CDS The LINK Winter 2024 : simplebooklet.com

THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 1CONTENTSON THE COVER More than 50 Alumni ranging in class years from 1996 to present participated in the Spring Music Concert last May. Join CDS Online Social Media www.facebook.com/TheCDS1972 www.twitter.com/TheCDS1972 www.youtube.com/TheCDS1972 www.instagram.com/TheCDS1972Network with CDS alumni at our LinkedIn page2 From the Editor 3 Message from the Head of School 4 School Highlights 16 Timelines 26 Athletic Highlights 34 Community News 35 Connections 39 Alumni Notes6 50th Anniversary Journal Highlights from our 50th anniversary year. 12 The Growing Mind Reclaiming Our Children’s Attention Spending less time on social media is associated with better academic perfor-mance, greater well being and deeper social connection. 22 Introducing our Class of 2023 You’ve made us proud—we wish you all the best!24 A Spirit of Adventure Down memory lane with original teacher Christine DeWitt.28 Caught! In the Spotlight Mark your calendars for the upcoming Senior and Junior drama productions!30 Graduation 2023 and Retirements Excerpts from Junior, Middle and Senior School ceremonies and farewell to two faculty legends.36 Riding the Dream Kendal Lehari ’05 and her aspirations for Paris 2024.38 Remembering Walter Davison Jim Bayler’s telegram remarks in memory of a colleague and friend.DEPARTMENTSFEATURESWINTER 2024The Junior School’s Burns Family Hall was o cially opened on the  rst day of school followed by a reception the evening of September 7th for our parents, donors and friends. Thank you to all who contributed to our Building Magic Campaign! We could not have raised $8.4 million toward the rejuvenation of our Junior School without you!6

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2 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKAS EDITOR OF  e Link, I started chronicling the history of CDS upon my arrival in 2012. Over the past 10 years, I gathered oral histo-ries from our founders and families who were there from the beginning, some of whom we’ve since lost, including Sheila  omson, Janet and Peter van Nostrand, Michael and Sue Burns, and Moﬀ at Dunlap.  ese friends were always very loyal to CDS and are dearly missed.Excerpts from these memories will be included in the 50th anniversary coﬀ ee table book, Vision & Wonder, due out this spring. It has been a labour of love for recently retired teachers Scott Garbe, Steve McCutcheon and myself, with beautiful de-sign work by Communications Coordinator Tabitha Ma ’12. We are immensely grate-ful to the alumni and past parent volunteers who assisted in pouring through archival photos over the past year.As much as we wish we could include many more photos and stories, this book is our best attempt to chronicle  e Country Day School’s ﬁ rst ﬁ ve decades. As a school, we are now looking forward to the next 50 years and hope Vision & Wonder will serve as the foundation for our archival history moving forward. We are excited and hope you will consider purchasing a copy for your family.While not technically part of our an-niversary year, my highlight from last year was a visit by our second Head of School, Robert Ross, which happened shortly after the grand opening of the new Junior School wing.I remember the ﬁ rst time I phoned Robert Ross in Victoria, BC, to introduce myself in 2013. Within minutes, it felt like I had known him forever.  at is just the type of person he is. Both he and his wife, theEDITOR Kim SillcoxDirector of Communications and MarketingCONTRIBUTORS Gisa Bevacqua-TironeAmy CicchilloScott GarbeJohn LiggettKaren SumnerJen WeeningKerstin Wyndham-WestDESIGNMichael CherkasPHOTOGRAPHYStan Behal PhotographyShannon BrinkmanGord ButlerNick IwanyshynZach LawtonBeatrice StefanescuDann Tardi Jen WeeningThe Link The Country Day School13415 Du erin StreetKing, ON L7B 1K5T: 90 5.833.122 0F: 905.833.3655E: communications@cds.on.cawww.cds.on.caCorrespondence is welcomeThe Link is published by the O ce of Community Relations at The Country Day School for CDS families, alumni, sta , faculty and friends.TREASURED MEMORIESFirst 50 years to be celebrated in new coﬀ ee table book FROM THE EDITORDeanna, exude warmth, and remember their 13 years at CDS as if it were yester-day. A natural storyteller, he shared a few memories right oﬀ the bat, and I let him know that I was gathering oral histories and would be back in contact in a few years to gather his.We ran Robert’s legacy story in the spring 2019 issue of  e Link. Responsible for expanding the Junior School, acquiring the property and additional land, and the decision to build a Senior School, Robert helped lead CDS to new heights. I ﬁ nally had the privilege of meeting Robert and Deanna in person at the end of September.  ey don’t return to Ontario often and thankfully managed to carve out a morning to visit CDS on a recent trip. In their honour, we had a small group of friends join us for breakfast in the Eversley Schoolhouse. It was a joyful occasion with lots of remi-niscing. It also brought together our remain-ing living Headmasters for the ﬁ rst time: Robert, Paul Duckett and John Liggett.  e last time this happened, John Pratt was still alive and it was John, Robert and Paul together at the 25th anniversary in 1997. e Rosses were amazed at how much the school had grown, yet remained the same. At one point, Robert stepped away to converse with a group of Grade 12 stu-dents in the Sue and Michael Burns Grad Lounge. A natural teacher, they were drawn to him and readily engaged with this for-mer Headmaster. Once an educator, always an educator. ■ Kim SillcoxDirector of Communications and Marketing

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 3ON TO THE NEXT 50 YEARS… Let’s use this bellwether anniversary as an opportunity to continue to dream“...we will always preserve that sense of connectedness and community that underpins everything in the school.”This past year,  e Country Day School marked its 50th anniversary —and what a wonderful time we had celebrating! Understandably, we spent most of the year fondly looking back on how much the school has grown and evolved from its humble beginnings to where we are today: opening with just 47 students in 1972 to 806 in 2023. One can only marvel at the growth and expansion CDS has achieved in its ﬁ rst ﬁ ve decades.  is could only have happened with the help of community members who were passionate about our school’s potential and optimistic about where we were headed. Whether devoted parents or school leaders, it required all of them working together with their sights set on a common goal—oﬀ ering CDS students the best education imaginable.In June, we lost our dear friend Michael Burns, the lead donor to the Building Magic campaign and a beloved father, grandfather, friend and past Board Chair.  en, on September 11th, our opening day 51 years ago, we lost one of our beloved co-founders, Moﬀ at Dunlap, a father of four CDS students, devoted volunteer and Auction Chair, donor, and friend.  ese community members, along with their spouses and peers, helped guide us to where we are today.With an acknowledgment of our past and our dear founders, we turn this bellwether anniversary into an opportunity to dream about and look forward to the next 50 years. We want to continue to build and advance our strong reputation as a leading educational institution. To grow even stronger in supporting, knowing and inspiring our students. To continue to provide innovative and engaging programs through educators who genuinely care. And to provide an Education with Balance in order to allow the body, soul and mind of each student to ﬂ ourish.But no matter what we continue to grow into, we will always preserve that sense of connectedness and community that underpins everything in the school.  at spirit was there when the school began half a century ago, and we will muster our collective forces to ensure it remains strong 50 years from now. ■ John Liggett Head of SchoolMESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

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4 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKSickKids Led Healthcare Initiative Comes to CDSSenior School students were given an extraordinary opportunity through the school’s Health Sciences Club to participate in a Canadian healthcare initiative led by Sick-Kids known as CALIPER.  is project was created to establish a database of normal blood test values in children. Seventy-three CDS students stepped forward to donate their blood for this wonderful cause. As Co-Coordinators of the Health Sciences Club, Harkin Porter ’24 and Alessia Malfara ’25 were thrilled when SickKids approached the school about hosting a clinic.News from around CDSSCHOOL HIGHLIGHTSCDS Opens MakerspaceIn September, CDS opened a makerspace where Middle and Senior School students can collaborate to create, invent and learn.  is work space provides access to laser cutters/engravers, three 3D printers, a vinyl cutter, T-shirt heat press and profes-sional 10-co-lour inkjet printer.  ere are two high-top work tables where groups can strategize and design their prototypes. It is the perfect spot for the new Grade 11 Entre-preneurship class to gather for class projects, as well as the new Grade 11 Non-Traditional Art class where students are work-ing on mixed-media projects, with both classes frequently re-lying on the new tools available.MASCOT MONDAY WAS CYCLONIC! In case you hadn’t heard, CDS mascot Storm the Cyclone won the Toronto private school top mascot competition for 2023 in a heated ﬁ nal round against Branksome Hall and Crescent School. Our community launched incredible school spirit in order to earn this amazing opportunity for our students, who had a blast lining the hallways to welcome our guests.

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 5TERRY FOX DAY Students and faculty/sta ran and walked for Terry Fox once again and had a glorious day for it! Over the past 32 years, CDS hasraised $541,683for the Terry Fox Foundation.CISMF Returns after Four Years e much-anticipated Confer-ence of Independent Schools’ Music Festival (CISMF) re-turned to Roy  omson Hall in April. 2023 CISMF facts: Of the 1100 student performers, 65 were from CDS. Jesse Novik ’24 and Ali Kahn ’23both had solos. CDS was represented in the highly com-petitive Jazz Band. And Lanna Wappel ’27 and Liam Gun-ning ’27 had a solo in the MS Concert Band. Shout out to Audrey Jiang ’26 for designing the program cover!CDS HOSTS WORLD-RENOWNED TRUMPETERJens Lindemann and three JUNO Award-winning friends—Robi Botos, Mike Downes and Ernesto Cervini—performed an unbelievable jazz concert in October featuring the music of Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Chaplin, and more. Prior to the concert, Jens led a masterclass for our Middle and Senior School Concert Band students. Thank you to the Karch family for making this possible.Duke of Edinburgh Youth SummitJack Brown ’25 and Zak Khan ’25 attended the Duke of Edinburgh Youth Summit in Toronto last spring with students from across the GTA currently working on their award.  ey had an opportunity to speak with HRH Prince Edward, the new Duke of Edinburgh, and Lieutenant Governor of On-tario Elizabeth Dowdeswell.

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 7IT WAS A YEAR for the history books coming oﬀ a pandemic, with our ﬁ rst Welcome Back Barbeque in three years and the opening of our Junior School delayed until fall, but we did it! We are grateful to all of our community members who joined us to celebrate this milestone and cannot wait to share the upcoming 50th anniversary coﬀ ee table book with you this spring. From the ringing endorsements echoed throughout our Alumni 50 in 50 video testimonials to our record student population this year (806), Education with Balance is alive and well at CDS!A YEAR IN PICTURES A PHOTO JOURNAL OF OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARYThe 50th Welcome Back Barbeque on September 7, 2022 was also the  rst time our community had gathered for this event in three years! Thank you to our wonderful Parent Association for helping to make it such a success!Our year of celebrations culminated in the Grand Opening of the JuniorSchool and Burns Family Hall on September 7, 2023

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ers but also to organizations that want us to do something in particular or think some-thing in particular. Viewing human attention as a scarce com-modity to be extracted from individuals and sold to the highest bidder is sometimes called the “attention economy.” And continually growing that economy is the number one goal of big tech companies.Every social media app is in a race to get as much of our attention as it can. And the younger they get our children hooked, the better for their bottom line. Our kids might just be the most valuable “products” for sale in the worldwide attention economy.How tech companies get our attentionSocial media apps are expressly designed to capture and hold human attention.  ey are built on what is called persuasive technol-ogy, which is created speciﬁ cally to shape our opinions, attitudes and behaviors.  e basic idea is to convince all of us to spend more time viewing, clicking and scrolling.Here are just some of the tactics they use:Push noti cations: Even when the app is closed, we are notiﬁ ed of a comment on a post or tag on a photo or new content pushed by an algorithm. Psychologically, notiﬁ cations that buzz, vibrate, pop up or use red dots are experienced as “danger,” and so we check them to relieve anxiety.Unpredictability: Our human instinct is to pay attention to changes in our environ-ment. “Pings” coming in on a regular sched-ule will eventually be ignored. Unpredictable and irregular notiﬁ cations get our attention, which app designers know and put to use.Variable rewards: We are also stimulated by activities where we sometimes win and sometimes don’t. As Max Stossel, the Youth and Education Advisor for the Center for Humane Technology, says, “Our phones are designed like slot machines… Sometimes we get a ‘hit’ and sometimes not.”  at’s the basis for a gambling—or social media—addiction.(continued on page 14) THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 13ILLUSTRATION: iSTOCKSMARTBOY10

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14 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKDopamine release: When we get those “hits”—a notification, an autoplay video, a search result designed to conﬁ rm one of our views—we experience a release of dopamine, one of the pleasure hormones. App designers know that we will scroll and scroll and scroll, seeking that (variable) reward.In nite scroll:  ere is no bottom to our scrolling, which means that we do not receive a signal that an activity has come to an end.  is is a highly unusual human experience, as all things in life have natural terminal points (a driver reaches a destination, a class ends, a ﬁ lm concludes).Recommendations:  e majority of what we view online comes from recommenda-tions. This content is designed to be atten-tion-getting—exaggerated claims, provoca-tive stories or photos, intentional distortions or half-truths, and so on. Recommendations are someone else’s idea of what we should be interested in and often draw us into emotion-ally-charged content.Snapchat streaks: Teens, in particular, worry about streaks coming to an end. It’s both a gamiﬁ cation element (maintaining a streak is a “win”) and a feature that generates social anxiety. Teens worry about the implied message when a streak ends: “You are not liked” or “I have been rejected.”Threat of not belonging: Social media apps draw heavily on the human desire to be-long, to be accepted, to be liked.  is desire is especially strong in tweens and teens who have an intense need for connection and ap-proval. Being oﬄ ine or “missing out” can feel like being outcast, unsafe and forgotten.What young people lose when their attention is hijackedTime spent on social media is a signiﬁ cant predictor of depression for adolescents. It is associated with mental health and behav-ioural problems, poor academic performance, greater loneliness, lower self-esteem, and worse sleep. It is also correlated with devel-opmental delays in language, in problem-solving and in social interaction.Many young people also report that they feel like they “lose themselves” online. As Max Stossel points out, they learn at an early age that in order to be heard online, they must compete for attention via likes, com-ments and performative behaviour.  e more they feel compelled to be “noisy” and per-form for others, the less many teens feel like their authentic selves. A loss of authenticity may be one reason why time spent online is associated with mental and social struggles.Data collected by  e Country Day School in 2023 conﬁ rms some of these broader ﬁ nd-ings. Fifty-ﬁ ve percent of students reported that they spend one to three hours on social media each school day, and 30% reported that they spend more than three hours daily on their apps. In all, the weighted average across all stu-dents was two and a half hours per school day, which is consistent with other studies.In some interesting cross-tabulations, CDS students who are less satisﬁ ed with school life report spending significantly more time on social media.  ose same “less satisﬁ ed” stu-dents are also more likely to spend very little time (less than one hour) or a great deal of time (more than three hours) on homework, suggesting a problematic relationship with school work.  ese students also indicate that they sleep less than six hours on school nights, which is concerning as sleep plays a central role in helping students retain and recall what they have learned and use their new knowledge to come up with creative and innovative solutions.On the ﬂ ipside, students who report that they get enough sleep each night are more likely to have an A average and to look for-ward to coming to school every day.  ese students also tend to be more engaged in ex-tra-curricular activities, feel a stronger sense of belonging, and feel capable of balancing all of their commitments.In sum: Students who spend more time on social media tend to sleep less, either spend very little time or quite protracted time on homework, get lower grades, and be less satisﬁ ed with and engaged in school and extra-curricular life. These correla-“I know I use social media too much. As soon as I wake up, I check my phone. It’s a huge distraction for me and some of the content can a ect my mood.”THE GROWING MIND“I hate social media so much, but I use it all the time.”“The thought of being the ‘product’ for social media companies is creepy.”(continued from page 13)* Quotes provided anonymously by CDS Senior School students

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 15tions are consistent with youth data col-lected by other organizations.Young people are aggressively targeted by social media companies because their time spent on apps is a highly valuable commod-ity in the attention economy. And the more of their attention tech companies get, the less kids sleep, have a balanced approach to home-work, feel mentally healthy, are engaged in school and other activities, and feel a sense of belonging to their community. Our kids need help.  ey can live more fulﬁ lling, engaged and emotionally connect-ed lives with less time on social media.  at means getting more of their attention back where it belongs: under their own control.How young people can reduce social media useHelping young people understand social me-dia tactics is job one. Families can openly talk about how attention is hijacked and why young people worry when they disconnect from their devices—especially the fear of being rejected or not belonging. Expressing those fears won’t make them go away. But our kids don’t have to carry them alone. We can let them know that everyone has these worries, even adults, and talk about the ways social media use actually intensiﬁ es rather than relieves them.To help reduce their social media use, the Center for Humane Technology oﬀ ers these pointers for young people:Get clear about your “why.” Ask yourself why you use social media and how it impacts your life. Consider where else you could di-rect your attention. Clarify which life goals could use more time and energy. Come up with reasons why you would like to take back more control.Conduct an honest self survey. What apps make you feel better? Which make you feel worse? When do you feel regret over your social media use? Are you proud of the way you conduct yourself online? Are you the per-son you want to be?Set realistic, attainable goals. Would you like to set time constraints on social media use? Or change a habit on a speciﬁ c media platform? Or get rid of an app altogether? Or change your online behaviour? Explore what could take the place of some social media use, and keep a list of goals to review on a regular basis.Disrupt some persuasive techniques. Turn oﬀ phone and app notiﬁ cations from algorithms (keep the most important human ones). Change settings in apps, like turning oﬀ autoplay on YouTube. Get an alarm clock rather than relying on the phone as an alarm (so it’s not in hand ﬁ rst thing every day). Use Apple’s Screen Time or Android’s Digital Well-Being tools to track use. Create family changes. Your family can come up with some new habits that will re-duce everyone’s social media use, like cutting back together phone time or certain apps, agreeing on “no phone” zones, and sharing some screen time (like movie nights). Have a screen-free hour before bedtime every night to promote better sleep, since the blue light of our screens stimulates wakefulness.Create friend group changes. Change your habits together with your friends. You can delete a selected app for a week and talk about how it feels. You can set guidelines for school nights, such as putting phones away during homework. You can have agreements when you socialize in real life about when to use your phones. Have fun coming up with diﬀ erent challenges together and no-one will feel left out.It’s probably a good idea for all of us to au-dit our time on social media. But the impact of these apps on the development of young people—who are pursued by tech compa-nies looking for a lifetime of “product” to sell in the attention economy—is especially troubling. Research tells us that more time spent on social media is associated with less sleep, struggles with homework, lower grades, lower engagement in school life and extra-curriculars, and less of a sense of community and belonging.Let’s help the young people in our lives re-shape their thinking and habits around social media and reclaim their attention for better things. ■“In the past, my phone has kept me up at night. But this year, I’m making an e ort to read more before bed. I used to read a lot and I’m getting back to it now. That’s brought down my phone use.”“I keep my phone on during homework. What if someone needs me? What if something is happening? That makes me anxious. I de nitely have FOMO—fear of missing out.”“Sometimes I ask myself, ‘What could I do if I wasn’t on social media so much?’”

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16 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKHIGHLIGHTSJUNIOR SCHOOLAPRIL 1. Excitement ﬁ lled the air as children’s author Catherine Nevin-Pike read her book Snowy Prints to our Junior and Senior Kindergarten students. In the story, a mother and child go on a snowy adventure walk prompting our students to have fun predicting what kind of animal made each set of tracks they encounter along the way.2. JKs took a plunge under the sea! After having their tickets stamped by Captain Wildberger, the students boarded the HMCS CDS to check out some of the wonders that live under the sea. The sights and sounds of the submarine were brought to life as the students looked through portholes to see ﬁ sh, turtles, sharks and some familiar faces snorkeling by. MAY 3. One of our ﬁ nest days of the year... Grandparents’ Day returned in May after a three-year hiatus. Our Junior School students took immense joy in guiding their grandparents, sharing their classrooms and entertaining our CDS Grandparent community at a spring music concert following lunch! 4. The Grade 6 Pathways to People leaders organized and facilitated a Strides for Sun Safety Walk for the entire Junior School. More than $1000 was raised to beneﬁ t the David Cornﬁ eld Melanoma Fund. Pathways members led each JS class through the Five S’s of Sun Safety: Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide! Before heading outside, students slid on sunglasses donated by the Pasquali family (graduates Luke ’17, Julian ’19 and Isabella ’22). JUNE 5. SK students had an epic adventure into space! Once our astronauts were prepared for blast off with their helmets and jet packs secure and ready, they headed to their rocket ship where Astronomy in Action was waiting with their portable planetarium in the gym. When securely all inside, the students blasted off and toured the solar system, making it back to Earth in time for lunch! SEPTEMBER 6. MASCOT MONDAY PEP RALLYMr. Bartle organized fun games for Raptor and Carlton to play with Storm the Cyclone, including “Minute to Win It,” and all three hammed it up for the exuberant crowd. Our community launched incredible school spirit in order to earn this amazing opportunity for our students, who had a blast lining the hallways to welcome our guests. What a spirit-infused day to remember!7. Congratulations to our Grade 6 students Ben Li, Eric Huang and Emily Li who helped CDS ﬁ nish ﬁ rst in the Mathematica Canadian National Championships for Grade 5 students last spring!8. In honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, our Outdoor Education specialists teamed up with our Junior School Library to present an interactive outdoor Book Walk featur-ing Brittany Luby’s book Encounter for all students in JK to Grade 6 to experience. The story explores how encounters can create community and celebrates varying perspectives and the wonder of our natural world. OCTOBER 9. Grade 6s attended an overnight lead-ership camp at Medeba near Haliburton. They enjoyed a variety of activities to help them reﬂ ect on themselves while developing their leadership skills. From the long zipline over a pond, to running Pictionary and geocaching, the students were engaged and challenged them-selves while developing teamwork. 10. The Grade 6 Pathways to People team gathered 86 boxes of food for the King Township Food Bank Thanksgiving food drive. NOVEMBER 11. For Remembrance Day, every Junior School student helped create a com-munity poppy by each placing a red or black stone in the formation of a poppy on display in the Burns Family Hall. This served as a reminder that every person in this school plays a part in bringing peace to our world. 12. Ms. Waller’s Grade 2 class called in their “Study Buddies,” aka Ms. Hudson’s Grade 11 English students, to help them conduct a research project on animals.13. Grade 5 students visited Queen’s Park in Toronto as part of their social studies unit on the three levels of government in Canada. DECEMBER 14. Pathways to People hosted the annual Book and Treat Sale in the Junior School Gym and raised $3,212 dollars for three local charities: Blue Door Leeder Place, Rose of Sharon and The Welcome Table.TIMELINES14812

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18 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKHIGHLIGHTSMIDDLE SCHOOLAPRIL 1. For the ﬁ rst time ever, Junior, Middle and Senior School students all celebrated Language Week with the intent to teach appreciation and respect for the many cultures where French and Spanish are spoken. MAY 2. Grade 7 students learned about Pop Art and made connections to today’s popular mass culture. After understand-ing and practicing using the various tools available on iPads, students created a celebrity portrait. These different colour layers were then converted into a fun GIF!3. Middle School musicians helped raise the roof at the Spring Music Concert! JUNE 4. Fun was had by all at the Grade 8 graduation celebration and Grade 7 end-of-year party. SEPTEMBER 5. Students in the Grade 7 Health class worked collaboratively in groups to dis-cuss concussion prevention, symptoms and treatment. They then presented their information and ﬁ ndings to the class.6. Students wore their orange shirts on the Friday before the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation to acknowledge Canada’s legacy of residential schools and celebrate the survivors and their families. OCTOBER 7. Prior to the Thanksgiving weekend, the Grade 7s spent three fun-packed days at Camp Mini-Yo-Me. What a great way to kick off a two-year journey in the Middle School together! 8. Middle School students explored the Back 40 during their mountain biking unit in Phys. Ed., pushing limits, building conﬁ dence, and developing a love for the great outdoors.9. Grade 8 students beneﬁ ted from a Basic Life Support Skills workshop led by cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Varun Kapila (CDS Parent and Board member) and dentists Dr. Reyhani and Dr. Bianchi. Training focused on essential life-saving skills like CPR and provided a deep dive into the intricacies of the cardiovascular system. Members from the Senior School Health Science Club assisted. NOVEMBER 10. The Middle & Senior School Remembrance Day assembly included performances from both our Drama and Music Departments, who poured a great deal of thought and creativity into the act of remembering those who made the ultimate sacriﬁ ce for our country. 11. The Grade 7 and 8 students, as well as Grade 9s and Senior Helpers, put forth an incredible performance in all three productions of A Lighter Shade of Noir!12. Students learned the basics of the international game of cricket—bowling, batting and catching the cricket ball—with coaches from Cricket Canada in the Cyclone Dome. DECEMBER 13. This year there were 12,897 participants worldwide in the University of Waterloo Beaver Computing Challenge with an average score of 64.55 out of 90. Out of the 58 CDS students who competed, 15 received Certiﬁ cates of Distinction for achieving an average of 84 or higher and and these seven students achieved a perfect score of 90: (l-r) Ginia Zhang (8), Mia Zhu (8), Kevin Zhai (8), Santtu Koskinen (7), Mina Matsui (7), Lily Gottdenker (7) and Lucas Rites (7). Over the past 10 years, there have been only three perfect scores in total (in 2020 there was one, and in 2021 there were two). Well done CDS!TIMELINES128

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20 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKHIGHLIGHTSSENIOR SCHOOLMARCH 1. Over March Break, two student groups (a Grade 11–12 group and a Grade 10 group), totalling 75 students and eight faculty chaperones, took an unforget-table 10-day Social Sciences tour of Italy, with each following a very similar itiner-ary. Students travelled from Sorrento to the island of Capri, Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii, Monte Cassino and Rome, San Gimignano and Florence and, last but not least, Venice. Magniﬁ co! APRIL 2. A jazzed up Middle/Senior Assembly chased away the Monday blues thanks to the @bigsmokebrassband The Toronto-based performers lit up the theatre with their heavy-hitting sound that included pop classics, original music and Top 40 hits. The band then sat down with our senior music students for a question-and-answer opportunity.3. The music department hosted its ﬁ rst ISU Senior Vocal Recital for students in the Grade 11 & 12 Vocal program with fantastic performances by Ella Bal-lard ’24, Derya Karakul ’24, Isabelle Gu ’23, Jessica Grossman ’24, Avalyn Woods ’24 and Avery Tallman ’24.4. The Senior Drama Class traveled to Stratford to perform and participate in the Conference of Independent Schools Drama Festival (CISDF) for three days of workshops with industry professionals. MAY 5. Music students dazzled their audience at the Spring Music Concert!6. At the third and ﬁ nal Fulford League Debate tournament of the year, Ananya Kapur ’26 and Olivia Budweth ’25 competed as the Junior team while Sarah Croxon ’24 and Jack Brown ’25 competed as the Senior team. Olivia placed 2nd overall and Ananya placed in the top half of the competitors in the Junior Division. Sarah placed 2nd and Jack placed 4th in the Senior Division.7. The Diversity Club honoured Asian Heritage Month showcasing the impor-tant role Asian Canadians have played in shaping Canada’s social and cultural landscape.8. Mr. Edwards brought his Grade 12 Physics students on the annual trip to Canada’s Wonderland to experience inertia, acceleration, forces and so much more ﬁ rsthand! Congrats to Katie Chang and Briana Mascan on winning the Park Engineer Award.9. Twenty students in Grades 11 and 12 participated in the Canadian Computing Competition where they had three hours to complete ﬁ ve computer programs that solve real world problems. With a total of 6242 contestants, the worldwide average score was 39. Congratulations to the following students: Certiﬁ cates of Distinction (top 20%) Zak Khan ’25 (51) and Adam Montgomery ’24 (51). Wa-terloo Honour Roll: Jason Liang ’25 (64), Stone Li ’24 (64), and Kevin Yang ’24 (66) (top 2% of competitors).10. Grade 12 artists were celebrated at the annual Grad X art show in Rogers Hall. SEPTEMBER 11. Grade 12 English students traveled to Stratford to see a matinee perfor-mance of King Lear. 12. Twenty-eight students in Grades 10-12 enjoyed a four-day canoe trip to beautiful Temagami.13. EcoSpark was back on campus to lead a stream study for Grade 11 Biology and Environmental Science students. The data is used to study the quality of the stream in our Back 40 that forms part of the headwaters of the East Humber River that ﬂ ows down to Lake Ontario. OCTOBER 14. Grade 9s travelled to Camp Wanakita for four days to take part in ropes courses, hikes, canoeing and team-building activities. 15. The Senior School Art room had a Harley Davidson 1200 Sportster motor-cycle on display—a generous loan from Ms. Kuchmak’s husband, Jesse. Each Senior Arts class took part in drawing from life lessons, including line drawings, outline drawings, chalk form drawings, contour drawings and full observational drawings of this engaging subject!16. CDS won top overall Canadian school and placed 2nd overall at the International Independent Schools’ Public Speaking Competition in Vancouver! Millie Steinmann ’25 won 1st in Drama, 2nd in impromptu and 4th speaker overall. Sarah Croxon ’24 placed 2nd for persuasive and placed 13th overall, qualifying for worlds! Ethan Wahba ’24 made ﬁ nals for his persuasive speech, placing top 10 in this category, and 22nd speaker overall out of 113 competitors. NOVEMBER 17. The Grade 10 History classes undertook their annual two-day ﬁ eld experience and trench building exercise to enhance their understanding of the efforts of soldiers in World War One.TIMELINES1591315

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 23Our 81 graduates have demonstrated immense grit and resilience during their high school careers and have accepted oﬀ ers of admission to top programs at a diverse selection of post-secondary institutions across Canada, the US and UK. Well done, Class of 2023! We could not be prouder of you and wish you all the best!Acadia UniversityBabson CollegeBerklee College of MusicBrock UniversityBrown UniversityDalhousie University Fanshawe CollegeFleming CollegeHumber CollegeMcGill University McMaster UniversityNew York University OCAD UniversityProvidence CollegeQueen’s Bader CollegeQueen’s UniversityToronto Metropolitan University Trent University University of British Columbia University of GuelphUniversity of ManitobaUniversity of OttawaUniversity of Sussex University of TorontoUniversity of WaterlooWestern UniversityWilfrid Laurier UniversityYork University2023!Dryden AingeAli AzrilyantRylee BairdTyler BannermanGeorgia BenjaminLeo BigourdanTanysa BobechkoSophia BroekaertKate BurleighAbbey ButlerKatie ChangAustin ChenJordan ChenHannah ClarkeAndrew CregliaEvan DallimoreGrace DaltonNiccola Di BattistaMichael Di PoceReaghan DonnellyReese FalkenbergLuca FazzariJack FogertyKavan FredricDaniela Galviz NeiraOlivia GaterLeah GawzaAlexander GhezziJacob GinsbergStephanie GodlerAlex GomesIsabelle GuLeah HanrahanJaxon HekkenbergKarisa JiwaniLizzy JonesAleyna KayaAli KhanIsaac KhanLauren KirtonCatie KostopoulosCameron KroupaEvan LabelleRigas LambakisNathan LangRanly LiChelsea LoweAbbey MagarelliSahib MangatSimran MangatDaniel MarcelliMadison MarianiSarah MartinAngelo MarzilliBriana MascanMichelle MatianaHadley McHenryKassandra MirandaFateh NijjarLeah RitesMatthew RotundoJessie RudinBronwyn SchemmerCameron SegalLuke ShipleyKayla SokulluLaura SunMia SungLauren SzaboKatherine TchernychovaChristian TognarelliAlex TottenSarah VentinOliver VienRyan VinderineVictoria WangNora WelsbyMichelle YeMaddy YoungRichie ZhangRayna ZhouPOST-SECONDARY INSTITUTION DESTINATIONS100%RESILIENCY

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24 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKWas John Pratt so persuasive that he could convince Christine to teach in the “Great White North”? Or, as the daughter of one of the ﬁ rst female solo pilots in France (at the tender age of 17, no less), was Christine’s own sense of adventure the central factor? It may have been a bit of both, as relayed by Christine during CDS’s recent 50th anniversary year.“In 1971, John Pratt and a group of educa-tors walked into my classroom [in New Jersey] and talked to me brieﬂ y. He said, ‘I was thinking of starting a new school in Ontario, Canada. Would you be interested?’ And I replied, ‘I don’t think so.’“I came back to California to stay with my parents for a little while.  en I got a follow-up call from John saying something like, ‘We really need somebody with your expertise. You would be a fabulous addition in early childhood Pre-K.’ I told him that I was worried about Canadian citizenship paperwork and he waved away my concern. ‘Oh, we can do the paperwork for you. Come on, you’ll love it.’ So, I said yes and the whole process started. My six-year-old A SPIRIT OF ADVENTUREMemories of Original Teacher, Christine DeWittGathered by Scott GarbeFEATUREIn many ways, the origin story of CDS is one of adventure, vision and innovation. It was an exercise in convincing a group of individuals to come aboard a journey where the landscape had yet to be created. Sometimes those individuals were found in the unlikeliest of places–in Tenaﬂ y, New Jersey, for example.  at is where CDS’s ﬁ rst Head of School, John Pratt, discovered a young educator named Christine DeWitt.  eir meeting would lead to her being one of the original three teachers at CDS during its inaugural year. Christine DeWitt outside at recess with her class, 1972-73. (below) Field trip to a farm across the street during winter 1973.

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 25son Dominic [who attended that ﬁ rst year] and I left at the beginning of July in my ‘62 Oldsmobile convertible. I drove the entire Paciﬁ c Northwest all the way to Vancouver, then across Canada to Ontario.“Upon my arrival, everyone was so wel-coming. Outside of school we played tennis, went to people’s houses, met with parents. People were interested in a diﬀ erent type of education and were excited about what we were doing. All the children were growing and learning and having great results.“We worked really hard. We built the Shakespearian stage, we built tables, we made all sorts of things for the classrooms. I think we started with 47 students alto-gether in the whole school, and I had prob-ably 10 children in my primary class. I also taught French. After I ﬁ nished the morn-ing session, I would go around and teach French to each of the kids and make it fun for them. I even prepared a little restaurant scene for them and had cooking classes en français. I also taught the older kids to play the guitar.“About a month after school started, Mr. Pratt asked me if I would be willing to pick up some of the students in the mornings and bring them back home in the afternoons in the school van. So I started doing that too.  at’s what you did. You helped do whatever tasks you were asked to help out with.  e Headmaster even drove the bus. “Later that winter, I remember stand-ing out in my snowsuit and my boots and my earmuﬀ s, and there were icicles forming from my nose. It was about 50 below with the wind chill factor. And the kids were out-side playing hockey in the ﬁ eld and running around, laughing, with red cheeks and noses. And I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh. Not so fun. Okay, that’s it.’ I went to Mr. Pratt and said, ‘You know, John, the weather is really bad here. I’m a California girl.’ Otherwise, I would have stayed. I loved it.” But like CDS, the adventure for Christine, both in education and the broader world, would continue.“I’ve always had a sense of adventure, some-thing I probably inherited from my mother. When I turned 50, I went skydiving. I’ve gone hot air ballooning. I’ve seen all 50 states and driven most of them myself. I’ve been to Australia and the Fiji Islands. I’ve gone cross country in an RV. I became interested in education because I didn’t like the way I was taught in school. Everybody doesn’t learn the same way. I felt that if I could teach some lessons to my son and to other young people, that they would be able to enjoy life. You know, that was worth it for me.”Fifty years on, the joy for living and learning that Ms. DeWitt brought with her to CDS con-tinues to ripple forward into its future, lit by beams of metaphorical California sunshine that she was gracious enough to have left behind. ■(left) Christine plays guitar for Grade 7/8 students in front of the Shakespearan stage in the one-room schoolhouse. (right) Christine came back for CDS’s 25th anniversary and is pictured here with Di Hawksworth to her left and  rst Headmaster John Pratt.“EVERYBODY DOESN’T LEARN THE SAME WAY. AND I FELT THAT IF I COULD TEACH SOME LESSONS TO MY SON AND TO OTHER PEOPLE, THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO ENJOY LIFE. YOU KNOW, THAT WAS WORTH IT FOR ME.”s t r t.

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 27“Competition is a rivalry. It is a battle to prove yourself to the most important person—your-self. Although it is important to stay composed, competition is a way of expressing your excitement and enjoyment of an activity. I believe that in order to be successful, at least one aspect of your identity has to be com-posed of a competitive spirit.“Next is teamwork. Coopera-tion is of the utmost impor-tance. Without it, nothing is possible. Whether it be a coach and an individual player or a whole cast working together to achieve one goal, team-work must be mastered. But I also think of teamwork as an individual activity in its own right. How we come back from struggle, and how we interpret a situation can truly dictate an outcome… And that is a battle to work out with yourself and no one else.“Finally, discipline: the most undermined factor. In my opinion, discipline is even more vital than motivation. My understanding of discipline is that it entails carrying on with an activity, even when there is little or no desire to do so. It allows us to overcome our ten-dencies of laziness and prioritize logical reason over emotional response. Conﬁ dence is also a by-product of discipline. Be sure of yourself, even when there’s doubt against you. “As Michael Phelps, the great Olympic swimmer, once said, ‘You dream. You plan. You reach.  ere will be obstacles.  ere will be doubters.  ere will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with conﬁ -dence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.’” ■Luca Fazzari ’23 is studying Bio-Medical Science at the University of Guelph7. Senior Girls’ D1B Rugby won CISAA Silver 8. U14 Girls’ D1B Soccer won CISAA Bronze 9. Middle School Track team won 6 CISAA Golds, 7 CISAA Silvers, 6 CISAA Bronze and U14 Girls’ CISAA Gold; 10. Senior Girls’ D1 Tennis enjoyed a  ne CISAA and OFSAA run; 11. Junior School Cross Country; 12. Senior Boys’ D2 Soccer 13. After entering playo s in  fth place, CDS D2 Senior Girls’ Soccer team defeated Toronto French School 1-0 in the CISAA  nals to win Gold 14. Carter Saley ’26, Hannah Clarke ’23 and Aidan Quast ’26 all achieved PBs at the 2023 OFSAA Track & Field Championships in June 15. U16 Boys’ D2 Soccer won CISAA Silver 16. U14 Boys’ Singles D1 Badminton won CISAA Gold. 7 8111213141591016Excerpts from the Middle & Senior Spring Athletic Assembly

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This play humorously trans-formed well-known detectives into parody versions of them-selves, o ering a fresh and entertaining twist on their familiar characters. The impec-cable comedic timing and clever dialogue within this play prompted audience members to leave with big smiles and each character introduced a unique perspective and depth to the plot.As Ms. Cicchillo wrote in her cast tribute, “Your dedica-tion and hard work was truly exceptional. You brought these characters to life with depth and authenticity, and your commitment to the story was evident in every moment on stage.”CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CAST AND CREW OF A LIGHTER SHADE OF NOIR ON ALL THREE MAGNIFICENT PERFORMANCES IN NOVEMBER! COMING THIS SCHOOL YEAR!Join us for one or both of our upcoming 2024 Junior and Senior School productions.CLUEThursday, February 29 & Friday, March 1 at 7pm Saturday, March 2 at 1:30pmBased on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn and written by Sandy Rustin, Clueis a hilarious farce-meets-murder mystery.The tale begins at a remote mansion, where six mysterious guests assemble for an unusual dinner party where murder and black-mail are on the menu. When their host turns up dead, they all become suspects. Led by Wadsworth, the butler, Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock and Colonel Mustard race to  nd the killer as the body count stacks up. Clue is the comedy whodunit that will leave both cult fans and newcom-ers in stitches as they try to  gure out…WHO did it, WHERE, and with WHAT!THE SPONGEBOB MUSICALThursday, April 18 & Friday, April 19 at 7pm Saturday, April 20 at 1:00pmAdapted from the iconic Nickelodeon series, the stakes are higher than ever in this dynamic stage musical, as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. Chaos erupts. Lives hang in the balance. And just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage. The power of optimism really can save the world!THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 29

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30 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKEXCERPTS FROM THE JUNIOR SCHOOL GRADUATION ALWAYS MAINTAIN A STRONG MORAL COMPASS“When our conscience is strong, some-times we have to make an unpopular decision. We need to stand up for what is right and at times, that may mean you stand alone. It is that inner voice we call our conscience that reminds us how to act accord-ingly. It is this conscience that helps deﬁ ne us as a person and builds our reputation.“Don’t think for a minute that you are alone in this jour-ney. Every one of you will work on this every day, your whole life through. Undoubtedly, the adults in your life are working on this too and will tell you it isn’t always easy.“It will guide you to do what is right and what is fair. To be honest, compassionate, respon-sible and forgiving.“Onward you go Grade 6s in your quest of building a strong moral compass!”Ann Wildberger,Director of Junior SchoolEXCERPTS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADUATIONTHE IMPORTANCE OF FAILURE“Each one of you has faced setbacks and obstacles along the way, but you have all demonstrated resilience and determination in overcoming them.  at is a valuable lesson that I want you to carry with you as you move forward in life. “Failure teaches us impor-tant life lessons that success does not. It helps us grow and develop as individuals, and it pushes us to become better ver-sions of ourselves. But … it is so important to remember that failure is not the end … but rather a stepping stone toward our future successes. “Every successful person has experienced failure at some point in their lives, but what sets them apart is their abil-ity to learn from those failures and use them as motivation to achieve their goals.”THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE, I THINK, IS ALWAYS MAINTAINING YOUR MORAL COMPASS.”BARACK OBAMAformer U.S. President“GRADUATION 2023

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 31“Graduates, remember that it is okay to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them and do not repeat them. Use your failures as a source of inspiration and motivation to strive for excellence and to be the best version of yourself. “You have all grown so much during your time in Middle School, and I have no doubt that you will continue to achieve great things in high school.”Catie Ferguson,Interim Director of Middle SchoolEXCERPTS FROM GRADE 8 VALEDICTORIAN SPEECHIT’S OFFICIAL, WE DID IT!“I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for the countless memories we have created and shared together. Allow me to take you down memory lane. “Firstly, from our younger years, traveling together into the big city, visiting famous sites like the Saint Lawrence Market, the Old Spaghetti Factory, the ROM, and the ﬁ rst post oﬃ ce. Next, who can forget our overnight trips camping in the great outdoors, including those in the Back 40, ﬁ lled with countless unforget-table moments like manhunt and keeping warm by the bonﬁ re. Despite the fact that many trips got canceled due to the pandemic, our Ottawa trip surely made up for them…“If we can make it through a pandemic and online learning, then we can certainly make it through starting fresh in the Senior School as new kids on the block. Remember the lessons we have learned and the relationships we have formed. Let us never forget the people who have helped us get to where we are today, and let us strive to pay it forward by leading with kindness as we make a positive impact on the world with our gifts and talents.”Zara BassoValedictorian, Middle SchoolEXCERPTS FROM THE SENIOR SCHOOL GRADUATIONTHE EMBODIMENT OF A PORTRAIT OF A GRADUATEMs. Bland shared a story about the late Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Susan Beharriell, a resident of King who passed away last December. She drew parallels to how Susan embodied the qualities of a CDS Portrait of a Graduate in how she lived her life.“When I ﬁ rst met Susan Beharriell, she was a member of King for Refu-gees, a group of concerned citizens who wanted to ensure our community did its part to support some of the families arriving bewildered from the trauma of ﬂ eeing their beloved country.“As I began to get to know her, I learned she was a retired Canadian Air Force Intelligence Oﬃ cer and one of the very ﬁ rst group of women to undergo Air Force Oﬃ cer Training in 1973, just a year after CDS was started. “Susan most certainly knew the meaning of acting with integrity and honouring her commitments, when as an intel-ligence oﬃ cer she found herself ﬂ ying in planes on reconnais-sance missions during the ﬁ rst Gulf War.“She later went on to be Deputy Commander of the Combined Intelligence Centre for NORAD and held that position when the 9/11 attacks happened—certainly a time to be adaptable and ready for the challenge of an ever-changing world. She advised top members of our military and cabinet ministers. It was imperative that she be a critical thinker and creative problem-solver who valued lifelong learning. In fact, she closed her years in the military teaching at  e Canadian Forces College in Toronto helping to design and teach a new National Security Studies Curriculum. After 35 years of military service, she EVERY SUCCESSFUL PERSON HAS EXPERIENCED FAILURE AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIVES, BUT WHAT SETS THEM APART IS THEIR ABILITY TO LEARN FROM THOSE FAILURES AND USE THEM AS MOTIVATION TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS.”“CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADE 6, GRADE 8 AND GRADE 12 GRADUATES!

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32 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKwas inducted as an Oﬃ cer of  e Order of Military Merit. “ ese were all incredible achievements in their own right, but especially when you consider the discrimination she faced. She had men who refused to teach her and others who refused to share an oﬃ ce space with a woman. Susan was a warrior who persevered in the face of setbacks.“Like some of you will be before too long, Susan was a Queen’s graduate. She lived her life with balance and was a pas-sionate equestrian and a force-ful campaigner for the environ-ment and sustainability.“I think it is safe to say that Susan truly embodied our Por-trait of a Country Day School Graduate.“So, graduates, as you em-bark on your own life journeys … I hope that you will always hold our qualities of a CDS Graduate close to your heart. Be warriors for what is right. If you hold these qualities true, we have no doubt that in your own way, you will be some of the ﬁ nest citizens of our world, out there making a real diﬀ erence.”Celia Bland,Director of Senior SchoolEXCERPTS FROM GRADE 12 VALEDICTORIAN SPEECH“On this day, we reﬂ ect on the past four years and we look forward to what awaits us. As I look out at the faces of my peers, I realize how much we have grown, all the talents that were discovered over these past years and the hard work we put in to get ourselves to this moment. When I look at the Class of 2023, I see artists, academics, athletes, some social butterﬂ ies, and some indispensable intro-verts. Whatever you have been labelled as, or have labelled yourself as in high school, will not always deﬁ ne you. “What is so exciting about this time of our lives is that we have the choice to choose who we want to be, what we want to pursue, and what we truly care about. Choose wisely, but also know everything is subject to change. “I challenge you to break up the mundanity of life by being vulnerable and courageous every day.  ese two traits will allow you to be open to unexpected opportunities and to just go for it regardless of the outcome. Carpe diem. Yolo. Whatever motto you connect with. One way I know we can all be successful is by living our lives without regret or ‘what ifs.’ Do not let the people on the sidelines aﬀ ect your choices or the possibility that you might fail.  e best thing you can have in life is bounce.  at is the ability to get back up when you have fallen—because you might take a chance and be brave and it might not work out in your favour.  at is okay. Just like in Indiana Jones—it is the very act of taking a ‘leap of faith’ that is so respectable.”Reese FalkenbergValedictorian, Senior SchoolI HOPE THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS HOLD OUR QUALITIES OF A CDS GRADUATE CLOSE TO YOUR HEART. BE WARRIORS FOR WHAT IS RIGHT.”“WHAT IS SO EXCITING ABOUT THIS TIME OF OUR LIVES IS THAT WE HAVE THE CHOICE TO CHOOSE WHO WE WANT TO BE, WHAT WE WANT TO PURSUE, AND WHAT WE TRULY CARE ABOUT. CHOOSE WISELY, BUT ALSO KNOW EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.”“GRADUATION 2023

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CDS SAYS FAREWELL TO TWO GREAT ONES We wish them both the best in their post CDS journeys!MARK BURLEIGHAfter 32 incredible years of teaching Physical and Health Education at CDS, Mark Burleigh retired in June. Mark is one of the longest standing faculty mem-bers at CDS and continued to make strong connections with his colleagues, students and alumni throughout his career. In May 2012, he was appointed as an Alumni Faculty Liaison to work with Community Relations and engage alumni. He continued in this role through last year’s 50th Anniversary year. Mark’s long CDS coaching career has included many wonderful highlights with U11 Boys Soccer, U14 Co-ed Hockey and U14 Boys Rugby, to name a few. At the Middle/Senior School Athletic Assembly last June, Mr. Andersen reﬂ ected on how many CDS students Mark would have coached over the years. “I am ﬁ guring 32 years, three teams a year, and an average of 18 players per team—more than 1700 athletes.” Mr. Andersen then presented him with the coveted McNally Award, presented annually in recognition of a volunteer (parent, student or staﬀ member) who served as a key contributor to athletics at CDS. ALEX O’REILLYAfter 23 rock solid years in the Science Department, Alex O’Reilly retired in June, having served as a pillar of support for his department as well as for the Middle and Senior School faculty. As was mentioned in a past anniversary tribute, “Alex is like CDS’s older brother: When you come to him with a problem, he will likely gently poke fun at you, but the advice he gives you is always sound, and even if he doesn’t always show it, he cares deeply about you.” Alex capably took on the extra duties as Head of Science twice—from 2008 to 2010 and then again from 2015 to 2022. He has also coached some amazing athletes to a number of champi-onships, most recently the U16 Girls Basketball in 2018 and U14 Boys Softball.  roughout his career, Alex inspired his students to think deeply and to be passionate about learning. 25 Years of ServiceHeather CastellanChris EdwardsLara GeeBernice MosesTony Young20 Years of ServiceJohn AndersenJeanita BadnerLiane Cooke15 Years of ServiceJenny CooperDavid HuckvaleSarah HudsonBrent JohnstonEileen PaddagsRick VienJennifer VipondJen WeeningAnn Wildberger10 Years of ServiceFraser FellWill HofstetterJason JugoonSara PurdyLauren RoszellDenise StrattonCDS FACULTY AND STAFF RECOGNIZED FOR YEARS OF SERVICE IN JUNE 2023 THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 33

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34 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKand a diploma of Jazz Studies from Humber College. When he is not teaching or raising his two sons, the accomplished trumpeter has been a full-time member of the Toronto Jazz Orchestra since 2009 and is a member of the Latin ensemble Conjunto Lacalu. Christine Gomes joined CDS in September as Middle/Senior Administrative Assistant in the Senior School oﬃ ce and has since advanced to the role of Middle/Senior School Oﬃ ce Manager. Christine has worked as a Busi-ness Administrator for a dental oﬃ ce for the past 17 years. Natalie Grossi joined CDS in August as Director of Academics, Junior School. Natalie previ-ously served as a Vice Principal with the Duﬀ erin Peel Catholic District School Board. Addition-ally, Natalie has served as an academic consultant at the Board level. In her career with DPCDSB, her teaching experiences in the elementary panel with speciﬁ c experiences in early literacy, special education, ESL and library will serve our Junior School well. Nata-lie holds a BA in Early Childhood Education from the Toronto Metropolitan University and a BEd from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Larry Shields joined the Music Depart-ment as Head of Music in September. Mr. Shields comes to us from De La Salle College where he was the Coordinator of Music and Music Teacher delivering the Ontario Curricu-lum to Grades 5 to 12. He has also worked with many bands including the Brampton Concert Band, the Weston Silver Band and is the Music Director at the National Music Camp of Canada where he has served as a capable and respected music instructor for more than 30 years. Larry has an Honours Diploma in Commercial Music and Perfor-mance from Humber College.Janette Wal-lace joined CDS in August as Middle/Senior Administrative Assistant in the Senior School oﬃ ce. Janette has worked in administrative and support roles for the past 10 years, ﬁ ve of those with the YRDSB at two elemen-tary schools.Patrice Barbanchon joined our Music faculty in January 2023 and teaches students in our Junior, Middle and Senior Schools. He was previously at Pickering Col-lege, where he taught Instru-mental Music for 16 years and served as De-partment Head of the Arts. He has a BA in Music Performance from  ompson Rivers Univer-sity, a BEd from York University, COMMUNITY NEWSRecent appointments and sta news • Winter 2024IN SEPTEMBER, we welcomed back CDS’s second Headmaster, Robert Ross, and his wife, Deanna, for a visit.  ey had not toured the school for 25 years and were amazed at how much things have changed, yet stayed the same. Robert and Deanna had a chance to catch up with some old friends, former colleagues and original alumni, including, back row (l-r): Ann and David Love, Steve McCutcheon, Paul Duckett, John van Nostrand, Gary West, John Liggett and Sheila McCutcheon. Front row (l-r): Joan Addison, Diana Dunlap, Robert and Deanna Ross, Louise Wry, Wilma West, Stan Neal, Peter Welsh and Sarah van Nostrand.WELCOME BACK, ROBERT ROSS

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Abby Wittenjoined CDS in September as the Assistant to the Athletics and Health and Physical Educa-tion Department. Abby comes to us well-equipped for this role with extensive experience in customer service, including supervisory experience in a sport-ing setting. Sierra Zrnechas taken on the role of Ac-counts Payable Administrator in our Finance Oﬃ ce. Sierra has a BA in Commerce from the University of Guelph and years of experience across several business operations in the GTA. Baby NewsEllie Cawﬁ eldand her hus-band, Andrew, welcomed a baby boy, Charlie Stuart, on July 5, a little brother for Emma. Ms. Cawﬁ eld has taught at CDS in the Junior School Phys Ed department since 2015.Vanessa Csibiand Balázs welcomed a beautiful baby daughter, Bianka Glenda Edit, on June 30. Vanessa joined CDS in September 2022 as a mathematics teacher in the Middle and Senior School. Kristen Mackand her hus-band, Nathan, welcomed a beautiful baby daughter, Isla Rose, on November 6, a little sister for Ada. Kristen joined CDS in September 2020 as a Senior School Learning Strategist in the Student Services Centre.Sta ng UpdatesCatie Ferguson has resumed her position as Head of Middle/Senior Learning Support in the Student Services Centre.David Drake and Alanna Houston are Co-Heads of Guid-ance in the Student Services Centre. Lia Kitchen has moved from her position as Middle/Senior Administrative Assistant to the Student Accounts Administrator in the Finance Oﬃ ce. Steve Miller, our Head Ground-skeeper, has also taken on the role of Assistant Head of Facili-ties. Rob Waldron has returned to his role as Director of Middle School. CONNECTIONSTHE LINK WINTER 2024 | 35Alumni news and updatesTHANKS TO THE NOBLE FAMILY a wonderful time was had by all at the 50th Alumni event in June! More than 400 alumni, past faculty and sta and friends returned for an evening of celebration. We would like to extend a huge thanks to the Noble family who helped to organize the event: Colin ’08 (Diana), Katie ’05 (Derek), Jacquie ’06 (Richard), and parents Nancy and Gerry.THE 3RD ANNUAL ALUMNI CHESS TOURNAMENT was held in May with 12 competitors, 10 in-person and two online players! After three hours of competition, Cameron Kroupa ’23 beat Jack MacDonald ’20 in the  nals. Thanks to everyone who partici-pated! Save the date for the 4th annual tournament on May 23!CDS ALUMNI SPORTSBack by Popular DemandSoccer Tuesday, February 20 6:30pm Basketball Thursday, February 22 6:30 pmAll are welcomeRSVP today at alumni@cds.on.ca. 1999 & 2014 CLASS REUNIONS AT CDSClass of 1999Join us for your 25th reunion Saturday, June 22 7:30 pm Cocktails & Hors D’oeuvresClass of 2014Join us for your 10th reunion Friday, June 21 7:30 pm Details to followSpouses and signi cant others are welcome at both events. Questions? Please contact us at alumni@cds.on.caNetwork with CDS alumni on LinkedIn!@TheCDS1972

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36 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKKENDAL LEHARI ‘05 RIDING THE DREAMWith sights set on Paris OlympicsLike so many other high-performing athletes today, Kendal Lehari ’05 has a dream: Paris 2024. After 17 years of successful competition—in addition to now running her own business—Kendal has set her sights on joining the Canadian National Team in the equestrian sport called  ree-Day Eventing, or just “eventing.”Eventing entails a single horse and rider competing in three diﬀ erent disciplines: dressage, cross-country and show jumping. An equestrian triathlon, eventing demands a complex and nimble skill set from both rider and horse. And that’s just ﬁ ne by Kendal, who laughingly calls herself a “classic overachiever.”“I always liked to do well—in academics, in extra-curriculars and in my riding outside school,” she says.  at drive toward excellence has been paying oﬀ . In 2006, just a year after her CDS graduation, Kendal won both team and individual gold medals at the North American Young Rider Championship on her horse Understudy. And with what she calls “the right horse and the right timing,” she competed with Daily Edition in 2013 at the Kentucky  ree-Day Event, one of the world’s premier equestrian 5-Star events that draws the best horse ALUMNI SNAPSHOTS

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THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 37Kendal competing with her horse Mitchell in the international division for eventing at TerraNova Equestrian Center in Myakka City, FL last March. and rider combinations worldwide. She has also been on two Canadian Nations Cup teams, earning a silver ﬁ nish in 2022 in Bromont, Quebec on her horse Audacious, a grey gelding she has been training for years. Kendal’s business—Lehari Eventing—is run out of family-owned Reindalyne Farm in Uxbridge, which is managed by Kendal and mom Gwen. Mid-week, Kendal can usually be found coaching riders and training horses, while most weekends are spent at competitions. Kendal’s horses have competed at the international level and have earned podium ﬁ nishes, a testament to her ability to spot talent in young horses and cultivate it over time. She has also recently earned her credentials as a National Coaching Certiﬁ cation Program (NCCP) High Performance Coach for competitive athletes. Currently, Kendal has about 20 athletes under her development.And she is somewhat surprised that coaching has become a big part of her equestrian career.“I really didn’t like coaching when I was young,” she says. “But I have learned so much about it and have come to love it—especially those ‘Aha!’ moments when a student has a breakthrough in their development. Of course, I’m also driven to help my students get good competition results. Being in a coaching role makes me think of my CDS teachers sometimes. I’ve come to appreciate what they do even more than when I was in school!”What is one CDS “lesson” that espe-cially stays with her?“Teachers were focused on helping you strive to do well for you, to do your best.  at personal emphasis really stayed with me, and it’s something I bring to my own students now.”After graduating from CDS—with brother Tristan ’06 following one year later—Kendal earned a BSc from Guelph University in Biological Science, thinking initially that she would go the veterinarian route. With little time to compete while in university, she came to a crossroads and had to decide which profession to pursue, the vet life or the horse life. It just wasn’t possible to do both.“After university, I took a year oﬀ to pursue riding full-time. I trained in Florida with a Canadian Team coach, and that sealed it for me. I ended up choosing the less reliable life when it comes to earning an income, especially in this fairly unpre-dictable sport. When you factor in both human and horse injuries, you never really know what’s going to happen. But this is the right life for me.”A full snowbird, Kendal transitions to Florida every winter, with the explicit aim this coming year of qualifying for Team Canada in eventing. Husband Andrew Butler is supportive of a somewhat nomadic training and competing life and of Kendal’s big ambitions in the sport.“Of course I want to qualify for Paris and do well,” she says. “ at’s the current dream. Long-term, I also want to raise the standard for Canada and have our country be more competitive internationally. Canada doesn’t have the same equestrian culture as do places like England and Germany, and I would love to help move us in that direction.”For now, and as always, Kendal is carried along by her own personal doctrine. “I would say to anyone, follow your dreams. Do what you love most. You may not end up exactly where you thought you would, but you will absolutely get some-where really important to you. And you’ll go far.” ■I’M ALSO DRIVEN TO HELP MY STUDENTS GET GOOD COMPETITION RESULTS. BEING IN A COACHING ROLE MAKES ME THINK OF MY CDS TEACHERS SOMETIMES. I’VE COME TO APPRECIATE WHAT THEY DO EVEN MORE THAN WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL!“”

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38 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKFormer Director of Junior and Middle Schools, Jim Bayler, asked that the following be read at Walter Davison’s dedication on June 21, 2023, the ﬁ rst day of summer. Director of Senior School, Celia Bland, a longtime colleague of both Jim’s and Walter’s, was happy to oblige.I’m sure everyone present today will have their own personal reﬂ ections of their time with Walter. I wish I could be there with you to hear your “Walter stories” and to share mine with you. What we all have in common is the good fortune to have had our lives touched by Wally.Did you ever hear him talk about a blue-bird day? It was his favourite weather day. He didn’t like the heat, but a clear blue cloud-less sky, a light breeze and temperatures in the high teens—that was his “bluebird day”.  ey are surprisingly rare, but whenever we have one, I think of Wally.Wally was the deﬁ nition of timeliness. In morning meetings, he would take oﬀ his watch and fold the metal band so that the watch was perched in front of him like a little table clock. His unoﬃ cial (and self-appointed) role was to make certain that our morning admin meetings ended on time. To this day, when I take oﬀ my watch in the evening, I perch it “Wally style” on the table beside me and think of him.CDS recruits only talented and dedi-cated teachers. I always felt that Wally was the best of the best - a brilliant educator. He was a kind, gentle and soft-spoken man. But don’t be fooled. He set the rules and the tone and was ﬁ rm with students’ adher-ence to them. But always with kindness and with humor. He was a genius at getting what was needed from the kids by poking fun at them without ever hurting their feel-ings. For the most part, they adored him. I know my daughter, Laurie did. I can pic-ture her as a 13-year-old - rolling her eyes, shaking her head and always with a smile on her face when describing her latest Mr. D. ‘encounter’. He could drive his students crazy, and they loved every minute of it.Dedicated, thorough, creative, inspira-tional, fastidious in his attention to detail (which could drive the rest of us crazy at times). Wally was all of these and so much more.He was a lover of music and a talent-ed musician, singer and songwriter. And he loved  e Country Day School so much! More than most of us. He even wrote a song about it. One ﬁ nal memory: Late August, our annual administration retreat before school start up. It was at the Scott (Jodi Scott) REMEMBERING MR. DAVISON Jim Bayler’s ‘Telegram’ Remarks in Memory of Walter Davisonfamily cottage on Lake Muskoka. I remem-ber Paul Duckett, Jayne Kennedy and me, sitting by a ﬁ re after a long day of work, sipping wine and listening to Walter and Al Jackson playing their guitars and singing to us. Such talented men. Such a loss.I learned from Ron and Martha Collins, parents of CDS faculty member Steph Col-lins that the greatest fear that families have is that their loved ones will be forgotten. I am so proud and grateful to have been a member of  e Country Day School com-munity. A place where that will never be allowed to happen.Live on in our hearts, Wally. ■Faculty members Fraser Fell, Scott Garbe and Aimee Lee sang some of Walter Davison’s favourite tunes at a bench and maple tree dedication ceremony in his honour last June in the courtyard outside the Middle School Director’s o ce.

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earned a post-grad certi cation in advertising and went on to work as an Account Executive for six years before moving to London. At that time, Olga began to study wine for fun, taking courses with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET). She earned her MBA from Hult Business School in London and then moved back to Toronto shortly after to continue her wine studiesand begin work in the wine industry. Olga is currently a certi ed sommelier, French Wine Scholar, and WEST Level 4 (Diploma). She also has a WSET Level 3 designation in Saké and started her own boutique wine distribution agency three years ago. LEE COLUCCI ’01 married Anneliese Sculthorp on October 14th in Toronto. Lots of alumni were in attendance, includ-ingPaul Fogolin (the MC),Nicholas Ray, Olga Moltchano-va, Andrew Kearney, Kelly Arm-strong, Emily-Ann Smith, Alex Welch, Courtney Horner, Kevin Cooper, and of course his sister, Emma ’03. Lee and Anneliese are living in Toronto where Lee is a Broker at Sage Real Estate. CLARA YI ’01 has been the Owner Optometrist of Thornhill Vision Care for the pasteightyears and is cur-rently undergoing a practice expansion. She is a member of the Ontario Association of 1990sGEOFF CHURCH ’94 has lived in Toronto near the Beaches for over 20 years and calls it home along with his two boys, Simon and Oliver. Unfortunately, some of those years have been spent battling cancer (success-fully) on three di erent occa-sions. This crazy journey is what led him to launch his own brand of customized hospital kits. The company is called Getwell Goods and kits are sold on their website getwellgoods.ca and in gift shops at at Princess Margaret, Toronto General and Mount Sinai hospitals.2000sOLGA MOLTCHANOVA ’01completed her undergraduate degree at University of Toronto in International Relations. She later ALUMNI NOTESJohn van Nostrand ’75, Sarah van Nostrand ’81 and Deirdre (Elder) Tait ‘83 were excited to welcome back Robert and Deanna Ross in September!THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 39Join CDS Online Social Media www.facebook.com/TheCDS1972 www.twitter.com/TheCDS1972 www.youtube.com/TheCDS1972www.instagram.com/TheCDS1972Network with CDS alumni at our LinkedIn page

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Optometrists and the Canadian Association of Optometrists, and her special interests include incorporating advanced medi-cal technologies for managing paediatric myopia and dry eye disease. Dr. Yi comes from a diverse background and has a working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin. She lives in Thornhill with her hus-band Glen and daughter Bree.EMMA JACKSON FOGEL ’05 married Josh Fogel ’05 in 2017 and they now live in East Gwillimbury with their three children Norah (6), Harrison (4) and Aubrey (2). They both loved returning to the school to celebrate the 50th anniversary last June. Emma is currently the CEO of the family and looks forward to presenting the Alan B. Jackson Award in memory of her father at the Senior School Graduation each June. Josh is a Director within CIBC Capital Markets.TRISTAN LEHARI ’06 is the Founder and CEO of TritonWear, a high-tech wearable technology company he launched 10 years ago as a University of Waterloo startup. As the #1 swimming ana-lytics platform helping coaches coach better and swimmers swim faster, their patented wearable de-vices and AI Coach guide athletes on a clear roadmap to improve-ment allowing them to reach their most ambitious dreams. Using swimming as their beachhead into the market, TritonWear products are trusted by thousands of ath-letes globally in over 60 countries ranging from grassroots begin-ners up to elite athletes including 67 Olympians in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics who brought home 24 Olympic Medals. 2010sSARAH TODD ’10 works at NVIDIA, the 5th largest tech company in the world and headquartered in California, where she manages AI Product Marketing across many applica-tions and industries including robotics, retail, manufacturing, airports, cities, stadiums, and more. Sarah’s hyper focused on building and executing the go-to-market strategy for GPU-accelerated AI software and works closely across marketing, sales, and product engineering teams. Previously, she has worked in technical communications, experiential/brand marketing, public rela-tions, and tech business consulting. Sarah holds a Master’s Degree in Business from Santa Clara University, and earned her Bachelor’s degree at Western University for Bio-Archaeological Anthropology and Film Studies. She’s also a CDS JK-12 Lifer. Sarah was back on campus last April talking with Mr. Moorlag’s Grade 11 Computer Science students and encour-aged them all to follow their inter-est in Computer Science. “No matter what you pursue, it will be bene cial to know how technol-ogy works,” she explained. With workplace trends going in the direction of STEAM, Robotics and Computer Science, Sarah encouraged students to  nd early-career internships, discover student grants pro-grams, and join the growing developer community. TARAH COATES ’03 has always been led by a sense of imagination and adventure. While studying at Dalhousie’s Theatre Program in Halifax, she developed a passion for sur ng. Several years later, that passion bloomed into her becoming founder, owner and operator of SurfSup Eco Shop in Kincardine, Ontario, on the shores of Lake Huron. The shop has since expanded to include locations in Grand Bend and Goderich. Look for the full story of how she decided to launch her own business in the next issue of The Link!40 | WINTER 2024 THE LINK

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JANA DOCHERTY ’11 is currently following her passion in sports and entertainment, working in content distribution at Rogers Sports and Media as a Manager in Pricing & Revenue Planning. Previously, she completed her CA, CPA designa-tion at KPMG. At Rogers Sports and Media, Jana focuses on the digital side of the business, working on pricing and distribu-tion strategy, subscriber forecasting, and market analysis for Sportsnet NOW and Citytv+. She also volunteers in her spare time at Rogers TV learning more about production.KRISTINA BROWN ’11 and her ancé have started a new exciting adventure in Aurora. In December, they launched an automated four-bay TrackMan indoor golf simulator called Ace Track Golf Performance Center at 40 Engelhard Drive in Aurora. They welcome alumni, CDS fami-lies and sta to stop by anytime!CATT FILIPPOV ’11 is a poet, playwright and performer cur-rently based in Brooklyn, NY. Hav-ing graduated from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies in 2017, Catt has trained with Canada’s National Voice intensive, Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, The Guildof Embodied Practitioners, and Nightwood Theatre’s Write from the Hip Emerging Playwrights Program. She recently earned her MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University and is currently working on a collection of poetry.ILANA KHANIN ’12 is a theatre director and was an Artist in Residence at the prestigious Baryshnikov Arts Centerin New York City this fall work-ing to develop a new play called Shot List with playwright Eric Marlin. Following her residency, Ilana stage managed Big Dance Theatre’s production of The March at the stunning and newly opened Perelman Performing Arts Centre in Lower Manhattan in December.JACQUELINE MACDONALD ’15teaches Yoga at GoYoga in Orangeville and also to Junior JOSH TUTTLE ’05 is living in Halifax with his wife Erin and works as a Legal O cer (JAG) in the military. Josh loves being in Halifax and its proximity to tons of sur ng! Last January he visited Costa Rica with some CDS friends, including (from l-r): Tom Finkle, Ryan Rudge, Armen Khajerian, Curtis Vickers, Josh, Kyle Hubbard and Zach Pancer.ALUMNI NOTESJP SAXE ’11 lived a dream moment when he opened for John Mayer at Scotiabank Arena before a hometown crowd. Mayer also came on stage to join JP in performing his new song, “I Don’t Miss You.”LEAH FERRIE ’12 married Sam Mason on July 15th at the Deane House in Calgary. Classmate Kelsey Houston was her maid of honour. Megan Cowie, Brittany Daiter, Niki Kalergis and Sydney Wilson were also in attendance. THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 41(continued on page 42)

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School students (including CDS students), hoping to inspire others to lead a healthy lifestyle. O the mat, Jackie loves painting, hiking, being outdoors and spending time with her family and all the creatures at her farm.PAIGE OFIELD ’16 graduated with her Masters degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). She  nished at the head of her class with a 4.0 GPA and the top thesis in her degree. Paige has recently moved home and will begin working as an Interior Designer at Wayne Swadron Studios in January, a design  rm in Toronto that focuses on high-end residentialprojects across North America and beyond.MICHAEL ROKAS ’16gradu-ated from the University of Waterloo in 2021 with a BASc in Computer Engineering and is now working as asoftware developer at Shopify in Toronto. According to Michael, the  eld of technology has been his biggest passion since he was young. “I am primarily a backend devel-oper but love tinkering in all areas of the software domain including frontend development, IoT and blockchain.” When not developing, he spends his time pursuing his other passions of music, travel, and  tness.TRINITY DE SIMONE ’17is writing her  nal dissertation to gain her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Sciences at University College London. She has had incredible research experiences both at UCL and during her undergrad at Oxford. Trinity has enjoyed the bustle and vivid life of London and has also had the opportunity to tour and perform with her band, Mandrake Handshake.OLIVIA RAILTON ’17 graduated with an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics in Decem-ber, where she received a distinction award for her dissertation research exploring the ethics of aggression in virtual realities. Inspired by her experience studying law at the University of Oxford (UK) and Leiden University (Holland), as well as her time working in the video game industry, Olivia is intent on pursuing a career in policy and research surrounding future technologies.MCKENNA RYAN ’17 is an honours graduateof Parsons School of Design, The New School’s dual degree program, with a BA in Culture & Media Studies (Hons.) and a BFA in Illustration(Hons.). With a passion for the  lm industry and marketing, following graduation, she returned to Toronto to work as aPromotions and Publicity Assistant at Warner Bros. Discovery and as a Community Organizer at After-Hours Animation. In June, Mckenna founded Sonder Studios, a boutique digital marketing and website design studio special-CLAIRE GALLAGHER ’18 AND MCKINLEY HUNT ’15 REPRESENT CANADA How fun to be able to follow two CDS alumni representing Canada at the WXV Women’s Rugby Tournament held in New Zealand in October! McKinley and Claire played varsity rugby at university for Queen’s University and the University of Ottawa respectively. The last time they were teammates was in 2015 when they played for CDS when McKinley was in Grade 12 and Claire in Grade 9 and won the CISAA championships!ALUMNI NOTES42 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKBreaking News: Claire Gallagher has signed with the Leicester Tigers of the Premiership Women’s Rugby league in England!(continued from page 41)

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izing in helping local and growing businesses establish their online presence. As a full-time digital marketing producer and designer, she enjoys working with clients from a wide range of di erent industries on branding, website design, content creation, and marketing initiatives. NICK ADAMS ’18is currently living and studying in Bath, UK, where he is pursuing his Masters in Creative Writing. His culminat-ing activity is not a dissertation but a full-length fantasy novel! JEREMY GARBE ’19 earned a combined honours in Humanities and Philosophy with High Distinction from Carleton University last spring and is back in Ottawa pursuing a Masters in Philosophy.ANAÏS LEIVA VON BOVET ’19 recently completed her LLB of Laws at King’s College London and has landed a job as a THE LINK WINTER 2024 | 43Brennan McDonell ’21 moved to Mesa, AZ, after graduating high school to attend Arizona State University Polytechnic (ASU) and pursue a degree in Aeronautical Management Technology with a concentration in Professional Flight. He writes, “I have been a Dean’s List student each semester and have advanced in my ﬂ ying by completing my Instrument Rating in May 2022, followed by my Commercial Single Engine License in March 2023, and most recently my Commercial Multi-Engine License in May 2023.”Brennan lives in Gilbert, AZ, but also spends time in Raleigh, NC and Naples, FL during school holidays. He recently started part two of his journey to the airlines by starting his certiﬁ cation to become a Certiﬁ ed Flight Instructor (CFI) with AeroGuard Flight Training Center in Chandler, AZ. His ultimate goal is to be sitting in the left seat as a captain for a world-class airline! Brennan McDonell ’21Into the Wild Blue Yonderparalegal in a family law practice while she works toward becom-ing a quali ed solicitor, which requires two years of legal work experience and passing the SQE1 and SQE2 exams. She loves all the opportunities for fun and travel that a life in London presents—including a burgeon-ing comedy scene! ALLYSON WHITMELL ’19 graduated from the University of Toronto in Piano Performance and Composition in June and has been pursuing a career in music. She released her  rst single, “New Love,” in the fall, which can be found on all streaming platforms. Allyson has also been mentoring a CDS Grade 10 student in songwriting.2020sCARLY CAMPOLI ’20 writes that as astudent ambassador for UBC, she was preparing to give her usual tour of campus to prospective students on (continued on page 44)

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ALUMNI NOTES44 | WINTER 2024 THE LINKSeptember 1 and in walked Alex Musker ’24. “I had no idea she would be coming in, and it was by sheer luck that I hap-pened to be working that day! I had an absolute blast touring Alexand her family around the campus, and was very happy to get a picture of the two of us at theend of the tour.” NEYLA KIRBY ’22 was selected as a Baldwin Scholar during her  rst year at Duke University, with only 18 females from the freshman class selected! The Baldwin Scholars program contributes to Duke’s mission “to provide a superior liberal education to undergraduate students, attending not only to their intellectual growth but also to their development as adults committed to high ethical standards and full participation as leaders in their communities.”The program’s goal is to “inspire and support female-identi ed undergraduate students to become engaged, con dent and connected leaders in the Duke community and beyond.”In her bio, Neyla shares that she is “deeply passionate about female empowerment and equality, and preaching to any female who will listen about the value of knowing your worth and your strength, and not leaving that up to anyone else to determine.” Neylais now in her sophomore year majoring inComputer Engineering.(continued from page 43) Jonathan Scarth ’20 passed away on May 13, 2023. His brother William ’14 also attended CDS.Jacob Russell ’14 passed away on June 2, 2023. His brother Thomas ’16 also attended CDS.Michael Burns, one of CDS’s Founders and largest benefactors, passed away on June 10, 2023. From plowing and planting the front playing  elds and determining the winning bid for the purchase of our school in 1978 to chairing the school’s  rst campaign, stewarding the Dinny Day Scholarship named in honour of his late sister, and being our lead donor to the Junior School Building Magic Campaign, Michael has been a dedicated CDS parent, grandparent and generous friend since the beginning. It wasn’t until 1978 that the original property was purchased at an auction for $111,000. Chairman of the Board at that time, Michael was one of the key orches-trators of that bid. Long time supporters of the school, Michael and his late wife, Sue (Cathers) Burns, hosted the CDS Auction in their riding arena from 1982-97. Our Senior School Graduate Lounge is named after both of them. The Burns family has a long and storied history with CDS, with generations of children and grandchildren having attended the school. The family names are recognizable to our commu-nity, including Addison, Day, Phillips, Cathers and Kirton, and will forever be honoured in the magni cent new Burns Family Hall. The educational legacy they have left through their kindness, vision, support and personal generosity continues to resonate today and will do so for generations of CDS families to come.Michelle Bader, former teacher, passed away on July 23, 2023. She taught Social Sciences in the Senior School from 2006-2010.Alexandra Paul ’09 passed away in a motor vehicle accident on August 22, 2023. As accomplished ice danc-ers, Alex and her husband, Mitchell Islam, were 3-time medallists at the Canadian Senior National Champion-ships, competed twice at the World Figure Skating Championships, and quali- ed for the Canadian Figure Skating team to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She is survived by her husband, baby son Charlie, sisters Katharine ’07 and Elizabeth ’12, and parents Gordon and Anne.Mo at Dunlap, CDS Co-Founder, passed away on September 11, 2023, after a 20-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Mo at was a driving force behind the founding of our school, serving as one of the original trustees and as Chairman of the CDS Foundation for years. He recruited sea-soned educators to join the  rst Board of Directors, procured gently used furni-ture in the early days from the newly-elected Ontario Premier Bill Davis (and moved it with his personal horse van), and was a dedi-cated and unwavering CDS Auction volunteer. CDS also bene ted immensely from his guidance and knowledge of the King real estate mar-ket, especially in negotiating the building lease to rent the original property in the early days. He went on to become a trailblazer in the King real estate market for the next 50 years. All four of Mo at’s chil-dren attended CDS. Louise and John were two of our original students, starting the year the school opened in 1972, and Daphne ’02 and Allie ’03 started in the late 80s and graduated from the Senior School. The Dunlap name will live on forever in the hallways and classrooms of CDS and proudly adorns one of our four houses, Dunlap House.Mathew Hartman ’19 passed away on December 22, 2023. His brothers Nathan ’20 and Ethan ’21 also attended CDS.In Our Memories …

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