Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute

Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute
Address
135 Overlea Blv Toronto, Ontario, M3C 1B3, Canada
Information
School board	Toronto District School Board
Superintendent	Rauda Dickinson
Area trustee	Gerri Gershon
Principal	Ricky Goldenberg
Vice Principals	Anastasia Liebster Chris Sharp Annamaria Mazzaferro Alexandra Noack
School type	Public high school
Grades	9-12
Language	English
Area	East York
Mascot	Cougar
Founded	1973
Enrolment	1900 (Winter 2010)
Communities served	Thorncliffe Park, Flemingdon Park
Feeder schools	Valley Park Middle School
School Council Chairs	Ali Baig Patty Wen
SAC President	Milly Wang
Homepage	http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/marcgarneau/

Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, and part of the Toronto District School Board. Best known for being the host school of the TOPS program, a selective math and science enrichment program. It is the only high school in Canada dedicated to helping students with careers in the space sciences.^[1]

History

Originally named Overlea Secondary School, MGCI opened its doors in 1987 as one of the first open concept schools in Canada. On October 16, 1987 it was rechristened Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute after Canada's first astronaut Marc Garneau. It is host school to the TOPS program and has offered pilot courses in Earth and Space Science, Science Journalism and Cisco Networking. It is the only high school in Canada dedicated to helping students with careers in the space sciences.^[1]

In 1993, MGCI was honoured with the Roberta Bondar Science and Technology Award in recognition of the school's achievements in numerous student programs, particularly its SEDS chapter, which no longer exists. Renovations to the school in 1998 removed many of the open concept elements of the school's design.

Student life

There are numerous extra curricular activities at Marc Garneau. Some of the clubs include chapters of DECA, Student Council, Amnesty International and Key Club. The MGCI Yearbook is the work of the Yearbook course and committee. It is distributed in June of the academic year.

The Reckoner

In 2011, a group of students launched Marc Garneau C.I.'s unofficial online newspaper. Called The Reckoner, the student-run news site also publishes creative writing pieces, original student art, and editorial pieces. The Reckoner is updated several times a week to keep up with MGCI. Contributors to The Reckoner consist of staff contributors (who apply for a regular position) as well as guest contributors. The site's authors come from all grades and from both within and outside of TOPS. The site is located at http://thereckoner.ca.

Sports

Garneau provides students with a wide variety of sports teams including: Football, junior and senior Rugby, junior and senior Basketball, Soccer, Volley Ball, Baseball, Field Hockey, Ultimate Frisbee, Cricket, Tennis and an annual hockey tournament. The school has thriving sports teams; the Cricket team advanced to the city finals in 2009, and the Girl's Field Hockey team won first place across the TDSB in 2010. The official mascot for the school is the Cougar.

Music and Drama

Offered extracurricular activities include the Concert Band, Choir, Steel Pan Ensemble, Guitar Club, Music Council, and Stage Band. Although there is no official strings program offered by the school, students play in the completely student-run String Orchestra. There were few bands came out from this school, which includes 'NUM' the most popular school rock band. Drama students at Marc Garneau not only perform musicals and plays, but also participate in many activities, such as the Canadian Improv Games and the Sears Festival. The drama department has won numerous awards: an Award of Merit for the ensemble of 'Hit the Ground Running', and for the play’s Original sound-scape. Their second entry 'Truth or Dare', another original play written by students and under teacher direction, also won gold, and various students received awards for lighting, performance, and production. Also it should be noted that Marc Garneau entered another student created play called "Burn" in 2009 Sears Drama Festival. It has then gone on to win Award of Excellence and came out on top of district finals. It went on to perform at U of T Hart House to compete for regional entry.

TOPS Program

The Talented Offerings for Programs in the Sciences (TOPS) Program is a merit-based specialized program open to students from across Ontario, housed at MGCI. The program offers enriched courses for its students in its core subjects of Science, Math and English, as well as courses in History and Computer Programming. TOPS accepts about 60 students each year through a competitive application process (involving supplementary applications and an exam), the vast majority of whom are residents of the Toronto area. A primary claim to the program's fame is that all or nearly all of its graduating students go on to university studies, both domestically and abroad. The program also features a much stronger sense of community than one usually experiences in the high school environment, mostly because of its small size and emphasis on community-building projects, events, and field trips.

Recognition and Awards

In 2004, Maclean's magazine ranked the TOPS program at MGCI as among the best schools in Canada, suggesting it was the number-one program for students pursuing science or math in their later studies^[2]. The September 2006 issue of Toronto Life also stated that MGCI was the best high school in Toronto for math and science, once again largely crediting the TOPS program.

TOPS students have received a numerous scholarships: in recent years the graduating class of about 55 students has won over $1.3 million in scholarships. The class of 2011 won over $1.6 million in scholarships. Many of the graduating students have also continued studies at prestigious universities around the world, including Harvard, Yale, Wellesley, Princeton, Oxford, University of Toronto, and McGill. TOPS students are known for getting into extremely competitive university programs (such as Engineering Science at UofT) in droves. They have also enjoyed success in city-wide, provincial, national, and even international Science Fairs.

Five of the teachers at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute who teach courses in the TOPS program have received the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence.

Moving the Program

In recent years, there has been an ongoing discussion about moving the TOPS Program out of MGCI. Advocates point to the overcrowding (estimated at 144% in 2009) of the school, and the need for the program to admit more students and hire more specialized teachers if it is to retain its current teaching model. In 2009, a presentation was made to the TDSB Trustees by parents, teachers, and students, and an external audit of the situation was commissioned. The council responded by creating a satellite program at another location in an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding issue.

Currently, the TOPS Parent Council and the student-led Marc Garneau Student Council continue to advocate moving the program.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} CBC Digital Archives: Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute
2. ^ Macleans.ca - Spot Stories - Education - A-Plus Learning. Macleans.ca. Retrieved on September 17, 2006

External links

• Canadian Space Resource Centre
• TOPS Program
• School Website
• School Library Website
• Overlea/Marc Garneau Alumni Website
• Marc Garneau Newsletter (April)
• Marc Garneau Online (Website)

Coordinates: 43°42′37″N 79°20′09″W / 43.710266°N 79.335735°W / 43.710266; -79.335735