Brain Storm: Behind the Scenes of RSGC’s Intellectual Competitions
If there were an I in team at RSGC, it might stand for Intellectual. In the last five years, the College’s athletic offerings have been increasingly complemented by extracurricular competitions intended to challenge students’ intellectual capacities.
Teams such as Vex and First Lego League robotics, debating, public speaking, Reach for the Top, History Bowl, bridge building and Kids Lit Quiz appeal to a variety of interests. They have also been as successful as they are popular, regularly bringing home hardware from competitions. As just one example, the 2014 Kids Lit Quiz team won at Nationals and represented Canada at the World Finals in Cornwall, England.
The success of these groups has been driven by a particularly Georgian emphasis on teamwork and competition.
From her vantage point as Head of Junior School, Catherine Kirkland sees these intellectual teams as part of the College’s commitment to helping every Georgian become the best version of himself.
“Even though our boys have been very successful, their focus isn’t so much on winning,” she said. “These teams allow boys to pursue their passions and come together with like-minded individuals who push them to be their best. It’s more of a celebration than a competition – a chance to develop themselves.”
Looking closely at two particular activities, the unique nature of intellectual competitions is readily apparent.
Over the last three years, the Grade 7 and 8 First Lego League Robotics team has earned a spot at Provincials each year, winning it all three years ago and bringing home both the Robot Design and Robot Performance Awards last year. Meanwhile, Senior School Reach for the Top teams have won Regionals and qualified for Provincials for the last four years in a row.
Rachel DeBlois, Senior School French teacher, and Sanaz Ghoreshy, Senior School Science teacher, are co-coordinators of Reach for the Top and explained how the desire for progress that Catherine identified is on display among the students.
“Our team attracts a wide range of students including the academically inclined, the athletic types and the Renaissance guys,” they said. “They love being challenged and chasing the prowess of being fast on the buzzer or getting the right answer. The games test their brain capacity and their ability to retrieve knowledge quickly.”
Jamie Stephenson-Smith, a Reach team member and one of the Renaissance students Rachel and Sanaz identified, is involved in activities such as Speakers’ Union, Vinyl Club and several athletic teams. He explained that there is a difference between the teamwork in Reach and what can sometimes happen with sports teams.
“Usually, with sports at our age level, one exceptional player can make a huge difference to the outcome of a game,” he said. “But in an activity like Reach for the Top, no one person can know everything. You have to have a balanced team and everyone has to do his part. You learn to know when to not answer because your teammate will take care of it. You learn to trust each other.”
Involved in ball hockey, ice hockey, soccer and baseball, Jamie also pointed out that the experience of competition in intellectual pursuits differs from athletic environments.
“There’s no hostility,” he observed. “We all have enormous respect for each other and the competitions are friendly. When someone knows more than you do, you are just baffled by how good they are and you strive to get to that level.”
This distinctive form of competition also appeals to students like Puneet Bagga, a Grade 12 Prefect extensively involved in intellectual activities. As a member of the Speakers’ Union, Debating and Book Club, he generated 2,200 house points so quickly that he received the Gold Chevron while still in Grade 11.
“I loved the competition,” he said, recalling his experience with the First Lego League robotics when he was in Grade 9. “It’s not cut-throat. Everyone is polite whether they lose or win. It is also really fun to know you are competing at a huge level. When we went to Provincials, it was high stakes. There were amazing teams from all across Ontario. It was super stressful, but we had a blast.”
Glen Algarvio, Grade 8 STEM teacher and First Lego League Coordinator, said the competitions and challenges fuel the boys’ love for the activity.
“They have to design, build and program the robot in order to complete several missions in under two and a half minutes in front of a panel of judges,” he said. “As they encounter problems, they think on their feet and work together to solve them. It’s dramatic and exciting for them.”
Puneet, who went on to compete in Vex Robotics in the Senior School, explained that the drive to succeed motivates the students to prepare.
“We would come in on Saturdays and be here with our coaches,” he said. “We even came into school when there was a massive blizzard. We were blasting music and laughing and working hard. The preparation paid off. We did well because we worked hard and had such a close bond.”
Jamie pointed out that the Reach team also meets regularly to prepare.
“Ms. DeBlois and Ms. Ghoreshy are there every day at lunch,” he said. “They have a huge collection of questions and we just go through them over and over. You learn to anticipate the question format, so you can answer quickly. Winning isn’t just about knowing the answer, it’s about being able to answer more quickly than the other team.”
The Reach advisors have also been hosting weekly regional competitions at RSGC for the last six years and have hosted the national competition two years in a row.
In all of these intellectual activities, the competitions offer more than a challenging and fun experience. They create the kind of dramatic and intense moments usually associated with sports.
“Our team has been together since Grade 9,” Jamie recalled. “In our first season, we played most of it with only four of us. Then, at the end of the season, Nick Geist joined our team. When we got to the semifinals, it was only his second game ever. It was a really close battle and it came down to a tie-breaker question, which hardly ever happens. When they read out the question, Nick buzzed in and got it. We went to the finals. That was over the top!”
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Royal St. George's College is an independent school for boys located in The Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school admits boys from Grades 3 through 12. Our mission is to challenge and inspire each of our students to become the best version of himself.