.
.
.
.
.
Lessons from a lifelong love of books
Kathi Biggs, who began teaching at Selwyn House in 1991, and who has served as Head of the Senior English Department since 1999, retired at the end of the 2005-2206 school year. Before she left, she talked to Veritas about her life before and after coming to SHS.
She was a child celebrity, a political poster girl who nearly spent her life trapped behind the Iron Curtain, separated from the parents she had never known. But Kathi Biggs’ life got really interesting when she began teaching at Selwyn House.
Born in Hungary in 1948, Ms. Biggs was three months old when her parents went to Austria on holiday, leaving her with her grandparents. While her parents were away, the Communists took over Hungary and closed the borders.
Her parents moved to Canada in 1951, where they petitioned every week for Kathi’s release. Finally, in 1956, a deal was brokered that allowed her to leave. “When I arrived at Dorval Airport on May 25, 1956, there were flashbulbs everywhere,” Ms. Biggs recalls. “I didn’t understand what it was all about.”
Arriving in Canada at age 8, she lived on Elm Ave., practically next door to present-day SHS. She advanced quickly through elementary school with the help of tutoring in English. “That’s why I’m such a stickler for grammar,” she explains.
“I was also inspired by Mrs. Ryan, my Grade 10 English teacher, and by my father, who read voraciously, non-stop. We’d discuss books together into the night.”
She attended St. Paul’s Academy and Westmount High, got her BA at Loyola (now Concordia) and her teaching degree from McGill in 1977.
A chance encounter led to a job teaching senior English at The Study, where she stayed for 13 years.
In 1991, Geoff Dowd, who was then head of Elementary and Middle School at Selwyn House, called her to temporarily replace Dr. Byron Harker, who had been diagnosed with cancer and was expected to be out of school for six weeks. “I happily came in and just loved my experience,” she recalls. “Dr. Harker came back in good health and I was sorry to go,” but a job in Middle School came up, so she taught in both Middle and Senior schools. “Those were the best years I ever spent.”
“Byron Harker was a remarkable guy. He really set the gold standard for teaching. I was privileged to work with him and we became very good friends. I’m still devastated by his death after all these years.”
After Dr. Harker died in 1999, she was chosen to replace him as head of the Senior English Department.
Aside from her classroom work, Ms. Biggs has had outstanding success as public speaking coach. “My boys have been to a lot of places,” she says proudly, including Botswana, South Africa, Cyprus, the U.S. and England twice. “I’ve loved it. Our highlight year was in 2001, when Daniel Wilner, Luke Reid and Adrian Gaty became the top Canadian team and top team overall at the Worlds. That was remarkable. I don’t think many other schools have achieved that.”
Ghandar Chakravarty ’96, Sean Bernstein 2003, Richard Martz ’97 and Theo McLauchlin ’99 are other names in her mental scrapbook. “What pleases me more than any championship they have won is when I go to a wedding or a funeral and hear them give a speech and hear them put their skills to work in a real-life context.”
Organizing the International Independent Schools’ Public Speaking League competition last fall was one of the highlights of her career.
For more than 12 years, she has planned grad activities each spring. “It’s like throwing a wedding with 57 mothers of the bride,” she says. “The generosity of the parents is what has made that work over the years.”
And she has been coaching tennis throughout her career here. “That’s been a joy,” she says. “Working with Andy Lumsden is so great.”
Other unique standouts in Kathi’s Selwyn House memories include having her bedroom renovated by the 2004 Grade 11s for Debbie Travis’ Facelift show, and receiving a special end-of-year gift from Jared Tauben 2003, a detailed critique of every outfit his notoriously style-conscious teacher had worn throughout the year.
Asked whether her students today are as literate as those of the past, Ms. Biggs weighs the pros and cons of electronic media. “The boys are spoiled by the facility with which research is done, and that it always comes with bright lights.
“But I love the feel of books, and they don’t know anything about that. Too few have newspapers in their homes. Books are not always held in esteem in every home the way they were in my home. That makes a difference. Reading is not always modeled as a great activity.”
“Still, I’ve had some incredibly talented readers and writers, and that hasn’t changed. If there has been a loss of English skills at all…it’s more the demands that life has placed on students. Being 16 or 17 years old today is a tough job.”
“The biggest challenge of teaching is to...have them see the importance of a book like The Grapes of Wrath.To get the kids’ hearts to go out to that text is important. To see them have a breakthrough is amazing.”
Back
Born in Hungary in 1948, Ms. Biggs was three months old when her parents went to Austria on holiday, leaving her with her grandparents. While her parents were away, the Communists took over Hungary and closed the borders.
Her parents moved to Canada in 1951, where they petitioned every week for Kathi’s release. Finally, in 1956, a deal was brokered that allowed her to leave. “When I arrived at Dorval Airport on May 25, 1956, there were flashbulbs everywhere,” Ms. Biggs recalls. “I didn’t understand what it was all about.”
Arriving in Canada at age 8, she lived on Elm Ave., practically next door to present-day SHS. She advanced quickly through elementary school with the help of tutoring in English. “That’s why I’m such a stickler for grammar,” she explains.
“I was also inspired by Mrs. Ryan, my Grade 10 English teacher, and by my father, who read voraciously, non-stop. We’d discuss books together into the night.”
She attended St. Paul’s Academy and Westmount High, got her BA at Loyola (now Concordia) and her teaching degree from McGill in 1977.
A chance encounter led to a job teaching senior English at The Study, where she stayed for 13 years.
In 1991, Geoff Dowd, who was then head of Elementary and Middle School at Selwyn House, called her to temporarily replace Dr. Byron Harker, who had been diagnosed with cancer and was expected to be out of school for six weeks. “I happily came in and just loved my experience,” she recalls. “Dr. Harker came back in good health and I was sorry to go,” but a job in Middle School came up, so she taught in both Middle and Senior schools. “Those were the best years I ever spent.”
“Byron Harker was a remarkable guy. He really set the gold standard for teaching. I was privileged to work with him and we became very good friends. I’m still devastated by his death after all these years.”
After Dr. Harker died in 1999, she was chosen to replace him as head of the Senior English Department.
Aside from her classroom work, Ms. Biggs has had outstanding success as public speaking coach. “My boys have been to a lot of places,” she says proudly, including Botswana, South Africa, Cyprus, the U.S. and England twice. “I’ve loved it. Our highlight year was in 2001, when Daniel Wilner, Luke Reid and Adrian Gaty became the top Canadian team and top team overall at the Worlds. That was remarkable. I don’t think many other schools have achieved that.”
Ghandar Chakravarty ’96, Sean Bernstein 2003, Richard Martz ’97 and Theo McLauchlin ’99 are other names in her mental scrapbook. “What pleases me more than any championship they have won is when I go to a wedding or a funeral and hear them give a speech and hear them put their skills to work in a real-life context.”
Organizing the International Independent Schools’ Public Speaking League competition last fall was one of the highlights of her career.
For more than 12 years, she has planned grad activities each spring. “It’s like throwing a wedding with 57 mothers of the bride,” she says. “The generosity of the parents is what has made that work over the years.”
And she has been coaching tennis throughout her career here. “That’s been a joy,” she says. “Working with Andy Lumsden is so great.”
Other unique standouts in Kathi’s Selwyn House memories include having her bedroom renovated by the 2004 Grade 11s for Debbie Travis’ Facelift show, and receiving a special end-of-year gift from Jared Tauben 2003, a detailed critique of every outfit his notoriously style-conscious teacher had worn throughout the year.
Asked whether her students today are as literate as those of the past, Ms. Biggs weighs the pros and cons of electronic media. “The boys are spoiled by the facility with which research is done, and that it always comes with bright lights.
“But I love the feel of books, and they don’t know anything about that. Too few have newspapers in their homes. Books are not always held in esteem in every home the way they were in my home. That makes a difference. Reading is not always modeled as a great activity.”
“Still, I’ve had some incredibly talented readers and writers, and that hasn’t changed. If there has been a loss of English skills at all…it’s more the demands that life has placed on students. Being 16 or 17 years old today is a tough job.”
“The biggest challenge of teaching is to...have them see the importance of a book like The Grapes of Wrath.To get the kids’ hearts to go out to that text is important. To see them have a breakthrough is amazing.”
