Woburn Collegiate Institute

Woburn Collegiate Institute is a secondary school on Ellesmere Road in the Scarborough district of Toronto. Its motto is Studium Eruditionis Crescat.

Woburn Collegiate Institute
File:Woburnci.png
Address
2222 Ellesmere Road Toronto , Ontario , M1G 3M3
Coordinates	43°46′40″N 79°13′42″W
Information
School type	High School
Motto	Studium Eruditionis Crescat (Let the Zeal for Learning Flourish)
Founded	1963
School board	Toronto District School Board
Superintendent	Don McLean
Area trustee	Scott Harrison
Principal	Gayle Ferguson
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1408 (Spring 2008)
Language	English
Area	Scarborough
Colour(s)	Red, Blue, and White
Mascot	Wildcat
Team name	Woburn Wildcats
Website	http://www.woburnci.com/

History

In the early 1800s, education in Scarborough was not very well established. There was only one school, set up in a primitive building. By 1847 however, Scarborough had grown to the point where something more organized was required, so 16 School Sections were established; SS # 6 included the Woburn Community. At this time, a school, also designated SS # 6, was erected on Markham Road, just north of the 2nd Concession (Ellesmere Road). This one story frame structure was 23' x 33'. Several windows provided light and a wood stove provided heat. Between 1850 and 1862, Alexander Muir taught at SS #6. He composed The Maple Leaf Forever, which for many years was Canada's unofficial national anthem; hence the maple leaf in the school crest. By 1862, a larger school was required, so the frame structure was moved to Old Danforth Road and converted into a house.

In 1863, a brick school was built on the site where the frame building had stood. An attractive structure, it had cream-coloured quoining on the corners and around the gothic windows. In 1895, an addition to the back of the building expanded it to two rooms. A few years later, the convenience of two outdoor privies was finally added. The school operated this way until 1956. By then, though, the old school just could not keep up with the demands of modern education. SS #6 was boarded up and the students were sent to Golf Road P.S. Consideration was given to turning SS #6 into a museum, but by 1963 extensive repairs were needed. Finally, just before the new Woburn C.I. was opened, the old school was demolished. During the demolition the 1863 date stone was discovered to be, in fact, a tombstone for Thomas Hubbard, who died in 1850. It is believed that a stone-mason made an error on the tombstone and then decided to use the other side as a datestone for a cost-conscious school board. The school's bell was also salvaged and presented to the new school. It became a tradition of the graduating Grade 13 class to steal the bell. (The bell has since vanished; it was borrowed by the Scarborough Board of Education but returned to Woburn Jr., a nearby elementary school. There, early in 1980 or 1981, persons unknown picked it up.)

Woburn CI began in 1947, when it was established that Scarborough needed more schools for its growing population.

In 1963, the old SS #6 building was demolished and Woburn Collegiate Institute opened.

Campus

Woburn is a single building, containing 72 classrooms, 2 large gymnasia (which may each be divided into two smaller sections), a weight training room, a dance studio, an auto shop, two music rooms, two tech shops, and a library (resource center). The school also has a main office, a guidance office (student services) and an office for each of its departments. The building encompasses a rectangular garden in the centre, referred to as the "quad", which is famously known throughout the school for a peculiar statue by Romanian-Canadian sculptor Sorel Etrog entitled "Soma". Identical statues can be found inside the Yonge-Eglinton Centre and York University's Accolade East building. Behind the school is a 400-m track, football field and goalposts for outdoor sports activities.

Students

As of 2008, 1408 students are in attendance at Woburn. Of these, 683 (49%) are female and 725 (51%) are male. 908 (64%) have a primary language other than English, and 17% have been living in Canada for five or fewer years. Over 70 different languages and many cultures are represented at Woburn.

The school has been the home for Scarborough's gifted programme for exceptional students since 1978.

Extracurricular activities

Student Activity Council (SAC)

The SAC is selected by the Woburn students:

• to represent their interests
• to support and fund their sports and clubs
• to organize special activities within the school

The SAC represents Woburn students at the school and in the community. The SAC organizes social activities and encourages school spirit. In the past SAC events have included dances, Charity Week activities, Winter Week and the Formal. Funding for all clubs and most sports teams comes from the sale of SAC/ID cards and from fund-raising activities.

Prefects

Prefects are the good-will ambassadors of Woburn. Working closely with faculty, the Prefects of Woburn are responsible for making sure school events run smoothly, such as Welcome Day, photo days, and other various fairs such as the career and volunteer fairs. Furthermore, the Prefects also plan an annual event for the children at Woburn Jr. called Springfest.

Woburn Robotics

Woburn Robotics is an extracurricular high school team based at Woburn Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Canada, which gathers every year to take part in the FIRST Robotics Competition, a international contest that teams students up with engineers and sponsors from local businesses to develop skills in science, technology, marketing, and leadership. In six intense weeks the team brainstorms, designs, constructs, and tests its 120-pound robot for the competition, whose objective is different every year. The robots are then immediately shipped off to compete in other tournaments.

Mathematics

The flagship subject of Woburn academics is a part of many Woburn student's lives, and it is rightfully considered an extracurricular activity in itself. Perhaps the best method to describe Woburn's strength in mathematics is to look at the school's representation in the International Mathematical Olympiads (IMO). Canada first began sending the now six-member team to the event in 1981. Beginning with Woburn's first student representation at the event in 1986, over the next 18 years Woburn would be represented at the IMO an impressive eleven times, exceeding the representations of more famous academically elite high schools such as Earl Haig Secondary School (seven times), and Upper Canada College (five times).

Physics and Chemistry

In addition to the IMO, Woburn students have also gone on to represent Canada in the International Chemistry Olympiads (IChO) and International Physics Olympiads (IPhO).

Programming Enrichment Group (PEG)

Woburn is noted for its excellence in computer science. PEG is a group of students who meet on a weekly basis after school to study advanced computer science topics, discuss algorithms and approaches to difficult problems, often on the level of the International Olympiad in Informatics (at which Woburn has been represented a total of thirteen times). Topics covered and types of problems approached vary depending on competition entries.

The learning methods used vary as well: sometimes students meet in study groups with their leader teaching them and solving practice sheets or programming problems, sometimes they are taught by one of the senior students, sometimes they work on the problem as a team, and sometimes they are taught by their coaches.

PEG students meet after school typically two nights per week to prepare for competitions in programming. Every year, members take part in competitions at provincial, national and international levels. PEG additionally started its own competition, called Woburn Challenge, to draw in both students from other schools and university students. This contest had grown to become province-wide (occasionally wider). It was discontinued in 2002.

Since its formation in the early 1990s, PEG has participated in a large number of competitions.

Woburn Music

The school is notable for its music programme, consisting of several hundred students in band and choir classes, a Madrigal Choir, a concert choir, a Chamber Choir, two concert bands, a Wind Ensemble, and two jazz bands and a combo.

The ensembles of the music programme have regularly been invited to perform at national-level competitions and often make excursions to the US, including Orlando, Florida in mid-May, 2006. The Wind Ensemble and Madrigal Choir have done particularly well in competitions, consistently placing at or near the top of the standings. On February 17, 2006, the Wind Ensemble travelled to the Musicfest competition held at the Le Parc Hotel, in Markham, Ontario, playing at the highest level, B500. The band received a gold rating.

Woburn's music department is student-represented by way of the Music Council, a body of elected students who help to keep the programme running smoothly. The Council pans and runs many events and fundraisers through the year that would not exist without their assistance.

Woburn Rookie Drama Festival

The Woburn Rookie Drama Festival (usually just called Rookie) is a festival of short plays held annually every spring at Woburn. The most notable part of the festival is that all of its plays are directed, acted, crewed, and sometimes written entirely by students with no teacher assistance. Furthermore, students do all of the organization required to put on the festival each year and act as Masters of Ceremony. At over 40 years old, it is among the longest running high school clubs in the city. The first Woburn Rookie Drama Festival took place in the spring of 1963 and was overseen by then drama teacher John Wilcox.

Any student who wants to direct a play is automatically accepted. A month before the festival, there is an open audition during which actors perform short scenes that are either improved or done with only a short time to prepare. Directors request the actors they want, and the organizers assign actors to plays (often the most popular actors are assigned to several plays in smaller roles). The festival itself lasts for one to three evenings with two to four plays per night. There are usually short scenes between plays. Every year the festival has a theme chosen by the organizers. Sometimes the plays themselves are sometimes related to the theme, but normally the theme only applies to the short scenes between plays while the next cast is setting up. These scenes are usually directed or starring the MCs.

Notable alumni

• Ed Robertson - Member of the band Barenaked Ladies
• Hannah Sung - Former MuchMusic personality
• Des McAnuff - Tony award-winning director, Big River (musical), The Who's Tommy, Jersey Boys
• Sudz Sutherland - Award-winning filmmaker
• Brad Duguid - Liberal MPP for Scarborough Centre
• Bob McKenzie - Sports broadcaster for TSN
• Tyler Anthony - Blue Jays Assistant Coach
• Monika Schnarre - Actress and former winner of the Ford Supermodel of the World Contest.
• Fabian Rayne - Former CFL player and member of Rugby Canada 7's team
• Brad Tapper - Former NHL Player
• Steve Kouleas - Sports Broadcaster for The Score
• Steve Payne - Former NHL Player for the Minnesota North Stars
• Steve Page - Member of the band Barenaked Ladies
• Charlie Huddy - Former NHL Player
• Leslie Seaforth - Rapper, DJ, and Producer known as More Or Les
• Holly Horton - Sports broadcaster for TSN

External links

• Woburn Collegiate Institute website
• Woburn Robotics
• Woburn Alumni
• Woburn Music
• Woburn's Students Towards Reducing Impaired Driving Everywhere (STRIDE)