Imprint: June 2019 Issue

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JUN 2019 VOL 18/ ISS 2

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TABLE OF CONTENTS FROM OUR LEADERS

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A Year to Celebrate

MANAGING EDITOR Kelsey Hayre Advancement Officer

FROM OUR LEADERS

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Celebrations

SENIOR COPY EDITOR Isabel Sankaran-Wee Director of Advancement

FROM OUR LEADERS

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Celebrating the Learning Journey EDUCATE

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PHOTOGRAPHS Clarence Chan Kelsey Hayre Aldrich Tan

A Celebration of Teaching and Learning in the MYP ENRICH

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Making Student Learning Visible EXPLORE

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Enviromental Action at Stratford Hall ENRICH

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Celebrating the Continuum and Continuum Initiatives and Events PROFILE

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Stratford Hall Alumni Profile: Where are they now?

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Community Voices, Community Walls

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A Fond Farewell and a Big Thank You EDUCATE

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A Celebration of Community Connections through CAS EXPLORE

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Buskerama: A Kindergarten to Grade 12 Event EDUCATE

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Celebrate with Gratitude PROFILE

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Ultimate Champions: A Celebration 12 Years in the Making PROFILE

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Junior School Ultimate PROFILE

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Junior School Track and Field EXPLORE

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Snapshots at Stratford Hall EDUCATE

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Grade 5 Exhibition

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Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa Trip

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2019-2020 Key Dates ENRICH

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Thank You from our Students EDUCATE

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Celebrating Global Citizenship: Model United Nations IMPRINT: JUNE 2019: VOLUME 18 / ISSUE 2

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FROM OUR LEADERS

Message from our Head of School A Year to Celebrate As my first year at Stratford Hall draws to a close, there is much to celebrate and be thankful for.

First, I was very appreciative of the warm welcome I received this year. Stratford Hall lived up to its reputation as a warm, welcoming community. Through get togethers at the beginning of the year and meetings with parents, staff and students throughout the year, I was reassured to learn I had joined a community with common values, those of respect, integrity, excellence, and diversity.

These values guide our school and are worth honouring and celebrating each day. Thank you for providing me a warm Stratford Hall welcome, and for leading by example.

Location, location, location. As I mentioned to many at the beginning of the year, I started my life in Vancouver as a university student just a few minutes from Stratford Hall and was thrilled to return to the area. I have loved being back in the city and have learned that the school’s life and identity is closely tied to its location in East Vancouver. Over the course of the year, I have enjoyed watching our students engage in the community - through the Terry Fox Run around Trout Lake, through

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Kindergarten Graduation at the community centre, through the community clean ups and various service activities at local venues, through class field trips in our neighbourhood, and of course, through daily play at Clark Park.

Our neighbourhood is a vibrant, diverse, open classroom. We are privileged to have access to it daily as a source of learning and inspiration. I celebrate our place in the community, our engagement with it, and the impact it has on us.

The past few months have given me great insight into learning at Stratford Hall as PYP, MYP and DP students have been “on show” through a variety of activities.

Starting with the MYP Personal Project, I observed how Grade 10 students demonstrated their learning and skills as they communicated the results of their Personal Projects. I listened to the accomplishments of our grads at Commencement and learned how much they have gained from the school’s academic program and how it has shaped them. Finally, I interacted with Grade 5 students through the recent PYP Exhibition, and saw, firsthand, how the PYP shapes students as thinkers, communicators and inquirers!

Observing firsthand how our students’ engagement with their

FROM OUR LEADERS

teachers and each other through the three IB programs is inspirational, and to be celebrated.

Finally, the engagement of Stratford Hall students in our co-curricular program is to be celebrated and cherished. The talents and passion our students have for the stage and the visual arts has been evident in the numerous theatre productions during the course of the year and the art shows. Our students’ passion for athletics is displayed in a number of individual and team sports, most notably in the sport of Ultimate. And how could I not mention that 2019

will be remembered as the year our Sabres won a provincial banner in Ultimate at the highest level of competition?

It has been a rewarding year of learning at Stratford Hall, and for me personally, becoming immersed in our school community through time spent in classrooms, at student productions and competitions, and at volunteerrun events like the recent Night Market. I am very grateful to the parents. Their feedback, detailing both our strengths and areas for development, has been such a positive impact on the success of

the school and my first year. It is heartwarming to be a part of a school that holds dear to its values and engages with its local community. And I celebrate the wonderful year that was 2018-2019!

Dean Croy

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FROM OUR LEADERS

Celebrations BY: Michelle Douglas Senior School Principal

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FROM OUR LEADERS

Spring is in the air and summer is just around the corner! Some of our students are on the edge of celebrating the end of the school year while our graduates are celebrating the completion of their secondary education!

As our Grade 12 students cross the stage at convocation, we are celebrating their journey in achieving the mission of Stratford Hall itself. As IB graduates, we celebrate their readiness for anything that lies ahead; we celebrate their ability to take knowledgeable action

and make a difference in local and global issues; we celebrate their intellectual curiosity; and we celebrate the principled and caring global citizens they have become.

it is the risk-taking and hiccups along the way that have led to our graduates’ unbreakable perseverance, unflinching intellectual curiosity and discovery of their own passions.

Celebrations enable us to take a moment to pause and reenforce everyday the mission of our school. The journey all our students are taking with us through adolescence is filled with successes as well as failures. And, we actively celebrate the entirety of this journey, hiccups and all! Because

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FROM OUR LEADERS

Celebrating the Learning Journey BY: Greta Bartsch Junior School Principal

What we celebrate says a lot about what we value. The things that bring students, staff, and parents together define us and are expressions of what we believe in, our vision for the school. From weekly assemblies to whole school events, from continuum buddy activities to spirit days, from parent information sessions to even reports of learning...we celebrate

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student agency, expansion of our arts and creativity programs, and continued commitment to action and service.

In the PYP, we celebrate increased student agency this year. Ms. Lempriere has worked with our youngest student leaders to rally us around important action, like banning single-use plastic bags and

cutlery in lunches. Students have led clubs for younger grades and launched service projects that have had ripple effects in our wider community. In the MYP, Grade 7 students continued their good work as ambassadors, assembly leaders, IDEA Lab techies, athletics assistants and coaches.

FROM OUR LEADERS

students to deepen and extend their creative expression and spark innovation across the curriculum. Displays in the PYP and MYP buildings really showcase the vibrant work that goes on in classes and the developing arts skills of students.

Student agency has also been enhanced by the ways we’ve made student learning more visible this year. Thinking “routines” empower students to practice articulating their thoughts, allowing teachers to “see” what students are thinking.

Digital portfolios give us the

opportunity to truly put the communication of learning in the hands of students to tell an interactive story of their learning journey, including mistakes and growth, as well as performance.

Mr. Skipper and Mr. Campanella have led us in a variety of activities across the continuum that bring out the best in our students while connecting them to each other and the wider community. The much anticipated re-naming of our houses (Eagle, Orca, Bear, Wolf ) has injected a new enthusiasm and healthy competition to our student body, energy that is very hard to contain (and no one’s trying!)

There’s so much to celebrate in the Junior School. Please join us!

The addition of our Art Specialist, Ms. Soderholm, and expansion of the IDEA Lab has enabled

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A Celebration of Teaching and Learning in the MYP BY: Mark Pulfer Middle Years Programme Coordinator

This entire year has been a celebration of learning in the MYP! The creative juices have been flowing in our teachers who have created exceptional learning experiences from Grade 6 to 10. A theme that has emerged this year has been inquiry – inquiry is one of the major Approaches to Teaching strands in the IB continuum and it is where students are taking ownership of their learning. The teacher provides mentorship and advice as students drive their own education.

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It all starts in Grade 6 where students are introduced to the concept of identity through the unit on puppeteering. Students start the unit by ‘meeting’ a puppet; they build a persona for that puppet and by building that persona they learn about themselves. In the second stage of the unit the students create a performance; the performance is a journey of self-discovery, the puppet faces adversity and as a result they grow and develop.

Through this, students learn that it is only by going through challenging times themselves are they also able to develop as human beings. We should not shy away from adversity, rather we should embrace it, but embrace it with the tools to be able to deal with it effectively.

In Grade 7 extraordinary work is being done in science! Students have been learning chemistry

that I would be proud to teach my Grade 10s. One might think that is too advanced at such a young age, but the efficacy of the way that it is taught is allowing the students to grasp the concepts and be able to apply them in meaningful ways. This foundation is allowing the science team to build a program in chemistry that well prepares them for this subject in the diploma program.

Students in Grade 8 became World Health Organisation representatives for a day! This was the culmination of an interdisciplinary unit on diseases around the world. Students were required to use their science knowledge coupled with their public speaking abilities honed in English class to create a presentation examining a specific disease. The presentations were impressive, students spoke with poise and evidently had a deep

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understanding of their topic of choice. I would have been impressed to have seen a Grade 12 student present in this way!

The Grade 9 students in French class created a performance that incorporated all of the language and vocabulary that they had been taught in every unit this year! The performance was fun and whimsical and included a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical constructions. Also in Grade 9, students looked at nature from a variety of disciplinary lenses. They examined how the environment is portrayed in literature and then looked at an ecological niche from a scientific point of view. They then had to present their ‘findings’ in a journalistic form including ways that humans have impacted this niche.

Students in Humanities class in Grade 10 chose an artifact from World War I and used these as a vehicle to gain insight into that conflict. For example, Priya Conatser looked at a propaganda poster and used it as a jumping off point to understand how the war changed the roles and perception of women in Canada. She then created a blog post on this topic which became one of a series of blog posts that demonstrated her learning in Grade 10 humanities.

where students do a project on essentially anything they choose.

It was interesting therefore to see Audrey Kamachi elect to create a documentary based around an interview of her grandfather’s internment in a Japanese internment camp during World War 2. This was a beautiful exploration of an important social justice issue from Canada’s past, but more importantly this was an exploration of her own identity.

It is interesting that from that initial exploration of identity in the puppetry unit at the start of the MYP Audrey returned to that theme through her personal project.

These are just a few snapshots of the learning that has been happening in the MYP this year.

So much has been going on that cannot be captured in a short article. It has been a truly vibrant and energetic place to learn!

Finally in Grade 10 there was the personal project, the ultimate inquiry assignment

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Making Student Learning Visible BY: Amanda Lempriere Primary Years Programme Coordinator

This year in the PYP, we placed a special focus on making student learning visible. The two vehicles we have used to make this possible are visible thinking routines and digital portfolios.

Through the use of these tools, we have the opportunity to enhance the student experience by encouraging agency and ownership of learning. Thinking routines provide students with a framework to engage in critical thinking exercises, the structure of the routines allow students to independently engage in meaningful conversations about complex issues, images and

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artifacts. Digital portfolios provide a platform for students to share their learning, reflect on their growth, and make goals, thus empowering students to take control of their own learning journey.

Visible thinking routines are a set of structured activities that support the development of various thinking skills. In addition to this, they also allow teachers to see the students’ thought process. They are particularly beneficial for those quieter students because they provide an opportunity for everyone in the class to share their ideas and insights. Ms. Li explains that

“Once visible thinking routines are set in the classroom, it not only allows me to assess each student’s prior knowledge, but it also gives my students the ability to showcase their independent thinking and take ownership of their learning progress. I have found that these routines can help promote classroom confidence and participation by giving students the appropriate amount of think time to confidently share their thoughts.” The routines often require students to independently respond to a prompt, which is then followed-up by a small group discussion and then a

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class discussion where common themes are identified. The excitement comes when students are able to discover and formulate big ideas, make connections to past learning and develop questions that lead to further inquiries.

Digital portfolios provide a platform where students can share the process of their learning journey. During this journey, students experience great successes and challenges, which are documented and reflected upon. The power of the portfolio is in the student agency to selfreport. As students report on their achievements, they reflect on their struggles and make plans for improvement. This tool is also beneficial for parents as it provides insight into the student experience at Stratford Hall.

Parents find the digital portfolio beneficial because it helps families engage in conversations about current lessons, additionally it provides a snapshot of their child’s learning and progress. As with the visible thinking routines, the digital portfolio provides some insight into student thought and reflection. Mr. Fraser explains that “Seesaw is an outstanding tool for students to reflect on and share their learning in PE. Students are able to record themselves performing different

skills and activities in a way that is easy for teachers and parents to see progress.” Additionally, Ms. Moncaster shares that “The most valuable part of using Seesaw is the dedicated time given to student reflection. Students have shown great depth and understanding of where they are, and where they want to be in their learning journey.”

information teachers have about student learning, the greater opportunity to support students and move them forward to reach their personal level of achievement and success, which is our ultimate goal here in the PYP at Stratford Hall.

Through the use of these tools we provide students with a new platform to share their learning and we gain a deeper understanding of our students’ thought process. The more

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Environmental Action at Stratford Hall BY: Lisa Blachut DP Geography MYP Spanish and Humanities, Outdoor and Experiential Education

It seems impossible to read the news without hearing about climate change and environmental destruction these days. Most of the time, these stories leave their readers with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

Despite this, people all around the world, especially young people, are making their voices heard with ideas to create positive changes.

This year a small and committed group of students and teachers (the Stratford Hall “Earth Club”) has worked hard to bring environmental sustainability to 14

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Stratford Hall in a broader way.

In November, we attended Windermere High School’s annual climate change conference, along with more than 300 other high school students from across the Lower Mainland. Workshops were diverse and covered everything from the importance of bees, to food waste, bicycle maintenance, ocean acidification and water literacy. Most importantly, the students took these ideas away and turned them into action. Back at school, a large group

of Grads developed a CAS initiative to teach the Grade 2s about climate change.

Before the holiday break, our students spoke at assembly about reducing the environmental impacts of gift-giving and considering other actions such as avoiding food waste at large festive meals, and making earth-friendly resolutions for 2019, such as taking shorter showers and eating less meat and imported foods.

In late January, the club members

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invited Dr. Elaine Leung, a marine biologist, to speak about her work with endangered ocean animals and the global problem of plastic pollution in the ocean. Her talk was an emotional and eye-opening presentation that sparked a number of initiatives, including the Grade 5s taking action to reduce the plastic bags used for the school’s hot lunch program.

As the weather warmed up in the spring, we headed outside to plant the garden on the MYP rooftop.

Now in its third year, a number of established plants are thriving and many more seeds were started this spring. The garden crew are excited to share some of the produce with the school community and plan on expanding more in the years to come.

Despite being busy with preparations for final IB exams, a

number of Grade 12s (and some Grade 11s!) braved the weather on a VERY windy day and joined in with a local organization to help at a beach cleanup in late April.

There were more than 300 people

support a number of environmental organizations in the community.

There are so many possibilities for taking action, and we urge that all students, parents, teachers and members of our school community

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”

- Jane Goodall

in total, and our students were impressed by the broader sense of citizen action, and surprised by the sheer volume and variety of garbage collected.

During May and June, the Earth Club made plans for “Green to School Week” (carpool, bike, walk or use transit) and eagerly awaited the school-wide service day in late June, where we often

get involved in a meaningful way next year to reduce our impacts on the planet. In the words of Greta Thunberg, youth leader and climate activist, “Adults keep saying: ‘We owe it to the young people to give them hope.’ I don’t want you to hope. I want you to act.”

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Celebrating the Continuum and Continuum Initiatives and Events BY: Rick Campanella Head of Student Life, Math Teacher

continuum buddies worked side by side to pick up the mess left behind after a night of trick-ortreating.

Over the past decade Stratford Hall has evolved into a leading IB school with new buildings and facilities, double the student population and a broadened range of options.

Our continuum buddy program, which deliberately matches senior students with junior school buddies, is an excellent means to nurture those relationships.

This past school year has been an excellent year for our continuum, rich with whole school initiative and events.

Our year kicked off to a great start with the annual Terry Fox Run. Kids came dressed to impress in

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full house colours and a spirited exuberance that continued throughout the year. They also raised $2000 for the Terry Fox Foundation.

Halloween brought celebrations in full costume coupled with a whole school food drive. Our donation of 40 boxes of food doubled the standard donation for a school our size. The pick-up driver was pleasantly surprised that he had to make two trips to transport our donation to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. In tradition with the past two years, we also took to the streets the day after Halloween to complete a neighbourhood cleanup in the 2km radius of our school. Smiles were abundant as

Our Winter Care Package Initiative, led by groups of students in both the senior school and the junior school, saw our donations rebound to the success of 2017.

Our school community donated 221 substantial care packages to the New Fountain and the Raincity homeless shelters. The continued success of this annual endeavour is a testament to the supportive and caring nature of the members of our entire school community.

In part to celebrate the successes of term 1, everyone with their buddies took part in a festive winter sing-along event on the last day of school before winter break.

In the new year our school houses took centre stage. It was time to unite our houses across the continuum, so we engaged in a whole school challenge to develop new names. In January our continuum buddies collaborated to submit names into a contest. Within two weeks we had 195 new house name submissions. After narrowing the entries down to three sets of suitable new house names, all students and staff voted on their

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top selection. In the last day before spring break we brought the whole school together to share the results.

What arose was an exuberant pep rally as we announced the results.

BC Animals theme won the vote by a large margin, and then we celebrated each house as they were given their new names. Green is now Bear House. Blue is Orca House.

Red is Wolf House and Yellow is Eagle House.

April is synonymous with Arts Week.

After the success back in November in bringing our whole school together in the MYP gym for our Remembrance Day assembly, we decided to bring the whole school together again for an Arts Week concert by the local percussion group Kutapira. Their world beat rhythms got everyone up and dancing. Two days later, the whole school united again for Buskerama.

In this event more than 70 Stratford Hall students performed their routines in various locations across the DP and MYP buildings. The rest of the student population, travelling in their buddy groups, were dazzled by acts ranging from music to martial arts, from circus and dance to live art and theatre.

Bringing full circle to our continuum buddy program, in the end of April we wished our Grade 12s good luck in a whole school assembly as they

completed their last week of classes and entered into their final Diploma Program exams. In this celebration our Kindies warmed all our hearts as they handed out gifts and sang a song of encouragement to their Grade 12 buddies.

The continuum is alive and well at Stratford Hall. We look forward to an even better year in 2019/2020!

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PROFILE

Stratford Hall Alumni Profile: Where are they now?

Albert Kragl Grad 2016

I graduated from Stratford Hall in 2016 and I am currently in my third year at McGill studying Software Engineering. I spent this past summer in Montreal doing my first software internship and playing for a club ultimate team there as well.

This semester, I wanted to focus on getting an internship earlier than last year, and so I’ve been building my skills and preparing for interviews for the past few months. I was fortunate enough to receive an offer to work at Facebook as a software engineer intern, so that’s where I’ll be next summer!

I would say that more than anything, Stratford Hall helped me learn how to be balanced. The workload (especially in the DP) is very similar to that of first year in university, so I was much more ready than some people I met that went to non-IB schools. The study habits I built up during my time at Stratford Hall carried over directly to university, which was great.

I also learned how to manage my time effectively. School took up a lot of time for me, so I had to learn to be more efficient with my free time so that I could do as many of the things I enjoyed as possible. This really helped once my workload increased in university.

Don’t forget to have fun! School can be really stressful sometimes and it can be easy to let that take up most of your time. High school is a unique experience so make sure to enjoy it as much as you can. I still remember a lot of the fun things I did outside of the classroom, and those are some great memories that I still look back on fondly.

Coltin Lillico Grad 2015

Looking back at my time at Stratford Hall and how my five years there shaped my academic studies, one word sticks out in my mind – confidence. Read four chapters of an Orwell novel, two primary sources on the Stalinist Purges in the Soviet Union, peer-grade ten essays reviewing a geology article on Colombian emeralds, and remember to get started on that term paper due in a few weeks – all in a day’s work. Stratford Hall, especially the IB Diploma Programme, prepared me for days like these. Days where you have to put your head down and get things done. Stratford Hall is a great place to hone these skills, to make mistakes, and to grow as a student and as a person.

To students thinking about pursuing a university degree, I cannot stress enough the invaluable experience and knowledge that the Extended Essay project instilled in me. Writing a 4000 word paper sounded monstrous, almost incalculably difficult when I learned about it back in grade 18

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PROFILE PROFILE

11. However, after honing in on an exciting essay topic and purposefully researching and writing about it, I found the process an immensely rewarding experience. The Extended Essay developed skills that I now practice on a daily basis – persuasive writing, diligent research, and time-management. Writing a ten to twelve page term paper is a main-stay of so many of my undergraduate classes; completing the Extended Essay project has allowed me to tackle each and every one of those papers with confidence.

I am currently in my third year of my Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in History at UBC. There are a number of factors that determined how I got here. I would like to focus on one of those factors – DP history class. To students currently deciding which courses to take for the Diploma Programme, I implore you to consider DP history. I had the privilege of taking this class under Mr. Brogan, who was an excellent teacher and mentor to me and so many of his students. His class, geared towards independent learning, showed me the value of putting in the time to study, and to go beyond what was required in order to enhance my own learning.

For example, I know many students enjoy binge-watching Netflix shows these days. Here is a bit of advice: instead of staying up past midnight with the latest comedy or action series, stay up late binge-watching CNN’s excellent series on the Cold War! We are constantly bombarded with advice about maintaining a school/life balance. But truly, school is a major part of your life – why not enjoy it?

So that is how I find myself where I am today – pursuing what I am passionate about, not what is expedient, or what will net me the greatest income after four years of studying. Stratford Hall is an amazing laboratory of learning: a place to experiment with an open-mind, to find out what you love – and what you don’t. Every minute spent there is precious and fleeting. Looking back now, those moments seem more precious than ever.

Harrison Lee Grad 2017

I just finished my second year in the Business and Computer Science (BUCS) combined-major program at UBC. It was definitely a busy school year - it was challenging but also extremely rewarding, and I even had some time to have fun too. I started to specialize in the subject matters, taking courses in financial accounting, software algorithms and data structures, and business statistics.

Beyond my academics, I was a residence advisor at Place Vanier. It was a lot of fun creating a first-year community through managing my own floor of residents and organizing events.

It was a great personal growth opportunity for me, especially when I had to deal with some interesting problems in residence and difficult individuals. In second term, I became a teaching assistant for a Management Information Systems course. I really enjoyed mentoring students on various data management and visualization software topics and seeing their achievements over the term. I got hooked on hackathons. Hackathons are team software writing competitions which take place over a weekend, often on a round-the-clock basis. At the end of the competition you pitch the product that you worked on to a panel of judges.

I really enjoyed testing my technical abilities and innovating new products with other tech enthusiasts. I participated in my first hackathon in January and I loved it so much that I competed in three more.

This summer I am going to be interning at a financial company in Hong Kong and will be starting my first co-op term in the fall. I am currently in the middle of my software engineering job-search, preparing for technical interviews. On a lighter side, I am still actively yo-yoing. I won the Canadian Nationals in May making me a 3X national freestyle yo-yo champion. I plan to go to competitions in Japan and Singapore and the World Championships in Cleveland this summer, representing Canada.

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PROFILE

Stratford Hall Alumni Profile: Where are they now?

Jai Sanghera Grad 2016

My name is Jai Sanghera and I was a part of the 2016 grad class at Stratford Hall. I started at Stratford waaaaayyy back when I was 7 years old for grade 2. Right now, I’m a student at SFU majoring in Biomedical Physiology and will be starting my fourth year in the fall. In the fall I will also be starting the process of applying to medical schools across Canada. The IB program did a great job preparing me for my university education, but it also shaped who I am as a person.

Some of those values that Stratford and the IB ingrained in me were tested recently in my life as a Karate athlete.

Karate has always been a big part of my life, having trained in it for 14 years and competed for 8. In 2016 I travelled to Croatia for my first major international tournament, however I was disheartened to learn that I’d not be allowed to compete with my turban on. As a practicing Sikh, I’m required to keep my head covered as a symbol of my faith and to identify as a Sikh.

The karate rule disallowing my head covering was a surprise to me because I had been training and competing in karate within Canada and the US while wearing my turban. At that point in Croatia, I had decided that I would not compete if I were not allowed to wear my turban. Luckily through the support of Karate Canada and many others we were able to get a temporary exemption for me to compete at the tournament. However, I knew a one-time exemption was not a solution to the problem and any turbaned athletes going forward would face the same problem and may not be exempted. In fact, two Canadian Sikh athletes faced this issue at two consecutive Pan American Championships following my exemption in Croatia.

On return to Canada from Croatia, I brought the need for a permanent WKF rule change to the attention of the Karate Canada president. He agreed and the long process to attain an official rule change began. Now, thanks to the hard work and support from Karate Canada, the World Sikh Organization, the Government of Canada, and the many others who provided letters of support, the WKF approved the rule change requested by Karate Canada, effective January 1, 2019.

My time at Stratford Hall was important in giving me the motivation and courage to speak out about this issue because we are taught from early on to have a voice and to have a global perspective. In fact, these ideals are part of the IB learner attributes of being a risk taker, communicator and principled. I felt strongly on principle that no one should have to set aside their faith to have an opportunity to compete in their chosen sport, especially after having worked hard to earn a position to compete on the international stage. I understood that I must take a stand, not primarily for myself, but for the many future athletes who would face this barrier.

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Your Key to Success

Welcome to the Stratford Hall Alumni Community Stay Connected You are a Maker, a Shaper, an Original a Stratford Hall graduate.

As an alumni of Stratford Hall, you have a lifelong link to your classmates, your school and a network across the world. You will have access to events, opportunities to volunteer and give back to your school and to the entire community.

We invite you to stay connected.

@StratfordHallSchool

@Stratford_Hall

@StratfordHall

@StratfordHallVideos

Imprint Magazine www.stratfordhall.ca/community/communications

Get in Touch alumni@stratfordhall.ca

Give Back We invite you to support Stratford Hall’s Annual Fund and fundraising initiatives. A small tax deductible gift to Stratford Hall can make a big difference in the lives of the next generation of students.

Donate online at: www.stratfordhall.ca/donate

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Community Voices, Community Walls BY: Mr. Skipper MYP Teacher

Over the years, I continued to note the wall in my peripheral as each passing grade made its way through my class. Every so often, a student would note its existence when a new tag had been spray painted upon its face.

When pushed to inquire as to what we should do, students were uncertain as how to respond as the wall was not physically part of our Stratford Hall community.

Does it need to be part of our physical space to be part of our community?

Six years ago, when moved into the MYP building, a new space for Stratford Hall’s growing community, I set up the Grade 6 classroom. As we created the new learning environment, students and teachers pitched in to create a welcoming sense of community as furniture was moved, learning walls were created, and nooks and crannies were discovered.

Everyone was in awe of its bright open environment and huge windows. Regrettably, the windows also attracted unwanted visitors. This forced us to purposely take a moment to look beyond our classroom walls.

The wall had always been there, watching over Stratford Hall.

The wall, which is actually an immense mural, was installed in 2003 by Richard Tetrault, Jerry Whitehead, and Dan Bushnell on 22

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the retaining wall securing Clark Park. The 170 metre long art piece consists of 28 mosaic medallions.

In 2002, over 300 volunteers, representing a multicultural and multigenerational group, worked with the artists for six months to design and create the mosaics in this project coordinated by the Native Education Centre.

With guidance from the artists, participants designed their tile mosaics in an old ice-cream factory in East Vancouver. The title of the piece is called ‘Community Walls/Community Voices’ and is based around the theme of origins. The mosaics, consisting of tiles, broken pottery, and old photographs, reflect the broad, multicultural community of Cedar Cottage and Trout Lake and highlight the Aboriginal communities of East Vancouver.

The idea of a strong community is something that is embedded within our culture of Stratford Hall and extends beyond our physical buildings. Students, parents, and staff are united in a common belief of meeting the need to belong and share common values. We encourage each other to form meaningful bonds, seek reconciliation and forgiveness when mistakes are made, and to find comfort and support as we forge our Stratford Hall identity.

Along with our mission and vision is Stratford Hall’s definition of internationalism: Global citizenship is an integral part of education. To be a global citizen is to understand and promote basic human rights, to know the nature of our physical and social world, and to be aware that our actions impact others and the planet.

This goal is best accomplished by

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knowing ourselves and knowing our place in the world through the cultural backgrounds of all members of our community.

Through this knowledge, we strive for a level of empathy that will direct our actions.

In January of this year, I was invited by my brother to work with his neighbours in curating the story of Clark Park. Of course I jumped at the opportunity. Over several months, we researched archives, discovered faded photos, reviewed old insurance maps, and listened to the stories related to Clark Park. While researching, I learned about the history of the very wall that stares at the MYP building.

Very quickly it dawned on me how little I knew of our neighbourhood. I, like many of our students, travel from our own communities to the front doors of Stratford Hall as if it were an extension of our own homes. Yet, everyday, we play in the park, walk the sidewalks, and integrate within our bustling neighbourhood. How could we be better neighbours? How could we best support being members of multiple communities?

An opportunity came up in March: that the wall along Commercial Drive was to be refreshed. The following junior school assembly, two local neighbours, Val and Ann, presented their story of how they chose to create their mosaic upon the wall, which honoured the former owner of their respective homes. They invited the student body to join them in helping to freshen up the wall. Through their invitation, a bond was created and an opportunity to support each other was instilled. Strengthening this bond, Stratford Hall donated refreshments for the event.

Grade 8 student, Grace Young, recognized the importance of building this community. When asked why she attended, she replied, “We look at the wall everyday. It’s a landmark that I use to help identify the location of our school. When I was in grade 5, I chose the topic of ‘public art and its effect on people’ as my exhibition project. I think public art is meant to spread messages in a community. After helping to refresh the art piece, I got to meet some artists and learn their stories behind each of the mosaics”.

The project was a great success! By the end of day, the wall was once again shining bright with colour and renewed purpose.

The wall may not be physically a part of Stratford Hall, but it continues to serve as a reminder that it once brought a community together and that we all have a part in taking care of the communities in which we belong.

On May 11, I had the honour to work side by side with our local neighbours and several Stratford Hall families and teachers to paint, scrub, and clean the mural. The community spirit was strong and mutually shared.

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PROFILE ENRICH

A Fond Farewell and a Big Thank You BY: Elaine Lee Board of Governor & Co-Founder of Stratford Hall I have known Ms. Bartsch for the past 17 years. She started at Stratford Hall when we were leasing space at the Italian Cultural Centre.

Ms. Bartsch has experienced many different opportunities during her tenure at Stratford Hall. She was first hired in 2002 to teach Grades 6 and 7. She held this position for 11 years 2002 to 2013. During this time, Ms. Bartsch, completed her Masters of Education, and her topic was Education Leadership and Administration.

While she was teaching the MYP students, Ms. Bartsch, also took on the position of IB Continuum Coordinator for Professional Growth for two years.

In September 2013, Ms. Bartsch became the Director of the Junior School - a position she has held until now.

Over the years at Stratford Hall, Ms. Bartsch, has taught many students and has seen them graduate. Ms. Bartsch has not only been a positive role model to her students, but also to her colleagues.

My daughter, Allison, had Ms. Bartsch for a couple of years as a teacher. She provided me some anecdotes on what she remembered most about Ms. Bartsch. “Ms. Bartsch had a calming presence. She always knew how to settle a rambunctious classroom.”

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“As an English teacher, Ms. Bartsch had this poster in the classroom encouraging students to use delicious words; quite an appropriate description for an English teacher!”.

The most memorable aspect that Allison recalled about Ms. Bartsch was how she seemed to have a collection of pencils hidden in her hair that she would conveniently take one out whenever she needed one.

Allison, would say, “What a great way to store pencils!”

In life, we can choose to make a difference through positive engagements in the lives of the people we come in contact with

each day. As an educator, one can have those opportunities every day with their students.

Ms. Bartsch, you have made a positive difference at Stratford Hall! Thank you for your dedicated service these past 17 years, as well as being one of the early pioneers in helping to shape what our school is today.

On behalf of Stratford Hall, the Board of Governors, Administration, the staff and students, I wish you all the best as you embark on new adventures. Please stay in touch with us.

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A Celebration of Community Connections through CAS BY: Meg Chamberlin CAS Coordinator, Senior School French and Math Teacher

What do training in Taekwondo, teaching English to the refugee community, and creating a school mural have in common? These are some of the experiences our DP students have taken on as part of a balanced, reflective, and open-minded approach to CAS (creativity, activity, and service). Grade 11s volunteered at Lakeview Senior Care Centre where they engaged with elders through conversation, games, and gingerbread decorating; worked with grade 1 students teaching phonemes and math; and organized the CAS Collective school celebration. Grade 12s

ran conversational lessons for newcomers to Canada at MOSAIC, supported K-7 students at Queen Alexandra Elementary, and taught our grade 2 students about climate change. Over the course of CAS, DP students have also been engaging in a myriad of individual learning experiences such as cooking regular dinners for refugees at Kinbrace, creating and baking new recipes weekly for the DP staff, running Snack Shack, participating in Rock Skool, leading the Stratford Hockey mornings, CAS yoga,

and creating beautiful photographs as part of the CAS photography contest.

Our students have jumped in wholeheartedly and explored creativity, activity, and service by stepping beyond their comfort zone to learn new skills, engaging in global issues, and getting involved directly in their community.

DP students have a lot to celebrate!

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Buskerama: A Kindergarten to Grade 12 Event BY: Meg Peñafiel PYP Teacher Librarian

This year our school celebrated its 4th Buskerama. Buskerama is one of the culminating events that wraps up Arts Week and celebrates the creative interests and passions of our students. On this day the MYP and DP buildings come alive with a continuum celebration of the arts and creativity. Students have the chance to tour the buildings alongside their continuum buddy as they take part in the various performances of their fellow students at Stratford Hall.

What we are trying to build through this event is creative confidence and pride in our students. What we are also building is a sense of community and belonging where students have the opportunity to let parts of themselves shine that may otherwise not be seen.

Each year, there are new students who volunteer to be buskers and who show courage and creative confidence and we are so proud of them all.

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This is what both students and teachers had to say about this year’s Buskerama: Teachers “To me Buskerama represents an opportunity for students to celebrate and share their creative talents.

Performers, to puppetry, it was a joy seeing the students shine” - Emma White “This is my first year at Stratford Hall and I was absolutely blown away by Buskerama! It was such a creative and mellow way for our diverse students to show-off their eclectic range of talents.” - Skyler Todd “One of the most impressive things about Buskerama this year was the students ability to create fun and engaging activities all on their own.” Evan Christian Students “Fantastic opportunity to share your talents with the school and feel appreciated for who you are and what you can do.” - Elan

“A great way for students to show their talents and express who they are. There are such cools acts, and it’s important for students to be able to know who each other are and make the most out of life!” - Noelle Quennec “Buskerama is important to me because it is a safe space and time where we get to express ourselves”. - Maddy Babbic “Buskerama gives you the opportunity to share your ideas and creations with peers, teachers and friends.” Leyla Bauman “I love Buskerama because people show what they can do and I really love quote that! Nicole Gorzhhiy “ Buskerama is my all time favourite art show at SH!” Obie

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Celebrate with Gratitude BY: Sukh Sandhu Senior School Learning Support Specialist This edition of Imprint is focused on celebrations. I thought it would be a good time to discuss the benefits of gratitude and the positive impact on our brain. We are finishing up the school year and our students have been completing exams and summative tasks. Managing anxiety during stressful periods is a life skill we all need to develop and improve over time. I thought it was important to look at the role of gratitude and how it could help.

The University of California Berkeley has been doing some amazing work with the Greater Good Project. The Greater Good Magazine shared a very important article discussing gratitude and how it improves our mental health. Researchers studied participants who completed gratitude letters on a daily basis over a number of weeks. Their analysis uncovered these big takeaways: 1. Gratitude unshackles us from toxic emotions 2. Gratitude helps even if you don’t share it 3. Gratitude’s benefits take time 4. Gratitude has lasting effects on the brain Let’s get back to the theme of celebrations as we head towards the end of another school year. It is important to connect celebrations with gratitude and teach ourselves to be thankful for the opportunities we receive. Whether the opportunities are challenging or simple. Let’s be grateful.

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PROFILE

Ultimate Champions: A Celebration 12 Years in the Making BY: Kyle Nystad Senior School Athletics Coordinator

“We did it, we finally, actually did it!”

This is the only thought that ran through my head as the Stratford Hall senior ultimate team scored the universe point goal to earn our school’s first BCSS Ultimate Provincial Championship banner. Joy, euphoria, ecstasy were all evident on our athlete’s faces as they celebrated their monumental victory. My first feeling was a tremendous sense of relief that we were able to claim the senior provincial championship that had eluded our ultimate program for so long; relief for our graduating grade 12 students that they were able to finish their final game representing Stratford Hall as champions.

And then unbridled joy accompanied by many tear filled hugs as we celebrated achieving a goal that many of the current

Grade 12 students had dreamed since they first started playing ultimate at Stratford Hall.

Our size as a single A school with less than 88 Grade 11 and 12 students combined meant we were already facing a challenge compared to our opponents who had over 800 Grade 11 and 12 students. To be able to compete at this level with the size of the student population we have is a testament to the time and effort our students put in to excel. As Mr. Brogan is fond of saying ‘our kung fu is strong.” This is evident in the results we are able to achieve.

The timing of the tournament during Grade 12 IB exams is also a major hurdle to overcome. Grade 12 athletes often come into the tournament a little out of shape from the long days spent studying hard.

Because provincial championships were during IB exams, several Grade 12 athletes missed games.

Despite these challenges, this year’s team should be recognized for never making excuses, never

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PROFILE

taking the easy road and stepping up to the commitments they made. In particular the Grade 12 athletes and their families should be thanked for the commitment they made this season. Despite being in exams for all of May, the large majority of them continued to attend zones and practices in the lead up to provincials all while doing an excellent job of maintaining a tight study schedule.

These challenges are all the more reason why this year’s senior team should be celebrated by the Stratford Hall community. At the beginning of the season this group of athletes were given the opportunity to play at the double A level, a much easier tournament, or try to qualify for and win the triple A tournament. As a group they elected to go the triple A route knowing the amount of time and effort they would have to put in to make this happen.

The Grade 12 athletes provided strong leadership and guidance as the season progressed, working to instill confidence in the Grade 10 and 11 athletes that they could play at an elite level and make key contributions to a provincial championship winning team. Grade 12 players took on new responsibilities and roles helping to ensure the younger players learned the team’s offensive and defensive set ups.

The excellent guidance and leadership demonstrated by this year’s Grade 12 athletes is an outcome of playing with past grads whom in turn learned from our very first senior ultimate team leader.

That very first group set the standard for Sabres ultimate. They were the first group to successfully compete at an elite high school level. They were also the first group to play club ultimate. This group of athletes was the first to make other schools aware of Stratford Hall’s ultimate teams. Their jerseys hang in the MYP gym mezzanine for a good reason. They served as inspiration for those that came next. As we look up at the hanging jerseys, I tell students about the type of special teammate Katherine McGuire was.

I point to Kiera Lee-Pii’s U20 Team Canada jersey and speak about how she combined incredible athleticism with an amazing work ethic. I show Ari Nitikman’s jersey and talk about the growth in maturity Ari underwent between Grade 8 and Grade 12 in his journey to becoming a leader. This is the legacy and power of Sabres ultimate. The success of this year’s team can be traced back to those original athletes.

talented, strong and most competitive senior team Stratford Hall has ever had. Not only was the team highly skilled, they were also incredibly close. This made winning the provincial championship together all the more special. While their shared common goal, win the AAA provincials, may have brought them together it was their closeness as a group and belief in each other that ultimately helped them pull it off.

This provincial championship is the culmination of all that Sabres ultimate has become over the past 12 years. All the pieces we have put in place to support our students, from coaches attending training sessions, to running our first summer ultimate camps, attending the hardest tournaments so our athletes have an opportunity to participate in and see high level ultimate, and continually encouraging students to try out for club teams contributed to reaching this point.

Therefore this provincial championship should not only be shared and celebrated with the current team but with the entire Sabres ultimate community that helped to get us to this point. All the parents that provided us with love and support, all the coaches who dedicated hundreds of hours to make Sabres ultimate great and players over the years who rose to the challenge of Sabres ultimate and answered the call of “Sabres” with a resounding HOORAH!

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PROFILE

Junior School Ultimate BY: Bobby Nishi Junior School Athletics Coordinator Even Spring Reign, the largest youth Ultimate tournament in the world, expanded. The annual tournament that takes place in Burlington, Washington split its tournament into a Senior division (Grade 9-12) and a Middle School Division (Grade 6-7). This year within the middle school division there were 4 divisions and 56 teams that attended from the USA and Canada. Our current group of grade 6-7s finished 4th in pool D and the Grade 7-8 team won gold in their division (only the 2nd time in school history that a team has won gold at Spring Reign). The level of play at this tournament is always very high, as many of the top middle school teams come from all across the USA to compete.

As I visit the various parks around the city I consistently see more people throwing Frisbees around and playing Ultimate. This growth is also evident at Stratford Hall where our grade 6-7 team had a record high 62 athletes participating and we had an additional 25 athletes in 30

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grade 5. The Grade 7 ISEA Ultimate Championships has also increased from 6 teams last year to 10 teams this year and the grade 5-6 division increased from 8 teams to 13 teams.

As a result, the growth of Ultimate has led to greater competition within Stratford Hall and with other ISEA and public schools.

The next tournament the team was involved in was the ISEA Championships which took place on May 8. This year the level of competition was the best I have seen since the ISEA started hosting this tournament. Throughout the exhibition games we were defeated by Southridge and St. John’s school, but over the season our team worked very hard to improve and on tournament day they won their 4 round robin games and got revenge with a victory over Southridge A in the semi-finals and defeated St. John’s A in the finals to repeat as ISEA Champions for the 4th straight year.

The season for the Grade 6 and 7 teams ended with teams playing in Sabrefest, where they placed second in the A and B divisions.

The Grade 5 ended their season by participating in Tigerfest.

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Junior School Track and Field BY: Bobby Nishi Junior School Athletics Coordinator

The Sabres completed another successful track and field season with our student athletes having the opportunity to compete at five different track meets. The season started off wet and cold with the annual Stratford Hall track in April, and progressively got nicer weather with the UBC Track Meet, WPGA mini meet, the ISEA Championships and the BC Elementary Provincial Championships.

The Stratford Hall, UBC, and WPGA track meets were used as qualifiers for the final ISEA track meet. At the ISEA meet the boys finished 3rd overall out of 11 school’s and the girls finished 6th overall out of 12 school’s. Some top 3 results from the event were: Chloe Wong - 3rd in 600 mA, 2nd in 1000 mA Kayla Manji - 3rd in Gr 4 HJ (she is only in grade 3)

Ava Bhura - 2nd in Gr 5 HJ

Jacob AU - 3rd in Gr 4 LJ

Marissa Lee - 3rd in Gr 6 HJ

Lukas Bell- Buchner - 3rd in Gr 4A SP

Liyana Ahvazi - 3rd in Gr 5 LJ

George Callaghan - 3rd in Gr 4B SP

Ruby Peterson - 3rd in Gr 7 Shot Put

Sam Kates - 2nd in Gr 6 SP, 2nd in Gr 6 Discus

Desmond Pang - 3rs in Gr 4 60m, 2nd in 200mA

Kai Schmidt - 3rd in Gr 7A Discus

Thomas Manganini - 1st Gr 6 100m, 200m, SP, Discus Zachary Brook - 3rd in Gr 6B100m, 2nd in 200m, 1st in HJ Jordan Chan - 3rs in Gr 7B 100m

Rohan Singh - 2nd in Gr 7B Discus At the BC Elementary Provincials Thomas Manganini continued his dominance and won gold in the 100m and picked up 2 silvers in the 200m and shot put.

Josh Gravestein - 3rd in 4B 600m Izzy Karim - 3rd in Gr 7 800m Miles Wong - 3rd in Gr 7 1200m Ethan Ho - 3rd in Gr 5 HJ

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Snapshots at Stratford Hall

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Grade 5 Exhibition BY: Amanda Lempriere Primary Years Programme Coordinator

Every year the grade 5 students, teachers and parents hear me say how much I love Exhibition. It is my favourite time of year and this year was no different! This year, each grade 5 student embarked on a six week inquiry focused on a UN Global Goal of their choice.

With a focus on the UN Global Goals, students were exposed to issues of local and global significance. They developed their

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understanding of these issues through research that included reading articles, watching videos, conducting interviews and going on field trips. Part of their research included the question “so what?” which required students to think about how their thinking had changed and what they would do to take action. Some examples of action from this year’s Exhibition include:

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Participation in the Candian Cancer Society’s Moonlight Walk

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Clothing and Book Drive for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre

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Volunteering with Backpack Buddies to prepare backpacks of food for children in Vancouver

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interactive posters to learn more about the issues.

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Serving food to those in need at Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen in the Downtown Eastside

By taking action, students developed a deeper understanding of the issue and how they can have a positive impact. Once their research was complete, each group collaborated together to create an engaging exhibit. This year’s exhibits were particularly interesting. When planning and designing their exhibits, the

students worked hard to appeal to the five senses. Each exhibit had an interactive component that engaged their visitors. At the exhibits, visitors had the opportunity to look through microscopes to examine the water quality of Trout Lake, engage in experiments to remove oil for water and ride a bike that created electricity. Additionally visitors could see how students used the Idea lab as they viewed informative large-scale posters, played video games and used

Each year the students bring something new to the Exhibition and make it their own. Throughout the process, they engage in reflections about their learning and experiences.

Their final reflections are always the most inspiring and they are what truly feeds my love for the Exhibition. This year, I had students say to me “Ms. Lempriere, I’m just so proud of myself!” and “People really learned a lot when they came to our exhibit!” When I asked one student how he felt after Exhibition was over, he smiled and said “Amazing!” This project has the power to push students beyond what they thought their limits were and challenge them to take risks with their learning.

When it is complete, they are filled with a confidence that makes them stronger students and this is why I love the Grade 5 Exhibition.

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Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa Trip

The QMO trip was a wonderful experience for all students and chaperones! The students bonded as a group leading up to the trip, and had a fantastic time travelling through Quebec and Ontario.

Highlights included seeing Question Period at the Parliament Buildings, visiting an authentic sugar shack, and participating in multiple interactive tours. Mr. Fraser and Ms Li would like to congratulate all students on a successful and exciting trip!

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Here is what a few Grade 7 and 8 students had to say about their experience.

learn a lot about the history of Canada. You also get to do a lot of fun things.” - Kai Schmidt

“It has been a wonderful learning experience as we built our independence and created new friendships.” - Justin Zheng

“I got to see places I have never seen before. I took many pictures to remind me of the many places we went! My favourite part of the trip was doing the pole playing competition.” - Ryan Yeung

“I had a lot of fun on the QMO trip. I enjoyed bonding with the younger students and learning about the history of our country.” - Lily Mercier “Very funny and educational and a really fun experience to have. You

“QMO was an influencial experience, filled with highs and lows which greatly contributes to my eighth grade experience.” Maahika Gupta

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2019-2020 KEY DATES Updated June 2019 - Subject to Change

2019

September

October

November December

2020

January February

March April May June

Monday 2

Labour Day (school closed)

Tuesday 3

New Gr 6 - 11 Student Orienta�on, 10:30am (school closed)

Wednesday 4 Friday 11 Monday 14 Wednesday 23 Thursday 24 Friday 25 Friday 8 Monday 18 Friday 20

School Opens - First day of school for all students Opening Day Assembly, 8:30-10:30am Teacher Pro-D Day (school closed) Thanksgiving Day (school closed) Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences, 4:00-8:00pm Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences, all day (school closed) BC Pro-D Day (school closed) Last day of class before Midterm Break (full day) MIDTERM BREAK: MON NOV 11 – FRI NOV 15 Classes resume a�er Midterm Break Last Day of class before Winter Break, Early Dismissal, 12:00pm WINTER BREAK: MON DEC 23 – FRI JAN 10

Monday 13 Friday 24

Classes resume a�er Winter Break Teacher Pro-D Day (school closed)

Thursday 13 Friday 14 Monday 17

Teacher Pro-D A�ernoon, Early Dismissal, 12:00pm ISABC Pro-D Day (school closed) Family Day (school closed)

Thursday 27 Friday 28

Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences, 4:00-8:00pm Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences, all day (school closed)

Friday 13

Last Day of class before Spring Break (full day)

Monday 30

SPRING BREAK: MON MAR 16 – FRI MAR 27 Classes resume a�er Spring Break

Thursday 9 Friday 10 Monday 13

Early Dismissal - K-12, 12:00pm Good Friday (school closed) Easter Monday (school closed)

Friday 15 Monday 18 Friday May 29 Saturday 30 Friday 19

Early Dismissal - K-12, 12:00pm Victoria Day (school closed) Gradua�on Convoca�on (no classes for K-Gr. 5) Gradua�on Dinner and Dance Closing Assembly, 11:00am-12:00pm (noon dismissal) *Pro-D Day

= Professional Development Day (No classes for students).

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ENRICH

Thank You from our Students We are sincerely grateful to the many parents, alumni parents, grandparents and staff who have contributed to the school this year. When you support Stratford Hall, you help ensure a remarkable experience for our students. Please read about the difference you make in our students’ lives. The speech below was given at this year’s Donor Reception.

My name is Audrey Kamachi and I am currently attending grade 10 at Stratford Hall. Being a student who joined the school in grade 3, I have been able to witness Stratford Hall evolve into a truly special school with elements that cannot be found anywhere else. For example, the rooftop playgrounds that reflect the unique urban setting of our school and the IDEA lab that represents the common trait of creativity found amongst our students. Much of these elements, however, have been made possible due to your generous donations over the years. This year, examples of programs that were granted the opportunity of being enriched by your generous donations include the arts, music and athletics.

Similarly, spaces such as the IDEA lab and classrooms were able to experience technological enhancements, as well as new furnishings. Without your generosity, Stratford Hall would simply just be another school; however, these enhancements enrich the everyday lives of students while simultaneously maximizing the learning opportunities that they are exposed to. Rest assured that a feeling of gratitude that accompanies the privilege existent in attending such an amazing school is truly felt by all students of Stratford Hall.

However, your generosity extends to something much more significant than just a donation. Your generosity serves as a representation of the lifestyle Stratford Hall attempts to engrain in the practices of its students. These practices are developed through the emphasis the school dedicates to service from a young age, whether it is being a student ambassador or a morning car door opener or scorekeeper.

Moreover, the ideology of donating time and energy to a worthy cause helps shape kids into adults that leave Stratford Hall valuing philanthropy, just like you all.

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Your generosity does not only embody the values of Stratford Hall but rather extends to the traits valued by the entirety of the International Baccalaureate program. As many of you probably know, the IB learner profile traits are 10 distinctive attributes that are first introduced to students in kindergarten and continually practiced until they graduate to develop active, compassionate and lifelong learners. One of these traits is caring and as defined by the IB is someone who has a personal commitment to service, and acts to make a positive difference to the lives of others. Coincidently, this definition also commonly unites you all as you are all sitting here today due to your generosity and the positive difference you are making on the lives of students and teachers of Stratford Hall. On behalf of the students of Stratford Hall, thank you, truly, for your generous donations as they are greatly acknowledged and appreciated by all of us.

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Celebratng Global Citizenship: Model United Nations BY: Meg Chamberlin CAS Coordinator, Senior School French and Math Teacher

Can you imagine spending your weekend debating the efficacy of disarmament efforts in Africa with representatives from around the world; critiquing policy for free and fair elections in emerging democracies; or, participating in a midnight crisis committee session to find a multilateral pathway towards peace in Venezuela ? This year, students from grade 8-12 did just that through their weekly participation in the Model United Nations club.

Sixteen of our students participated in four local conferences with peers from all over the Pacific Northwest: VMUN, PacificMUN, CAHSMUN, and CAIMUN. They represented countries as diverse as Uganda, Honduras, and Iraq and engaged in research, mediation, and collaboration to create United Nationsstyle resolutions tackling some of the most conflicting political, social, and environmental challenges facing our world. We are so proud of every Model

United Nations student for exemplifying the IB learner characteristics of risk-taker, communicator, and inquirer; special congratulations go to Justin Zheng ‘23 for earning an Honourable Mention at CAIMUN and Ibreez Asaria ’20 for earning an Honourable Mention at CAHSMUN and Best Delegate at VMUN. Our MUN members said taking part helped them develop research and debate skills while building concrete knowledge such as learning how the actual United Nations works. They reflected about the many exhilarating ‘firsts’ they experienced, like their first speech, or the first time they received a standing ovation because their speech was “that good”! Students said they connected to people who shared the same interests, challenged themselves to take others’ perspectives, and became more open-minded as they participated in committee sessions.

“Participating in Model United Nations has helped me gain more confidence

with public speaking; it’s really exhilarating when you hear others banging the table at what you have to say. New students would have a lot of fun building new friendships, public speaking skills, and confidence.” Grade 8 student.

“I have learned that my opinions are valuable and my thoughts are valid, and MUN has allowed me to become more expressive of my beliefs.” - Grade 12 student.

The MUN club is open to all students in grades 8-12. We meet weekly at lunch throughout the year and all students have the opportunity to participate in several local weekend conferences. If you are interested in joining for the 2019-2020 school year, please speak to Ms. Chamberlin or Mr. Brownhill and come out to the club introduction in September. We look forward to seeing you there!

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The Graduating Class of 2019 Jada Abbot *

Lauren Jones *

Jonah Press

Kylie Brajcich *

Noah Kent *

Wren Prevot

Devon Bringeland-Powell

Filip Kragl

Gaven Sandhu

Bianca Chan

Sean Kyer

Aida Sanjush

David Chan

Rose Leishman

Jaden Sekhon

Ethan Chan

Kester Lo

Ryan Shahi

Bernice Chau

Jimmy Mangat

Zayaan Shamji *

Natasha Cross

Connor McCarthy

Kira Straszak

Breanna Dar *

Bailey McGregor

Sasha Ubhi

Sofia Faugno *

Emilie McGuire

Abigail Walker *

Parris Gill

Devin Meng

Rachel Woo *

Steven Gorzhiy *

Lucy Moroz

Zachary Yeh *

Sarah Haussmann

Michael Oyhenart *

Thea Hoemberg *

Olivia Paramitha

* Lifer

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Stratford Hall Grade 12 Graduation 2019

Kindergarten Celebration 2019

For those who expect more than a traditional education CONGRATULATIONS 2019 GRADUATES Stratford Hall graduates are ready to challenge and change the world. 100% of our 2019 graduates have been accepted to prestigious post-secondary institutions across the globe. Whether that’s UBC or McGill in Canada; NYU or Vanderbilt in the USA; Cambridge or York in the UK — these young adults are prepared for higher learning and our pride in them runs deep.

For a complete list of post-secondary institutions our students will attend, please visit: StratfordHall.ca/2019Grads

GRADES K-5

GRADES 6-10

GRADES 11-12

Stratford Hall School 3000 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC V5N 4E2 www.stratfordhall.ca

Our Mission Stratford Hall educates students to the highest global standards through the programmes of the International Baccalaureate. Excellence and confidence are developed through a challenging academic curriculum with further emphasis on creativity, action and service. We foster a strong pluralistic community built on integrity and respect.

Our Vision Stratford Hall strives to be a global leader in the International Baccalaureate community. Our students will gain a deep understanding of the world around them, and they will act on their connections to the outside community. They will excel to the best of their abilities, and graduates will be equipped to achieve their chosen goals. This is accomplished by acquiring and retaining the best teachers, and by a commitment to a balanced and enriched curriculum. The success of Stratford Hall is deeply rooted in the establishment of a supportive, knowledgeable and committed community.