Upper Canada College houses

Upper Canada College, an all male preparatory school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, like several other Commonwealth schools, divides its students into ten houses, each led by a Senior House Adviser and a student-elected Head of House. Heads of Houses are among the sixteen "stewards" who form the student government of the College, the Board of Stewards. In addition to the Heads of Houses, four Prefects from each house are elected to represent their house and the school .
The house system was first adopted in 1923, previous to which members of the residence community were referred to as living in "the House" while day students were part of "the Town". There were only four houses until the late 1930s. There are now ten houses. Two of these, Seaton's and Wedd's, are boarding houses while the remaining eight are for day students. Each house is also identified by its own colour, which is displayed on the "house tie", worn with the standard school uniform by the members of the respective house.
The houses are:
Bremner's
Bremner's is the newest house at Upper Canada College, having been founded in 1983. The Bremner's house colour is red. The student head of house is Chris Lozano, and the faculty head (as of 2010) is Mr. Richard Tong. Bremner's finished second in the Prefect's Cup.
Alumni
Howard's
Howard's is one of the newest houses at Upper Canada College, being founded in the 1960s. The faculty head is Ms. Bina Evans. The current student head of house is Justin Elias (Class of 2013). The logo for Howard's house is The Eye of Thundera, Insignia of the ThunderCats. It comes from the American television series ThunderCats, that ran from 1985-1990. They are known for the HO Dynasty which lasted from 2002-2009, in which they won the prefect cup four times.
Alumni
* Tom Szaky - co-founder of TerraCycle
* Trevor Farrow - Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
* Leonard Dick - award winning television writer and producer
Jackson's
Jackson's House is one of the oldest of the ten houses at UCC, represented by the colour yellow. Members of Jackson's house are known as "Jacksonites". The house is colloquially referred to as "J-House", and at times, the "J-Team". The main house cheer is an adaptation of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. Whenever they reach the podium to speak in assembly, Jackson's house members are expected to start their presentation with the house's call-and-answer cheer of "Ahoy". Jackson's is led by Head of House Jake Salsburg and four Prefects: Christopher Kim, Will Lace, Trevor Thorburn, and Graham "Jones" Steele. The Senior House Adviser is Mr. Matt Griem.
Alumni
* Kenneth Thomson, Baron Thomson of Fleet - businessman, philanthropist
Martland's
The house was named for John "Gentle" Martland, a master at the College who was most well known for his reform of the boarding houses, making them into something more than simple residences. He toned down the rigid study regimes, cold dormitories, bland menus, and bullying, fostering instead more tolerating discipline, swift punishment for serious offenders, the occasional feast, and organised recreation.
Martland's house colour is purple. Their Senior House Advisor is Jeff Woodroffe, and their Head of House is Pearce Wildi.
Alumni
McHugh's
McHugh's house colour is maroon. The Senior House Advisor is Reem Aweida-Parsons. McHugh's is led by Head of House Jack Keating (Class of 2013) and by four Prefects: Connor Bullock (Class of 2013), Max Celej (Class of 2013), Braden Lyons (Class of 2013), Shane Polan (Class of 2012). Past mascots include the "Chubby Chicken" and the letter Q. The McHugh's mural plays off of the logo of NHL team Colorado Avalanche.
Mowbray's
Mowbray's house is named after the UCC English teacher William Mowbray. Their sister house at Bishop Strachan School is Walsh. Their Senior House Advisor is Mario Sturino, and their Head of House is John Hunter (Class of 2013). Mowbray's house colour is taupe.
Past Heads of House
Devon Kapoor (Class of 2009)
Christopher Griffiths (Class of 2010)
James Hunter (Class of 2011)
Spencer Livingstone (Class of 2012)
Alumni
*James Morehead, Class of '85, Vice President - Product Management at Support.com, son of Philip David Morehead and Patricia Morehead
Orr's
Orr's house colour is cyan. The house was named after William H. Orr. The Orr's Senior House Advisor is Mrs. Deirdre Timusk.
The Head of House is Emerson Ross (Class of 2014). The Orr's House Prefects are Austin Haber, Savinay Chopra, Elliot Kaufman and Husayn Kara. The Orr's mascot is the shark, which is represented by the house's mural and the model shark. Orr's finished second in the Prefect's Cup Standings for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Alumni
Scadding's
Scadding's was founded in 1960 in honour of Henry Scadding, the first boy enrolled in the school in 1829. Scadding was also Head Boy of the school for three years in a row, and later became a teacher at the college. The house's colour is teal. The Scadding's "logo" has traditionally been a Superman "S", topped with a three-pointed crown. The Scadding's logo is a replication of the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, with the American flag replaced with the aforementioned S. The house motto is "Scaddings: King of Houses".
Past Heads of House:
Colin Rhind Class of 2010
Daniel Hoffer Class of 2011
Sam Frum Class of 2012
Zach Mahon Class of 2013
The head of house is Jonathan Green (Class of 2014). The Scadding's House Prefects are Sachin Pasricha, Matthew Wong, Cameron Saville, and David Cottingham.
Alumni
*Michael Szonyi Rhodes Scholar and Professor of Chinese History at Harvard University
Seaton's
Seaton's is one of the original four houses at UCC, and is one of the two boarding houses. It was founded in 1924 and is named after Field Marshal Sir John Colborne, later Lord Seaton, UCC's founder and former Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. Seaton's has a long-fought rivalry with Wedd's - the other UCC boarding house. Members of Seaton's House are called "Seatonians". Seaton's is led by House Master Brent Mackay. Seaton's prevıous Head of House is Andrew Morrison. The head of house is Brock Beckley. The prefects are Mıchael Topolınskı, Sebastıan Malo, and Chrıs Choı.
Traditions and symbols
Since the House is both a residential community and a competitive house within the Prefects' Cup competition, it has traditions that somewhat resemble a fraternity. However, certain responsibilities are placed on the upper year students, such as ensuring grade 8 and 9s are in bed at their curfew hours.
The earliest exclusively Seatonian club was the Seaton's Ski Club which formed in the early 1930s. In the early years the boarding houses would participate in "competitive theatre", staging productions of the same play. Seaton's also had a drama troupe of sorts called the Seaton's Follies, who would put on a satirical show every term. During the early 1980s there was the Seaton's House Independent Tribune and the Seaton's House Independent Theatre. Also in the early 1980s an unofficial club called the Midnight Ramblers was formed in Seaton's and had a companion chapter in Wedd's House.
In the 1970s, the Seatonians were called "Louis' Grenouilles" in reference to House Master Louis Paichoux, who was French. Other terms for Seatonians include "Seatons"and "Seatonsmen". "Seatonite" has also been used, but has fallen out of favour due to its similarity to the Wedd's designation "Weddite". Seaton's colours are green and white. It also has adopted the crest of Lord Seaton as a house symbol, which adorns adorns the house flag. Symbols have also included a mouse, a frog (for the 'Grenouilles'), a fiery 'S' designating the Seaton's "Heat", the Green Machine logo, and most common since the 1990s, the Superman shield.
There is also an annual tradition (founded in 2003) of a House superhero, who stars in a house spirit video, called "Seatonsman". Seniors (originally anyone in the house) could audition for the role through video taped and shown in House Meeting, resulting in a vote on who would be Seatonsman. The competition was narrowed to seniors in 2005 to keep it from being politicized by future Head of House candidates. There is a Seatonsman cape as well as a Seatonsman trophy, awarded to the winner of the competition. Seatonsman was first created by Matthew Kupfer, later Head of House, and originally starred Simon Ayotte.
Alumni
* Hal Jackman - former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario
* James Bacque - novelist and book editor
* John Lancaster - correspondent for CBC News
* Ted Rogers - President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc.
* Brendan Fraser - actor
* Peter C. Newman - journalist
* Colin Greening - Professional Ice Hockey Player
Wedd's
Wedd's is the one the oldest of the ten houses at UCC, and is one of the two boarding houses. It is named for William Wedd MA, formerly first classical master. Members of the house are known as "Weddites". Wedd's is led by House Masters Carl Beaudoin and Mark Baxter, and is represented by the colour black.
The Head of house for Wedd's is Philippe Martin. The Wedd's House Prefects are PJ Conlon, Jasper Kan and Nicolas Royer-Légaré.
Alumni
* Michael Ignatieff - fomer leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons
* Andrew Saxton - Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board in the Canadian House of Commons
Prefects' Cup
The Prefects' Cup is awarded annually to the house that places first overall within the intramural competitions.
Recent Prefects' Cup Champions
2010/2011 - Martland's House(Head of House: Matt Walker '10. Pearce Wildi '11)
2009/2010- Martland's House(Head of House:Matt Walker '10)
2008/2009 - Howard's House (Head of House: John Zucchi '09, Antonis Drivas '10)
2007/2008 - Mowbray's House (Head of House: Alexander Estey '08, Alfred Nataprawira '09)
2005/2006 - Howard's House (Head of House: Reid Pauly '06, Julian Cupilari '07)
2004/2005 - Howard's House (Head of House: Phil Noelting '05, Reid Pauly '06)
2002/2003 - Howard's House (Head of House: David Steinbach '04, Phil Noelting '05)
2001/2002 - Wedd's House (Head of House: Christopher Cruz '02, Andrew Lee '03)
2000/2001 - Wedd's House (Head of House: Andrew Nelson '01, Christopher Cruz '02)
1999/2000 -
1998/1999 - Wedd's House (Head of House: Scott Hill '98, Ali Jaffer '99)
1996/1997 - Scadding's House
1995/1996 - Jackson's House
 
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