Old Boys: an important part of Selwyn House

Advancement NEWS

OLD BOYS: An Important Part of Selwyn House

By James McMillan Director of Advancement

The 2012-13 school year is complete, and as the Advancement Office reviews the year’s activities and starts to plan out the 2013-14 school year, I thought you might like to read about all the events and programs that were offered to Old Boys in one year.

There were 22 events organized from mid-July 2012 (Old Boys’ Soccer) to the end of June 2013 (14th Annual Old Boys’ Tennis Tournament). Twenty of these events were one-day or evening events. The Old Boys’ Wednesday Night Basketball (run by Masaud Kakkar ’93) started in October 2012 and continued every Wednesday night that the school was open until the end of May 2013 (about 28 evenings). The Old Boys’ Blues Band (directed by me), our newest Old Boys’ event, started the end of September 2012 and continued twice a month on Tuesday evenings until our final concert on April 11 (about 16 evenings of rehearsals and concerts). There were 14 events offered in Montreal, four others across Canada, two in the USA, one in London and one in Paris.

Add to this another nine Old Boys’ Board of Directors’ meetings throughout the year and you have over 73 days/evenings dedicated to the Old Boys of Selwyn House School.

But wait, there is more. Old Boys are involved in many other ways at the school apart from attending or hosting events. Old Boys serve on the boards of the Selwyn House Association, the Lucas Foundation and The Veritas Fund. They also return to the school and speak on Career Day, they volunteer as judges for the Moot Court, they judge debating and public speaking tournaments and they come to speak to various classes about their experiences and expertise.

One more measure of the tremendous involvement of Old Boys with the school is that we had 28 Old Boys as current parents in 2012-13. There was an Old Boy current parent with a son in every grade of the school from Maternelle to Grade 11 in 201213.

Stay in Touch With Each Other

One of the main goals of the Advancement Office is to keep Old Boys in touch with each other. Mr. Hannaford often will say at meetings and reunions that the most important thing for Old Boys to do is to stay in contact with their classmates, their fellow Old Boys and the school.

How do we help Old Boys get and stay in touch with each other? In September 2012, Selwyn House was one of the first independent schools in Canada to launch its own app: the Selwyn House Old Boys’ App for iPhone, Android and Blackberry. This free app gives you direct access on your smart phone to everything online relating to the Old Boys.

There are 2,700 active Old Boy listings in The Old Boys’ and Friends Email Directory. Each of these listings will display the information that each Old Boy has permitted to be published. There are many staff, retired staff and other friends of the school in this directory as well.

The Selwyn House School Old Boys’ LinkedIn Group has almost 400 members. This represents about 14 per cent of the active Old Boys in our database.

The Selwyn House Old Boys’ Association Facebook page and the Selwyn House OBA Twitter feed are used extensively in all our communications to Old Boys. These two also link to the Selwyn House website, where all the Old Boy event write-ups, photos and videos are on display.

The Selwyn House Archives, available through the website and on the Old Boys’ App, has much of the school’s archives online in searchable format. This summer, we have over 3,000 photos to upload to the archives.

Online Registration is the easiest way not only to register for all the events mentioned above, but also to find out who will be attending. All the Old Boys’ Events are listed online so that you can not only see when and where an event is taking place, but even link to the registration page to register for the event.

Where Do We Go From Here?

You tell us. Do you have an idea for a new event? Is there something that you would like to see online that we have not yet offered? Is there another way to stay in touch with your classmates? Contact me with your idea.

I look forward to seeing you at any of the Old Boy events in 2013-14.

Old Boys in the Classroom: An IBSC Research Project

Selwyn House School is a member of the International Boys’ School Coalition. Founded in 1995, the International Boys’ Schools Coalition is a not-for-profit organization of about 250 independent, parochial and public schools from around the world. The IBSC is dedicated to the education and development of boys worldwide, the professional growth of those who work with them, and the advocacy and the advancement of institutions that serve them.

This summer, I was given the opportunity to participate with an international team of teachers on a yearlong research project that will focus on character education (i.e. respect, responsibility, honesty) in the classroom. Most of my colleagues on the team will be focussing on an aspect of what they teach in their classroom that develops character education.

Over the 2013-14 school year, I will be focussing on the effects of having Old Boys speak with the students about some aspect of their character education and then encouraging the students to ask questions of the Old Boy regarding his presentation. My research will come from working with Selwyn House Middle School teacher Matthew McCarney and his students to see if