Brentwood College School

The Senior Boys basketball team spent part of their Christmas vacation training together on the beaches of Waikiki. The boys were able to participate in an excellent tune-up tournament and faced some terrific competition against teams from all over the United States. Between games, practices and conditioning sessions, the boys also found time to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center, snorkel with some turtles at Hanauma Bay, do some high speed sailing on a catamaran, take a tour of historic Pearl Harbor and catch a couple of highly entertaining University of Hawaii basketball games. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many and should serve the team well as they gear up for the bulk of their competitive season. The boys play next at the Victoria Police Tournament on January 12 where they will open against Prince Rupert Secondary. Mr. Blake Gage, Coach

This morning at 11:05, the Killy Theatre in Brentwood’s Bunch Centre for the Performing Arts was as full as it’s ever been as 440 students and almost 200 faculty and staff took their seats for a surprise announcement, the type of historic announcement that has occurred only twice in our 50 year history in Mill Bay. Mrs. Andrea Pennells, who has served our school for 30 years, the last dozen as Head of School, and Mr. Bruce Carlson, Class of 1964, past parent and Chair of the Board of Governors, had a secret that they were bursting to share. And share they did. Drum roll please… Mr. Bud Patel, currently Deputy Headmaster and Principal of the Senior School at St. George's in Vancouver, BC, formerly a teacher, coach and houseparent at Shawnigan Lake School, will be Brentwood’s new Head of School beginning July 15, 2012. We look forward to warmly welcoming Bud, his wife Wendy, and their two daughters when they arrive this summer. Until then, Mrs. Pennells reminds us that she’s still the boss!

Brentwood's rowing alumni continue to shine in top level competition. Scott Frandsen, Class of 1998, and David Calder, Class of 1996, Silver medalists at Beijing in the pair, recently won the same event at the National Rowing Championships in Welland, Ontario. Fellow Brentwood grad Spencer Crowley, Class of 2007, placed fifth in the pair after winning two Silvers at the Pan Am Games last month. Malcolm Howard, Class of 2001, Gold medalist at Beijing in the eight, was slated to compete in the championships, but he had to miss the event due to an injury. All four of these athletes are now heading back to Victoria to compete for seats for the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games. The Canadian team will be named in early spring. Jordan Wille, Class of 2010, placed 7th in the men's lightweight single event while Lauren Wilkinson, daughter of Brentwood alumni David Wilkinson, placed 2nd in the women's pair. Please see our website to learn more: http://www.brentwood.bc.ca/

Learning at Brentwood is not limited to the classroom. Students from our advanced Mandarin class participated in the Walk of the Nation annual event and the Cowichan Intercultural Society's thirtieth birthday celebration in Duncan this past week. At this local community multi-cultural celebration, they shared Chinese songs and wisdom and experienced the traditions of other cultures. Mrs. Fang Sun

In its 50 / 75 anniversary year, Brentwood College School has much to celebrate, and Head of School, Andrea Pennells, announced today an historic academic hat trick. Three Brentwood master teachers have just been named as recipients of Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence in 2011. The Government of Canada chose October 5, World Teachers Day, to celebrate outstanding educators who are igniting the curiosity of their students and making Canada a better place, one child at a time." Head of Brentwood's Mathematics Department, Harold Wardrop (pictured here with Prime Minister, Stephen Harper), received one of the 26 National Awards. Head of Business and Entrepreneurship, Michael Flynn, and Head of Science, Bruce Tate, garnered two of the 58 Regional Awards. All three Brentwood teachers were recognized as exceptionally innovative leaders who help students excel. Follow the links on the Prime Minister's Awards website to learn more. Here's a preview: "Sherlock Holmes meets Indiana Jones when Harold Wardrop delivers his math class. Equipped with a unique ability to turn an abstract formula into a fun experience they'll talk about at recess, Wardrop tackles math through ice hockey, forensics, wakeboarding and the Vancouver Sky Train. Whether it's a game of Jeopardy or the experience of buying a dream car and living with a roommate, Mr. Wardrop students learn math, real life lessons and have fun doing it." "Skate to where the puck will be reads a plaque on Michael Flynn's office wall¦ and so equipped with hockey metaphors, he teaches his students to adapt in a fast-moving world. In Mr. Flynn's classes, students learn to continue the pass, demonstrate teamwork and eventually score the point. A believer that students learn more by doing than just by listening, Mr. Flynn's classes can even resemble an episode of The Apprentice as students work, implement and at times even capitalize on real business ventures." "Spaghetti bridges, egg catapults, hovercrafts and candle-powered hot air balloons¦ it's like being taught physics by Einstein himself. But it's not all just fun and games in Bruce Tate's classroom. Confronted with questions like "What if..?" and "Why is that?", students in Mr. Tate's Science program emerge curious, wanting to know more about the universe and why things happen." The Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence program is ..Canada's way of recognizing our best teachers, promote what they have achieved and share their innovative and successful teaching practices." Congratulations to Harold Wardrop, Michael Flynn and Bruce Tate who join biology teacher, Gerry Pennells, as Brentwood faculty on the Prime Minister's Honour Roll! Happy birthday, Brentwood!

Famous Canadian comedian Rick Mercer and his crew will be spending the day with us on campus this coming Monday, March 7th. Mr. Mercer will be featuring our storied rowing programme and is sure to produce some laughs for our staff and students. For those of you familiar with the host of the CBC's "€œThe Rick Mercer Report" (http://www.rickmercer.com/), he will be sure to try to get completely involved in all aspects of our rowing programme. Brentwood has produced 21 Olympian rowers and three of them, Scott Frandsen ('€™98), David Calder ('96) and Harold Backer ('80) will also be involved in the filming. Stay tuned on our website for more details as they emerge. Any questions about Mr. Mercer's visit, please contact the Karen Fisher at karen.fisher@brentwood.bc.ca.

Brentwood College School is proud to announce the launch of its new upgraded website - all written, designed and produced completely in-house! Not only does it have fresh content and a vibrant new look, but we also continue to stay at the forefront of the latest web technologies. New features include: * HTML5 support * Mobile browser support * Jquery javascript * Typo3 version 4.5 * All in one social media and news page In addition, our social media and news teams have expanded, offering more ways to keep you in touch with everything that's happening in the Brentwood community. Check them out at: * News page (up-to-date school news) * Facebook (stories, news updates & pictures) * Twitter (choose your areas of interest, then related news tidbits will be sent to your computer or mobile) * Brentwood Blog (an informative weekly blog about campus life, written by students) * Admissions Blog (info for prospective families, written by the Director of Admissions) We'd appreciate your feedback on the new website, news and social media, and would welcome any suggestions you may have. Please email your comments and ideas to marketing@brentwood.bc.ca. Please view our BRAND NEW WEBSITE here: http://www.brentwood.bc.ca/

This past weekend, for the sixth consecutive year, the Senior AA Girls Volleyball team won the North Island Championship. They played three matches, beating Kwalikum, Ladysmith, and Woodlands to take the title. Alia V served well and Madlen A was very strong at the net. Next up for the girls is the Island Championships at SMUS this coming weekend. To get the latest scores and updates in Volleyball, follow us on Twitter: twitter.com

Beginning in 2004, Brentwood accepted an offer from Mr. Colin Glassco and Mr. Richard Osler to help build a school, teacher’s residence, and three wells in the Gwembe Valley of Zambia. Five years later, after equipping the school with solar panels, we have reached our goal. This has provided the Student Activities Council with new and exciting opportunities to reach out to those less fortunate. At Brentwood, students understand the importance of education in breaking the cycle of poverty. The charity that we have chosen to support this year is called Grassroot Soccer. Its goal is to educate children in Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and many other African countries about HIV/AIDs through soccer programs. HIV/AIDS is an exponentially growing disease that affects every nation on the planet, but it is most prevalent and destructive in central and southern Africa. Through Grassroot Soccer, we hope to positively affect the lives of many threatened by this pandemic. On Friday, November 5th, Brentwood held its first fundraising event for Grassroot Soccer with a “Jersey Day”. For two dollars, students were allowed to wear their favorite jersey, from the Vancouver Canucks to Manchester United. Brentwood has already raised nearly $ 1,500 for Grassroot Soccer and we would like to continue to fundraise through admissions to dances and other dress up days. In the future, the SAC would also like to support a village in Peru and help send its youth to university. For more information on this cause and how to donate please visit their website at: http://www.grassrootsoccer.org To learn more about Brentwood's Leadership and Service initiatives please visit our website: http://www.brentwood.bc.ca/the-brentwood-experience/leadership.html

In August, 2010, Martin Barakso and Ruben Steinhardt met for the first time at the World Junior Rowing Championships. Ruben was rowing in two seat of the German quad and Martin, stroke seat in the Canadian crew. Martin’s Canadian crew had some last minute illness and were unable to row on the final day, while Ruben’s German quad raced from the front and won the gold medal; they were crowned World Champions. This past weekend, these two young men, one from Nanaimo, the other from Hamburg, teamed up in an international effort to win one of the world`s most prestigious regattas. These two Grade 11 students made a commitment in September to try and win the Youth 2x. Preparing for this event included long rows, weight training, and competitive sessions with the University of Victoria varsity men and the Canadian senior national team. Travelling to Boston with Brentwood coach and alumnus, Harold Backer, the boys had an opportunity to row out of the Harvard boathouse for a day, Northeastern University for a day, as well as tour the Harvard campus. On Sunday morning, with each crew starting at 15 second intervals, Ruben and Martin started 40th of 41. They would have to row in the wake of, and pass, several crews to reach their goal. At the first timed interval, the Brentwood double was 2nd by one second. At the second marker, six seconds in front. At the third marker, eleven seconds in the lead. In the last 800 meters, the Brentwood boys hit some congestion from slower crews in front of them, but they were able to move around these boats and cross the line in 16:58. They waited anxiously as the final crews crossed the line. When the official results came up, Ruben and Martin were champions, beating the silver medalists by four seconds. What is also incredible is that they beat the previous course record by 48 seconds. The Head of the Charles Regatta has been run for 45 years; this record will be very tough to break. This is the third time Brentwood has sent a crew to the Head of the Charles, and the first victory for the school. There were a number of Brentwood alumni racing at the Charles as well. Eric Jackson (2010) was in seven seat for Northeastern University and Spencer Crowley (2007) was rowing for Cal Berkeley in six seat, both in the Championship 8+ event. Cal finished third behind UW and Harvard. Harold Backer (1980) and Greg Hughes (1992) also raced for the Princeton University alumni crew known as the Fat Cat Rowing Club. Greg is also the Head Rowing Coach at Princeton University.

Our Deputy Head of School, John Allpress, will be hosting an admissions event this Thursday, October 21st, at Sonoma Country Day School in Santa Rosa California.

Ruben S. recently returned from a trip home to Germany where he received an award as the Top Junior Male Athlete of the year for his hometown, Hamburg. This past summer, Ruben sat in 2 seat of the German quad which won Gold at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Racice, the Czech Republic. Ruben and his Brentwood doubles partner, Martin B, are currently preparing to race at the prestigious Head of the Charles in Boston, Oct. 24-25. Ruben S. ist kürzlich aus seiner Heimat Stadt, Hamburg zurück gekehrt wo er die Ehrung zum besten Junior Sportler des Jahres der Stadt erhielt. Im letzten Sommer saß Ruben im Deutschen doppel Vierer welcher bei den Junior Welt Meisterschaften in Racice, Czechische Republik, Gold errang. Ruben und sein zweier Partner Martin B bereiten sich zurzeit auf das berühmte "Head of the Charles Race" in Boston vor, welches vom am 24.10. 2010 statt findet

Every year the College Board recognizes excellence in Advanced Placement exams by awarding various levels of scholarship, the highest category being that of National Scholar. This requires a minimum of five AP courses earning a 4 or 5 grade. Brentwood had a record six Canadian National Scholars recognized this year. Our congratulations go to members of the class to 2010 who earned this prestigious recognition: Alexander Carr (Engineering, Queens), Adryon Kozel (Classics, St. Andrews), Desmond Kong (Medicine, Leicester), Zoe Lye (Liberal Arts, Oberlin), Evan Marback (Medicine, Dundee) and Aron Zharadka (Computer Science, UBC). Dave McCarthy

This past week our Brentwood community was thrilled to welcome 150 new students to our campus. Our student body comes from 32 different countries and 6 continents. This is an exciting time of year where new friends meet, and old ones return to reconnect at their "home away from home" . One of our current parents, Adrienne Duffy, along with current student Clara, recently shared their experience in the Globe and Mail: http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/globecampusreport/away-by-choice/ Once again, welcome! We look forward to sharing the 2010-2011 school year with you. Photo: John Ulan/Epic Photography for The Globe and Mail