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 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.’’

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