Dear RLC alumni,
I hope the New Year has come in strong for you, filled with health, joy and positivity. Our students arrived back to campus for classes on January 3rd, and have been fully engaged since. While the holiday break was peaceful and serene here on campus, walking the RCMT, reading books, and shoveling incredible volumes of snow, the students are what drives our energy bringing light to our days. It is wonderful to see them back launching what is going to be an incredible year.
In regards to RLC’s unique culture and community you are all so proud of and connected to, I would like to share with you my experience last Sunday at the local Humphrey arena. We boarded our school’s mini vans, loaded up the skates and helmets, ignoring a few typical teenage grumbles about how early this was. “12:30 pm I thought?” Some things never change.
As we helped some of our new skaters lace up and get on the ice, experienced students familiar with the sport held their hands, offered an arm for balance, and away they went. On the ice we had students from Rwanda, Cayman Islands, Bear Island, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Mexico, and South Africa. At RLC, in our day to day lives, this is normal. For our extended community, this is clearly a fascinating delegation of students out for a Sunday skate in rural Ontario.
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One friendly skater stopped me and said, “who are all these students? What is the occasion?”
I responded, “we are from Rosseau Lake College. This is a weekend activity our boarding students chose to attend.”
He smiled and simply nodded with a “wow, that is so interesting.”
Almost on cue, one of our students who was experiencing skating for the first time, fell to the ice, dragging down two of their friends. We all had a laugh, and watched them help each other up, continuing with their activity, rejoining hands with wide smiles across their faces.
Over the next hour, similar conversations and queries were had as our students, respectful and joyful, circled the ice with our neighbours. RLC was perfectly represented, and embraced, at the Humphrey arena.
It was very clear to everyone that we enjoy an inclusive community of diverse students united by friendships and sincere relationships all of you can attest to. I am sure your memories of time at RLC are similar, and these are the shared experiences that I hope continues to solidify and inspire our growing alumni network.
We are a wonderfully unique family, and by remaining hand in hand, our collective future is incredibly bright.
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Sincerely,
Dave Krocker
Head of School
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In this issue
- Angelica Collucci '08 helps usher in a new look for British Airways
- Looking back with Elinor Cole
- The latest RLC community read
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Save the date!
February 1 Student for a Day
February 22 Young Alumni visit campus and reconnect with staff and
students, all day
February 22 Parry Sound Pub Night, 7pm
February 23 Huntsville Pub Night, 7pm
April 13 James Raffan Fireside Chat
April 21 Hekkla/Hekklette
June 7 Pow Wow
June 17 Reunion on campus for Classes of ’73, ’83, ’93, ’03, ’13
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There's a little RLC in the new British Airways uniforms
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Later this year, the 32,000 member staff will be wearing designs that Angelica Collucci '08 helped bring to life.
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Earlier this month British Airways unveiled new uniforms, the first revamp in twenty years. The line includes bespoke designs, ethical fabrics, and choice--everything from a three-piece suit to a one-piece jumpsuit. Angelica Collucci '08 managed the team that made the Savile Row designer's ideas possible.
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 You are head of design and production. For anyone unfamiliar, what is included in that? And what brought you to that role?
For the past decade, I have been working in the luxury fashion industry with a focus on men's tailoring. After working at Canada's leading bespoke tailoring company, Garrison bespoke, I moved to London UK to work on the world-renowned Savile Row.
I am currently the Head of Design & Production at Ozwald Boateng which is a wonderful position that offers me many exciting projects, from fashion shows to our most recent launch of the new British Airways uniforms. It was a project that we started in 2018 and involved redesigning all the uniforms for 32000 staff from pilots to engineers. It was interesting to design a collection that required so many elements of safety and functionality while respecting the tight brand guidelines.
Since the start of my path into fashion, I always wanted to have my own brand but I also knew that it was important to learn from experience and as a university professor once told me to "make mistakes on someone else's dime." With 10 years of a successful career under my belt, I still have lots to learn, but it is time for me to start on my own. So this year I launched COLUCCI - A design house that specialises in high-quality, made-to-order clothing for men and women. It is still early days but please follow as we grow. We're on Instagram: @colucci_cc
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When did you first have a sense that fashion design was the thing you really wanted to pursue in life?
I grew up in a creative household with early exposure to art, theatre, and fashion which help to shape who I am today. From the age of 10, I was going to fashion shows with my mother and I have been in love with the industry ever since so when it came time to apply for university fashion was a natural path for me.
What brought you to RLC?
I heard about RLC through a classmate in middle school. I thought it would be fun to live with friends, so I told my parents about the school, not thinking it would be taken seriously. It wasn't until we went for an interview and learned about the outdoor education that the school was centred around that they thought would be a wonderful opportunity for me.
And it was. I loved learning in nature. RLC is such a unique school for that and I think it has a method of teaching that really needs to be championed, especially now when we are spending less time outdoors than ever.
As a boarding student, I learned a lot of discipline from maintaining a clean room to showing up to breakfast on time. All valuable life skills have stuck with me.
An impactful trip that has also formed who I am today was going to Everest Base Camp with Peggy Foster. It is wonderful that the school offers such life-changing experiences for their students.
But, at least on the face of it, it seems like a big jump from Lake Rosseau to Savile Row. What do you think the school gave you that lead to where you are today?
The most impactful experience that set me up for what was to come was an introduction to legendary Canadian fashion designer Marilyn Brooks. She taught me how to illustrate, how to create a personal style, and how to grow a thick skin.
What do you feel RLC gave you?
RLC gave me a supportive community.
You mentioned that Mrs Bissonette’s support means a lot to you, then and now.
Cheryl Bissonette was a really supportive staff member that I remember fondly. I was one of the first students at RLC to be applying to a fashion university and she did everything she could to help me get into the Fashion Design program at Ryerson University. I can still remember the day she pulled me out of class to tell me I got accepted into the highly competitive program.
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Students and staff have begun reading James Raffan's Ice Walker. The story is told from the perspective of a polar bear as she raises two cubs in a changing arctic environment. It's based in Raffan's career as a biologist, explorer, and advocate. Raffan will be coming to RLC April 12-13 to speak with staff and students, conduct workshops, and share his perspective on the world we share. All alumni are invited and encouraged to attend the evening event. Would love to have you here with us.
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Looking back with Elinor Cole
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During her 20-year tenure Elinor was teacher, director, and board member. Ever, since, she's been an essential donor and friend. She illustrates the idea that RLC, for staff and students, isn't just for a moment, it's for life.
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Christina Lines and Elinor Cole at the 1980s celebration last October.
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“The school has meant a lot both to me and my husband,” says Elinor Cole. “It’s important to me now because of all the great experiences I had when we were working there. As an educator I thought it was a unique and very special place.”
Elinor taught at RLC for twenty years starting in 1983, the year that she and Bill both came on faculty. While the relationship with the school would define an era of their lives, their arrival was serendipitous. “My nephew Fraser Gaetz ‘87 started attending the school in 1980 or ‘81,” she says, “and so that’s how we heard about it.” She and Bill had been teaching in the public system in Toronto. Life threw some curveballs, one of which was a massive teacher’s strike they didn’t support. It was time to think about other things. “So, we asked if there were any jobs available, and Dave [Hodgetts] called us in and interviewed us.” And that was it. Bill was hired to teach English and Elinor to teach English and Grade 9 Geography.
“Bill and I just fell into it,” she says. “We couldn’t believe it.” She loved the closeness they had with the kids, a function of living on campus as well as the smaller class sizes. “One of the times we had what was called a ‘large’ class, and I think I had maybe 18 students in it. All my classes were smaller than that normally, so you were able to actually teach them.” In Toronto, 40 was a typical class size. “It was like trying to herd chickens. And you weren’t terribly close to the kids. You’d make an effort to get to know them, but with that many students you were really just trying to keep a lid on the class.” The difference that RLC represented couldn’t be plainer. “To us it was teaching heaven.”
In her time at RLC Elinor was a teacher and assistant head of school, academics. When she retired from the faculty, she took a seat on the Board of Directors. She’s seen generations of students come through the school, something that is underscored when she attends the Closing Ceremony each year. This year she was approached by Steven Wheldon, the son of Kathleen Wheldon, who was a colleague at RLC when she first started. “Steven came up to me and was like ‘Hi Mrs. Cole!’ He gave me a great big hug. And I was just starting to think, ‘Why the heck is Steven here?’ when a young woman with a mortarboard and a gown on came and said ‘Dad!’’ It was a remarkable moment. “And he was so proud.”
She loves to see the students and what RLC can mean in their lives. “Sometimes kids don’t have quite all the confidence that they need in a large school. But when they come to RLC they develop more self-confidence. And they know that they can ask for help, no matter what it is.” When she and Bill created the Best of Self award for the Grade 8 students, the motivation was to recognize students who weren’t otherwise being noted for their successes. “There are kids who excel really well athletically, and they get awards. And there are kids who do really well academically.” But for the others, “I wanted to let them know that they’ve really done well.”
There have been moments in the past when things perhaps weren’t assured, but that isn’t true now. She sees the future of the school as strong, though aware of the work that needs to be done. She finds the new development plans exciting, given how they extend the work of the school, rather than disrupting it.
“Rosseau Lake College has an effect on people,” she says, “it’s just a very special place.” Of course, she’s exactly right.
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We'd love to hear from you. Please email me with any thoughts, suggestions, news, questions, or things you'd like to see in upcoming editions of The Lighthouse.
All best,
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Glen Herbert
Director, Marketing and Communications glen.herbert@rosseaulakecollege.com
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