Torch - Fall/Winter 2018-19

Upper School and would be working with Middle and Senior School students. I was both excited and terrified, but I had an incredibly supportive Physical Education team who took me under their wings and helped me navigate through my next 10 years on the other side of the bridge. Throughout the years, many of the faces at Havergal have changed, but the support I have received here has never wavered. I learned so much from everyone I encountered. I taught and collaborated with some very creative and talented colleagues; worked with many enthusiastic, inquisitive young minds; and produced some exceptional work with colleagues and students. Each member of the Havergal community has made an impact on my life, no matter how small our connection. I thank each and every one of them for their part in making my journey here at Havergal a wonderfully rich and rewarding experience. Farewell to all. It’s time to dance out while I am still able! art, music, student leadership, etc. To expand my understanding of risks associated with student excursions, I volunteered as chaperone: the Art trip to Rome was the first, but then I had the privilege of accompanying students on other local trips. From these experiences, I gained an increased awareness of student life, which helped me better define and introduce risk mitigation associated with excursions. Now here we are in 2018: it’s time for the next phase in my life. I’m leaving Havergal College with a love and appreciation of art that nudges me to do something about it. I now have a song in my heart even when I can’t seem to figure out exactly how to actually sing the song. There is an urge inside me to experience nature, which has been fed by the school’s campus and will continue to be fuelled by the wildness of my wild Georgian Bluffs property. Thank you, Havergal College, for giving me amazing memories and helping me bring forth to the next stage in my life what had been hiding for so long.

Renata Duda Upper School Health & Physical Education Teacher I cannot believe how quickly time has passed. It seems like yesterday I was on Rosewell Avenue in my very hot car preparing for an important interview with Nancy Richard and Gill Ross. It was May 1999 when a job in dance had become available at the Junior School. Here I am, 19 years later, retiring from a place that has afforded me with so many wonderful, fulfilling opportunities. For nine years at the Junior School, I taught Physical Education, Dance and Drama, coached volleyball and track and field, was the Athletics Coordinator, choreographed for the annual Christmas musicals and Spring Music Nights, as I worked closely with my colleagues over at the Upper School on the annual Dance Show. Though I always assumed that I would remain in the Junior School and would teach primary and junior students for the duration of my teaching career, another opportunity came my way in 2008. I was informed that I was being moved over to the I have loved my time at Havergal! Imagine a place where you’re invited to look for opportunities to expand your personal growth. Or someplace where everyone meets at least three times a week to talk, celebrate, learn, enjoy, sing and honour our community members. I joined Havergal College in 2010 as Procurement Manager. One official definition of this function says: “Procurement is the process of finding, agreeing terms and acquiring goods, services or works from an external source, often via a tendering or competitive bidding process.” The definition is as dry as kindling and doesn’t begin to reflect the benefits and value brought to organizations using this process. Somewhere around 2013-14, Risk Management (excursion risk, primarily) was added to my title and I became more actively involved in the learning side of Havergal College. The school has always had rich, off-campus learning: athletics, debating, international excursions, languages, Franca Gemignani Manager, Procurement and Risk

TABLE OF CONTENTS | FALL/WINTER 2018–19 • TORCH 29