Hawthorn School for Girls

Gunn Sikk has been in Orthomolecular Medicine for 30 years. He has worked with: Donovan Bailey for his million dollar paycheck race; Drake the Rapper; Gregory Hines the dancer; professional and Olympic athletes; and CEO's from large corporations. In this podcast, he answers these questions: - What is a real "Breakfast of Champions"? - What is the largest threat to your child's learning capabilities? - What is epigenetics and why would it matter to my child as a student?

Hawthorn was honoured to welcome back author and international speaker Alexandre Havard, this time for a talk on Virtues at Work. He invited and encouraged all of us, especially our students, to answer the question of how to transform the dream of oneself as a full human being into a great mission. Underlining the thirst in today's world for formation of character over mere information, he opened the path to the virtues of magnanimity and humility, inspiring us to be aware of, trust in, and strengthen our unique, natural talents and audaciously use them to do great things for the common good.

When she was a high school student, Doanna Bugash was no big fan of 'the modesty talk'; fitting in, being accepted, dealing with social media and peer pressure were challenging enough. In this frank talk with our Grade 11 students, Doanna shares her lived experience through the world of appearance and dating, asking how we portray ourselves to the world, and how we can develop a personal presence that is strong, confident, and beautiful.

Recent UofT Commerce graduate Nikitha Tom Paul met with our grade 6, 7, and 8 students to talk about quality friendships and how to differentiate them from the more toxic kind. How do we look out for each other? How can we ourselves be sunshine on a cloudy day for others? How can we help each other be our best selves?

Fr. Eric Nicolai spoke about the significance of Hawthorn School's motto, 'Veritatem Facientes in Caritate - Living the Truth in Charity'. He raised the primacy in our school's mission of character development in students. He encouraged faculty in their role of helping our students to flourish in confidence, purpose, and joy founded solidly on knowing their true identity and living large that identity in the vocations and relationships that make up their daily lives.

Following her presentation to faculty, English teacher Miriam Helmers spoke to parents about the value of a classical liberal arts education at Hawthorn School. How does this integral approach to educating the whole person distinguish Hawthorn students, helping them discover fundamental concepts, logical connections, and independent thought?  In search of the true, the good, and the beautiful, how can our students come to know themselves as free, moral persons and discern how to use their unique gifts in the world? 

In this talk to parents, founding member Louise Rebello shares the spirit of adventure and excitement that inspired the genesis of Hawthorn's existence and mission. Community, truth, belonging, fortitude, dignity - these are values which have been at the heart of the school since its inception, and which continue to make Hawthorn a place of an abundance of good today.

On the last day of the school year before summer 2023, school chaplain Fr. Eric Nicolai sent our faculty forward into the holidays with a talk on the nature and importance of rest and leisure. He framed it not as an escape through mere distractions, but rather as a celebration of the basic meaningfulness and beauty of creation, a time to receive and enrich oneself with the deepest meaning of why we exist, and ultimately the whole purpose of work.

In these challenging social times, Dr. Karen Bohlin reminds parents that they matter. She explores questions of how we show up, support, and let go of our children, how we can help them understand what matters most, how we can help them share what's happening in their lives. With a deep, patient commitment to developing an enduring sense of belonging, resilience, and agency in our children, we can, she believes, help them competently, confidently navigate life at home and beyond.

How do we lead a good life? What is the best thing to do? How do we help our children acquire well-anchored habits for the good in the full spectrum of their actions? In this talk to Hawthorn dads, school chaplain Fr. Eric Nicolai offers some reflections on the importance and application of virtue ethics, a cornerstone of Hawthorn education, and particularly on the virtue of prudence. He explores how, with counsel, judgement, and practice, we can thoughtfully recognize and nimbly take up our best course of action, in faith, exercising flexibility and humility to correct ourselves when necessary in daily life.