Woburn Collegiate Institute
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| Woburn Collegiate Institute | |
 Let the zeal for learning flourish |
|
| Address | |
| 2222 Ellesmere Road Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3M3, Canada |
|
| Information | |
| School board | Toronto District School Board |
| Religious affiliation | None |
| Superintendent | Don McLean |
| Area trustee | Scott Harrison |
| Principal | Gayle Ferguson |
| Vice principal | M. Breadner
D. McKenzie-Williams |
| School type | High School |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Language | English |
| Area | Scarborough |
| Mascot | Wildcat |
| Colours | Red, Blue, and White |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Enrollment | 1316 (Spring 2006) |
| Homepage | http://www.woburnci.com/ |
Woburn Collegiate Institute is a secondary school on Ellesmere Road in the Scarborough district of Toronto. Its motto is Studium Eruditionis Crescat.
Contents |
[edit] History
Woburn CI began in 1847, when it was established that Scarborough needed more schools for its growing population. Sixteen "school sections" were created, including what would become Woburn, SS #6. SS #6 was a one-story, 23 by 33 foot frame building.
By 1862, a larger school was needed, so the frame building was moved to Old Danforth Road and converted into a house. A new brick school was built, and two new rooms were added in 1896. In 1956, the school became so run-down that it could no longer be used. The school's students were sent to Golf Road Public School and SS #6 was boarded up. Plans were made to convert it into a museum, but the building was too decrepit to be moved.
In 1963, the old SS #6 building was demolished and Woburn Collegiate Institute opened. [1]
[edit] Campus
Woburn is a single building, containing 72 classrooms, 2 large gymnasia (which may be divided into 4 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. [2]
[edit] Students
As of 2004, 1266 students are in attendance at Woburn. Of these, 581 (46%) are female and 685 (54%) are male. 694 (55%) have a primary language other than English, and 26% have been living in Canada for less than five years. Woburn represents over 70 different languages and a multicultural environment. Gang-related activities have been noted in the past but new initiatives such as the hiring of two hall monitors and the placement of security cameras have notably deterred it.[3]
The school has been the home for Scarborough's gifted programme for exceptional students since 1978. [4]
[edit] Extracurricular activities
[edit] 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 Welocome Day, photo days, and other various fairs such as the career and volunteer fair. Furthermore, the Prefects also plan an annual event for the children at Woburn Jr. called Springfest.
[edit] 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,[5] exceeding the representations of more famous academically elite high schools such as Earl Haig Secondary School (seven times), and Upper Canada College (five times).
[edit] 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).
[edit] Programming Enrichment Group (PEG)
PEG [6] 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 Computer Science. 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 has additionally started its own competition, called Woburn Challenge, to draw in both students from other schools and university students. This contest has grown to become province-wide (occasionally wider).
Since its formation in the early 1990s, PEG has competed successfully in a large number of competitions.
[edit] Robotics
The Woburn Robotics Team [7] has a decade-long legacy. It is a team of students who build large, complex robots to compete in FIRST Robotics, the largest high school robotics competition on the planet.
They began in 1995 under the guidance of Mark Breadner and Roly Anderson, and in 1998 became the first non-American team to compete in what was then called USFIRST. In 2001 the team played a major part in bringing FIRST to Canada, with the founding of the Canadian Regional [8] - the first regional event to be held outside of the United States. For their enormous effort they were rewarded with the Chairman's Award, the competition's most prestigious award.
Over the years the team has established itself as a strong presence both on and off the field, with their excellent robots, trademark red-and-white hockey jerseys, experience and team spirit. They continue to participate in FIRST competitions held in Canada and the United States.
Team 188, Woburn Robotics, came 3rd at the Waterloo Regional Competition this year. Furthermore, an alumnus of Woburn Collegiate, Shawn Lim, received the prestigious Woodie Flowers Award which is given to a mentor whom shows notable contributions to the team.
[edit] 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 most recently 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 Friday, 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 an enthusiastic 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. [9][10]
[edit] Woburn Rookie Drama Festival
See Woburn Rookie Drama Festival.
[edit] Notable Alumni
Steven Page and Ed Robertson - Members of the band Barenaked Ladies
Hannah Sung - Former MuchMusic personality
Des McAnuff - Tony award-winning director
Sudz Sutherland - Award-winning filmmaker
Brad Duguid - Liberal MPP for Scarborough Centre
Bob McKenzie - Sports Broadcaster for TSN
Tyler Anthony - Blue Jays Assistant Coach
Ramanan Sivaranjan - Member of the band The String Hoppers
Monika Schnarre - Actress and former winner of the Ford Supermodel of the World Contest.[10]
Fabian Rayne - Former CFL player and member of Rugby Canada 7's team
Brad Tapper - NHL Player
Matthew Lau - Prominent Woburn catcher
Allan Cole - SportsCentre-TSN producer
Sofie Kouleas - SportsCentre producer-TSN
Steve Kouleas - Sports Broadcaster - The Score
Michael Ium - Professional Poker Player
Jahmal Faruki - Professional Poker Player
