Category Archives: Alumni

Christina’s Two Cents

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If you are a student who is always handing assignments in at the last minute, take some solace in the knowledge that Mr. Petrosian routinely reminds me that my deadline to have this introduction is looming. Grandma Starkey, who reads our update every week, will no doubt remind me that I have not changed since high school in this regard. What is more amazing to me than actually thinking about something to write each week is the number of times when this introduction writes itself.

I was sitting at my desk 22 minutes ago wondering what topic would come to mind when I received a message from a former student who commented on a Facebook post in our alumni group about the importance of senior high school years and university. I think it speaks volumes.

Hi Mr. Starkey!!!! This is Christina from waayyyyyyy back when!! I hope you are doing well!! Thanks for accepting me to the Mentor/TEAM fb group. Mentor was the foundation of so many great things in my life so I wanted to give my two cents about the curriculum as well.

I attended Mentor from SK-Grade 10. The two greatest experiences I am always thinking about and thanking Mentor for (among many) in terms of academic success in Medical School (currently in 3rd year) is Mrs. Petrovic being so hard on us in grade 7 and Mr. Milkovich pushing us to the brink of our abilities in high school English. After I left Mentor, I attended a high school in Toronto for Grade 11 and 12 and all the hard work Mentor had put into me all those years almost went to waste. Grade 11 and 12 is when you are learning the actual curriculum that will pull you forward into undergrad and it is a CONTINUUM OF MATERIAL AND STUDY HABITS. These things go hand in hand and one is no more or less important than the other. How involved the teachers are in making sure that students develop GOOD STUDY HABITS and REALLY KNOW THE MATERIAL WELL and how much the work load is all the time so that they understand that a lotttttt of time needs to be put into every lecture of every course to get it down pat.

I was roommates with Rachel in 1st year university and my two years away from Mentor really showed. We were quite similar in Grade 7 in terms of academic performance, but by the end of high school, it was clear who had the better training based on how we did in 1st year. She aced every course and I squeaked by with 70s and 60s. I agree with Nick’s post that your 1st year has a domino effect on the rest of university and can make or break your ultimate goal. (My goal was medical school but it was NOT a Caribbean medical school!) OK, gotta run! ER consult! Cheerio!

Even though it makes me feel REALLY old (as I remember teaching all these students as early as their Grade 5 year), I love getting this kind of feedback

Enjoy the long weekend!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Remembering Blake

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Over the past week, our Mentor high school staff and alumni have been grieving the loss of a member of our graduating Class of 2006, Blake Slater.

Blake came to Mentor in September of 2002 and by the end of that Grade 9 year, he had discovered two passions. Mr. Sweeney has a way of convincing Grade 9 boys that they are rugby players and Blake, while not an imposing physical specimen back then, was one of them and he became a player and a student of the game. Blake’s other passion was ignited with Mr. Philbrook in the relatively-new Flight Club. Blake saw the excitement Mr. Philbrook displayed for flying and knew what he wanted to do with his life. Blake enrolled in Aircraft Business and Management at the University of Western Ontario and accepted a position with Trans-Guyana Airways after graduation. Blake and a co-worker died last Saturday morning when his plane crashed within minutes of takeoff in a dense forest in Guyana.

Last night, some of Blake’s friends and former teachers met at The Brogue and in talking to the group, it became very apparent that they love each other very much, they cherish the memories that they have shared (and continue to share) with each other, and that our school will always be part of their lives. Blake is one of a half-dozen graduates who has gone on to study aviation and/or become a pilot after catching the flying bug through the Flight Club. One of the young men with whom I spoke is getting married this summer and even 8 years after graduation, he still has a strong enough connection to the school that all of his groomsmen were Mentor rugby teammates. Of the 20 alumni at the gathering, I remember them in Grade 9 (and earlier) and wondering (along with their parents) “what will become of this kid?”. Rest assured parents, your kids will figure out their place in the world and last night’s group of formerly awkward/geeky/unfocused Grade 9s now include doctors, bankers, entrepreneurs, financial analysts, real estate investors, teachers and MBA/doctorate/medical students. When he graduated, Blake gave Mr. Sweeney a rugby photo and on the back he thanked his coach for “seeing something in a skinny little Grade 9 kid that I didn’t know I had within me”. The truth is that, as educators, we get just as much satisfaction out of seeing these transformations as the students and their parents do.

Blake’s mom said yesterday that “we all know that Blake loved to fly and that is what he did – he was in his element.” It was way too soon for him to leave us but I am glad that we were able to give him the opportunity to find where his “element” was and that we were at least a small part of forming and cultivating the friendships with classmates and teammates that his friends now need.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Makin’ Speech Night Memories

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With the Mentor high school students completing the first of our school’s 4 Speech Nights last night, I put a message on my alumni Facebook page asking if they remembered a specific speech now that they have been away from this school for a while.

15 years later, Gordie remembers his “magnum opus” on “The Eel” in his Grade 2 class. Michael, who just finished his Master’s remembers his excitement in his Grade 3 TEAM class that he got the exciting pioneer theme topic of “threshing”. Emma is Mom to a 2-year-old now but can name the Medieval roles/characters from almost her entire Grade 4 class. Even high school speeches are memorable; Jenny still thinks about Grade 9 classmate Jeff’s speech on the paper clip!

The most interesting post was from Geoff, who remembers the positive reaction from Grade 13 English teacher Mr. Gough after his speech “Why I Should Rule the World”. Geoff is now a father of two and an English teacher himself so perhaps we will need to wait for the next generation of world domination from a Grade 9 class.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Mentor/TSS 2013 Grads: The Skills To Get Through

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I attended the University Fair this past Tuesday and in speaking with a parent afterwards, the discussion turned to university admissions and marks.

The question comes up most often with families who have been with us for a long time and usually when the students are in Grade 8 to 10. The argument we hear is that if the students go to another school, they will get higher marks.

If the final grade is the only thing that matters, we have a list of private schools where we know you can “pay for an A”. In my opinion, though, this sets the student up at university for either failure (you might need to put aside some additional cash for a 5th year, perhaps) or for a continued use of loopholes to get the required grades.

I think the numbers associated with the Mentor College and TSS Class of 2013 help to illustrate the point that our students earn the grades required for post-secondary education. There were 148 graduates last year and of those students, 146 of them were offered admission to at least one post-secondary programme. For those who say that it is difficult to get an “A” at our schools, please note that 85.1% of our graduating Mentor/TSS students were “Ontario Scholars” (minimum 80% average). I could give you a long list of where those kids are studying and what programmes they are taking but for those who believe that you can only get to college or university with an 80% average, here is what the grads with 79.9% and less are doing this year:

TSS Grads – Sheridan (Arts and Sciences), Humber (Business), Sheridan (Journalism), Humber (Travel and Tourism) and one student who did not apply to college this year (but plans to in 2014).

Mentor Grads – York University (Accounting), Toronto (Psychology), McMaster (Life Sciences), Wilfrid Laurier (Communications), Toronto (Criminology), Southern Connecticut (Exercise Science), McMaster (Humanities), McMaster (Social Sciences), Toronto (Life Sciences), Wilfrid Laurier (Criminology), Ottawa (Business) and one student who did not apply to university (but plans to in 2014).

I am confident that these students will be in the top half of their first year classes because in high school, they put in the required work and have the tools to succeed. As we always say, it isn’t marks to get INTO post-secondary education but it is the skills to get THROUGH post-secondary education that matter!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

How Do You Measure Advantage?

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I had the opportunity to speak with a mom who has two children in university (3rd year and 2nd year) this past week. When I asked her about the kids, she of course bragged about how well they were doing but then she went on to do some bragging about the school as well.

She told me that her son (who is in bio-medical sciences) has noticed a number of things in the past two years. He says that he cannot believe the number of classmates who have never really written a proper essay. He has no issue with a 20-page lab report assignment but says that other students are overwhelmed at the prospect. He finds presentations and other speaking occasions comfortable while friends have become physically ill when speaking in front of the class (“thank you, Speech Night!” Most interestingly, it seems that his Grade 12 class (on the whole) is more mature that his current 2nd-year university class, particularly when it comes to basic social skills.

Mr. Cowle warned everyone going into university that their marks would go down (and his did…about 5%) but he was shocked at classmates who were looking at 20% to 30% drops in marks during first year. I told Mom what we say at every Open House for prospective families…the marks to get INTO university and college are not as important as the skills to get THROUGH those years. Over the next few months, our Mentor/TSS Class of 2014 will be going through the research and application processes of post-secondary university and a year from now, they too will see the advantages that their schools (and you, as parents, for sending them to us each day) have given them.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School