she says. After spending what she describes as “the best six years of my life” at HSC, Peyton was determined to step out of her comfort zone and knew that her experiences at HSC had prepared her to thrive in a new environment.

In her HSC roles as House Captain and Spirit Prefect, Peyton connected with kids across all four schools, feeding her passion for leadership and enthusiasm for philanthropy. Despite a busy co-curricular schedule as a peer tutor, member of the Model UN, member of the hockey team, and more, Peyton remained an honour student every year at HSC. With fearlessness and a keen interest in student life, she has quickly found her footing as a UNC freshman, getting involved in a business club and a sorority within the first few weeks of her studies.

Peyton is pursuing a double major in business and journalism, and finds particular interest in world issues as they relate to human rights. She could see herself working on an international level for a not-for-profit. “I love meeting new people and hearing the influence that they’ve had on the world, and also the problems they believe still need to be solved,” she says. “I want to leave the world a better place than I found it, and I find that my most impactful way of doing this is through listening and telling stories.”

It’s clear she’s destined for purposeful work. “Whatever I end up doing, it’s important to me that it has a positive impact on people’s lives, not just mine.”

Peyton Bear ’22

Now studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

HSC's Award of Distinction Graduate Scholarship is given to one or more departing students who epitomize the nature of service and leading by example.

Photos by Arran Svadjian, Edge Imaging

Purposeful Prefects

These 15 students are this year’s leaders across Hillfield Strathallan College. From reading to dinner companions, here’s what they’re into.

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without Apple Music

Dream dinner with Alexandria OcasioCortez

My dream job

Constitutional lawyer

I’m reading

Hanson Liu

Diversity & Head

Prefect

Favourite class

Law and politics

Favourite music act

Billie Eilish

Favourite HSC activity

Model UN or the girls’ soccer team!

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

The butter chicken

Adelina Tsai

Chapel & Head Prefect

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without Ketchup

Dream dinner with Kevin Hart

My dream job

Formula 1 team principal

HSC in three words

Lit, crazy, movie

Favourite class Physics

Favourite music act

Lil Tjay

Favourite HSC activity

Ram the Rink

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

Breakfast for lunch

HSC in three words

Cameron Clark Wellbeing Prefect

I’m reading I am open to suggestions!

Abby Au Academic Prefect

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without A sense of humour

Dream dinner with Bruce Lee

My dream job

Panda breeder or professional gamer

I’m reading Cien Años de Soledad by Gabriel García Márquez

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My teddy bear

Dream dinner with I’m not sure

My dream job

Cardiothoracic surgeon

I’m reading

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Favourite class

AP Economics

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My mom’s cooking

Dream dinner with Oprah Winfrey or Malala Yousafzai

My dream job

Owner of a successful bubble tea franchise

Favourite class Spanish

Favourite music act

Avicii

Favourite HSC activity

E-sports club

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

Breakfast for lunch

HSC in three words

Saving Private Hanson

Favourite music act Hyuna

Favourite HSC activity

The Competitive Business Club: DECA and FBLA

Favourite Lawson Hall meal

Vegetarian meatloaf and kale salad

HSC in three words

An unpredictable journey

Favourite class Biology

Favourite music act

Taylor Swift

Favourite HSC activity

Basketball and rugby season

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

Chicken Burgers

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My phone

Dream dinner with Michael Jordan

My dream job

Video game developer

Liam Harper-McCabe

I’m reading The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Social, enjoyable, open

Favourite class

English

Favourite music act

Jay-Z or Eminem

Favourite HSC activity

Rugby Team

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

Swedish Meatballs

HSC in three words

Enriching, inclusive, innovative

Sydney Ha Spirit Prefect

I’m reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My phone

Dream dinner with Kate Walsh

My dream job

Pediatric surgeon

I’m reading

HSC in three words

Eventful, unique, spectacular

Favourite class

Kinesiology

Favourite music act

Billy Joel

Favourite HSC activity

E-Week

Favourite Lawson Hall meal

Breakfast for lunch

Kathleen Hartwick Middle School Prefect

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

HSC in three words

Growth, opportunity, support

Photos by Frank Zochil

Athletic Prefect

Bella Hill

Junior School Prefect

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My sister, Chloe

Dream dinner with Madame Camus

My dream job

Travelling the world and learning every language I can!

I’m reading Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without I could not live a day without talking!

Dream dinner with Tom Holland

My dream job

Prime Minister of Canada!

I’m reading

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without Chocolate cake

Dream dinner with Oprah

My dream job

CEO of my own healthcare tech company

I’m reading People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My PC

Dream dinner with Donovan Mitchell

My dream job CEO of Google

I’m reading The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Favourite class

Spanish and French

Favourite music act

The Weeknd

Favourite HSC activity

Anything Junior School!

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

Garlic bread pizza

HSC in three words

My second home

Favourite class

Law and Politics

Favourite music act

The Neighbourhood

Favourite HSC activity

Montessori’s Caravan

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

My favourite meal is definitely brunch

HSC in three words

Successful, involved, memorable

Favourite class

Computer science

Favourite music act

Paramore

Favourite HSC activity

Grad legacy weekend

Favourite Lawson Hall meal

Chicken and waffles

HSC in three words

Generous, kind, community

Favourite class

Calculus

Favourite music act

J. Cole

Favourite HSC activity

Last day of school

Favourite Lawson Hall meal

Garlic bread pizza

HSC in three words

Riveting, educational, unique

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without Music

Dream dinner with Arnold Schwarzenegger

My dream job

Sports general manager

I’m reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without Smoothies

Dream dinner with Christine Sinclair

My dream job

Sports psychologist/ phys ed teacher

Top Honours

Favourite class

Sports marketing

Favourite music act

Beach Boys

Favourite HSC activity

HSC rugby team

Favourite Lawson Hall meal

Chicken burgers

HSC in three words

Challenging, rewarding, fun

Favourite class Phys Ed

Favourite music act

Taylor Swift

Favourite HSC activity

Soccer/basketball games

Favourite Lawson Hall meal

Grilled cheese

Kate List Athletic Prefect

I’m reading Circe by Madeline Miller

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My cat, Cutey

Dream dinner with Gordon Ramsay

My dream job

A cat veterinarian

I’m reading

HSC in three words

Supportive, involved, community

Favourite class Art

Favourite music act

Imagine Dragons

Favourite HSC activity

Homecoming

Favourite Lawson

Hall meal

Breakfast for lunch

HSC in three words

Rianna Mercer

Media and Public Relations Prefect

How to Tell If Your Cat

Is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman

Most used emoji on my phone right now

I can’t live without My guitar

Dream dinner with Michael Scott from The Office

My dream job

Lawyer

Excellent learning experience

Favourite class

Art, of course

Favourite music act

Role Model

Favourite HSC activity

E-Week

Favourite Lawson Hall meal

Garlic bread pizza

Carys Tuo Arts Prefect

I’m reading My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

HSC in three words

Unique, diverse, entertaining

Antonio Kappos Senior School Prefect

Madeleine Le Montessori School Prefect

Safiya Makada Service Prefect

Ali Panju Environmental Prefect

HSC Lifers 2022

Every year as we celebrate the graduating class at HSC, we say goodbye to a group of students we know as “Lifers”. These students joined the College at the start of their education and have been part of the HSC community throughout their school years.

Ethan Di Paolo

Liam Forbes Isabella Golda

Peri Giacomelli

Darius Ali Massimo Beraldo

Dino Bontis Aidan Bell

Rachel Boucher

Gabriella Corrado

Sarah D’Ambrosi

Ty Cameron

Nicole Grace Jason Hill Jr.

Emily Keeley

Ali Haider

Vurdhaan Prinza

Natasa Sormaz

Vienna Stipsits

Ethan Sohal

Nyla Knapp

Alexander Losani

Jaden Mathoo

Mason Leggat

Pavel Mercer Ivy Pavlovsky

Sofia Prebtani Lily Nenniger

Isabella Stringer

Alessandra Zurini

The Inspirational Giver

Michael G. DeGroote Hon. ’09 left a towering legacy of generosity at Hillfield Strathallan College

By Berton Woodward

ON A WARM EARLY SEPTEMBER DAY IN 2001, HSC Headmaster Bill Boyer had just finished leading the outdoor celebration of the College’s 100th anniversary. Now he was strolling across the campus with his honoured guest, Michael G. DeGroote, one of Hamilton’s—and Canada’s—most generous philanthropists and HSC’s largest donor. In 2003, the former transport titan would famously give McMaster University $105 million for a School of Medicine, following up on his DeGroote School of Business. And the HSC Patron had already supported the College with a $500,000 gift for the Michael G. DeGroote Gymnasium and many smaller donations.

The two men settled down in Boyer’s office and discussed the latest College campaign. DeGroote readily pledged a new gift for the school his grandchildren were attending. Though not targeted, it was his biggest yet: $1 million. But he had a challenge for HSC: it must be matched by other donors. Recalls Boyer: “He said, ‘I’m not going to be the only benefactor to the school. You need to ramp up your fundraising efforts and ask others in the community to join me.’”

And so it began. In style and substance, you can trace from that moment the series of events that led DeGroote to give HSC the record total donation for an independent school in Canada of $19.5 million, allowing it to build a stellar new Senior School building in 2012 as well as the Athletic Complex in 2014, plus extras along the way. When he died last September at 89, Michael DeGroote Hon. ’09 was remembered as a great businessman, a strong family man, and—poignantly for someone who never came close to finishing high school—a magnificent supporter of education.

“His legacy should really be as a man who chose to inspire others by going first in philanthropic endeavours and using the talents that he had as a business person to better the world around them,” says HSC Patron Jeff Paikin ’80, who was chair of the HSC board for much of the period. “He wanted to leave the place a lot better than he found it, and what a tremendous legacy that is.”

Head of College Marc Ayotte met frequently with DeGroote after coming to HSC in 2010. “He wanted our kids at HSC to be the leaders of tomorrow—the doctors at his school of medicine or the business leaders at the grad school who were going to solve problems and create wealth so that they could become the next wave of philanthropists. He understood that people couldn’t give on the level that he gave. He just wanted participation—he didn’t want to be the only one. So he always wanted his gift to inspire our students and inspire their parents to give more to their communities.”

DeGroote’s son and HSC Patron Gary DeGroote ’74 agrees. “He made his mark in Hamilton and he wanted to give back to his community. He wanted to do the business school and then the community centre and certainly the medical school, and all the things that go with that. And also HSC—he wanted to go right from the three-year-olds to the 20-year-olds, to give them the best possible base for life they could have. He believed independent schools were more accountable and more hands-on with students, with the right teachers and the right community.”

His gift to HSC was transformative. Statistically, it added 134,000 square feet to the College’s total footprint and allowed the Senior School enrolment to rise to 530 now from the low 400s then. But far more importantly, it allowed HSC to become the College it wanted to be.

“Demand for the school has never been higher,” says Ayotte, “and I think it’s because of this magnificent building, which I

Illustration by Darren Boothe

would put up against any high school or athletic facility in any independent school in Canada. Our science labs are now state of the art, off the charts. All the 21st -century soft skills that we know are super-important—having collaborative spaces, to be able to have Model UNs, kids working on their presentation skills—we didn’t have space for that before. Our program was always amazing. We now have a facility to match the excellence of our program, and that’s what he did for us.”

It’s not as if Michael DeGroote was not already a very good friend of the College. He made his first donation of $5,000 to HSC in 1980, around the time the last of his four children— Gary ’74, Joni ’75, Tim ’78 and Michael Jr. ’79—were finishing at the school (followed later by many grandchildren and greatchildren). He continued to give in various amounts throughout the 1980s and ’90s, sometimes in six figures.

Boyer, who was Headmaster until 2002, tells the story of how, when the naming opportunity arose in 1996 for the school gym, DeGroote called him and pledged $100,000. Invited to the campus, he asked on his tour, “Is this the best use of $100,000?” Yes, said Boyer. “But he said, ‘Well you know what? Let’s make it $300,000,’” recalls Boyer. A few weeks later, the College sent the announcement press release to DeGroote for pre-approval. “And he called and said, ‘It’s been a very good year. Let’s make it $500,000.’ And so I made a mental note to myself to try and touch base with him every few weeks just to see whether it was an even better year than he initially thought!”

When new Headmaster Tom Matthews arrived in 2003, it was clear to him that the College needed a serious—and very large—fundraising campaign. He presented an ambitious new campus master plan to the board, with an eventual target of $40 million. “There was a real shortage of teaching space and the need to build an entirely new Senior School,” says Matthews.

When he brought in Adrienne Davidson in early 2005 as the first director of college advancement, the $1 million matching challenge was still underway. “It took two years,”

says Davidson. “My commitment to Mike was that if we do this, we’re about to embark on a once-in-a-generation, if not several generations, campaign that the school has never done before. Will you be there for us? He said he would if we met the challenge, and so we did. We met the million dollars.”

Then came the climactic moment—a meeting at DeGroote’s suite in the Four Seasons Hotel in midtown Toronto in 2009. Present were Davidson, Matthews and the late Bill Young ’35, an HSC Patron and honorary campaign chair who was able to tell DeGroote that he and his wife Joyce ’43 were giving to the campaign. “Mike had great admiration for Bill Young,” says Davidson. Behind the scenes, Gary DeGroote, who was also part of the fundraising team, had spoken to his father. “His answer to me was, ‘let’s get it done,’” says Gary, “and I put him on to the people he needed to deal with to get it done.”

In the Four Seasons, the HSC trio laid out their hope that DeGroote could become a lead donor in the campaign. “I remember Mike asking Bill what amount we were considering and we made the request for $10 million,” says Matthews. “He didn’t agree on the spot, but he did say that he would support the campaign. And I always kind of love that occasion, because when we left the room, Bill and Mike hugged one another for quite a period of time. It was very emotional—both men had tears in their eyes. I think it was just kind of their shared life experience, and their shared commitment to the school. They both were incredibly loyal to Hamilton because they felt that their success, everything, flowed from the city.”

But there was still the matter of what this lead gift would be. Davidson remembers telling DeGroote at the Four Seasons about major school gifts. “The next day, Mike called me in my car and asked me to repeat what I had said about wanting him to be the single largest donor to an independent school in Canada. He said, ‘So what’s the biggest gift that has ever been given?’ And I said, ‘Well, today it is $10 million.’ And he said, ‘OK, I’m going to give you 10 and a half.’ I almost drove off the

“He understood that people couldn’t give on the level that he gave. He just wanted participation—he didn’t want to be the only one.”

road. So that’s how the first transformational gift for HSC came about, but it most certainly wasn’t the last.”

Davidson notes, as others have, that for DeGroote, the donation was not about him. “His gift and that call to me the next day were not because he wanted the glory of being the largest donor to a school,” she says. “It was to do with wanting to inspire others to give, because out of all my donors, he is one of the handful that have truly inspired me with a philanthropy philosophy. He wanted to make a difference and inspire others, and he truly did so in that region of Canada. It’s remarkable what Mike did for the southwestern Ontario area, for hospitals and schools and universities and so on.”

Ron Foxcroft, a former NCAA basketball referee and entrepreneur who had also been in the trucking business when DeGroote was building his signature transport company, Laidlaw Inc., in the 1980s, chaired the campaign. After DeGroote sold Laidlaw in 1988, he based himself in Bermuda and Naples, Florida. Matthews and Davidson would fly to Naples at times to update DeGroote on the progress—and,

implicitly, possible additional financial needs—of the school and athletic complex project. Foxcroft would join the group for these sessions when DeGroote came to Toronto.

“I remember Michael would say to us, ‘I know why you’re here. Let’s talk about world affairs,’” says Foxcroft. “And we would talk about everything that was happening in the world but it would always circle back to him asking us, ‘What impact?’ He was big on impact. What impact can I make to the educational system of Hillfield Strathallan? And we would talk about that, almost every meeting, and this went on for maybe two years.”

Ayotte joined those visits in 2010 when he took over as Head of College. “I’ll never forget the first time, because I was so nervous to meet a guy like him,” Ayotte says. “And, you know, he was just such a regular guy, and so concerned about making me comfortable and wanting to welcome me to the school. We sort of hit it off right away, which was great. He had a gruff exterior and seemed like a really gruff guy, but he wasn’t—he was all heart.”

Ayotte also has a special memory of a critical time for the project, when the College was set to take out a loan for the remaining funding for the athletic complex. The plan was for DeGroote to cover the interest payment, and this gift would be announced at the opening of the Senior School in 2012. “Literally a week before the opening, after we’d worked for months on this,” says Ayotte, “he called me on the weekend and said, ‘This is too complicated. I’m just going to give you $5 million and that should be enough.’ And me being pretty new, but also feeling like I had a good relationship with Mike, and also having my head so finely tuned on the numbers we actually needed to pull this off, my first reaction was to say, ‘Mike, I’m so sorry. That’s just not enough.’ And he’s like, ‘OK, well, crunch the numbers and call me back on Monday.’”

So Ayotte and the director of finance did crunch the numbers. “I was just about to call him on the Monday morning to say, I think it’s $5.75 million that we need, like bare minimum. And he called me before I could pick up the phone and said, ‘I’m gonna do six and that’s it!’ And I said, ‘That’s awesome, that’s more than enough.’ But my heart was in my stomach because I had just told the guy who I love and respect that $5 million is not enough. But he was just such a great guy that I felt I could be really honest with him.”

DeGroote family members at the opening of HSC's new Senior School. From left: Devin '04, Laurie, Gary '74, Michael, Victoria '20 and Tim '78.

Michael DeGroote stands alongside Gillian Cooper ’66 and William Cooper ’57

Others, too, have fond memories of their meetings with him. “What a privilege it was to be able to spend two hours with Mike DeGroote,” says Foxcroft. “The first thing that he would ever talk about was his kids and his grandkids. And then often he would say, ‘You know, Ron, the problem in the world today? Common sense isn’t too common.’

“I kind of related to Mike, because I’ve spent my entire career disappointed that I didn’t go further in school and further my formal education. And he said to me once, ‘You know, I’m sensitive about my lack of formal education. But I want to make an impact on young students at McMaster and HSC.’”

In that vein, Paikin remembers the ceremony in 2009 where HSC bestowed an honorary degree on DeGroote. “It meant a ton to him,” says Paikin. “In his speech to students, he spoke very candidly about how he’d had a lot of benefits in his life, but one of the things he really felt as a void is the opportunity to have received a full and thorough education to prepare himself better. He was very serious about it and very on point with the message to students.“

Foxcroft also stood with DeGroote at an HSC event honouring his donations. “I remember him saying, ‘Ron, us truckers have to stick together.’ That was very special to me.” The two used to talk about the ways truckers could cut corners if they wanted, says Foxcroft. “But he said, ‘Ron, never sell your soul for another load. Guard your reputation, practise integrity, and don’t sell your soul.’ He was honest as the day is long. He was tough, fair, generous, but I’ll tell you, integrity was at the top of the list.”

Bill Cooper ’57, CEO of Cooper Construction and an HSC parent and donor, built the Senior School. He, too, recalls generous conversations with DeGroote. “He would ask questions about our progress on the project and he would ask whether or not he could do anything more. It was a real team effort not only to the raise the money for the project, but the actual construction as well.”

In the wake of DeGroote’s passing, Zahra Valani, HSC’s current Executive Director of Constituency Relations in charge of advancement, says the inspirational power of his gifts still resonates in her work. “When I am meeting with donors, I do talk about his transformational gift and how that has really impacted the school,” she says. ”It definitely helps when people hear that he was very committed to the school and had given this big gift.” Moreover, as the College considers a new campaign, she says, “I think he will be a major discussion point in my meetings with donors.” Clearly, DeGroote’s hopes of inspiring other people to give are being fulfilled.

The DeGroote personality also continues to resonate for people like Marc Ayotte. “I am going to miss going to see him,” he says. “It was really special. Our roles as school leaders give us an opportunity to meet some incredible people, and I’ve never met anybody more incredible than that guy.”

‘It Feels Good to Give’

At the grand opening ceremony for the Michael G. DeGroote Senior School on September 28, 2012, one of the highlights was a brief speech by DeGroote himself. Here is part of what he said:

“I want to impart a small piece of wisdom, garnered over many years of learning and living. And it is this: when I look back—and as I contemplate the future—it is moments like this that give life its deepest meaning. Of course there are all of life’s many milestones—the birth of my children and grandchildren; weddings and graduations—but the ability to truly make a difference—to act selflessly; to give freely; to ensure, through philanthropy, that the values that matter to us are strengthened and maintained and supported beyond our individual ability—that’s what really matters.

“Today, I stand before you so very proud and humbled to be a part of HSC’s tradition of excellence and absolutely thrilled to be able to lend my name to this state-of-the-art high school. However, I would be remiss if I did not tell you this: it feels good to give. It feels wonderful to know that my family has been part of building the legacy of this great school. I thank all of you who have risen to the occasion and demonstrated such generosity…. I hope that each and every one of you will stretch further than you ever imagined you would—and make HSC one of your most significant philanthropic priorities.”

Michael DeGroote speaks at the grand opening of the Senior School (above) and (right) cuts the 'ribbon' to mark the school's official opening.

Photos by Eric Bosch

Lives Lived ALUMNI

DOUGLAS MUIR ’52, lawyer in Burlington practising what he called “happy law” for 60 years; former HSC board member (1987-1991) and trustee (19831993) as well as Class Representative for his year; active in the community as a founder member of Club Challenge, dedicated to teaching people with disabilities to scuba dive; father of Gordon ’81, Robert ’83 and Alexandra ’88 Muir; husband, father, grandfather. On June 16, 2022, at 86.

HELEN HOWARD-LOCK ’55, first woman to teach in McMaster University’s Faculty of Engineering, completing a PhD in chemical physics there in 1968; spent most of her career working at the university with husband Colin Lock as spectroscopist for the Laboratories for Inorganic Medicine; loved swimming, sailing, music, theatre, dogs, humour (especially puns), the written word, gardening, and harvesting produce for the family pantry; stepmother of Jon ’66 and Rick ’71 Preston; grandmother of Joshua ’24 and Jacob ’27 Feltham; wife, mother, grandmother. On Feb. 17, 2022, at 84.

PATRICIA “TRISH” CHAMBERS ’64, former school administrative staffer in Waterloo; avid bridge player, curler and international traveller; daughter of William Shambrook ’25; sister of William Shambrook ’57, Susan Cozzi ’62 and Elizabeth ’66 and Peter ’69 Shambrook; wife, mother, grandmother. On February 23, 2022, at 75.

LEONARD TEEUWEN ’85, accountant and entrepreneur who founded two accounting firms, TeeuwenTurner-Moore (now TurnerMoore) in Bobcaygeon and The Tax Advantage in Kitchener; respected for his hard work and ethics; in younger days, travelled with the Burlington Teen Tour marching band, playing tuba; brother of Phyllis Connelly ’81; husband, father. On July 21, 2022, at 56.

FACULTY

HUGH T. BROWN, Hamilton-born teacher at HSC for 30 years into the 1990s; also taught sailing and founded the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club Sailing School, which he ran for 10 years and which still continues; remembered for warmth of spirit and as a favourite teacher for many; father of Cynthia ’78 and Colin ’81 Brown, Jane Gyles ’84 and Nancy Reynolds ’84; grandfather of Joshua ’07 and Mackenzie ’10 Brown; husband, father, grandfather, greatgrandfather. On September 9, 2022, at 91.

FRIENDS

MARGARET HOLTON, long-time volunteer in Hamilton and former president of the National Ballet Guild of Canada; loved travel with late spouse Luther Holton ’37; mother of Margaret ’74 and John ’79 Holton; grandmother of Emily ’98 and Alexander ’02 Holton; wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. On February 12, 2022, at 95.

MARYLYN HEAGLE, matriarch of an HSC family including son Bruce Heagle ’76, Builder and former HSC board member and trustee, and late husband Doug, also a Builder; mother of Janice Heagle-Stiglick ’74, Barbara Reade ’78, and Bruce ’76 and Brian ’82 Heagle; grandmother of Kaitlyn ’05, Christopher ’06, Elyse ’08, Adam ’08 and Adele ’12 Heagle; wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. On October 14, 2022, at 90.

IAN HAM, Welsh-born professional engineer at Stelco for 30 years; father of Stuart Ham ’79 and Paula Hartwell ’83; husband, father, grandfather. On October 16, 2022, at 89.

HYACINTH GLORIA CHEN, Kingston, Jamaica-based mother of HSC benefactor Michael Lee-Chin; grandmother of Michael ’97, Paul ’00, Elizabeth ’20 and Maria ’20 Lee-Chin; wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. On January 8, 2022, at 89.

INDRA RASTOGI, Hamilton obstetrician and gynecologist for some 50 years; born in Pilibhit, India, and a prominent member of Hamilton’s Indo-Canadian community; mother of Veera Duggal ’90; wife, mother, grandmother. On October 18, 2022, at 84.

BORIS BROTT, acclaimed Canadian conductor and founder in 1988 of Hamilton’s Brott Music Festival, the largest orchestral music festival in Canada, as well as long-time conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra; father of Alexandra ’97, David ’98 and Benjamin ’03 Brott; husband, father, grandfather. On April 5, 2022, at 78.

PATRICIA “PATSY” PEACOCK-EVANS, visual artist and seamstress who held musical salons in her Hamilton home with husband John Evans ’55; mother of Avia ’94 and Seke ’94 Peacock; stepmother of Rosalind Heintzman ’87 and Michael ’82 and Anthony ’83 Evans; wife, mother, grandmother. On January 2, 2023, at 77.

Where the Grads Are

Majors

2 Sheridan College

The Class of 2022 has gone on to study at top institutions in North America and the world 5 Wilfrid Laurier University 4 Carleton University 4 McGill University 3 Gap Year 2 Dalhousie University 2 OCAD University 2 Ontario Tech University

3

May 13, 2023

hsc.on.ca/hoco23

Lifelong Connections

Take part in a full day of events and celebrations for all members of the HSC community, your families, and guests. It’s time to reconnect and reminisce as we honour those classes ending in ’3 and ’8 at the Homecoming Reunions Mixer. Below are some highlights you won’t want to miss!

Questions? Please contact Bianca Barton ’03, Alumni Relations Officer

alumni@hsc.on.ca