Lisgar Collegiate Institute

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Lisgar Collegiate Institute
Alere Flammam
(Nourish the Flame)
Lisgar's Coat of Arms
Established 1843
School type Collegiate Institute
Principal Karen Gledhill
Students 1150
Location Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0B9
Information (613) 239-2696
Website http://www.lisgar.ca
Lisgar Collegiate Institute
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Lisgar Collegiate Institute
Ottawa Collegiate Institute c. 1875 - 1880
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Ottawa Collegiate Institute c. 1875 - 1880
View of Lisgar from the Mall
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View of Lisgar from the Mall

Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Lisgar is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal. It is just blocks from Canada's Parliament Hill. The school serves the neighbourhoods of Sandy Hill, New Edinburgh, Centretown, Rockcliffe Park, Westboro, the Glebe, and has many students from other areas. The school is also known for its gifted student program. It is one of the country's best regarded public schools. It was listed by Maclean's Magazine as one the Top 10 Schools in Canada.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1843, a grammar school was opened in the Centretown area of Ottawa in a house at the corner of Waller and Daly streets with 40 paying students. In 1859, the school was one of the first in Ontario to admit girls. The school changed locations several times in the first few years, and was renamed Bytown Grammar School, and later Ottawa Grammar School. In 1871 the school was raised to a high school and in 1873 to a collegiate institute becoming Ottawa Collegiate Institute.

The school got a permanent home in 1873 when a lot at what was then the southern edge of the city, was purchased. The school board acquired the land on Biddy Street for C$3,200 and paid a squatter C$100 to give up any claims on the land. (Biddy Street was renamed Lisgar street in 1880 after Lord Lisgar Canada's second Governor-General. A Gothic Revival style structure, designed by W.T. Thomas and W. Chesterton, was built at a cost of C$26,000. Governor General Lord Dufferin laid the cornerstone and the school opened in 1874.

In 1892, the school was the first public secondary school in Ontario to hire a female teacher. Four new classrooms were added on the south side in 1892, but a fire in 1893 caused the school to be temporarily closed. In 1903, the east wing was built with eight new classrooms and in 1908 the west wing with laboratories and an auditorium was added in 1908. A rifle range for the cadet corps was added in 1912, and a cafeteria in 1923. In 1922, After the school was split to form Glebe Collegiate Institute, OCI was renamed Ottawa Lisgar Street Collegiate Institute which soon was shortened to Lisgar Collegiate Institute. Officially the school remained named OCI for several decades. Since the split, the two schools have been traditional rivals.

In 1951, a new gymnasium was built across the street with a connecting tunnel. This building was enlarged in 1962. The old gym was turned into what is now the cafeteria. The two building are now referred to as the North and South buildings.

In 1957, Lisgar was the first school in Ontario to introduce a special program for gifted students.

In the 1970s, a cash-strapped Ottawa Board of Education decided to close the school and sell its valuable downtown real estate. This action was blocked by community members and alumni.

In 1996, the third floor of the building was completely redone and the science labs were modernized. In March of 2003, parts of the first, second, and basement floors of the main building were damaged by a water leak. Some minor changes were made to the first floor in the reconstruction.

Students have frequently placed highly in mathematics competitions. For instance, they have frequently placed in the top ten amongst Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Winners.

Lisgar has been the "home" of the Ottawa-Carleton Educational Space Simulation since 1990. It is worth noting that the school is the only school in the area, and one of the few in the province to run such a program. Lisgar was also one of the original members of the now-defunct Student Space Simulation.

It is rumoured that two ghosts reside within Lisgar, which is why the top floor is closed off. One girl was killed in the 1940s by ice falling off the roof, while a janitor was also killed when he fell off of the roof in an unrelated incident. Now Lisgar is a part of the Haunted Walk of Ottawa.

For a complete list of Lisgar's qualitities and test results and other information visit http://www.ocdsb.edu.on.ca/profiles/2004_2005/LISG.pdf.

[edit] The Lisgar Lineup

In the winter of 2005 exactly 80 candidates waited for several days outside of the school in order to gain priority for admission as transfer students. This form of lineup has been a phenomenon for the school in recent years, as space had previously been very limited.
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In the winter of 2005 exactly 80 candidates waited for several days outside of the school in order to gain priority for admission as transfer students. This form of lineup has been a phenomenon for the school in recent years, as space had previously been very limited.

For the past few years, the demand for a cross-boundary entry into Lisgar Collegiate Institute has been very high. Each year, they accept under 100 students. However, in 2005, 78 cross boundary students were accepted. Tents were set up in the field where courageous parents braved three days of swamp-like, wet conditions.

[edit] Lisgar Mathematics

Lisgar has one of the strongest mathematic programs in the country, with students always placing in the Pascal, Cayley, and Fermat, math competitions.

The math teachers at Lisgar are:

  • Ms. Asselstine
  • Ms. Bourassa
  • Mr. Fazakas
  • Mr. Tang
  • Ms. Martino
  • Ms. Van de Walle
  • Ms. MacDonald
  • Ms. Odecki
  • Mr. Italiano
  • Mrs. Ruff

[edit] Lisgar Music

Lisgar's Music Department has been one of the strongest in the City of Ottawa for decades. They not only have an amazing program for wind instruments, but they also offer a one of a kind program for string instruments, as well as theory courses at the Advanced Placement (University Year 1) level. They have won an award in almost every Ensemble, Band, Symphony, and Orchestra Category in the Kiwanis Music Festival. Lisgar's Senior Orchestra and Wind Ensemble also frequently travels to distant locations to perform. In March 2003, they visited Beijing, and performed there, and more recently in 2005, they visited Italy and performed there. Lisgar's Music department, like the school, is very old.

Ensembles Include:

  • Junior Concert Band
  • Symphonic Band
  • Senior Band
  • Wind Ensemble
  • Junior Orchestra
  • Intermediate Orchestra
  • Senior Orchestra
  • String Ensemble
  • Junior Jazz
  • Senior Jazz
  • String Jazz
  • Choir

The music teachers/conductors at Lisgar Collegiate Institute are Mr. Arrigo, Mr. O'Connor, and Ms. Bradley. Unfortunately, Ms. Bradley, who has been teaching for decades, has retired at the end of the 2005-2006 school year. To replace Ms. Bradley, is Ms. Mennill.

[edit] Lisgar Sports

Lisgar's athletic teams, the Lords, have a long history of excelling in sports. Although Lisgar students focus more on academics, there are many who feel at home in the Lisgar Athletics Department. In the school's gymnasium are various banners in all the different sports (track and field, volleyball, badminton). In 2004, the Sr. Boys Volleyball team, coached by mathematics teacher, Mr. Tang, won City Finals, and continued to go to OFSSAA, where they won the Honourable Mention award for good Sportsmanship.

Lisgar Sports Council, the committee assigned to organizing intramural games at lunch hours, fan busses to away games, and general fan turnout to games, have been working hard this year to increase Spirit and participation of the crowd, offering brownies, TimBits, and more to encourage crowds to view the home games.

List of Teams Available for 2006-2007 are:

Fall Teams

Junior Girls' Basketball

Senior Girls' Basketball

Cross Country Running

Junior Boys' Soccer

Senior Boys' Soccer

Senior Boys' Volleyball

Girls' Ice Hockey

Boys' Ice Hockey

Winter Teams

Junior Boys' Basketball

Senior Boys' Basketball

Nordic Skiing

Downhill Ski Team (the bomb)

Junior Girls' Volleyball

Senior Girls' Volleyball

Junior Boys' Volleyball

Badminton

Spring Teams

Girls' Rugby

Boys' Rugby

Track and Field

Girls' Soccer

Rowing

[edit] Lisgar Science

Lisgar's science department is one of the strongest in the city. Lisgar offers the standard science courses which are (usually) all located on the fourth floor of the building. The head of the science department is Ms. Hewitt, and the other science teachers are:

  • Mr. Kronberg
  • Ms. Macdonald
  • Ms. MacKinnon
  • Ms. McBurney
  • Mr. McKay
  • Ms. Mclean
  • Dr. James P.A. Magwood, BEd, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD
  • Ms. Middleton
  • Mr. Wright
  • Ms. Engel
  • Ms. Hewitt
  • Mr. St. Aubin

[edit] Lisgar's Fine Arts

Lisgar's Fine Arts include Art, Drama, and Music. Lisgar's Art classes are usually located on the fourth' floor, but there is also a class on the third floor due to the number of students participating in this program. Drama is available to grades 9-12. A Lisgar student, Sofia Hou, was honoured when she won the National Canada Day Competition, where her artwork was displayed on Parliament Hill. Staff are:

  • Mr. Arrigo
  • Mr. O'Connor
  • Ms. Ceci-ward
  • Ms. Grant
  • Ms. Klassen (also the bomb)
  • Ms. Szeles
  • Ms. Schwartz
  • Ms. Mennill
  • Ms. Beaton

[edit] Lisgar Business

Lisgar has a notable Business department, with students frequently placing in the Sprott School of Business Business Contest. Lisgar's Business Teachers are:

  • Mr. Hum
  • Mr. Italiano
  • Ms. Martin
  • Ms. Seiers

[edit] Lisgar Clubs

Lisgar has a wide variety of clubs available to students. The clubs at Lisgar for 2006-2007 are:

  • Amnesty International
  • Anime Club
  • Audio Visual Association (AVA)
  • Badminton Club
  • Biomedical Club
  • Business Club
  • Christian Fellowship
  • Club Q
  • Chinese Cultural Club
  • Dance Club
  • Drama Club
  • Expose
  • Film Club
  • Graphic Arts Club
  • Improv Club (and Improv Team - "JIMMY" and "JIMBO")
  • Interact
  • Kiwanis Educational Youth
  • Knit Fever! (Knitting Club)
  • Language Club
  • Lisgar Christian Fellowship Club
  • Lisgar's Environmental Action Force (LEAF)
  • Lisgar Chess Club
  • Lisgar Debating Society
  • Lisgar Graphic Arts Club
  • Lisgar Rowing Club
  • Lisgar Commonwealth Society
  • Lisgar Film Club
  • Lisgar Islamic Forum
  • Lisgar Sport Council
  • Lisgarwrite - the school's accredited newspaper.
  • Literary Tea cup
  • OTESHA - an environmental-action force that creates skits and plays about conserving nature and the value of free-trade goods.
  • Reach for the Top
  • Photography Club
  • Society of Cooking
  • Students' Council
  • Students of LCI in Support of History
  • The GameRoom: Chess and Cards
  • Space Sim - Ottawa-Carleton Educational Space Simulation
  • Ultimate Frisbee Club
  • V.O.I.C.E.S.
  • Vox Lycei (Yearbook)
  • Wandering Phonograph
  • Weight Lifters Club

[edit] Notable alumni

Picture of Anchorman Peter Jennings age 16 from the 1955-1966 Lisgar Yearbook
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Picture of Anchorman Peter Jennings age 16 from the 1955-1966 Lisgar Yearbook

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Bibliography

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