Westdale Secondary School
Alius Alia Via Ad Astra Ascendit Each Reach For The Stars In Their Own Way
Address
700 Main Street West Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 1A5, Canada
Information
Principal	E. Del Sordo
School type	High school
Grades	9-12
Mascot	The Westdale Warrior
Founded	1931
Enrollment	1470
Homepage	http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/westdale/index.html

Westdale Secondary School is a public high school founded in 1931 in Hamilton, Ontario. It is the second oldest high school in the city of Hamilton (after Delta Secondary^[1]) and is located in Westdale Village, a suburb in the west-end of the city. It is administered by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. Westdale offers the most university-bound courses in the city, including: Drama, Music, Visual Arts, Media Arts, Economics, GIS, Philosophy, Latin, German, and more. It also has many special programs for students including French Immersion, Hockey Focus, Court Sports, Strings Music, Video Production, and Writer's Craft. Westdale celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 2006 with a reunion and festivities running from May 17 to May 20.

Contents 1 History 2 Charity activities 2.1 Haiti Run 2.2 War Child 2.3 Terry Fox Run 2.4 Westdale Helps 3 Extracurricular activities 3.1 Drama & Theatre 3.2 Mathematics 3.3 Model UN 3.4 Music 3.5 Reach For The Top 3.6 Sports 4 Notable alumni 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

Westdale was founded as a collegiate school—housing three collegiates under one roof—and was, at the time, the largest school in the British Commonwealth. The original building was referred to as "Westdale Composite School", or "Westdale Tripartite School", due to the fact that it housed three separate schools. The collegiate, technical and commercial schools were housed on the left, middle, and right side of the school, with the cafeteria on the fourth floor (the cafeteria has since moved to the first floor). The architects Prack and Prack designed the building with arched doorways and pseudo-buttresses of the "school gothic" architectural style. Constructed by J.M. Piggott Construction Company at an initial cost of $1,306,521.00 (including 4.7 hectares of land), the school has undergone three major renovations, which occurred in 1959, 1974/75. Recently doors, lockers, and windows were replaced.

[edit] Charity activities

Selflessness and community are the basis of Westdale's culture. Westdale regularly participates in and plays host to numerous fundraisers and awareness rallies. Each year the students organise such events as Keep the Beat, Coffee House, and the 30 Hour Famine. Westdale makes annual contributions to the Stephen Lewis Foundation through crêpe sales and other fund raiser activities. In 2005, Westdale students were part of the effort to keep the Victoria Cross of Frederick George Topham in Canada, as it was being auctioned off by his family. Westdale also runs an annual food drive for the food banks in Hamilton. It is estimated that Westdale students contribute close to 40% of the canned items and goods the food bank hands out at Christmas.

[edit] Haiti Run

Westdale annually hosts the Haiti Run, a charity event held on a Saturday in the fall to raise money to build schools and nurseries and to raise awareness about the desperate situation in Haiti. Participants walk, run, or jog through Westdale Village having secured pledges in the weeks leading up to the run. This event is widely publicized and while hosted by Westdale, is considered an annual Hamilton event.

[edit] War Child

Westdale regularly raises money for War Child Canada through an event called "Keep the Beat". In the period of 2003-2006, Westdale raised $34,000 for War Child Canada. As a show of their appreciation, War Child asked Sum 41 members Cone and Dave to visit Westdale to kick off the '05-06 Keep the Beat, at the Coffee House event. As a direct result of Westdale's effort, a school in the village of Makobola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, is being rebuilt after being destroyed in war.^[2] During the 2006-2007 Keep The Beat on Dec. 7th to 8th, Westdale's Coffee House and Keep the Beat event brought in an additional $36,000 for War Child Canada.

[edit] Terry Fox Run

Westdale Secondary also raises money for cancer research every year in the Terry Fox Run. Westdale students collect pledges in the weeks before the run, then they may choose to walk, jog, or run through Westdale Village. Over 2 million people around the world participate in the Terry Fox Run every year in an astounding 6,600 sites including Westdale Secondary School.

[edit] Westdale Helps

Westdale Helps is an organization formed through Westdale Secondary School in 2006. It was originally proposed by a chemistry teacher new to Westdale, Dr. Orton, at a student club meeting. The first and most notable initiative of this organization was the Honduras Initiative. The group raised funds for building materials in order to help families build homes through Habitat for Humanity. In July 2007, a group of volunteers in the organization travelled to Honduras to complete this goal. The two homes built measured roughly 400 sq ft (37 m²), with material costs of about $6000 per home. ^[3]

In order to raise funds, Westdale Helps has hosted a number of fundraising activities. The most notable of them is the Westdale Helps Honduras Benefit Concert, which was held on the evening of April 27. The concert was held in the auditorium of Westdale Secondary School, and featured appearances from Humble, Sharon Musgrave, Klyde Broox, Lorraine Reid, Kaitlynn McRae, and Westdale's own rock band, The Abbreviations.

Another important method of fundraising is through the use of the online eBay Store[1]. The concept of the store is for the members in Westdale Helps to donate their unneeded belongings, and these items are sold on the Westdale Helps eBay account.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

[edit] Drama & Theatre

Theatre Westdale has been one of finest Drama programs in the city, participating in the 62-year-running Sears Drama Festival, putting on annual productions of musicals, and a host of other activities including an annual 24-hour Improvathon. In terms of musicals, in 2004 Theatre Westdale performed West Side Story to audiences in four sold-out nights and in 2005 they performed Grease. At the Sears Festival in early 2005 Westdale submitted two plays, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and The Least Offensive Play in the Whole Darn World. Both plays won numerous awards and The Complete Works advanced to the provincial showcase. The following year (2006) Westdale submitted the Greek tragedy Antigone to the festival and won much critical acclaim, including 4 out of the 17 awards available at the regional level of the competition. In 2007, Westdale again entered two plays: The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged), and The Bald Soprano. The Bald Soprano advanced to the provincial showcase, winning a total of twelve awards throughout the 2007 festival. The 2008 Sears Festival year included one entry from Westdale, the student-written, student-directed play Prizefighter. The play received 10 awards at the District and Regional levels, including two for its fight choreography.

During 2007-2008, Westdale ran a pilot program of a Theatre Production course, in which students learn the on- and back-stage jobs that go into producing and performing a musical production. The production, Guys And Dolls, was performed in January 2008. Theatre Westdale's 2008-2009 production, Cabaret, was performed in December 2008 and was directed by Erin Newton. In 2009, Westdale performed a Sears Drama Festival entry named Enter Alice which was written and directed by Aaron Jan. The play received three awards in the District Festival (Awards of Excellence for Costumes, Performance, and Original Script) and three awards at the Regional Showcase (Costumes, Performance and Original Script). In December 09/10 Theatre Westdale performed the musical Annie which sold out for all matinee performances. Currently for the Ontario Sears Drama Festival the cast are working on a student written play by Aaron Jan who wrote Enter Alice for Sears last year, the play is called Rain which deals with the issues of homophobia in a highschool setting.

[edit] Mathematics

Westdale has always been one of the foremost schools in the city for mathematics contests. Westdale, for the past few years, was consistently ranked first in the region for the mathematics contests held by the University of Waterloo. In 2006, Westdale ranked 25th nationally ^[4] and 13th provincially in the Fermat Math Contest. In the Hypatia written contest, Westdale had two students scoring a Gold standing, as well as two Silver finishes and three Bronze finishes.

[edit] Model UN

[edit] Music

Westdale is renowned throughout Hamilton (along with Westmount) as one of the premier schools for music students. Students come from all over the city for the wind and string classes, as well as the myriad of extracurricular ensembles including the Jr. Band, Sr. Band, Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Jr. Jazz, Sr. Jazz, and Choir. Other ensembles that have existed at one point in time include the Brass Choir, the Sax Ensemble (also known as the Sax Pistols), a Grease pit band, and many solo/small group acts. The Orchestra, Sr. Band, Sr. Jazz Band and Choir compete abroad every year. In 2003 they travelled to Montreal, in 2004 Boston, in 2005 to the Heritage Festival in New York, in 2006 to Montreal again, and in 2007 to Chicago.

[edit] Reach For The Top

Westdale has always been a strong contender in high school trivia show Reach For The Top. Currently, it has had a streak of above par excellence by winning the regional championship two years in a row and coming in 7th place at the provincial level in 2009.

[edit] Sports

"The Destiny of a Warrior Is To Fight" and the Warriors, with their plethora of sports teams, fight hard. Although it is grammatically incorrect, a Westdale poster also used the phrase "The Definition of a Warrior Is To Fight." Westdale has won at least one OFSAA championship in every sport. As of the 2006-2007 season, Westdale has strong Track & Field, Cross-Country, Girl's Basketball, Badminton, Water Polo and Soccer teams. The Westdale Rowing Team is a consistent powerhouse within the city (along with St. Mary's) and one of the top teams in the region. Two Westdale students received 2nd place medals in the Jr. Men Heavy Double category at "Schoolboy" in St. Catharines in 2007^[5]. In 2005, the Warriors Varsity Baseball team captured the City Championship versus Barton Secondary School. During the 2005-2006 season, the Warriors hockey team finished second in the city, losing a hard fought finals to the Westmount Wildcats. Recent grad Shona Thorburn is now the all-time assist leader at the University of Utah for women's basketball and was drafted 7th overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2006 WNBA draft. During the 2006-2007 season, the Westdale Warriors Sr. Girl's basketball team finished second in the SOSI Super 12 Senior Girls' Basketball Tournament, losing to the St. Mary's Crusaders. During the 2007-2008 season the Westdale Sr. Girl's basketball team has fininished 2nd in Ontario with a 3 point loss in the championship. The Westdale Warriors Sr. Football team won 2006 Division I Football championship, Westdale's first championship since 1969 and in the following year Westdale continued its dominance of the public league with a second Championship while scored 256 points and allowing only 35. During the 2006-07 season, Westdale's Senior and Junior Girl's Water Polo teams won the city championships and the Senior team was undefeated.

In addition the Westdale Wrestling Team (1982) offered up several OFSSA contenders. The team included Dale Murphy MVP/MOW-1982 who achieved the notable standing of City of Hamilton Champion in the 165lb WT Class Division and the famous thirty-eight (38) second pin defending the Westdale Warriors reputation at St. Mary`s. The year was finished with several outstanding team members proceeding to Windsor, Ontario representing Westdale at the OFSSA Championship final. The Coach of the Year was the Legendary Mr. Bruce Hall. The Team was rated as one of the TOP 3 in Ontario.

[edit] Notable alumni

Partial listing of notable alumni:

• Lincoln Alexander, (1922 - ), served as the 24th Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991. Also voted the "Greatest Hamiltonian of alltime".^[6]
• Hilda Salovaara (1927 - ), Canadian teacher and renowned horticulturist of Finnish descent.
• Len Blum, a Hollywood writer and husband of Heather Munroe-Blum^[7]
• David Braley, CFL, owner of the B.C. Lions and owns Orlick Inductries in Hamilton.^[6]
• Daniel Goldberg, Movie Producer of Hollywood hits Twins and Space Jam.^[6]
• Harry Howell, (1932 - ), Hockey Hall-of-Famer, longtime star for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. ^[6]
• Russ Jackson, (1936 - ), CFL Hall-of-Fame Football player.^[6]
• John Levy, (1953 - ), is a Canadian media mogul. John is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Score Media Inc. (TSX: SCR).
• Eugene Levy, (1946 - ), is a Canadian Emmy- and Grammy Award-winning actor, television director, producer, musician and writer. ^[8]
• Gord Lewis, member of the band Teenage Head.^[6]
• John Munro, (1931 - 2003), was a Canadian politician. Hamilton's John C. Munro International Airport is named after him. ^[6]
• Myron Scholes, (1941 - ),is a Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1997. He is currently affiliated with Stanford University.^[9]
• Martin Short, (1950 - ), is an Emmy Award-nominated Canadian-American comedian, actor, writer, singer and producer. ^[10]
• Frank Kerr (1956 - 2008) (more commonly known as Frankie Venom) was the lead singer of Teenage Head
• Steve Staios, (1973 - ), is a Canadian professional NHL hockey player and member of the Edmonton Oilers.
• Shona Thorburn, (1982 - ), is a professional basketball player, a point guard for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. ^[6]
• Brian Williams, (1946 - ), is a Canadian sportscaster who is best known for his coverage of the Olympic Games.
• Tim St. Pierre (1986 - ) is a Canadian football player.
• Jim Young, (1943 - ), is a former professional American football and Canadian football player. <ref

[edit] External links

• Westdale Secondary School official website
• Google Satellite Photo
• MyWestdale - Westdale schools alumni directory
• Westdale Helps
• Westdale Alumni Flickr Group

[edit] References

Coordinates: 43°15′36″N 79°54′05″W / 43.2601°N 79.9015°W / 43.2601; -79.9015