Author: YHS

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Celebrating Founders’ Day and Our Golden Alumnae

Senior choral ensemble, Ragazza singing the old hymn, Unto the Hills and Blue Skies at the Golden Alumnae Luncheon.

On Founders’ Day, Friday, September 27, alumnae from 1950-1969 were welcomed back to school by student executives. The day began with a tour of the 3rd floor Alumnae Art & Photo Gallery including a stunning exhibit by wildlife photographer, Taylor Green ’10, and a new Museum & Archives displays of sports and drama at York House.

A new archival photo collage, “The Early Years”, celebrating our Founders now graces the old Evans House mantlepiece, in the Parents’ Association Atrium where alumnae gathered for tours.
It’s always fun to find alumnae names on the Honour Roll Board.

Highlights of the Golden Alumnae luncheon included the celebration of reunions and the presentation of the YHS Alumnae Association Lifetime Achiever Award. To mark the special occasion of their 60th reunion, Mary Jean (Cooke) Otway-Ruthven ’59 wore her full YHS uniform. Both class reps, Mary Jean and Valerie (Clark) Roddick ‘59 shared their gratitude for the lovely luncheon and a most memorable reunion, which was very much appreciated by all at their table.

Mary Jean (Cooke) Otway-Ruthven ’59 in her full YHS uniform with Priscilla Clark, Associate Director of Alumnae Relations.
Members of the classes of 1969 and 1959 with fellow Yorkies by the Alumnae Class Photo Gallery.

The Class of 1969 celebrated their 50th reunion last summer. Those from the Class of 1969 who were also able to attend the Golden Luncheon, really enjoyed staying on for the Founders’ assembly. Class rep Natalie Clarke ’69 reported, “We were glad to see the York House values still maintained and to observe the dedication of all the staff and enthusiasm of the girls.”

Grade 3 presenting a most lively, I’m a York House Girl!
Shelley (Bowell) O’Callaghan ’66, 2019 Lifetime Achiever.

Shelley (Bowell) O’Callaghan ’66 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the YHS Alumnae Association at the luncheon, where she was joined by members of her family and classmates. Shelley is an author, passionate volunteer, and advocate for social justice, who has had 30 years experience as a lawyer and recognized as one of Canada’s leading environmental lawyers.

She inspired all with the sharing of her life’s journey, especially the creation of a charity, Friends for Zambia Twitti School Project, to raise money for the construction of a school for 450 students. Shelley continues to visit the school every year, which now has a sponsorship program to enable disadvantaged students to attend the school. Click here for Shelley’s biography.

L-R Shelley (Bowell) O’Callaghan ’66, Lifetime Achiever 2019; Julie Rousseau, Head of School; Diana (Cliff) Maughan ’70, Past Board Chair; Cindy Charkow ’66; Julie (Samis) Parker ’66; Hilary Johnston ’66; Susan (Leishman) Colquhoun ’66; Molly O’Callaghan and Michael O’Callaghan.
Junior Head Girl, Kate and Vice Head Girl, Hannah.

 

Before the luncheon was over, the Golden Alumnae were warmly welcomed by the Senior School Head girl, Olivia, and both the Junior School Head girl, Kate and Vice Head, Hannah, shared their thoughts on the Founders’ Day theme, “Finding Your True North.”

L-R Olivia, Head Girl; Joanne Lee-Young ’90, Past President, Alumnae Association; Derek Francis, husband of beloved teacher, the late Joanne Francis; Bill Sexsmith, Past Board Chair; Pat Sexsmith, Past Parent’s Association President; Nik Williams-Walshe, Director of Advancement; Nancy Gibson ’67, Past YHS Foundation Trustee; Barbara (Bentley) Hislop ’72, Past YHS Foundation Chair; and Leslie Cliff, Past YHS Foundation Trustee.

The luncheon ended after the most anticipated moment when the youngest Junior school students visit the Golden Alumnae and bring Yorkie chocolates for everyone.

Team of Junior students ready to deliver Yorkie Chocolates.
Junior students meeting the Golden Alumnae.

The luncheon was followed by the annual Founders’ assembly. Highlights included the presentation of YHS Alumnae pins to the Grade 12 grads, and the presentation of two YHS Foundation Awards.

The Caroline Anne Sexsmith Trausch award was presented to Jacqueline, Class of 2020 (center) with parents of Caroline, Bill Sexsmith, Past YHS Board Chair and Pat Sexsmith, Past Parent’s Association President.
The Katherine Manders Award was presented to Akash, Class of 2020, by Stevie Mitchell ’61, YHS Foundation Chair.

YHS Alumnae pins were presented to Grade 12 by the YHS Alumnae Association President and their alumnae sisters, mothers or grandmothers, a most cherished moment for Yorkie families.

Talia received her pin from her sisters, Eliana Horvath ’13, Shayna Horvath ’16 and her mother, Tamara Horvath ’87.
Sophia received her pin from her sister Sydney (Roberts) Socias ’04 and her mother Lisa Greczmiel ’82.
Golnar Khosrowshahi ’89, 2019 Alumnae Special Achiever.

The 2019 Alumnae Association Special Achiever Award was presented to Golnar Khosrowshahi ’89, Founder and CEO of Reservoir, a music publishing company. Golnar was named one of Billboard’s Most Powerful Female Executives and a Billboard Indie Power Player for 2017 and 2018. Furthermore, Reservoir was awarded Publisher of the Year at Music Business Worldwide, the A&R Awards in 2017. As she was not able to attend, a video of Golnar’s speech was screened during assembly. Click here to view the video.

Grade 4 with their music teacher Ellie Jung.

Grade 4’s lively rendition of the York House March and the singing of the school song with the whole school brought back many memories. Alumnae also found time to explore the exhibits from past decades in the YHS Museum & Archives and enjoyed the Class Reunion Photo Boards.

Golden Alumnae chat with the Archivist and Curator, Julie Grundvig.

We look forward to welcoming our Golden Alumnae back to next year’s Founders’ Day.

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Senior Tigers Update: October 10, 2019

SENIOR VOLLEYBALL PLACE 4TH OUT OF 40 AT DOUGLAS COLLEGE TOURNAMENT
Our Senior Volleyball Team placed 4th out of 40 teams at the Douglas College Tournament on October 4-5. While our Tigers season started a little slow, last week YHS defeated West Point Grey Academy 3 sets to 2, Notre Dame 3 sets to 1, St Thomas More 3 sets to 1 and then went on to have a great tournament. This week, YHS defeated Crofton House 3 sets to 1 raising their league record to 4 wins and 2 losses. Our Tigers are currently in first place in our Lower Mainland Independent School league and ranked 6th in BC among all ‘AA’ sized schools. We expect that ranking to move up next week.

Next week, our Senior Tigers travel to Rundle College in Calgary for the Western Canadian Independent Schools Volleyball Championships (WCISVC). YHS has attended this event every year since 1972 and YHS will be the host location for the 2020 WCISVC Championships next October.

SWIM TEAM AT ISAs
On Thursday, October 10, our Tigers swimmers face their first big test of the season by competing at the ISA Swim Championships at Watermania. YHS is the defending ISA Girl’s Champions. Results will be shared next week. Go Tigers!

CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM UPDATE
While all of our teams have been competing in weekly games and weekend tournaments, our Cross-Country Team has been quietly running along, literally. The Tigers compete at weekly cross-country meets against all other schools in our Lower Mainland Independent School league and have been enjoying some terrific results. The girls will be competing at our Zone Championships on October 22 at Jericho Park.

FIELD HOCKEY UPDATE
Our Varsity Team defeated Crofton House 3-1 in a recent league game while our Junior and Senior Teams have been competing hard and doing well in their respective league games.

All three field hockey teams will compete in an ISA competition on October 19-20. Our Junior and Senior Teams will travel to Shawnigan Lake School while our Varsity Team competes at the ISA Tier 1 Championships at Crofton House (CHS). Come cheer on the Tigers at CHS on October 18 at 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm and on October 19 at 10:00 am and following playoff game.

*WEEKLY FYI*

YORK HOUSE IN BC SCHOOL SPORT
Many may wonder about the organizational structure of high school sport in BC and where York House fits into it. I often get asked questions such as: 

  • Why does YHS not play Vancouver public schools? 
  • At BC Championships does YHS compete against all public and independent schools?
  • Why are we a ‘AA’ school?

This 2019-20 school year there are some brand new changes. Here is an overview of the organizational structure of sport:

Lower Mainland Independent School Athletic Association:
YHS is a member of the LMISSAA. This is our local league where we play our league games/meets against other teams in our LMISSAA league. During the season, YHS athletes/teams also compete in various invitational tournaments where we could play any school in BC (public or independent). We also set up friendly exhibition games against other schools.

Also, ISABC Schools (Independent Schools Association of BC) organize ISA events. These ISA Championships are simply for bragging rights among the ISA schools. It is also an opportunity for our teams to compete against schools like Southridge, Brentwood College, or St. Michaels University School. These are schools we may not normally meet over the course of a season.

LMISSAA Playoffs:
At the end of the regular season, we have LMISSAA playoffs to determine the final placings in our league. If YHS places high enough in our LMISSAA Championships, our teams will advance to the Zone Championships.

Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championships:
This is the first year for new zones in BC School Sports. YHS has always been in the Lower Mainland Zone, however, our new zone is the Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone (VS2S). This new zone includes the Lower Mainland Independent league schools, all Vancouver public schools, and all schools (public and independent) in North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound up to Whistler.  All senior YHS teams will now have to attend a VS2S Zone Championship event in order to qualify for BCs. The top athletes/teams at the VS2S Zone Championships earn a spot in the Provincial Championships. 

  • October 22: Cross-Country at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at Jericho
  • October 24-25: Varsity Field Hockey at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at Crofton House/Eric Hamber
  • October 29: Swim Team at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at Watermania
  • November 13-14: Senior Volleyball Team at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at St. Thomas Aquinas in North Vancouver

Provincial Championships:
BC School Sports (BCSS) runs BC Championships for almost all high school sports at the senior level. Some sports that do not have BCSS sanctioned championships are table tennis, water polo, rowing, and ice hockey. Grade 8 and Junior Provincial Championships are invitational events and not official BC Championships. BCSS Provincial Championships include all schools in BC (public and independent). However, some schools have large student populations while other schools are very small. 

How do we differentiate between these schools? BCSS has a tiering system based on student population. Large schools are ‘AAAA’ or ‘AAA’ and smaller schools are AA or A. It can be confusing as different sports have different tiering. For example, Crofton House and Little Flower are ‘AA’ in field hockey but are ‘AAA’  in volleyball as both have a larger student population than YHS. A larger student population does not always mean a stronger team. It is not uncommon for ‘AA’ to be stronger than ‘AAA’ in some sports.  

York House is a relatively small ‘AA’ sized school for all sports.

Our fall season athletes are working hard to qualify for the following BC Championships:

  • November 2: Cross-Country BC Championships in Abbotsford (Clearbrook Park)
  • November 6-8: Varsity Field Hockey BC Championships in Victoria (Lambrick Park Secondary)
  • November 15-16: Swim BC Championships in Richmond (Watermania)
  • November 28-30: Senior Volleyball Team BC Championships in Vernon (Kalamalka Secondary School)

David Prissinotti
Senior Athletics Director