Torch - Spring/Summer 2020

Traditions

Guidance Reaches a Golden Age Helping Girls Find Their Path in Life is a Rich Tradition at Havergal

By Suzanne Bowness

E ver since Havergal has been educating girls, it has also been advising them on how to use that education. Even in the early years, when women’s futures often included roles as homemakers, Havergal Grads pursued careers as doctors, nurses, teachers and more. Guidance formalized at Havergal with Mary Dennys, who spent seven years as a Havergal student (including a role as Captain of Marian Wood House in 1940) and became the school’s first Guidance Counsellor alongside her role as teacher of English, French and Religious Studies courses. She would go on to become Principal in 1975, retiring 10 years later. 1 By the late 1980s, formal career advising started as early as Grade 9. 2 Today, Havergal’s Guidance department features a staff of six counsellors led by Heather Johnstone, who has been in the role of Head of Guidance since 2007. Formalizing Services in the 1980s and ’ 90s By the 1980s, the Guidance Office at Havergal was a bustling place. Lori Williams, who worked in Guidance for 16 years (1986–2001), recalls being brought on to support the Guidance team, under the leadership of Guidance Head Jilla Williams. “It was Jilla’s vision to expand the services, and much is owed to her for her forward thinking,” recalls Lori. This expansion included a classroom-based program for students in Grades 9 and 10 to work on soft skills. “We also wanted them to begin the process of self-awareness,” she adds, noting that interest and aptitude tests, along with discussions, helped the girls to realize their strengths. Later, programs related to social and emotional learning skills were also added at this age.

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We are age and stage specific. It,s a really great model, because it allows counsellors to be specialists—the needs of the Grade 9 student are very different than the needs of the Grade 12 student.

—Heather Johnstone

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Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion In the Senior School, Lori notes that the in-class emphasis shifted to educational planning. Counsellors focused on helping students with course selection, making sure that they had the right prerequisites. “Our biggest problem was always getting access to the girls, as any time we were given was taken out of regular classroom time,” recalls Lori. “We packed in as much as possible when we did get them!” When students entered Grade 13—formerly known as the Ontario Academic Credit (OAC) program, which is now defunct—Lori and her colleagues were meeting with girls every Tuesday morning to take them through the university application process, letters of recommendation and scholarship applications. By this time, many students were applying to many American and British universities, requiring familiarity with different application systems. The team also managed school visits from university admissions representatives.

Mary Dennys 1940 was Havergal ’ s first Guidance Counsellor. She became Havergal’s Principal in 1975.

1 Sheppard, J. Reflections of Havergal: 1994–2019. December 2019. Accessed on March 9, 2020, via https://havergalcollege.cld.bz/Reflections-of- Havergal-1994-2019/208/. 2 Byers, M. Havergal: Celebrating a Century . Toronto: Havergal College, 1994, pp. 161, 182.

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