For many Montrealers, the LCC arena is well known—perhaps famous—for fast ice and brutally cold conditions in the dead of winter.  In fact, Montreal’s oldest artificial rink has become a place of legend in this city.  Now, following years of deliberation and dreaming, construction of a new enclosed arena has finally begun. After more than five decades, the School is preparing for its final season of hockey and outdoor activity in its historic winter facility.  Needless to say, there is great excitement as a long-held desire for an enclosed arena on Royal Avenue is quickly becoming a reality (Click to here for video). 

The arena represents the first step in our two-phased Centenary Vision campus development plan.  In an effort to consolidate our athletic activities on the east side of Royal Avenue, we are building an athletic centre that will serve the needs of students and teams throughout the academic year.

Our fundraising efforts are still underway.  However, enormous generosity from a few key donors who support our vision has positioned us to move forward in a significant way.  We are extraordinarily thankful to those who have contributed thus far.

Building progress has been impressive. We broke ground in July and hope to be making ice in the new arena by January 2008. We have proceeded in such a way as to preserve maximum green space and provide appropriate parking for the new facility. 

Be sure to visit our website for regular updates and photos of the project as it progresses.  If you can, drop by the School to see the most recent developments. I look forward to welcoming you to campus and sharing a little lion pride!

Chris Shannon (Pre-U '76)
Headmaster

The start of the school year brings enthusiasm and excitement to not only the students but to alumni as well. I hope you enjoy Headmaster Chris Shannon’s article and that you take the time to check out the video message from him.
 
When I wrote in the spring to outline the Centenary Vision, the idea that we might begin to build the arena in the summer was a definite possibility.  It is very exciting to see that dream come to fruition, and to see the whole process come together so smoothly is impressive. What an exciting time it is for LCC and its students!
 
At our Annual General Meetings of the Alumni Association and the Corporation on Monday, September 24^th, alumni heard about a plethora of exciting things going on at the School:

• Our excellent feedback from the Canadian Educational Standards Institute (CESI) report following the spring evaluation, lauding the School’s academic programme
• Environmental initiatives to enhance the campus including state-of-the-art equipment, a campus audit of the School’s environmental footprint, and student programmes to get involved in a hands-on manner 
• LCC’s membership in the internationally renowned Round Square organization (the only school in Montreal, in fact) and news of the student exchange with Australia last year and India coming up next month 
• The School’s outstanding record in athletics and the arts 
• The continued exemplary involvement of Alumni in school life in areas like Career Day. 

I am proud to announce that I have accepted the invitation to co-chair the Centenary Celebration Committee along with our Alumni Association Ambassador and former Associate Headmaster, Vic Badian ’61. Just as exciting is the news that “The Coach,” Dave Wood, who gave 41 years of his life to the School from 1947-1988, will act as Honourary Chairman of the Centenary Celebration!
 
LCC will celebrate its 100-year anniversary on Royal Avenue throughout the 2009 calendar year. Founder’s Day in June 2009 will mark the 100^th graduating class, and LIONfest that fall will be LCC’s 100^th birthday, a wonderful opportunity for Alumni to come home. Many other special initiatives are in the works, and we promise to keep you informed about opportunities to be a part of the celebrations.
 
On behalf of the Alumni Executive Committee, I would like to welcome Amrick Bansal ’98 to our ranks. The Executive meets often throughout the year and is intimately involved in all aspects of the Alumni Association.
 
As we look forward to another year on Royal Avenue, please accept my personal invitation to keep in touch, come by the School, volunteer for an event, and be involved in your school. Alumni are an integral part of the School’s fabric, and you are always welcome to be a part of it.
 
Non Nobis Solum,
 

Christopher Gardiner ’83

It's Still Not Too Late to Come Home

For 98 years on historic Royal Avenue, LCC has sent thousands of students out into the world; on September 28^th the School invites you to come home to LCC!
 
Alumni, parents, staff, former staff, and friends are invited to attend the School’s annual homecoming celebration. It's still not too late to register!

The banquet will be held on Friday, September 28, 2007.  Our reunion year classes have been organizing their homecoming for quite some time, and we might just set an all-time record for attendance this year!

Our public Open House will take place on Saturday, September 29. As in the past, we will host a football game, and our alumni soccer game is scheduled for 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.  Complimentary lunch will be served on the field.
 
Join us to celebrate and reconnect with friends and faculty, old and new. We look forward to welcoming you back this fall!

At the editors’ request, alumnus Robert de Fougerolles ’57 provides a fascinating synopsis of his life to date.  Robert has been instrumental in the organization and planning of the Class of 1957 50^th anniversary reunion, at which 29 of his classmates will be in attendance!

Following graduation, and after two years of applied research with a large Canadian chemical company, I developed a nagging suspicion that I was possibly becoming a world authority on the uses of Palladium in precious metal catalysis. I decided to escape this fate by taking an MBA at the University of Western Ontario. Conscious that there had been zero women in the faculty of engineering at Queen’s, and that (correctly in hindsight) there would be none in the graduate school of business at Western, I made the first smart decision of my life by marrying the only woman member of the McGill Law Class of 1964. Ludmila (née Nemec) ironically had five law classmates from my LCC Class of 1957! How times have changed in academia!

The summer between my first and second year MBA, we formed a real estate development and construction company that proceeded to build a nondescript supermarket and strip mall along with a federal government post office. This was my first experience with extreme leverage, and it produced eye-watering returns on equity; not difficult if one’s paid in capital is C$400!  Notwithstanding, upon graduation, I decided to hone my management skills in large public companies using other people’s capital and became successively: Director of Planning for Canadian Celanese, Secretary-Treasurer and CFO of Molson’s Brewery Quebec, and Managing Director of the Powell Foods division of Cadbury Schweppes.

My goal was always to be self-employed, and I resigned as an employee on my 35th birthday, sold the real estate company and, in partnership with Peter Johnson ’57, purchased a small company in the construction equipment rental industry. Several years later, Peter left to begin a brilliant career as a professor at the McGill Business School, and a decade later, I sold the rental company and its US subsidiaries to a large French multi-national.

Meanwhile, on a part time basis, I found the time to teach mathematics to third year commerce students at Concordia and several courses in its MBA entrepreneurial studies programme. I was fortunate to be involved in the formation of the Advisory Board of what is today called the John Molson School of Business and to serve as its first chairman.

A decade ago, my wife and I grew weary of the continuing Quebec political drama and decided to move to England. Amongst our many reasons were that our two sons were based in Europe at that time, and I have sisters in both London and Paris with nephews and nieces not to mention dozens of 2nd cousins in both France and England.

Ensconced in Kent for the past eleven years, my wife Lida currently runs the European operations of a US company that produces thousands of personalized horoscopes each month, while I am chairman of the International Institute of Biotechnology and chairman of two other not-for-profit companies involved with science and innovation. I also have had the pleasure of serving as non-executive director of several firms both in the EU and Canada.

I look forward to attending our 50^th LCC reunion in Montreal later this month; particularly as I will be travelling up from Boston with my son Tony ’82 who is attending his 25^th class reunion.

Fast forward 50 years:  Robert de Fougerolles and his wife.

Advancement Update

The Arena Moves Ahead
Digging started this summer and will continue through fall and winter. The Capital Campaign team is working hard to raise money to complete the construction and finish the interior.  Thank you to all those special leadership donors who have also dug deep and contributed the lion’s share of the costs.

New Faces
The Advancement Office is pleased to welcome Richard Andrews as our new communications coordinator. Mr. Andrews has over 20 years experience in journalism, PR and university relations in Canada, Asia and Australia.  He will be working on our Capital Campaign and Centenary.

The New Parent Fund
This year’s goal is again $100,000 for important improvements to LCC buildings and grounds. Projects include upgrades to the wireless networks, installation of energy efficient windows and lighting, as well as landscaping and safety improvements.  The fund is off to a great start, and the School’s new parents have contributed and/or pledged $71,000 so far. If you have not yet made your commitment, it’s never too late to contribute to our children’s well-being.  Call us at 514-482-9916, ext. 212, or stop by the Advancement Office. You can find us at the third floor, just up the main staircase.

Tribute Giving
Is there an outstanding teacher, coach or staff member at LCC who deserves a tribute? The Advancement Office accepts gifts to honour special people in your life.  Simply send us a gift and name the individual. We’ll send a letter advising them of your donation to the School in their honour (the gift amount will remain confidential). You will receive a tax receipt for your donation, as well as recognition in the LCC Annual Report. Tribute gifts to the School can also celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. You can even commemorate the life of a beloved classmate, teacher, friend or family member. Contact s.sayegh@lcc.ca for details.

Tax Savings and an LCC Education
LCC donors who own publicly traded securities that have increased in value are reminded that, as of May 2, 2006, the Canadian Government has eliminated the capital gains tax on donations of appreciated publicly traded securities. This creates a great opportunity to donate such securities to one of our two LCC Canadian charities: LCC The School (BN 10764 6358 RR0001) or the LCC Foundation (BN 89114 9783 RR0001).

Receipts for gifts of publicly traded securities that are electronically transferred from a donor’s broker to an LCC broker will be based on the closing value of the security on the day it is received in an LCC brokerage account.

Take advantage of these tax savings while simultaneously supporting the development of young minds. Please ask your broker to contact the Advancement Office (514-482-9797, ext. 212).  Once we determine which charitable entity you wish to contribute to, we’ll ask the broker to follow some simple steps.

It’s not complicated.  Please give us a call!

Regardless of where you might live, LCC alumni can now purchase a selection of items on-line from our LCC Store!

It’s quite simple:

• Visit our on-line store
• Follow the prompts and select your favourite items
• The LCC Store will ship your purchase to your address

We have a fabulous selection of items including sweatshirts, baseball caps, pens, umbrellas and much more.  All purchases can be made by credit card on a secure line.

Be sure to check it out and visit this section of our site frequently for new merchandise. 

Trivia Contest News

In the previous edition of Between the Lions, we ran a trivia contest to challenge the memories of alumni who had witnessed the early years of computer studies at LCC.  Only one of the entrants answered all three questions correctly, and that decision involved a bit of leniency on the part of the judges.  The fourth, bonus question admittedly was a tricky one provided by the IT department, and no one offered the response we sought.

The prize goes to Russel Blumer ’87 who identified John Pichovich as the now-retired teacher who first organized computer classes at the School.  That was in 1982-83 (Russel answered ’83), when 14 new computers were installed in a lab that came to be dubbed the “Apple Orchard” (correct again, Russel; you will be receiving a nice prize, courtesy of the LCC Store). Shane Velan ’90 came a close second, but was one year off on the dates.

Why did all the entrants propose “John Pichovich” in answer to the first question, when contest designer Denys Heward ’64 had another response in mind?  We decided to accept the answer as correct after consulting with Denys and retired Math Department Head Michael McNally, both of whom agreed that former teacher Dave Kent was LCC’s first computer man back in 1976, but John Pichovich was the first one to involve the students in an ongoing programme.  See below for an account of those early computer years in Mike McNally’s own words. 

As for the answer to the bonus question:  IT Director Gary Millward tells us that a decade ago, the School had an Internet connection speed of 64KB.  Today, it is 62.5 times faster, with a connection speed of 4000 KB.  If you don’t believe that, talk to Gary!

Mike McNally remembers:

In 1970, I replaced John Brown, who worked for IBM in the States and had a beast of a machine in his office.  Needless to say, it was his toy and few, if any, students were allowed to use the computer.  I remember the early 70’s, when Bob Spencer and myself and, I believe, Peter Woolhouse, taught APL (a programming language) as part of the grade 8 and 9 math programme.  We weren’t much better than John B. about letting kids on the machine.  With class sizes of 27 or so, there was no such thing as hands-on learning.  But the kids knew about flowcharting, loops, logic, etc.

When Dave Kent arrived in 1976, he and I met the Board and convinced them that the $8,000 or so annual rental for the IBM was a waste of money.  We purchased a Hewlett Packard machine, which probably had a fraction of the memory of today’s graphing calculators.  Kent taught computers for his 3-year tenure, but if there was a formal computer science course, it would not have been rigorous.

Certainly formal computer science teaching only got off the ground with John Pichovich.  Check his ACSL plaques in the corridor and you will see them from the early 80’s, including one with the current Chairman of the Board on it.  John also got the School involved with the AP Computer Science programme, which I gather no longer exists…

John came in 1979, and his first major accomplishment was convincing Geoff Merrill and me that purchasing one of the popular, cheaper machines wasn’t the way to go.  You’ll recall that Pick was always very thorough, and his research led him to believe that an upstart company in California, Apple, was producing the best machine for the educational milieu…The Ladies Guild (I’m not sure that was their official title) was involved in fundraising and sprung for the first three machines for the lab in 1980.  Over the next few years the “Apple Orchard” increased in size to seven, then 14, before finally setting aside a classroom with 28 computers.  This occurred by 1985, and John moved into the office adjacent to the computer room.

Get out your magnifying glasses!  LCC Archivist Jane Martin requests your help in identifying several vintage photographs from the collection. 

If you see yourself or anyone you know in these images (other than Gibby or Dave Wood), can provide the approximate year any of them were taken, or know anything else interesting or relevant about them, she’d love to receive an e-mail from you at jmartin@lcc.ca.   Any information provided will be shared in a future newsletter.

If you have any unique photographic memories of LCC days in your own collections (clear originals or high resolution scans), Jane also would appreciate hearing from you.

Click to see full screen image

Click to see full screen image

Click to see full screen image

LCC is pleased to welcome two new directors to its leadership team:

Jamie Roche is our Director of Athletics.  Mr. Roche brings a strong independent school background to LCC.  Originally from Newfoundland, he is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, where, for three consecutive years, he won the award for outstanding character, work ethic and dedication while playing varsity hockey.  In his final year he was also an academic All-Canadian.

Mr. Roche joins us from Centennial Academy where he was Coordinator of Co-Curricular Programming.  Prior to this one-year appointment, he held the positions of Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life at Hebron Academy in Maine, an established New England Prep School.  From 2000-2005, Mr. Roche was also head coach of the Hebron varsity boys’ soccer, hockey and baseball teams.

In addition to his school teaching and coaching experience, Mr. Roche is a certified personal trainer and holds Canadian national certification in hockey, soccer and baseball.  From 1995-1999, he also directed a summer community baseball association in Newfoundland, managing 25 staff and 500 children.

Yasmine Ghandour (pictured to the left of Giulia Giorgi) joins LCC as the Director of the Junior School.  Ms. Ghandour is the founder of the Orchard House Preschool, located in NDG.  She has prior primary teaching experience in Montreal, Beirut and New York City.  In addition, she has experience as a teacher with McGill University’s Faculty of Education, with a focus on teaching in the diversified classroom.

Ms. Ghandour is currently completing a Master’s of Education degree in Educational Psychology at McGill and holds a Master of Arts in Early/Elementary Education from Columbia University (New York).  She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Chinese Studies from Leeds University (United Kingdom) as well as an International Montessori Diploma.

Ms. Ghandour was educated in French until the age of 16 and is fluent in both French and English.  She is also fluent in Arabic and Chinese (Mandarin) and conversant in Spanish.
In addition to Ms. Ghandour’s international experience and global view, she has a strong knowledge of pedagogy and a set of personal values that mesh strongly with what we all hold dear at LCC. 

We are delighted to have Mr. Roche and Ms. Ghandour as part of our team and welcome their ample experience and enthusiasm.  We believe that they will make valuable and lasting contributions to our long heritage of excellence in co-curricular and academic programming. 

Conceived by Librarian Maria Varvarikos, English Department Head Brian Moore and Pre-University Director Jill Rollins, LCC Reads is currently in its fourth year. Comprised of approximately fifteen to twenty students in grades 7-12, the LCC Reads Committee has selected, for the past three years, school-wide summer reading texts from titles recommended by staff, students and parents. The first two books were Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle. Ms. Walls participated in the Speakers’ Series last fall and also spent a day speaking with Middle and Senior School students at an assembly and in small-group sessions.

For this past summer’s read, the committee selected Jim Wooten’s We Are All the Same—the compelling story of Nkosi Johnson, an eleven-year-old South African boy born with AIDS into poverty in a shantytown and given only a few years to live, and Gail Johnson, an Afrikaner who raised him as her own. We are fortunate that author Jim Wooten, an award-winning correspondent for ABC World News and “Nightline,” will visit LCC on October 24-25 to speak to students and launch our 2007-2008 Speakers’ Series season (click here for more information about this event and how to purchase tickets). 

A Swinging Success!

LCC held its annual LION Classic Golf Tournament on June 11^th at the pristine Kanawaki Golf Club. One old adage about golf tournaments is that all anyone really remembers is what the weather was like. Well, we were definitely spoiled as the golfers were greeted by nothing but sun and a light breeze (always helping from behind, of course!).
 
Close to 100 golfers enjoyed not only the tremendous conditions but also a fun day filled with camaraderie and good stories. The new dinner format with buffet serving stations was a huge success. This year’s tournament featured a record number of lady golfers, a trend we hope continues for years to come.
 
The purpose of the tournament is to raise money for the Bursary Fund. Thanks to our generous sponsors, including tournament sponsor B. F. Lorenzetti and Associates, this year’s edition of the LION Classic netted over $17,000 for financial assistance to deserving students.
 
Thank you to all of the sponsors and participants.  We hope you will join us on the links next June!

With LCC’s centenary on the horizon, we’re seeking testimonials and stories about your LCC experience.

If you have an interesting anecdote to share or would like to give us a testimonial about your time at the School, contact Director of Alumni Relations Kirk LLano (kllano@lcc.ca, or call 514-482-3880).  We’d love to hear from you!