Torch - Spring 2014

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| Spring 2014 The Torch 9
Bloor Street congregation are also invited to join us in our celebration of the
long-standing connection between our two institutions. The service is enhanced
by beautiful music provided by the Havergal choirs from both the Junior and
Upper Schools. A guest speaker, generally an Old Girl, is invited to give an
address that reminds us of the rich heritage we all share. The School Song, the
School Hymn and the School Prayer (the latter chosen by Mary Dennys) are
all integral parts of the service. This year, we were most fortunate to have Miss
Robson herself give the Founders’ Day address. Like Founders’ Day, Brenda is a
living reminder of our school’s rich history, representing—as she does so well—
the important values and traditions of our school.
Meaningful Moments – The Candlelight
Ceremony and Graduation
The Candlelight Ceremony is considered to be one of the most meaningful
traditions at Havergal. Designed by students, it was first held on June 7, 1935,
as an enactment of the school’s motto (Vitai Lampada Tradens) between the
graduating students and those in the year following. The ceremony symbolizes
a trust that the students who follow the Grads will lead the school with honour
and will maintain the highest ideals and values.
Although the ceremony has changed over the years
due to the increasing number of students and
new Houses, still it maintains the three original
components: Candle-Lighting, the Installation of
Leaders and the Braiding of House Ribbons. The
ceremony begins with the Candle-Lighting: the
Assembly Hall (now the Brenda Robson Hall) is
dark except for one lit candle on the altar. A piano
accompaniment signals the start of the ceremony and
the graduating students, led by the School Captain,
enter the Hall silently in House order and form a
semicircle. Grade 11s follow in the same way and
complete the circle. Each student is dressed in white
and holds an unlit candle in her House colour. The
Principal lights her candle from the one on the altar
and lights the candle belonging to the School Captain.
The House Captains then come forward to light their
own candles; then they light those of the girls in their
House and Grade. When the semicircle of light is
complete, the School Captain reads The Challenge to the Grade 11s. When they
have recited or sung The Answer, accepting the challenge, their candles are lit
and they are presented with belts by the Grade 12s in their House. The entire
circle of light is then complete and they all sing the School Song.
In the Installation, students who presently hold positions of leadership, for
which they were elected, enter the circle and are joined by their successors,
who stand facing them. Each student is installed individually and is presented
with her belt.
Finally, the Braiding of House Ribbons begins when the School Captain holds
the braid high above her head and the House Captains form a circle around her,
as in a maypole dance, and weave their year’s section of the braid as everyone
sings Forty Years On. The Principal ties off the section with a ribbon denoting
the year. The braid, therefore, provides a record of the founding of the 10
Houses. As part of the Old Girls celebrations in 1994—the school’s centenary
—they held a Candlelight Ceremony and a section woven in gold ribbons was
sewn in to mark that occasion.
The following day is traditionally Graduation, when graduating students dressed
in white receive their diplomas and awards as parents, family and friends
proudly watch on. Known as Prize Giving in 1895,
the ceremony became Graduation at a later date.
This June, 120 students will graduate and join the
Old Girls community.
The first alumnae association for Havergal Old
Girls was the Havergal Coverley Club, established
in 1896. Today, the alumnae association is called
the Havergal Old Girls Association (HOGA), which
includes more than 9,000 Old Girls in more than
60 countries around the world.