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Selwyn House launches full year of Centennial celebration
The annual Founder’s Day on November 22 marked beginning of a year-long series of events unlike anything ever seen at Selwyn House. Founded in 1908, the school has planned a full year of Centennial celebration to mark its first century of academic excellence.
A full house of approximately 130 people turned out in the year’s first snowstorm to help bestow the school’s highest honour, the Speirs Medal, to Mrs. Ellen Pinchuk, art teacher from 1970-2005.
A unique feature of Founder’s Day 2007 was the unveiling of Selwyn House School: Celebrating 100 Years, a limited edition, hardcover, coffee-table book that covers ten decades of students, events and history as the school evolved into the vibrant institution it is today.
Also at Founder’s Day, the Selwyn House Old Boys’ Association recognized staff members who dedicated 25 years or more of service to Selwyn House and retired in the 1990s or in 2007. This year’s 25-year service honourees were: David Cude, Bruce Glasspoole, Monty Krindle, Marc Krushelnyski and Jack Martin.
Founder’s Day marked the beginning of a year filled with events to celebrate and commemorate the 100-year milestone in the school’s history:
- A Senior and Middle School trip to England and France during March Break will include a visit to the school’s roots at Selwyn College at Cambridge University in England, and will coincide with an alumni reunion of “Old Boys” living in London, to be held at Canada House, home of the Canadian High Commission.
- Athletic events include a basketball showcase vs. LCC, and a special edition of the spring Athletic Banquet with a look back at 100 years of school sports.
- Musical events include a unique version of the spring Jazz Cabaret, this time with the senior student jazz band joined by special guest players from the past.
- The 10th Annual Alumni and Friends Golf Tournament will be twice as big as ever before, with the Centennial version being held at the Royal Montreal Golf Club.
- A Pen Pal program has begun and will continue throughout the Centennial year, linking alumni with current Elementary School students. This activity brings together generations by sharing stories of life experiences and school activities throughout the decades.
- This year’s edition of the school’s annual fundraiser will be Latin Nights; a dinner and dance will be held at the school on April 17, 2008 to commemorate its 100th birthday. The evening will feature delicious food, a live auction, and special musical performances with a Latin flair.
These are just a few of the events that make up the Centennial Celebration Year, which runs from Founder’s Day 2007 to Founder’s Day 2008.
Morning Assembly
At a morning all-school assembly, Headmaster Will Mitchell praised the approximately 300 volunteers who contribute so much time and effort to the school. Their efforts, he said, “help create so much good will and develop the strong sense of community and school spirit which we have at Selwyn House.”
He enumerated the past year’s fundraising activities carried out by volunteers and students alike, listing the amounts raised by each.
- The Argyle Shop raised $20,000 that will be designated to help pay for a new bus the school purchased last year.
- The Gryphon Sale raised $2,878 for the Nancy Pitfield Scholarship Fund.
- The annual Terry Fox Run raised approximately $26,869 to support cancer research, reaching a total of $423,541 raised by Selwyn House in this event since 1987.
- The third annual Shave 2 Save event raised $20,485 for breast cancer research.
- Approximately $71,700 was raised last February from the Magie de Montreal fundraising event. The proceeds will go toward improvements to the schoolyard and the Macaulay Building, with a portion being donated to The Missing Children’s Network and The Generations Foundation Breakfast Program.
Also at the morning assembly, 16 people were inducted into the Cum Laude Society. Inducted from the Class of 2007 were: Bryan Altman, Kamran Chaudhry, Justin Hagen, Patrick Levy, Andrew Pancer and Andrej Pavlovic. Inducted from the Class of 2008 were: Ryan Altman, Vinay Desai, Louis Gervais, Trevor Hooton, Justin Leopold, David McLeod, Adam Wathier and Christopher Wong. Teachers Carole Rasmussen and Dean Phillips were also inducted.
Headmaster Mitchell then recapitulated the history of the school and its founder, Captain Algernon Lucas. Now, 99 years old, the School has grown from seven students to its present size of 570 students.
As part of the assembly the Old Boys’ Association honoured five former faculty or staff members for contributing at least 25 years of service to the school. This year’s inductees to the “Wall of Fame” are: Jack Martin, David Cude, Marc Krushelnyski, Monty Krindle and Bruce Glasspoole.
Headmaster Mitchell then reminded the students of the significance of the Speirs Medal, the highest honour the school bestows upon one of its own.
Middle School Director Carol Manning introduced the 2007 Speirs medalist, retired art teacher Ellen Pinchuck. “For thirty-five years, Ellen Pinchuk was the heart and soul of art education at Selwyn House,” Ms. Manning said. “She taught Grade 1 to Grade 11, and she made art come alive for all of them. Her ability to encourage young boys, emerging adolescents, and full blown adolescents with both grace and humour was remarkable. No other teacher in the school has ever taught such a range of students, and she did it so wisely and so well. Her art room was a font of creativity—a place for individual expression and a place to awaken and develop an appreciation of art. Her energy infused the process, her creativity sparked it, and her dedication to her students and to art supported it.”
Ms. Manning read some testimonials from Mrs. Pinchuck’s former students, including the following, from Michael Echenberg ’91: “I have fond memories of being in your class. When I was in Grade 1, for example, I was very troubled one day because I felt that a fellow student had copied my idea. On the spot, you created a mounted sign that read (in beautiful calligraphy), ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.’ You addressed the situation neither by punishing nor by talking down to me—and I was left feeling relieved and encouraged.”
In her acceptance speech at the morning assembly, Mrs. Pinchuk told the students what her watchword always was in the classroom. “All you need to remember is the word ‘respect,’” she said, “respecting the materials, our fellow students and each other’s work.”
“Appreciate Selwyn House,” she advised her audience. “You have been given an incredible gift by your families. Make the most of it.”
“No teacher epitomizes excellence in instruction more than does Ellen Pinchuk,” said headmaster Mitchell. “Her knowledge was profound, her preparation was thorough and her approach was up-to-date.”
The Centennial launch then commenced with two ceremonies. First was the unveiling of the school’s new history, entitled: Selwyn House School – Celebrating 100 Years, a large-format commemorative book recapping memories of the Selwyn House experience over the past 100 years.
“The book was made possible through the generosity of the Molson Family,” Mr. Mitchell said. “At least one member of the Molson family has been enrolled in each of the school’s 10 decades.”
Grade 5 student John Molson, his mother, Dr. Miriam Molson, and his father, Mr. John Molson, performed the official unveiling of the commemorative book.
At this point in the program, the school’s oldest Old Boy, Mr. Leonard Schlemm Sr. of the Class of ’29, was joined by the school’s youngest student, Justin-Harry Burdman-Castravelli, to cut the ribbon to officially open the year of celebration.
Evening cocktail
The program at the evening cocktail, held in Coristine Hall, repeated the morning program, with a few exceptions.
Ellen Pinchuk’s evening speech gave a more adult view of her years at Selwyn House. “I was incredibly fortunate to have a job that allowed me the independence to be creative and to be fulfilled,” she said. “I can honestly say I looked forward to each day here as a new challenge.”
“As adults we sometimes forget that we have our own strengths and weaknesses and…expect our children to be strong in all areas…. We need to encourage our children to try their hardest in all their endeavours and to nurture and help them, and we especially need to celebrate their different talents.
“I think SHS has been exceptionally good at this, and I was always proud to be part of a school that recognized students’ accomplishments in so many different disciplines and that gave them opportunities to realize their full potential. It would be a very boring world if we were all the same.”
Ted Claxton, Chairman of the Selwyn House Board of Directors, was on hand to make the formal presentation of the Speirs Medal to Mrs. Pinchuk, and to bring the guests up to date on the school’s plans for increasing its endowment. A new fund, called the Centennial Endowment Fund, has been set up to increase the school’s endowment to $20M from the current $4M, to enable the school to extend financial aid to any deserving student.
Mr. Schlemm and his young assistant, Mr. Burdman-Castravelli, then repeated the official ribbon cutting to formally open the school’s year-long celebration of its first century of excellence in education.
To view photos from Founder's Day/Centennial launch, click here.
