If you take a cruise through Robotics, you’ll notice a rather imposing new addition to the machine shop. What first

looks like an oddly-situated camping trailer is in fact a new, industrial grade, CNC (computerized numeric control) vertical milling machine. This transformative piece of equipment was made possible through a gift from John and Susan Rose—the parents of Grade 12 student Jamie—with funds matched from the John Tansey Endowment.

Their son Jamie’s eyes lit up when he first encountered the Robotics lab when on an Ad-missions Tour five years ago. Not surprisingly, Crescent was Jamie’s first choice for a high school, with Jamie being intent on participating in Crescent’s Robotics program. Like many Robotics parents, the Rose family have been tremendously dedicated team boosters, pro-viding weekend lunches during the build season, and travelling throughout North America to various competitions and events.

Seeing the impact the program has had on their son, John and Susan wanted to see if they could honour Jamie’s experience in his Grad year with some sort of financial support of the program. After a meeting at which the Robotics faculty pre-sented a range of potential items that could benefit the pro-gram, a CNC milling machine was deemed the best choice with the most impact.

The Rose Family made their commitment, and then were able to have their contribution partnered with endowment funds from The Crescent School Foundation to bring this dream to reality. The gift was made in November, and the machine was installed just before the Winter Break in December.

In a nutshell, the machine precisely carves a piece of metal at high-speed to one ten-thousandth of an inch into a custom-made part that students design using SolidWorks software. In the past, students were limited to machines that could

only cut 2D designs. This new machine has allowed them to construct 3D components, and to build robots and design projects that are stronger, more compact, and more efficient than ever before. This is because the machine is a bona-fide industrial piece of equipment used by professional machinists and engineers around the world.

Needless to say, a CNC mill is a complex device that re-quires significant upkeep, has a steep learning curve, and re-quires supervision and instruc-tion from a very experienced mechanical mind. We are very fortunate to have engineer and faculty member Rob Stehlik at the School to integrate the ma-chine’s capabilities into both the Robotics Team manufac-turing process, and into the curriculum of the Grade 11/12 Technological Design courses.

Now that the machine is ac-quired, we are creating tuto-rials, documenting and opti-mizing processes, discovering what the machine truly can

and cannot do, maintaining and repairing it (to ensure it is ready to use at all times), and figuring out how to make every-thing “student-proof” so the machine can be safely operated by novices. Running a machine like this in a school is expo-nentially harder than running it in a real production environ-ment—your machine operators are all learning for the first time, and you get a new crop every year! These challenges are too often underestimated, and are the reason why so many programs have disappeared from schools, even though tech-nology has never been more prevalent.

We are very thankful for the generous donation from John and Susan Rose, and are so very fortunate to have this ma-chine in our Robotics lab. The machine has already been put to use as this year’s robot, Stingray, takes the stage. Look for Stingray to sting the competition as the spring season of FIRST Robotics tournaments begins today at Crescent!

KEEPING PARENTS INFORMEDVolume 16 Issue 7 February 28, 2014

ROSE FAMILY GIFT ADVANCES CAPABILITIES OF ROBOTICS LAB

Jamie Rose, David Ferris and Ryan Tam, Grade 12 members of Robotics Team 610, pause for a photo with the new CNC milling machine during the

2014 FIRST Robotics competition build season.

2 Men of Character from Boys of Promise

CPA NEWS

PARENT LUNCHEON

On February 11, the CPA hosted its Annual Parent Lun-cheon as 150 Crescent parents gathered at the Granite

Club to share in a delicious meal and hear our awe-inspiring guest speaker, Spencer West.

Spencer spoke about “redefining the possible” in our everyday lives. He is a motivational speaker for Me to We and Free the Children. In addition to his amazing work for these organiza-tions, he spoke to us about some of his adventures; his story of climbing Kilimanjaro on his hands left all of us a little more motivated to face new challenges in our daily lives. The CPA was thrilled to welcome Spencer. His courage and willingness to overcome obstacles in his life was very inspiring to us all.

—Nancy Baker, CPA Luncheon Coordinator

CPA VOLUNTEER AWARD RECIPIENT

Each year at the Parent Luncheon, the Committee awards a special honour to a graduating parent who has been an

invaluable volunteer during his or her time at Crescent.

This year Carolina Melis (Timothy ’14) was recognized for the commitment and leadership she demonstrated over eight years on the CPA. Carolina’s passion for volunteering helped foster many new ideas which led to positive change for CPA-fundraising and community building projects.

Congratulations Carolina!—Tara Borg, CPA President

We need your gently used- Sporting equipment- Clothing- Household items and more...

Collection begins April 14th

Supportour Sale

APRIL 26

Crescent SchoolGarage Sale

STAFF APPRECIATION DAYOn February 20, the CPA hosted its annual Staff Appreciation Day.

This event is held to honour and recognize the dedication and commitment of the staff and faculty at Crescent School.

The day began with a catered breakfast and a chance to win one of 60 raffle prizes. Each staff member was greeted by a small group of parent volunteers and given a personalized Thank You note and a homemade cookie. The delicious “apple” cookies were baked and decorat-ed by parent Rita Ngo, (Matthew Lu ’17) and enjoyed by all.

As well, several parents sent in various other home baked treats for the staff to enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate later in the afternoon.

On behalf of the Crescent parents, thank you to each and every member of the Crescent staff and faculty for your role in developing our Boys of Promise into Men of Character.

—Diana Allion, School and Community Chair

3Men of Character from Boys of Promise

Every independent school surely thinks that their parent community is the greatest one out there, but we know that Crescent’s truly is! Our volunteer commitment says it all—from the always impressive turnouts and readiness to help,

to the enthusiasm and support generated, Crescent spirit and good will can’t be matched by any other school. Parents and families are here cheering and participating in everything the School endeavours to do, and always, there are parent volunteers helping along the way. Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who make all of our events so special, and services so enjoyable for our community, and especially for the students. We have aimed to recognize everyone’s contribution for the Fall Term in this list of names below, and please note that in the spring everyone will receive an invitation to our wonderful Volunteer Reception. However, if we have missed a name from the list, please let us know! Please contact the CPA Liaison and Director of Communications and Marketing, Clayton Browne at cbrowne@crescentschool.org and we’ll make sure that the mistakenly overlooked volunteer is included in our spring list. Thank you!

Thanking Crescent's Parent Volunteers

Board of GovernorsBryan Kerdman—ChairBill Fielding—Past ChairTara BorgMichael Donnelly ’88Samuel DubocBarry Gordon ’87May LeeKatherine LisusDoris LooPeter OsborneStuart RaftusDavid SculthorpeGlenn ShybaPaul SpaffordPaul TompkinsAmanda WaltonRobert WattAndrew Williams ’83Charlotte Youngson

Coyote KickoffDiana Allion—ConvenorTina BatesLisa DaleKaren HollandRachel JamesCathy MeyerDamien MokRita MokTina RileyHollie Shapiro

Camalita SinghSue Sundaram

CPACOMMITTEETara Borg—President Lynn Porter Zechner—Vice President Mary Wellner—Past PresidentDiana AllionFlorence ChapmanJoelle CoronaMarianne EavesJennifer FergusonLori FisherLaurie FooteRitu GuptaAlison Smith

Nicole SwalesKaren TangNatalie Williams

COFFEE IN THE COURTYARDSusan Silma—ConvenorDiana AllionNancy BakerSherrie BerduscoTara BorgFlo ChapmanJoelle CoronaLori FisherRitu GuptaCarolyn KerdmanIrene KouCathy Meyer

Carol PortLynn Porter ZechnerMatilda Sos MavroudisHelen Claire TinglingNatalie WilliamsPam Yoannou

COAT & BOOT DRIVEDiana Allion—Convenor Cathy CarlKar KungMary Helen MehtaShonda PierceLynn Porter ZechnerSue SundaramAriane TeubnerLinda TinmouthTina Wiebe Carl

4 Men of Character from Boys of Promise

COYOTE'S DEN Jennifer Ferguson—ConvenorPam Binns—Used Uniforms Diana AllionDebbie BellKimberley BerduscoFran BrownSheila CentnerIvy ChanAnne ConlinJoelle CoronaJean DavidsonCatherine DemeroutisDaryl ErdmanRegan FitzpatrickSheliagh Flynn JamesDomenica GanguliFiona GeorgeMichelle GillWendy GordonVivian GreenbergElizabeth Anne HersenMegan HillKaren HollandKristine HollenbergMichele JaquesNancy KeyworthKendall KilburnJennifer LambertHelén LerbergCarol Lloyd PinningtonSara MarinoNicole McBurneyCarolina MelisHedieh MousapoorAndrea MurnaghanCaroline MurphyChantelle NadolnyNicole PirieCarol PortSamantha RakusinTina RileyAlexandra RisenHeather RivlinNatasha RockandelValerie SalvatiDonna Sauntry

Silvia ShibuyaCamalita SinghAnn StewartSue SundaramAyca UzumeriLora ValoppiKaren WeiszTina Wiebe CarlShannon WigganAndrea WolffPam YoannouMJ Yule

GRADE PARENTSLori Fisher—Convenor Joelle Corona (Liaison)Ritu Gupta (Liaison)Natalie Williams (Liaison)Jody AbbottDiana AllionNancy BakerSherrie BerduscoKathy BesseClare Davenport

Lisa DaviesMichelle DeBresserNancy ElliottRegan FitzpatrickFiona GeorgeLisa Gnat BuckTina Gnat GrayGeorge JamesNina KachuraJulie LawSara MarinoNicole McBurney

Cathy MeyerTori NewallSamantha RakusinKimbrough ReucasselM. Sanderson KirbySusan SaundersMatilda Sos MavroudisJoy SterlingAyca UzumeriAndrea WolffCathy Yanosik

HALLOWEEN PARTYKelly Haskins—Convenor Samantha Rakusin—ConvenorKasia AlaghebandStella ArbitmanDianne ArmstrongTina BatesKaren BeattySara BellamyRita CaporiccioJean DavidsonHarris DavidsonMary DeanSheliagh Flynn JamesBeth FoleyLisa Gnat BuckTina Gnat GrayMardi GrantIrina GrossDenise GuerriereGeorge JamesNina KachuraMary LouieChantelle NadolnyShonda PierceHeather RivlinCee Cee RobertsonLaurie RobinsonCamalita SinghDaphne WebsterTina Wiebe Carl

MAGAZINE, GIFT WRAP & PLANT SALETee Burke—Convenor Sylvia BaumannSheila CentnerNatasha RockandelTina Wiebe CarlShannon WigganNatalie Williams

HOLIDAY SALEAlison Smith—Convenor Tina Wiebe Carl—ConvenorKasia AlaghebandDiana Allion

5Men of Character from Boys of Promise

Vicky Bacardi MacdonaldTina BatesDebbie BellSara BellamyPam BinnsTara BorgFran BrownRita Caporiccio

Ivy ChanFlo ChapmanAlison ChristodoulisDiana CliffordAndria CoppaJoelle CoronaLisa DaleJean DavidsonSheliagh Flynn JamesBeth FoleyLaurie FooteDomenica GanguliJonelle Garriques

Fiona GeorgeJeff GilchristNadine GilchristMichelle GillVivian GreenbergWilla GriffinDenise GuerriereMegan HillNina KachuraKendall Kilburn

Kar KungJennifer LambertMay LeeCaroline LillicoCarol Lloyd PinningtonChristine LomaxDoris LooLiza MarkAnne Marie MayneNicole McBurneyMary Helen MehtaCarolina MelisCathy MeyerHedieh MousapoorCaroline MurphyLaura Nadalini BayerTori NewallC. Oprescu HavriliucStephanie PaikinCarol PortLynn Porter ZechnerTracey RaftusSamantha RakusinHeather Rivlin

Laurie RobinsonNatasha RockandelValerie SalvatiCamalita SinghAndrea StephenAnn StewartCarrie StinsonNicole SwalesKaren TangAyca UzumeriLora ValoppiMary WellnerShannon WigganAndrea WolffMJ YuleVivienne ZinerBAKING

Diana AllionSerena BeberBessi ChowWilla ChuAndria CoppaWendy DanielsKelly HaskinsLiz KennedyKendall KilburnNicole McBurneyLea McNally RanaLaurie MelbourneRita NgoCassandra OraveczChrista PlumleyHeather Rivlin

Meme SetoFaik Turkmen

SHOP & SUPPORTLisa Dale—Convenor

MARGARET DONNELLYLIBRARYDomenica Ganguli—ConvenorFiona GeorgeLoraine GratiasIrina GrossValerie KirkconnellJoyce LuoHollie ShapiroCamalita SinghTina Wiebe CarlMay ZhangLi Zhou

PARENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAMFlo Chapman—Convenor Sharon ChengMay Wah LauCarol PortMatilda Sos MavroudisHelen Claire TinglingPam Yoannou

PAST PARENT PROGRAMFlo Chapman—Convenor

6 Men of Character from Boys of Promise

From the Lower School SCHOOL MESSAGES

Did you know that character educa-tion applies to our online world as

much as it does in the person-to-person interactions our students experience? Digital citizenship is defined by Media Smarts (Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Technology) as being “character education in a networked world.”

It seems easy enough, as adults, to know that any value we put into action in our interactions with other people, should naturally be translated to the online en-

vironment. For our younger students, it is helpful for them to have an adult guide them through the essential tools that they will be able to apply when they go online. We are hopeful that our students will be able to be safe users of the Inter-net with the implementation of our digi-tal citizenship program.

The program that we will be adapting for Crescent School is accessible online from the Common Sense Media website, at commonsensemedia.org. The curricu-

lum for each grade covers the elements of: choosing safe websites to visit, pro-tecting personal information and only disclosing as much as necessary without risking personal safety, acting in kind and safe ways to prevent bullying, searching the Internet using well-chosen keyword search strategies, and being accountable for information that they use from web-sites. Each grade will have at least five lessons, and will be assessed at the end of the unit.

What can you do right now, as a Crescent parent? It is valuable to be aware of how to be a safe user of the Internet. Please take a look at the website that Common Sense Media runs. It is filled with useful information that will guide you to select great reading materials, games, films and apps, educational games and more, for your children.

You are welcome to look through the ed-ucator materials online as well, to famil-iarize yourselves, if you wish, about the curriculum we will be introducing next term. Common Sense Media takes par-ents’ concerns to heart and is a trustwor-thy resource that you will return to again and again once you have discovered its wealth of resources.

—Elizabeth Ford, Lower School Teacher-Libraian

In the current House standings, Hudson holds a strong lead, followed by Massey in second and Cartier trailing in third. De-spite Hudson’s strong lead, ANYTHING can happen in the sixth and final Math League contest of the year! Stay tuned for the final results after the last Math League is written on the 4th of March.

—Sean Chung, Grade 12

We had another great showing at the Math League on the 11th of February, with many returning writers as well as some new faces! The current individual standings are as follows:

1. Ian Lo, Grade 11 251. Max Liu, Grade 11 251. Adam Murai, Grade 11 25 4. Jake Fisher, Grade 12 20

5. Matt Allion, Grade 11 195. David Ferris, Grade 12 197. Ronald Chow, Grade 10 177. Jacob Kachura, Grade 12 17

7. Hugh McCauley, Grade 11 177. Ryan Tam, Grade 12 177. Jonathon Pearce, Grade 11 17

MATH LEAGUE RESULTS

7Men of Character from Boys of Promise

We went skating this weekend as a family at a local outdoor rink. This

is a point of public comedy in and of it-self. We are not great skaters but enjoy it so we know our place—the shinny teams take centre ice and we eek out a space on the peripheries.

We were fresh from watching the Olym-pics and at one stage I looked up to see my son skate past me, muttering in-tensely to himself with one arm tucked behind his back, clearly in the process of winning a medal in speed skating, right there on the outdoor rink near our home. The daydream was obviously pretty real as an involuntary arm was momentarily raised aloft in victory, until he remem-bered where he was, composed himself and shuffled back to our family.

I watched a series on CBC News this week looking at the impact of con-nectedness on our children. A brain re-searcher shared that the same part of the brain from which we learn empathy is the same part we use when we daydream. It appears that daydreaming allows empa-thetic feeling to grow and mature. Con-versely this part of the brain is not active at all when we are focused on other busy

activities. The interviewer spoke of the business of our children, particularly the fact that traditional “down time” is now taken up with texting and social media and as a result, your mind stops and em-pathy may not emerge as in quite the same way, as if your time was spent just doodling or daydreaming.

I paralleled this with an article I was sent by a parent from The New York Times in which the Senior Vice President of Google talks about the traits they look for when hiring. Technical ability i.e. grades, came in as their lowest priority, an entry requirement at best. The areas he looked for were emergent leadership described as inclusive leadership, know-ing when to step in and when to step out in a group. Google was not interested in IQ but rather learning ability, that being the ability to be flexible and adaptable with your learning in any given situation, often collaborative, to find a solution. Google placed importance on owner-ship, feeling that you must believe in what you’re endeavouring towards; it has to mean something to you.

Lastly, and interestingly, humility was valued. Humility was valued, as the key

to making the best use of the team, which was seen as the vehicle through which most will work in the coming years.

It struck in me a thread that weaves through all of the traits and skills that Google say make you employable are connected by empathy, the ability to un-derstand others and how they feel.

As a school that values character in our boys as our core mission, this was im-portant to hear. Important because our mission holds such relevance and value, and importance because it requires some thought on our part on behalf of our boys.

I recognize the tensions here. Many of the things that keep our children busy are individually brilliant things that build superb and wonderful skills and traits; however cumulatively they may be limit-ing our children’s time to daydream. The homework we ascribe for example can be full of good learning and the needed entrenchment of important ideas. It can however take a lot of time. And our chil-dren do spend a lot of time texting and on social media but this is how their gen-eration socializes.

There is no lecture here; I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I live in a busy house and my kids are involved in lots of activities. But as we rush forward to build skills and grades and resumes, it does ap-pear that the gift of “tuning out” may be linked to one the most important traits of all—just ask Google.

My wife is asking me to stop staring into space and help out round the house. I’ve boldly told her I am working on my emo-tional intelligence and shouldn’t be dis-turbed. So anyway… I am off to help out round the house.

—David Young, Head of Middle School

From the Middle School SCHOOL MESSAGES

From the Upper School SCHOOL MESSAGES

The newly re-visioned Parent Education Program has been a big success so far this year. We have run two well-attended

and well-received sessions for Upper School parents (as well as events for Lower School and Middle School families) and we have two more planned. The philosophy of the program, under Anne Murray’s direction, has been to develop and offer ses-sions that respond to parents’ expressed interests and needs.

Anne is a past parent; she and her husband Stan have three sons who are now successful alumni. She is also an educator and experienced life coach, and we are lucky to be able to ben-efit from her expertise in re-imagining the program. Anne con-ducted an extensive survey and consultation process to deter-mine the kinds of sessions and topics that parents most wished to participate in, and designed the program to reflect the re-sults. As a result of parent feedback, she defined the overall goal as: “To build a program that supports parents through the ages and stages of their sons’ development to build relation-ships, develop resilience and encourage responsibility.” The program we have developed in partnership with Anne stretch-es over all three divisions, grades 3 through 12, and focuses on the common goal.

After the most recent Upper School session: Students as Ex-perts: What’s Really Going on with Drugs and Alcohol ? there were a lot of requests for more information about some of the topics that came up—most prominently, legal issues around

hosting adolescent parties, and information about the medical facts around drug use, especially marijuana. Accordingly, for the next session scheduled for the 8th of April, we have ar-ranged for a lawyer to speak about social host liability, together with another expert who will address recent research findings about drugs and the brain.

We intend this evening to be a complement to the previous event which painted a picture of the “party scene” and some of the pressures boys feel as they make choices and navigate the adolescent social milieu. This second evening will focus on providing information intended to assist parents in making de-cisions about how and where to establish boundaries, and make their own decisions about how to support our boys as they navigate this often challenging terrain.

We have a fourth and final session for this year in the planning stages that will focus on some of the challenges related to the transition from Crescent to university for both students and parents. More details to come next term as we firm up our plan.

A great deal of thought and effort has gone into designing a parent education program that responds directly to parent needs and priorities. We very much hope that those of you who have attended so far agree that the program is succeeding in its stated goal.

—Colin Lowndes, Head of Upper School

great picture!Grade 11 dramatic arts students performed amongst subway goers in the Bloor/Yonge subway on February 7 as participants

in the Tokens 4 Change event. With the help of Mrs. Latimer-Kim, their goal was to raise awareness on the issue of youth homelessness in Toronto. This performance represents how isolated and alone homeless youth feel, and how small gestures give hope in finding some security, and the possibility for change in the future. Being involved with this city-wide initiative, and allowing youth to support youth, is an example of another partnership Mr. Pestonji has fostered through our Outreach program, and Crescent School has supported through Learning Service in our curriculum. Go to Crescent’s facebook page at facebook.com/crescentschool1913 to watch the video of the performance.