Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 4 November 2014 - Oak Bay Highschool rebuild

Reported by Victoria Pitt

The meeting started at 12:15 pm after everyone had already had a chance to obtain and munch their lunch.

Following the singing of “Oh Canada”,  Joan Firkins who is the Master of Ceremonies for November, invited each of us to greet those whom we had not greeted when we came in. This resulted in much fellowship, smiles and hand shaking requiring Joan to bring us back  on track: “ Read my lips -  return to your seats”.

Joan thanked President Jim for letting her do some different things this week and reminded us that every club does not do it the same way, that the order for the meeting is not etched in stone and, during November, she will be giving us a flavor of what some other clubs do, hence the early start to the meal at 11:45am.

Thought for the Day - It being a busy time of year, Sabrina told us about something she uses to keep on top of the work load, advice she had learned from a previous boss - organize work by 4 categories: Me now, Me later, Someone else and Not at all.

There being no visiting Rotarians, Lynne introduced our guests:

Barbara Rsito: guest of Kathleen Arnason
Adam Fawkes: our guest speaker
Naida Hyde: guest of Barry Mutter and soon to be member
Brian Gisler: guest of Janna Gisler

With apologies to the engineers in the room, Joan Firkins told a joke about an engineer not kissing a frog although it promised to turn into a princess when kissed. He explained to the frog that as an engineer he had "no time for a  girlfriend but having a talking frog was cool".

Guest Speaker:

Phil N. introduced our guest speaker, Adam Fawkes. Adam is an architect with the firm Hughes Condon Marier which, together with Farmer Construction, are building the new Oak Bay High School.  Adam described the bidding process: 3 separate teams were selected on the short list to design the school.  Adam’s firm did not have the lowest bid but was chosen because of the excellent design that also met the budget criteria. The new school is being built on the old rugby field while students continue to attend the old school. Students will be moving into the new school in 2015.
Design features:

• One of the concepts that the architects found important to the students was retaining the “School Crossing”.  Students particularly wanted to keep this for social interaction  and so the new school has been designed with this in mind, both in the design of the main hallway inside and, in the paths outside that link the community and the school.
• The building is LEED Gold.
• Trees have been kept where possible and the large sequoia tree preserved. It will be a landmark at the front of the new school. 
• As part of the build, Bowker Creek will be rehabilitated and opened on the school side, graded by the school builders and replanted by the municipality.Plazas where students and visitors can gather have been created on the south side and in front of the building. 
• The south side will include the Neighborhood Learning Centre.
• The ground floor has been designed with the theatre in the center and 4 pillars of excellence: Arts (the theatre), Athletics (the gym), Citizenship (Neighborhood Learning Centre), and Academics (the library).
• Formal academics will be on the 2^nd and 3^rd floor separate from the public areas of the school.
• The theatre will sit 425 patrons and will be approached through the front door and the large open lobby. 
• The theatre is in the centre of the building and the outside is wrapped in wood repurposed from the old gymnasium. It will be visible from most areas of the school and will provide a landmark.
• The classrooms are designed to allow for working in small groups and for breakout areas. Some interior walls are movable and some rooms have walls that will open up into the hallway. In some places, lockers will be half height with counters on top, creating study space as well as a place for informal interactions, similar to the business spaces used by companies such as Google.
• The Neighborhood Learning Centre received an extra 15% funding due to its partnership with Oak Bay Recreation  and will house daycare,  flex rooms and the teen centre.  It  will be accessed directly from the southwest corner of the building which is a prime location. 
• The teen centre will include a kitchenette, washrooms, storage, office space and an overhead door which will allow for expansion.
• The large cedar tree which had to be taken down as a result of the construction has been milled and the wood will be used for benches at school.
•  First Nations art will be near the theatre and existing art from the old school will be hung around the school. 
• The floor mosaics and the outside tiles from the old school will also be moved to the new school.  
• Photos of classes over the school’s life will be displayed throughout the school and digitally archived.
• A glass railing on the second level will have a collage of faces of past students within it.The building will use 50% of a typical school’s energy consumption, will have improved longevity, solar panels and awnings to minimize solar gain on the south side. The building also features low VOC materials. 
• It is estimated that 98% of the usable materials from the old-school will be recycled by the end of the build.

Rod thanked Adam Fawkes, applauding his passion for design as well as the quality of the presentation.
Joan Firkins reminded the club that over the last few years we have donated $50,000 towards the NLC.

50/50  - Dallas

Fines were imposed on those not wearing pins and badges; Tom C. for all his election signs. In the ongoing tradition of fining those who help - Perry was fined  for excellence in publicizing the club and Janna for her efforts in the Bowls of Hope at her business, “Fired Up”.  5 tables were fined for not knowing what “Syria’s other war” was (the war against polio).  Dallas fined Joan Firkins for being mentioned on page 17 of the Rotarian Magazine as the winner of a District Service A ward and an extra dollar for looking so great and losing weight when Dallas hadn't. Peter Sue and Debbie are celebrating an anniversary

The following people have Rotary anniversaries: Peter Sue 20 years, George Prichard 36 years, Renata 4 years, and Rod Sim 20 years. Perry said Dallas should pay a fine because she missed mentioning his 22^nd anniversary as a Rotary member.

Heather put in 12 happy dollars because Alexander is turning 12

Joan Peggs put in a dollar because she found a book on a bench which had a sign that said: “Take this book, pick it up, keep it, read it, and pass it around”. The book will go to 1000×5.

Bill Burns gave 3 happy dollars because 1. He has married again 2. He has been to visit Europe with his bride  and 3. He visited an exchange student who stayed with him  20 years ago. That student is now 38 and is legal counsel for MasterCard in Europe with 30+ lawyers reporting to him. Pretty impressive.

Kathleen was happy because she got to meet a baby that was not a day old “Piper”.

Mary is happy because Fie, a previous exchange student, has given birth to her 2^nd child, a boy, and sad because Connie H. (Harold’s widow) has died. Her demise was kept quiet which is what Connie wished. Neil Madsen is happy because the 18^th is the tax auction

Wendy won the draw.

Announcements:

• Vicky announced that Katie De Rosa, our district scholarship candidate, had been awarded a district scholarship of $15,000.
• Janna announced that our Rotaract Club is holding a “Night of Lights” at Hillside Mall on November 23. The tickets are $5 each and will support their tree at the Empress Hotel’s Festival of Trees and the Children’s Hospital. Janna has tickets.
• Ron Cooley reminded everyone that December 7 is the Merrython and he is looking for 16 course marshals.
• Joan Peggs announced that we will be selling poinsettias again this year and asked everyone to watch for the Butchart’s Magic of Christmas in the Times Colonist. Please find the puzzle pieces, fill in the template, and she will take the completed templates to George Jay for students and their parents to use to see Butchart’s Gardens over Christmas.

Peter got a prize for confirming that November is Foundation Month before anyone else.

Rememberance Day Presentation:
President Jim then introduced the Remembrance Day presentation, which included a  moment of silence and the pictures and names, rank and service of those persons  whom members of the club specifically wished to remember. It was very moving.

Parents of Steve Sharlow - photographed by David Sills

The meeting closed shortly thereafter with a Toast to the Queen.