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ECLASHBROOK‘S 1Â¥ * SOME EXCEPTIONS APPLY *« ALL SALES FINAL» Students and staff at WCI bid farewell to activities director after 31 years fter 31 years of buildâ€" Aing a legacy of leaderâ€" hip at Waterloo colleâ€" glate institute, student activâ€" ities director Brian Cressman is calling it a career at the end of the school year. And the recent winner of the prestigious 26th annual Stewart Award, which goes to the most outstanding teacher in Waterloo Region, hopes those who follow him will continue to build on that legacy, despite changes made by the provincial govâ€" ernment. Cressman himself was a student leader and part of the first class that opened WCI back in 1961. Decisions that first group of students made, including the school‘s colours of red, white and blue, continue to remain traâ€" ditions to this day. Cressman learned the lessons of leadership early on in his 32â€"year teaching career, . particularly the lessons involved in identifyâ€" ing and nurturing that talâ€" ent. And it was those tradiâ€" tions that Cressman continâ€" ued to help form when he took over the role of student activities director at the school in 1970, a position he Goodbye, Mr. Cressman Bos VrBANAC Chronicle Staff continued to hold for the next 30 years. Coupled with his duties as a guidance counsellor, he saw the best students had to offer and found that getting them involved in the school comâ€" munity could make even the poorest student feel integral to the high school experiâ€" ence. That commitment to stuâ€" dents locally also saw Cressman pioneer student activitiy programs across the country with help from likeâ€" minded colleagues. He joined the Canadian Intramural Recreation Association in 1980. In his four years as one of the atâ€" large directors of the associâ€" ation, he worked with the federal â€" government _ to develop the national physiâ€" cal activity week. "I was responsible for devising a program for every WCI student activities director Brian Cressman is surrounded by students Jordan Delanghe, Matthew Kieswetter and Phil Schmidt as he wraps up his last days at the Waterloo school at the end of next week. We welcome Dr. Victor Daveikis to cur practice of Family Dentistry * New patients welcome * Extended hours ;. Aarrram. W announces > the Retirement of Dr. Gordon Phillips as of June 30/2000 "*â€"BRIDGEPORT RD E |‘_’3 UNIVERSITY AVE THE OFFICE OF DR. FEWSTER, DR. PHILLIPS AND DR. SIEBER ERB ST Eâ€"» 60 Brideport Rd. E. Suite 101, Waterloo 884â€"2162 Cressman also became involved with the Canadian Association _ of â€" Student Activity Advisors, and sat on its board for five years as the Ontario representative. That position took him all across the country to speak about the experiences and programs that formed a big part of the student life at WCL Cressman capped off that experience last year when WCI hosted the Canadian Student Leadership conferâ€" ence, sponsored by the orgaâ€" elementary and secondary school in the country," said Cressman. "It was really exciting to create some awareness of activity." "Being able to meet with teachers _ from _ across Canada provided me with the network I have today," he said. "That was a good expeâ€" rience for me." "For me this job has never been like work," he said. "I just enjoyed each day and enjoyed the kids that I worked with. At least one part of the Cressman legacy will live on at the school. His eldest daughter Janine Walmsley started teaching math there last fall. With that in mind, it was with mixed emotions that Cressman decided to retire this year. His only hope his that he is missed as much as he is remembered. "That‘s what I‘m going to miss the most." Cressman feels schools shouldn‘t only educate the mind, they should educate the entire person. "That gave me a lot of satisfaction, to see them grow in other ways," he said of the stuâ€" dents he worked with over the years. "They often looked to Waterloo County schools for direction because we are much better organized here in terms of the student activâ€" ities program," Cressman said. "It was also a great opportunity for our own stuâ€" dents to go to other parts of Canada and meet kids from other schools while seeing Canada. It‘s a wonderful country that is so different, and so unique." Unfortunately, the Waterloo Region District school board‘s support for the student activities posiâ€" tion is under pressure by the new provincial funding model which doesn‘t recogâ€" nize instruction outside of the classroom. "The local board started the program to be sure there were opportunities for kids outside of the classroom," said Cressman. "We get to know the kids in a different way. I got to work with creâ€" ative, enthusiastic, bright highâ€"energy kids that kept me young." nization. It was the culminaâ€" tion of years of leadership work that he and other stuâ€" dent activity directors from Waterloo Region had investâ€" ed in the organization.