Founder’s Day: Will Mitchell receives Speirs Medal

By Richard Wills, publications editor

Founder’s Day 2009 was a day to honour Will Mitchell for having led Selwyn House through nearly a quarter-century of unprecedented growth—a day of high praise for a man who insists he was just doing his job.

Mr. Mitchell, headmaster from January 1985 through December 2008, becomes the 31st person to receive the Speirs Medal, the highest honour bestowed on a member of the Selwyn House community.

At an all-school assembly in the morning of November 26, Mr. Mitchell described himself to his former students as “a fan of teachers.”

“Good faculty makes good schools,” he said, obviously proud of his former faculty for the “informal purposefulness” they display in their style of teaching. This approach, when coupled with a high degree of student engagement, results in a program of “twenty-first-century learning at its best,” he added.

Speaking to 250 parents, alumni and staff at the evening reception, Mr. Mitchell reiterated his belief in the importance of teachers, but also praised two other vital constituencies of the school—the volunteers and parents.

“The primary volunteers are the members of the Board of Directors,” he said. “I am especially grateful to the outstanding chairs I worked with: Tim Carsley, Tom Birks, Craig Shannon, Michael Goldbloom, John Hallward and Ted Claxton.”

Each of those persons, would, no doubt, return the thanks to Mr. Mitchell for having maintained an exemplary personal standard of fair play that has always been his strongest leadership quality.

“Anything I have been talking about in regard to moving the school forward, to the value of good teaching and to the need for generous volunteers would not, as my father used to say, ‘amount to a hill of beans’ if things are not done with caring and fairness, and integrity,” said Mr. Mitchell.

He then bid farewell to his extended family, saying he looked forward to a week of golfing in Scotland, a gift from the school on his retirement.

“None of the recipients of the Speirs Medal is more deserving than Will Mitchell,” said former Board Chair Michael Goldbloom, himself a past Speirs Medalist.

Current Board Chair Ted Claxton stressed the importance of increasing the presence of French language and Québec culture in the life of Selwyn House.

Headmaster Hal Hannaford appealed to the school community to continue to celebrate and promote the advantages of a boys’ school, and praised what he called “the unbelievable passion the Old Boys have.”

“Stay involved in your school,” he urged all his constituents. “Stay emotionally involved.”

Old Boys’ Association President David Skinner announced the names of five deceased staff members who were being honoured for having given 25 years of service to the school. They are: Christian Isabel Markland, Charles T. Anstey, Edgar Charles Moodey, Frederick Gordon Phillips and Afra Snead.

Five persons were added to the list of Honorary Old Boys for their service to the school. They are: alumni parents Sandy Martz, Nori Churchill-Smith and the late Valerie Brooks, plus retired Senior English teacher Kathi Biggs.

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