Nil Nisi Optimum Notable Alumni Award

Senior Vice President, Stantec

“STS provided me with a foundation that I have carried with me throughout my life. I gained the skills and confidence to pursue a career without many female footsteps to follow, I found success in a strategic leadership role, and now serve as a role model for others in the field of Engineering. I am proud to pass this drive on to my daughters, who have watched me take chances and never stop striving to be the best I can be. Thanks to the support of STS, I know that I can be proud of what I have accomplished to date and continue to set and reach higher aspirations.”

Owner of Kensington Wine Market

“My years at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School are among the happiest of my life, and instilled in me both confidences, and the joy of learning. The school community was supportive, encouraging, and caring. I will forever be grateful for skills honed at STS, like critical thinking, leadership, compassion, and public speaking, and all the friendships that started there.”

Physician, Screenwriter and Director

“My brother and I had formative experiences at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School, particularly as a result of teachers who had a huge influence on our subsequent careers. I am thinking in particular of Mrs. Judy Goldsworthy, who taught us a humanitarian spirit at a very young age, Mrs. Ingrid Harrison, who nurtured an early love of writing and creativity, and Mr. Marc Boulianne, who taught me to stand up to bullies and not to be ashamed of being intellectual. I still remember these teachers and their lessons all these years later as if it was yesterday. My mother sacrificed a great deal to send us to STS, a place she specifically sought out when we were still babies! I am grateful for her advocacy and persistence because it ultimately changed my life.”

Shell Canada President and Country Chair and VP Emerging Energy Solutions

“I first believed I could achieve things I never thought possible at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School. With the support of STS teachers, friends, and my family, I began to set personal goals that were beyond my comfort zone and my own expectations. It was then that I realized one of the most critical things that holds me back was believing in myself – that I could do it!”

Partner, C & B Advertising

“I’m grateful for my education at STS and the school community that provided me the foundation and confidence to successfully manage my own business. STS created an environment that inspired me to pursue what I loved: creativity. Whether it was art class, speech day, or launching the school newspaper, my teachers encouraged my success in this area. ‘Nil nisi optimum’ has stayed with me to this day. In a highly competitive business that depends on continual creative innovation, STS has equipped me to see past the obstacles and overcome the challenges of bringing new ideas to life. ‘Nothing but the best’ continues to define our philosophy every day at C&B.”

Owner of Fresh Happy People & former Chief Underwear Officer of Joe Boxer Corp.

“My years at Strathcona School for Boys and later at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School influenced my entrepreneurial spirit to create and sell underwear. I recall my final year at STS as the happiest year of my educational experience. STS was a welcoming and warm community and made me feel at home and I remember it very fondly.”

President and CEO, Bowen Workplace Solutions

“My years at STS formed a foundation that has enabled me to achieve much more than I could have imagined, both in my career and on a personal level. Thank you for the years of mentoring, learning and guidance that have shaped me into the person I am today.”

Physician and professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary

“At Tweedsmuir, much of our learning was accomplished in small groups, an innovation that was well ahead of the trend in team learning at the time. The love of learning I found at Tweedsmuir has carried all the way through my career where I continue to enjoy teaching in small groups and working with adult learners.”

Justice of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench

“At Tweedsmuir: An Academic School for Girls, I learned how to be strong academically in what was rather a protected environment, which allowed me to develop a strong sense of self. This helped me immensely when I entered a work environment where a woman’s place was not the norm.”

Extreme adventurer, Everest summiteer, owner of Out There Adventure Centre & Live Out There web business

“My love for outdoor pursuits was fostered at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School where I went on many Outdoor Education trips. Having gone to the mountains to hike and ski when I was an early teen, shaped my life in a significant way. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t had that exposure to the outdoors when I was young.”

Emmy award-winning songwriter, composer, producer

“STS taught me how to dream big and overcome obstacles in order to achieve the best.”

Owner of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop

“I have a great deal for which to be grateful to STS. Most of all, the school culture nurtured individuality. The teachers saw each of us as singular people and gave us the resources to find out where our particular personalities might lead us. That’s an enormous gift.”

Professional NHL player

“One of the things I loved about my years at STS was the setting. No matter what I was doing I always felt close to nature, and for me it was an ideal setting in which to learn. The lessons I learned from the faculty, the athletics, and the OE trips have been invaluable. The friendships I made will last a lifetime.”

Physician

“Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School has given me courage and confidence: to pursue a career in academic medicine; to work as a volunteer in a developing country; to climb a mountain; and to embrace whatever is next.”

Conservationist, writer and photographer, co-founder of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

“Strathcona School for Boys and the support of its great teachers rescued me from a floundering academic career and taught me how to be strong by the rugged English public school method. Then, while attending STS I learned to engage with ideas, to consider different points of view, and to shoulder the responsibility we all have to make the world a better place. I am deeply grateful for all the School has done for me.”

Professor, University of Calgary

“Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School created opportunities for me to discover my skills and passions, but also to push myself into the unknown.”

Marine Archaeologist

“During my time at STS, the boundless potential of the world began to reveal itself. I realized that one could be an active explorer – which led to sounding the depths of all this planet and humanity have to offer, charting a challenging, yet rewarding, course in my life.”

Neurosurgeon

“I was very fortunate to have attended a school where the surroundings, the structure, and the teachers inspired in its students an appreciation for education, nature, physical fitness, diversity, and humanity. STS taught me to set my goals higher than I could reach, then gave me these tools so I could reach them.”

President – Americas, Campbell Soup Company

“Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School offered me so many different opportunities to learn and grow. Great teachers challenged and encouraged us in the classroom, on the playing fields, and in the mountains.”

Scientist, Entrepreneur, Principal and Co-founder, Virtus Insights Inc.

“Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School provided me with unique and formative opportunities. It helped foster my love for science, travel, athletics and adventure. I am grateful for the experience, education, mentorship and friendships that I made.”

Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre

“When I started at STS I was certain I did not belong. While the teachers always challenged me and pushed me, it was with love and care. My moment of awakening was in Grade 9 with the realization that success is not determined by birth, but by hard work and your contribution to those around you. I learned that I could compete with the best of them. STS helped create my sense of personal power.”

Journalist

“So much of who I am today comes from the experiences I had at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School through speech and debate and Model United Nations. These programs exposed me to a global reality that broadened my horizons and instilled a deep passion to reach out, communicate and connect. I am immensely grateful for the confidence, ability to think on my feet, and value of seeing an issue from all sides that I gained from these opportunities.”

Lawyer, Business Entrepreneur, Community Leader, Adventurer

“Tackle the most interesting challenge. That principle has guided my career. STS was a proving ground. The rigorous academics, the thrills of Speech Day, the highs and lows of athletics, the depth of arts and theatre. Every day was an adventure. I am grateful to the teachers who focused my passion. I am humbled by my classmates who have become lifelong friends. I wish the students of today and tomorrow a spectacular and worthwhile journey.”

Dentist

“STS was so much more to me than just a school. It was the community that I grew up with and that taught me so many valuable lessons. My peers and the faculty challenged me to grow academically and to appreciate the great outdoors. However, a much more valuable skill I developed was how to be an empathetic and caring leader. This humility, respect and the desire to help others succeed has made me the man I am today and for which I will always be grateful to STS and the many mentors in my life.”

Artist

“One of the biggest advantages of attending STS as a young adult was that it developed my understanding of the value of community and relationship. The close-knit nature of our class, including our teachers, had a magical, inclusive quality to it, which I still value to this day. I also appreciated the quality of the instruction, and the values of respect for people and education that were instilled in us by attending STS. Smaller details that made STS unique, like standing when a teacher entered the classroom, wearing our uniform according to a standard, and the high degree of discipline we adhered to are all things which have informed the way I have approached life since graduating from STS.”

Ontario Superior Court of Justice

“STS was special in many ways. It was close-knit, with committed teachers, staff and an extended community who were incredibly supportive. It also offered a broad range of experiences, emphasizing the importance of physical health and adventure, community service, and an inquiring, analytical approach to learning. I felt grounded and confident when I left STS. In retrospect, I see that I was poised for lifelong growth and learning. I am grateful to have started at STS, and I continue to cherish my STS friends and community.”

Paediatric Surgeon and Entrepreneur

“I am truly grateful to the people at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir who, at critical moments, helped me find where my talent lay, helped me speak my mind and taught me to believe that I had the power to create positive change. This is education.”

Clinical Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary

“My STS experience provided me with an exceptional education – it was much more than a purely academic experience. The outstanding academic program was a springboard from which I chased my dreams, culminating in my medical career. In addition, the joy I first experienced in the backcountry during my time at STS has bred a 35-year passion for the outdoors. These are lessons I impart to my patients and family alike, and key reasons why my children also attended STS. I am grateful to my parents for the sacrifices they made so that my sister and I could attend STS. I have been afforded opportunities that I may not have been otherwise.”