Harbord Collegiate Institute
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| Harbord Collegiate Institute | |
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| Address | |
| 286 Harbord St. Toronto, Ontario, M6G 1G5, Canada |
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| Information | |
| School board | Toronto District School Board |
| Area trustee | Chris Bolton |
| Principal | Rodrigo Fuentes |
| School type | High school |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Language | English, French |
| Mascot | Tiger |
| Team name | Harbord Tigers |
| Colours | Orange and Black |
| Founded | 1892 |
| Enrollment | Approx. 1000 students |
| Homepage | http://www.harbordci.ca/ |
Harbord Collegiate Institute (also known as Harbord and H.C.I. for short) is a public secondary school located in downtown Toronto. Specifically, the school is located in the Palmerston-Little Italy/The Annex neighbourhood, situated on the northern side of Harbord Street, between Euclid Ave. and Manning St. The school has long strived for and maintained a reputation for academic excellence. Currently, the school has approximately 1000 students enrolled and over 50 faculty members.
[edit] History
Harbord was opened in 1892 as Harbord Street Collegiate Institute. Since then, Harbord has had many important events.
[edit] Harbord's First Centennial
Harbord's first centennial was celebrated in 1992. This celebration included the inauguration of the Harbord museum, which is a repository of Harbord memorabilia. To mark this major event, Harbord's alumni group, the Harbord Club, published a 300-page history of the school entitled The Happy Ghosts of Harbord, which traces the history of the school from its opening 1892 to 1992.
[edit] Remembrance Day 2005
On November 11, 2005, a huge Remembrance Day ceremony took place at Harbord. With the donations from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation and many other corporate sponsors and individuals, the rededication of the 1921 World War I monument back to its original splendor was held. The master of ceremony was Syd Moscoe while poignant addresses were given by President of George Weston Ltd. Galen Weston, former Minister of Defence Barney Danson, Canadian Armed Services Chief of Land Staff Lieutenant-General Marc Caron, and Chairperson of the TDSB Sheila Ward. Harbord's Jazz Band played a piece written by band teacher Mr. Alberts, called On Remembrance Day. The Cantemus Choir also performed and poems written by students Kevin Tung and Michael Lee were read. The ceremony ended with a picture that was taken of the students, teachers, alumni and neighbours all standing in front of the school.
In May, 2007, a second monument made to remember World War II was revealed in another ceremony[1].
[edit] Harbord Club
The Harbord Club is the longest continuous high school alumni group in Canada with over 2600 members. It was established in 1978 by Elsie Affleck, who brought along other alumni including Ken Prentice, Willie Zimmerman, Johnny Wayne, Max Goldhar and Julius Molinaro. The Harbordite, founded in 1979, is the Harbord Club newsletter that keeps former students of the school in contact with one another and up-to-date on Harbord activities. The Harbord Charitable Foundation was also created at this time, supporting both student scholarships and alumni activities. Currently, the president of the Harbord Club is Joan McCarville[2].
[edit] Notable graduates
Since Harbord opened its doors in 1892, there have been many graduates over the years that have achieved/are achieving remarkable accomplishments[3].
| Name | Accomplishment/Field |
|---|---|
| Wayne and Shuster | Comedians |
| Dr. Charles Best | Co-discoverer of Insulin |
| David Cronenberg | Filmmaker |
| Charles Trick Currelly | Founder and first curator of the Royal Ontario Museum |
| Victor Feldbrill | Former Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra |
| Philip Givens | Former Toronto Mayor |
| Eddie Goodman | Lawyer and politician |
| Stephen Lewis | UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDs in Africa |
| Robert McClure | Moderator of the United Church of Canada |
| Sydney Moscoe | Lawyer and former politician |
| Joe Pantalone | Toronto city councillor |
| Bob Rae | Former Ontario Premier |
| Louis Rasminsky | Former Governor of the Bank of Canada |
| Tony Ortins | Singer |
| Lee Ross | Famous Social Psychologist |
| Morley Safer | CBS News Anchor |
| Sam Shopsowitz | Shopsy's restaurant |
| Sam Sniderman | Founder of Sam the Record Man |
| Steven Staryk | Violinist |
| Kiefer Sutherland | Actor |
| John Weinzweig | Composer |
[edit] Overview
[edit] Day to Day Schedules
First to third year students must take 8 courses to fill up a schedule, while students in their fourth or possibly fifth years are allowed to take less courses as required for an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. The school is non-semestered, so all selected courses are in the schedule.
Harbord runs on a four day schedule, with each day labeled Days 1 through 4. Days 1 and 3 contain the same 4 courses; however, the 2 morning classes in Day 3 are flipped when compared to Day 1, as are the 2 classes in the afternoon and the same applies to Days 2 and 4. These four days are then cycled in order to make up a students schedule. Tests are only allowed if the class is the first class in the morning or the first class after lunch. This ensures that students do not have more than two tests a day, hence the necessity of Day 3 and 4. Any block in the schedule without a course is called a spare.
"Read Enjoy Appreciate Daily" or R.E.A.D. formerly known as "Silent Sustained Reading" or SSR is a time block after the second period of the day in which everyone, students, teachers, and administration, all read for 20 minutes. During this time no one is allowed in the hallways and everyone has to remain quiet. This period of time is intended to give students and teachers a chance to pick up a book and read.
The schedule is as follows[4]:
| Time | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |
| 8:45-10:05 | Block A | Block E | Block B | Block F |
| 10:10-11:20 | Block B | Block F | Block A | Block E |
| 11:20-11:40 | R.E.A.D. | R.E.A.D. | R.E.A.D. | R.E.A.D. |
| 11:40-12:40 | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch |
| 12:40-1:50 | Block C | Block G | Block D | Block H |
| 1:55-3:05 | Block D | Block H | Block C | Block G |
[edit] Exams
There is one exam period per year at Harbord in June before the summer break. During this exam period, there are no classes, and students will only need to go to school to write their exams as needed. In total, there are 10 combined exam days in a school year. Due to the school being non-semestered, a student could have 8 exams to write during the exam period, instead of 4 in a semestered school. These exams may be part of the 30% required Summative Evaluation.
[edit] Multiculturalism
Harbord has been a multicultural school for many years. From the 1920s to the 1950s, about 90 percent of the student body was Jewish and many prominent Jewish Canadians had attended Harbord. Today, the student body consists, but is not limited to students of Chinese and Portuguese descent, which is representative of the surrounding neighbourhoods. Many of the clubs at Harbord are reflective of the ethnic groups present. Harbord is well known for its language program, offering courses in Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin, French and Portuguese. Such courses allow students to learn basic language structure and conversation skills in these languages.
Harbord has 3 French programs to choose from: Immersion, Extended and Core French. These classes give students an opportunity to become bilingual in Canada's official languages. There is also a French Club within Harbord.
Harbord has a full ESL program to help all students new to Canada learn English. Harbord also has an International Club to help the students get used to Toronto and the new environment. The club has many activities throughout the year to help new students get involved in the school and give them the chance to socialise with other students in the school.
[edit] Clubs
Harbord has a variety of clubs:
[edit] Student Activity Council
The Student Activity Council, better known as SAC, is the largest student-run organisation at Harbord Collegiate Institute, which is run by dedicated and active individuals who wish to make students' stay at Harbord more enjoyable. SAC members are participants of athletic events, the arts and everything in between, and are therefore accurate representatives of Harbord Collegiate Institute's population.
SAC members organise special activities, such as semi-formals, activity days, and spirit weeks. They also hold Movie Nights, and Talent Shows throughout the year, as well as two barbecues: the Welcome Back Barbecue at the beginning of the year, and the Farewell Barbecue at the end of the year. Both barbecues take place outdoors with great food, a live D.J., live entertainment, and is a chance for both students and teachers to have fun and relax.
In order to fund for these activities, students purchase SAC cards from the Student Council at the beginning of the year, which allows students to join clubs and teams, and entitles each student to a yearbook. Using the money collected, SAC distributes the money from these cards to support and fund most of the school teams, clubs, and activities within the school.
Presidents of SAC in the past include Rajithan Ithayalingam, Martyna Bocian, Gia Milne-Allan, and Max Kerman. The teacher advisor of SAC is Ms. Williams. Ms. Clark, now retired was the teacher advisor for many years prior to her retirement.
The current SAC of 2007-2008 are:
President: Vanessa Gold Senior Vice-President: Tracey Biinna Junior Vice-President: Philip Cheung Social Convenor: Maggie Truong Secretary/Treasurer: Tina Ta Public Relations Officer: Cindy Liang External Affairs Officer: Amy Zhong Editor of Yearbook: N/A CAC President: Cindy Liang BAA President: Kevin Tung GAA President: Chantel Arce Year 4 Reps: Nicole Lee & Constance Dupuis Year 3 Reps: Camille Or & Yasmin Parker Year 2 Reps: Ai Yamamoto & Henry Zhao Year 1 Reps: Mugaya Bagambiire, Jeffrey Nham & Lucy Santano
[edit] Creative Arts Council
The Creative Arts Council, also known as CAC, is consists of music, art and drama students that work together to improve the school's Creative Arts program. This council was created three years ago, when the music council was restructured to include students in the disciplines of visual arts and drama.
The group of CAC members is involved with all events that have Arts students involved. These events include: the Awards Assembly, Remembrance Ceremony, Holiday Assembly, Feeder School Concert, Musical Theatre Performance, Junior and Senior Spring Concerts and Showcases. Besides events, CAC also organised fundraisers to raise money for better instruments and supplies for the Arts students at Harbord.
At the end of the school year, all the members of the council help to plan a CAC banquet. It is for sure an unforgettable night, where outstanding participation as well as talent is recognised and awards are given. Great food and dancing is also on the program for that special night.
Presidents of CAC in the past include David Cheung, Rajithan Ithayalingam, Natalie Maxwell and Mary Margaret Wood. The teacher advisor of the council has been Ms. Todros.
[edit] Boys and Girls Athletic Association
The Boys Athletic Association, also known as the BAA, and the Girls Athletic Association, also known as the GAA, are two different clubs in Harbord that work closely together to organise most athletic events, such as the athletic banquet and intramurals. The boys junior basketball team has recently had a historic performance by AIR CHINA.
[edit] Comic Book Club
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Comic Book Club
Daniel "King Kwan" Kwan AKA D Kwan Honorary Member Teacher Advisor |
The Comic Book Club was a legendary club at Harbord. The members within, who most wish to be called Nhanites, meet every Tuesday during the lunch break at their headquarters, The Hall of Justice (room 210). To raise money they have been holding fundraisers such as "The Unofficial Super Smash Bros. Melee 4 Stock Doubles Tournament of Justice" (TUSSBM4SDTOJ ).
[edit] Debating Society
The Harbord Debating Society is a place to enhance students’ political awareness as well as their oratorical skills. The society is open to all Harbord students. The topics discuss include school uniforms, George W. Bush's policies, gay marriage, and NAFTA. Each year, students participate in various tournaments, such as the Ontario Model Parliament and the Southern Ontario Model United Nations Assembly. The club has many members. Its staff advisor is Mr. Harrison.
The current chairs of the Debating Society are Jimmy Lu, Allison Lee and Yunus Mohamed.
[edit] Empowered Student Partnership (ESP)
The Empowered Student Partnership is a new club at Harbord that works with the TDSB, the Toronto Police Service and the Toronto Catholic District School Board to make the school and the community a safer and better place. They work towards minimising violence, drug use, graffiti, guns and racism. The teacher advisor is Ms. Faulconbridge and the club was also strongly supported by vice-principal Mr. Fuentes. ESP has just conducted a school wide safety survey and results are to be announced.
[edit] French Club
The French Club is dedicated to improving the Francophone population at Harbord. Although predominantly consisting of Francophones, the French club is attracting many other students through their events. The teacher advisor of the club is Mr. R Leblanc.
[edit] Green Club
The Green Club (A.K.A. "E.A.P.S.") is a group of enthusiastic students committed to the improvement and the awareness of the environment problems around the school, and to change the school and make it more environmentally friendly. The Green Club currently is working on the "Watt Wise" program which monitors the energy consumption of different school electrical equipment and to try and see if energy use around the school could be reduced. The Green Club has also a couple of fundraiser in development to raise money to fix the solar panel on the roof that is currently inoperative, and also plans on revamping the Green House.
The president and co-founder of the Green Club is Alison Lee.
[edit] History Club
The History Club is composed of students who recognise and promote Harbord's rich history. The club was created only recently, but gained recognition after helping to organise the 2006 Remembrance Day assembly. The current goals of the History Club are to care for and update the Harbord Museum, to work on the possible creation of a Harbord History course, which has been suggested by alumni, and to recruit more members. The club is currently co-presidented by founders Caitlin Stewart and Lidia Likhodi; Nariné Martiros-Gharakhanian is a publicly prominent and active member.
[edit] Key Club
"Key Club is an international student-led organisation which provides its members with opportunities to provide service, build character and develop leadership."[5] Members of Harbord C.I.'s Key Club have volunteered for Epilepsy Toronto, the Canadian Cancer Society, The Liver Foundation, the Heart & Stroke Foundation, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon and many other non-profit organisations.
The current President of Key Club is Dale Wang, and past presidents include Natalie Maxwell, Lisa Tai, Uyen Tran, Stacy Nunes and Linda Lin.
[edit] Robotics Team
This is a team dedicated to competing in various international competitions such as the FIRST Robotics Competition and the FIRST Vex Challenge. The team name of the Robotics Club is Tiger Techs, or T2 for short. The registered team number for Tiger Techs is 919 in all robotics challenges organised by FIRST. This team has been in existence for over five years and has built many a successful robot. In 2006, the team proudly ranked 31 out 74 in the Greater Toronto Regional. The teachers involved in the 2006/2007 Robotics Team are: Mr. Hulays, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Sangha, Mr. Lee and Ms. Townsend.
[edit] Tigerline Announcements
Tigerline Announcements are morning announcements made to the student body of Harbord everyday. The team is committed to announce important team/club meetings, events and happy birthday greetings. The team also leads after-lunchtime get-to-class warnings and national anthems in the morning, followed by inspiring quotes.
[edit] Tiger Talk
Tiger Talk is Harbord's official newspaper. It is sectioned into five categories: School, Sports, World Issues, Entertainment and Miscellaneous. It covers many topics in and out of the school environment. It has been a great source of information for Harbordites for many years.
The current Head Editors of Tiger Talk are Jennifer Chow and Nancy Huang.
[edit] Other clubs
Here is a list of the other clubs at Harbord:
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[edit] Sports
Harbord has a wide variety of sport teams, coached and managed by many members of the faculty and sometimes with help of old students of Harbord.
Here is a list of sport teams offered at Harbord:
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[edit] Music program
Harbord has a very wide range of musical opportunities. At Harbord, the head of the Music Department is Mrs. Todros. Other teachers in the department include Mrs. Martin and Mr. Alberts.
[edit] Band
Band is taught by Mr. Alberts and Mrs. Martin. The band program goes from the Grade 9 Beginner Band to the Grade 12 Senior Band. Harbord's Jazz Band is conducted by Mr. Alberts and is comprised of the most experienced band players in the school. Their practices are early in the morning and therefore require a lot of dedication. The senior band is also taught by Mr. Alberts, while Mrs. Martin teaches the Junior Band class. Instruments in band include flute, clarinet, saxophone, French horn, trombone, tuba, bass guitar, keyboard, drums, baritone and trumpet. The band performs at assemblies and concerts which includes the Remembrance Ceremony, Senior Showcase, Feeder School Concert, Commencement and the Farewell Assembly.
[edit] Vocal
Vocal is taught by Mrs. Todros. The classes range from Grade 9 Beginner Vocal to Senior Vocal. There is also a Cantemus Choir at Harbord that sings for many events inside and outside of Harbord. This Choir won Second Place at this year's Kiwanis Festival.
[edit] Strings
Strings is taught by Mrs. Todros. She teaches the Grade 9 Beginner Strings, the Junior Strings and the Senior Strings. Instruments available for strings at Harbord include: violin, viola, cello and bass. Harbord's String Quartet won First Prize at last year's Kiwanis Festival. The Chamber Orchestra has performed at other venues such as Massey Hall, and George Weston Hall. There is also an upcoming concert at The Ford Centre by the Strings Orchestra. The Strings Chamber Orchestra plays at many school events such as the Awards Assembly, Feeder School Concert and Senior Concert, and from time to time, accompanies the Cantemus Choir.
[edit] Staff
Besides the students, the staff are the most important people in the school.
| Administration Staff | ||||
| Principal | Rodrigo Fuentes | |||
| Vice-Principal | Susana Arnott and Janice Gladstone | |||
| Office staff | Luiza Healey, Mary Selvaggi, Fernanda Santos, Laura Lloyd and Enza Galati | |||
| Teaching Staff | ||||
| Department | English | Language | Science | Computer and Math |
| Department Head | Mr. Roffman | Mr. Machado | Mr. McIntyre | Mr. Wilson & Ms. Martins |
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| Department | Geography | History/Contemporary Studies | Music and Art | Physical Education |
| Department Head | Mr. Channing | Mr. "Tim The Tank" Dingwall | Mrs. Todros | Mr. Purchas |
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| Librarians | Ms. Perovic, Ms. Steele, Ms. West | |||
| Guidance | Ms. Sue, Ms. Yee, Ms. Wong | |||
[edit] School spirit
School spirit is shown off in many ways at Harbord Collegiate Institute. Councils such as the Student Activity Council, the Creative Arts Council, the Boys Athletic Association, the Girls Athletic Association, and Key Club all have their very own uniforms for their respected members to wear. These uniforms are purchased by the students and are worn to meetings and at events that their council is leading.
School spirit is also shown by clothing that the Boys Athletic Association sells annually. They sell everything from sweaters, to shirts, to sweat pants, and it can all be personalised while having Harbord on the front in big, bold letters. Students that take part in athletics at Harbord wear uniforms, and this year, most of which is personalised. Their outstanding school spirit by sporting the orange black while participating in extracurricular activities does not go unnoticed.
Finally, Harbord's Student Council holds Spirit Weeks throughout the course of a school year for students to take part in. These weeks include days such as Pajama Day, Twin Day, and Backwards Day.
[edit] Symbols of Harbord
A lot of recognisable symbols can be linked to Harbord. Harbord's official slogan is "OMG." Harbord has an official coat of arms, shown at right.
Harbord's official mascot is the tiger. A Tiger can be seen in the middle of the gym floor which is familiar to all of Harbord's students. A tiger can also be found on team uniforms. Harbord's official colours are orange and black, which are based on the colours of a tiger.
[edit] Onward Harbord
Onward Harbord is Harbord's official song, it is sung along with the school band playing at the same time. Generally at the behest of the principal ("One more time!"), the song gets sung twice. The lyrics are as follows[6]:
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[edit] References
- ^ World War Two Monument by Jared Malcolmson, from Tiger Talk Newspaper Issue #6 June 2007, June 2007.
- ^ Harbord Club
- ^ Principal's Address by Ms. Parkin, from HCI Yearbook 2004-2005, February 2006.
- ^ HCI Agenda 2007-2008
- ^ http://www.keyclub.org/keyclub/about/objects.asp
- ^ HCI Agenda 2007-2008
