Upper Canada College, an all male preparatory school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, like several other Commonwealth schools, divides its students into ten houses, each led by a Senior House Adviser and a student-elected Head of House. Heads of Houses are among the sixteen "stewards" who form the student government of the College, the Board of Stewards. In addition to the Heads of Houses, four Prefects from each house are elected to represent their house and the school .
The house system was first adopted in 1923, previous to which members of the residence community were referred to as living in "the House" while day students were part of "the Town". There were only four houses until the late 1930s. There are now ten houses. Two of these, Seaton's and Wedd's, are boarding houses while the remaining eight are for day students. Each house is also identified by its own colour, which is displayed on the "house tie", worn with the standard school uniform by the members of the respective house.
The houses are:
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Bremner's is the newest house at Upper Canada College, having been founded in 1983. The Bremner's house colour is red. The student head of house is Shashwat Koirala, and the faculty head (as of 2010) is Mr. Richard Tong. Bremner's finished second in the Prefect's Cup.
Howard's is one of the newest houses at Upper Canada College, being founded in the 1960s. The faculty head is Ms. Bina Evans. The current student head of house is Patrick Smit (Class of 2012). The logo for Howard's house is The Eye of Thundera, Insignia of the ThunderCats. It comes from the American television series ThunderCats, that ran from 1985-1990. They are known for the HO Dynasty which lasted from 2002–2009, in which they won the prefect cup four times.
Jackson's House is one of the oldest of the ten houses at UCC, represented by the colour yellow. Members of Jackson's house are known as "Jacksonites". The house is colloquially referred to as "J-House", and at times, the "J-Team". The main house cheer is an adaptation of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. Whenever they reach the podium to present something, Jackson's house members are expected to start their presentation with the house's call-and-answer cheer of "Ahoy". Jackson's is led by Head of House Francois Kenny and four Prefects: Sam Armoyan, Zachary Baruch, Kenny Chow, and Imran Moledina.
The house was named for John "Gentle" Martland, a master at the College who was most well known for his reform of the boarding houses, making them into something more than simple residences. He toned down the rigid study regimes, cold dormitories, bland menus, and bullying, fostering instead more tolerating discipline, swift punishment for serious offenders, the occasional feast, and organised recreation.[1]
Martland's house colour is purple. Their Senior House Advisor is Jeff Woodroffe, and their Head of House is Pearce Wildi.
McHugh's house colour is maroon. The Senior House Advisor is Reem Aweida-Parsons. McHugh's is led by Head of House Cole Fleming (Class of 2012) and by four Prefects: Eric Kouri (Class of 2012), Max Carnella (Class of 2012), Alexander Li (Class of 2012), Timothy Dutton (Class of 2012). Past mascots include the "Chubby Chicken" and the letter Q. The McHugh's mural plays off of the logo of Australian surfboard maker McTavish.
Mowbray's house is named after the UCC English teacher William Mowbray. Their sister house at Bishop Strachan School is Walsh. Their Senior House Advisor is Mario Sturino, and their Head of House is James Hunter (class of 2011). Mowbray's house colour is gray.
Orr's house colour is cyan. The house was named after William H. Orr. The Orr's Senior House Advisor is Mrs. Deirdre Timusk.
The head of house is Aly Kassim-Lakha (Class of 2011). The Orr's House Prefects are Joey Linzon, Patrick Firth, Kabir Vassanji and Justin Yuen. The Orr's mascot is the shark, which is represented by the house's mural and the model shark. Orr's finished second in the Prefect's Cup Standings for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Scadding's was founded in 1960 in honour of Henry Scadding, the first boy enrolled in the school in 1829. Scadding was also Head Boy of the school for three years in a row, and later became a teacher at the college. The house's colour is teal. The Scadding's "logo" has traditionally been a Superman "S", topped with a three-pointed crown. The Scadding's logo is a replication of the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, with the American flag replaced with the aforementioned S. The house motto is "Scaddings: King of Houses".
Seaton's is one of the original four houses at UCC, and is one of the two boarding houses. It was founded in 1924 and is named after Field Marshal Sir John Colborne, later Lord Seaton, UCC's founder and former Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. Seaton's has a long-fought rivalry with Wedd's - the other UCC boarding house. Members of Seaton's House are called "Seatonians". Seaton's is led by House Master Brent Mackay. Seaton's prevıous Head of House is Andrew Morrison. The head of house is David Lee. The prefects are Mıchael Topolınskı, Sebastıan Malo, and Chrıs Choı. The 3rd flat senıors are Hassan Abdul, Ka Hım cha, Sınan Malık, John Seydel, and Arjun Chaudry.
Since the House is both a residential community and a competitive house within the Prefects' Cup competition, it has traditions that somewhat resemble a fraternity. However, certain responsibilities are placed on the upper year students, such as ensuring grade 8 and 9s are in bed at their curfew hours.
The earliest exclusively Seatonian club was the Seaton's Ski Club which formed in the early 1930s. In the early years the boarding houses would participate in "competitive theatre", staging productions of the same play. Seaton's also had a drama troupe of sorts called the Seaton's Follies, who would put on a satirical show every term. During the early 1980s there was the Seaton's House Independent Tribune and the Seaton's House Independent Theatre. Also in the early 1980s an unofficial club called the Midnight Ramblers was formed in Seaton's and had a companion chapter in Wedd's House.
In the 1970s, the Seatonians were called "Louis' Grenouilles" in reference to House Master Louis Paichoux, who was French. Other terms for Seatonians include "Seatons"and "Seatonsmen". "Seatonite" has also been used, but has fallen out of favour due to its similarity to the Wedd's designation "Weddite". Seaton's colours are green and white. It also has adopted the crest of Lord Seaton as a house symbol, which adorns adorns the house flag. Symbols have also included a mouse, a frog (for the 'Grenouilles'), a fiery 'S' designating the Seaton's "Heat", the Green Machine logo, and most common since the 1990s, the Superman shield.
There is also an annual tradition (founded in 2003) of a House superhero, who stars in a house spirit video, called "Seatonsman". Seniors (originally anyone in the house) could audition for the role through video taped and shown in House Meeting, resulting in a vote on who would be Seatonsman. The competition was narrowed to seniors in 2005 to keep it from being politicized by future Head of House candidates. There is a Seatonsman cape as well as a Seatonsman trophy, awarded to the winner of the competition. Seatonsman was first created by Matthew Kupfer, later Head of House, and originally starred Simon Ayotte.
Wedd's is the one the oldest of the ten houses at UCC, and is one of the two boarding houses. Wedd's is led by House Master Andrew Turner, and is represented by the colour black. The Head of house for Wedd's in Loyan Issa.
The Prefects' Cup is awarded annually to the house that places first overall within the intramural competitions.
Recent Prefects' Cup Champions 2010/2011 - Martland's House(Head of House: Matt Walker '10. Pearce Wildi '11)
2009/2010- Martland's House(Head of House:Matt Walker '10)
2008/2009 - Howard's House (Head of House: John Zucchi '09, Antonis Drivas '10)
2007/2008 - Mowbray's House (Head of House: Alexander Estey '08, Alfred Nataprawira '09)
2005/2006 - Howard's House (Head of House: Reid Pauly '06, Julian Cupilari '07)
2004/2005 - Howard's House (Head of House: Phil Noelting '05, Reid Pauly '06)
2002/2003 - Howard's House (Head of House: David Steinbach '04, Phil Noelting '05)
2001/2002 - Wedd's House (Head of House: Christopher Cruz '02, Andrew Lee '03)
2000/2001 - Wedd's House (Head of House: Andrew Nelson '01, Christopher Cruz '02)
1999/2000 - [ ]
1998/1999 - Wedd's House (Head of House: Scott Hill '98, Ali Jaffer '99)
1996/1997 - Scadding's House
1995/1996 - Jackson's House
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