ALUMNI NEWS In September, former UTS co-captain, Divya Santhanam ’15 – now at Brown University – was interviewed on CBC radio’s Metro Morning promoting the “Word on the Street” festival and talking about Inspire Teen Reads, a group she started that “aims to rekindle and foster love of reading among teens”. Inspire Teen Reads hopes to provide opportunities for young people to “express their passion for literature, get inspired by the power of reading [and] meet other teens, accomplished authors, and publishing individuals.” Just a few weeks into his status as a UTS alumnus, Jacob Jackson ’15 finished in a remarkable ninth place at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) held in Almaty, Kazakhstan during the summer of 2015. The performance
earned Jacob his second gold medal at the IOI. He is now studying computer science at the University of Waterloo.
Reconnect Events Alumni, parents, and students attended a screening of Herman’s House, an Emmy award-winning documentary produced by Lisa Valencia-Svensson ’86. Lisa participated in a panel discussion with Laura Berger, acting director of public safety with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and Sean Frost, founder of the Global Inspiration Initiative and a former prisoner who spent more than a year in solitary confinement. The third annual Alumni Trivia Night was hosted by UTS math teacher and cryptic crossword creator Fraser Simpson. This year, alumni were joined by a dauntless team of F1 (grade 7)
students. The victorious players, from the Class of ’78, were David Allan, Steve Craig, Allison MacDuffie, John Rose, and Tim Sellers. Anthony Lee ’86 hosted “Wine and Cheeses and Tapestries” a social event at the Textile Museum of Canada. Museum staff led alumni and parents on a tour of new works by Canadian textile artist Lyn Carter, and an exhibition featuring Canadian hooked rugs. Anthony’s UTS student troupe of Taiko drummers has won platinum at the Kiwanis Music Festival two years in a row. In March, it was alumni and parents behind the drums as Anthony played host again, this time leading a Taiko drumming workshop. Over the course of the workshop, the group learned the proper stance and grips, and tackled two drumming pieces.
Top left: Divya Santhanam ’15, second from right, with Teen Reads colleagues and Word on the Street judges, L-R: Prasiddha Parthasarathy, Rishi Bansal, authors Kenneth Oppel and Megan Crewe, Greg Hollingshead ’64, and current student Owen Torrey ’17. Top right: Trivia Night participants included an F1 (grade 7) team and the Class of ’78 winners. Bottom L-R: Documentary producer Lisa Valencia-Svensson ’86; Anthony Lee ’86 leading a taiko drumming session. THE UTS ALUMNI M AGAZINE
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