The Official HAHA Blog

BOOKED: Hawthorn Hosts Marina Nemat, Acclaimed Author of ‘Prisoner of Tehran’

hawthornalumnae — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:08:21 +0000

Save the date: Wednesday February 15th Hawthorn presents the highly anticipated talk by Marina Nemat, author of ‘Prisoner of Tehran’. Her first piece of work, Entertainment Weekly describes her book as “…an extraordinary story of survival and how one woman finally found inner peace through the written word.”

Marina Nemat was born in 1965 in Tehran, Iran. After the Islamic
Revolution of 1979, she was arrested at the age of sixteen and spent
more than two years in Evin, a political prison in Tehran, where she
was tortured and came very close to execution. She came to Canada
in 1991 and has called it home ever since. Her memoir of her life in Iran,
Prisoner of Tehran, was published in Canada by Penguin Canada in April
2007, has been published in 28 other countries, and has been an international
bestseller. MacLean’s Magazine has called it “…one of the finest (memoirs)
ever written by a Canadian.” Prisoner of Tehran has been short listed for
many literary awards, including the Young Minds Award in the UK and the
Borders Original Voices Award in the US. On December 15, 2007, Marina
received the inaugural Human Dignity Award from the European Parliament,
and in October 2008, she received the prestigious Grinzane Prize in Italy.
In 2008/2009, she was an Aurea Fellow at University of Toronto’s Massey
College, where she wrote her second book, After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed,
which was published by Penguin Canada on September 18, 2010, and has so
far been published in four countries. Marina has spoken at tens of high schools, universities, and conferences around the world.

Hawthorn looks forward to host this amazing woman on Wednesday, February 15th. The evening commences at 7:00 pm with a meet and gree with the author, followed by a talk by Marina herself.

CAFEX Seminar by Dr. Teresa Tomory

hawthornalumnae — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:48:21 +0000

Merry Christmas!

hawthornalumnae — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:17:55 +0000

Merry Christmas on behalf of the alumnae!

With our annual Christmas Party last night, it’s a good time to look back at the year 2011 and thank all the alumnae that continue to make a significant impact on the school, and of course always trying to build on the momentum that will allow us to take us to the next level! 2011 saw alumnae involved in a vaiety of areas of the school: Christen Jalsevac and Natalie Vallee continue to represent the alumnae on the board at Hawthorn, Stephanie Taylor is currently the Chair of the Gala Committee. Mary Romanelli, Kristina Humphrey’s and Patricia Clarke work at the school. We also had alumnae contribute to career day this past year, participation in the golf tournament, strategic insight sessions at the school and the welcome to the upper school night for grade 7′s. Further, alumnae continue to give to the annual fund, in hopes that we can ‘raise the roof’ and put a second floor throughout the entire school (and expand our gym!). We want to thank all the alumnae for all your support to HAHA and the school over the past year — it does not go unappreciated.

Looking to next year, we are looking to have a most exciting 2012! We hope to see you at one of the following events — so mark your calendars!

1) Alumnae Day for Hawthorn Athletics (JANUARY 16th, 3:30PM)

Come watch the senior girls volleyball team take on Pickering College at 3:30pm at Hawthorn!

2) Alumnae Night for Hawthorn Dramatics (APRIL 13th, 7:00pm)

Come watch the Hawthorn Musical as the high school students put on the classic My Fair Lady this year!

3) GALA A Night at the Round Table (MAY 5th, 6:00pm)

Hawthorn’s biggest party of the year.

Look forward to seeing you all in 2012!

Click to view slideshow.

CAFEX Event Featuring Dr. Teresa Tomory!

neenaallidina — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:50:23 +0000

The next CAFEX event will be on January 23 and will feature Dr. Teresa Tomory, former head of Hawthorn and one of its founding directors. Dr. Tomory will be giving a talk entitled “Art, Beauty & the Artist: A Glimpse at Michelangelo and Bernini”.

Dr. Tomory obtained her Honours BA in Fine Art and her MA and PhD in Art History & Archeology from the University of Toronto. She is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums (Canadian Chapter).

The talk will be from 7 to 8:30 pm in the Debates Room of Hart House at the University of Toronto. Please join us for what is sure to be an interesting and informative talk! For more information please contact hawthornalumnae@gmail.com.

HAHA Christmas Party Date Announced!

hawthornalumnae — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:58:54 +0000

Save the date, fellow alumnae!

This year’s annual Christmas potluck is Wednesday, December 21st! Open to all alumnae and their guests, we invite you to bring your favorite dish and relax with us for an evening to celebrate and catch-up with a festive evening at the school. This event all marks the last Christmas party that myself, Laila Hubert, Neena Allidina and Liz Taylor will bring to you as your executive council for HAHA! So come help us celebrate our term and what we have done to keep our alumnae network growing (namely, the creation of this blog) and RSVP via e-mail or the Facebook event that is currently set up!

Great prizes will be had, and SANTA will even be there for the kids!

Look forward to see you all out there!

Current Affairs Exchange Forum (CAFEX) Event

hawthornalumnae — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:24:29 +0000

Looking for ways to get involved on U of T’s St. George campus? Attend a CAFEX event! CAFEX, or Current Affairs Exchange Forum, is a club dedicated to organizing a series of intellectual, cultural and social events throughout the year to provide opportunities for the growth of its members. Founded at the University of Toronto in 1995, CAFEX is an established venue for students seeking to complete their university education by exchange with professionals, professors, alumni and students from all disciplines and backgrounds.

Join us for a Movie & Dinner on Monday, November 14, 2011. We will have a pizza dinner at 6:30 and then watch Marvin’s Room downtown. For more details on location please contact hawthornalumnae@gmail.com. Also check out the CAFEX website at http://cafex.sa.utoronto.ca/.

Anna Halpine to Speak in Toronto Tomorrow, Nov 3 @ 6pm

hawthornalumnae — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:29:45 +0000

Anna Halpine is the founder of the World Youth Alliance (WYA) and was the WYA president from 1999 to the spring of 2007. A native of Canada, she graduated cum laude in 1999 with a Bachelor of Music degree from Mount Allison University. In 1998 Anna moved to New York City to study piano at the Taubman Institute and voice at the Juilliard School of Music.
From 1998 to 1999 she worked with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) at the UN, monitoring conference developments and participating in UN meetings and international conferences. In the summer of 1999 Anna was awarded a cultural ambassadorial Scholarship from Rotary International to study German in Austria. From 1999-2000 she worked as a Parliamentary Assistant to a Member of the European Parliament in Brussels.
In the fall of 2000 Anna began to work full time as the President of the World Youth Alliance, devoting herself to promoting the dignity of the human person around the world. Since that time WYA has grown to include thousands of members in more than 170 countries. As president she oversaw the development of the WYA’s five Regions with offices currently in New York, Brussels, Nairobi, Mexico City and Manila and a prospective office in Beirut. In 2004 she was named one of the “Top Ten” Catholics of the Year by Inside the Vatican Magazine: the magazine on Vatican affairs, alongside the likes of then-Cardinal Ratzinger, a Catholic bishop persecuted in China, and others. Anna’s work in the founding and maintaining of the WYA continues to elicit broad scale recognition and support.
Anna received her Masters in Philosophy of Religion from Yale University in 2009. As Founder and past-president of WYA, Anna has traveled and lectured extensively. Since 2009 she had developed the World Youth Alliance Foundation to act as the strategic and management arm for the World Youth Alliance and currently serves as its Chief Executive Officer. As a key project for the WYA Foundation, Anna has developed a Global Reproductive Health and Education project with national pilot components to be implemented beginning in the Summer of 2011 which will provide an alternative based on the dignity of the human person in national health sectors.

We invite you to join us for an update on the work of the
World Youth Alliance with Anna Halpine, WYA Founder tomorrow, November 3rd @ Hotel Ocho in Toronto (195 Spadina Ave)

Hawthorn Golf Tourney a Success!

hawthornalumnae — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:24:10 +0000

Click to view slideshow.A beautiful day yesterday made the day all the more enjoyable as The Ladies Club did a great job hosting the Hawthorn Golf Tournament. About 75 golfers competed in teams for the top prize, however most people, regardless of rank, left with something thanks to everyone’s great raffle and prize table donations. The awards were presented at a nice dinner following the tournament. John Piccininni’s team won for the 2nd consecutive year with 8 under, however a couple other groups kept them on their heels and finished only a stroke or two behind. Many thanks to Sharon Anderson and everyone at the school that helped out!

Hawthorn Tops Out at OFSAA Qualifier

hawthornalumnae — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:47:54 +0000

This week the best female golfers from the CISAA came to compete at the OFSAA qualifier. The OFSAA golf festival brings together the best athletes from every high school athletic league from across the province. CISAA, the athletic association Hawthorn competes in, held its championships at the end of last school year, however to advance to the provincial championships(OFSAA), the athletes had to compete individually in a qualifier, which was held this week. Maddy Piccininni, grade 12 at Hawthorn, managed to shoot an impressive 83, the lowest amongst her competition, giving her the top spot in this past week’s tournament amongst the girls, securing her a spot at next month’s OFSAA championship.

Let’s go Hawthorn!

Hawthorn Marketing Campaign: LOWER SCHOOL

hawthornalumnae — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:50:14 +0000

Hawthorn had a busy year in marketing last year, see this next instalment showcasing their lower school, grades 2-7: