Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

Over the years, I have urged you to be travelers, and not simply tourists, through your time at Havergal—to be fully involved at each stage of your journey through the school, actively learning and also contributing where you can … Now I urge you to be travelers for the remainder of your lives. Put your backpacks on, and embark on what is going to be a much bigger journey … Like Frodo, J.R.R. Tolkien’s hero, you will have to endure the terror of encountering monsters and dragons. Yet like Frodo, as we all go on this terrifying adventure, we need to go with both faith in miracles and the conviction that everything will turn out for the best—or we will never go … We must take the risks, realizing we will sometimes win and sometimes lose …The trick is to pick yourself up and start again, and then you will succeed. On March 24, 1997, Dr. Winn Barlow regretfully announced her resignation in a letter to the Havergal community. Given her status as a citizen of the United States residing temporarily in Canada, she had had to make the very difficult decision to leave Havergal. As Brenda Robson noted in her speech at the garden party given in Dr. Winn Barlow’s honour on June 19, achievements of the last five years. Suffice it to say that Dr. Winn Barlow has challenged every member of the community to develop ideas for improving every aspect of the school, has encouraged and helped them to think them through and has been a constant support in that process … We have grown to respect and admire Dr. Winn Barlow’s genuine love for people from all walks of life, her empathy and compassion; her unending store of common sense; her humility, optimism, enjoyment of life and learning; her delightful sense of humour, which allows her to laugh at herself and with others; her amazing range of interests; her insatiable thirst for knowledge and her seemingly unlimited supply of energy. 1997, prior to her return to the United States: It would take a great deal of space to list all the

Very soon after Dr. Winn Barlow’s arrival, it became clear that the committee members were very astute judges of character. Not only did she bring a wealth of international experience to the role of principal, but she also brought a quiet, deep passion for education and a remarkable equanimity. Her appointment took place on September 30, 1992, and she was welcomed by, among others, Ruthanne Wrobel, a teacher in the social sciences department, who spoke on behalf of the faculty and staff. Recognizing the paradox, Ms. Wrobel invited Dr. Winn Barlow to be both chief observer and participant. To these roles, Ms. Wrobel added a further task: We want you to be our leading interpreter, one who will explain our meaning to others, and even to ourselves. We need an interpreter in this setting between teachers and trustees, students and Old Girls, Junior and Senior schools, science departments and the arts. We need you to listen to us, to learn our language, to explain us to others and to help us interpret our behaviour for ourselves. As world traveler, active participant and wise observer, you are uniquely qualified to interpret among us, between us and beyond us. During her tenure, Dr. Winn Barlow fulfilled all those roles. She presided over the creation of the school’s first Strategic Plan and set in motion Our Time has Come: The Campaign for Havergal’s Future , which would result in a new Junior School and significant changes to the Upper School, including a new wing. During her five years at Havergal, however, she was an inspiration to the community in many other ways, not the least of which was her sensitive approach to the education of the young. She was fully aware of the unprecedented changes facing the world beyond the ivy, and the advice she gave students was both sage and pragmatic. Particularly memorable was her entreaty to students to be open to new experiences, which was recorded in the 1997 Chronicle :

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