Retiring St. George’s Head of School gets a Hollywood worthy send-off

James A. Officer

Over 300 people gathered at Le Windsor in downtown Montreal, as they rolled out the red carpet on May 21 to pay tribute to James A. Officer, on the occasion of his upcoming retirement as Head of School of St. George’s School of Montreal after serving in that capacity for the past 21 years.

And the event -- which was appropriately titled "An Officer and a Gentleman" -- had all the trappings of a gala Tinseltown affair. There was a red carpet outside the Windsor’s entrance, where a group of St. George’s students, as the evening’s paparazzi, were armed with cameras and were snapping away at every guest who arrived (pictured below); there was a jazz trio -- led by the school’s head of the music department on saxophone – during the pre-dinner cocktail reception; guests also left written messages of congratulations on a tree that will be planted outside the school building on The Boulevard; and they even had a chance to get a picture of themselves with a life-sized cutout of Mr. Officer.

The guests, who were made up of mainly St. George’s staff, faculty, alumni, board members, parents and current students, were treated to a program filled with tributes from former students and colleagues throughout the dinner. Former student Allyson Kassie Goldberg appeared in a video in which she reminisced about her years as a student during Mr. Officer’s early years running St. George’s, in which she recounted one incident when he caught her smoking, which lead to her running the school’s anti-smoking week activities (which included a special cameo appearance on the video of a smoking Robert Redford); she also announced the establishment of the James A. Officer Legacy 21 Campaign and Foundation, which is dedicated to expanding and renovating the high school facilities for 21^st century teaching and learning, which will include the establishment of six new learning spaces. So far, over $750,000 has been raised for the foundation, which has a goal of $1.5 million.

Beatrice Lewis, former Director of St. George’s Elementary School, praised Mr. Officer for his contagious passion for the school, his solid leadership, his excellence as a student recruiter and multi-tasker, and his ability to make personal connections with every student under his watch, which created a student community with an atmosphere of caring and nurturing.

Hal Hannaford, Head Master of Selwyn House School, regaled the crowd with some of the shenanigans he and Mr. Officer had while attending various Canadian Association of Independent Schools conferences. “It was obvious to his colleagues that he loves this school,” he added. “That’s because he was simply Jim. He was committed to the growth and education of young people, as well as young educators.” St. George’s alumnus Lee Haberkorn recalled the time when he won at an auction the chance to be principal for a day, and said that Mr. Officer was quite the sport that day, when in turn, he sat in one of Lee’s English classes as a student. Ken Salomon, a graduate from the class of 1964, was on the search committee that hired Mr. Officer 21 years ago, and noted that his tenure as head of school, which added up to about ¼ of St. George’s collective history, was one of the most important periods in the school’s development as a top school of choice for the international community. “It was quite evident from the beginning that Jim had what it took to run this school,” he said.

 

Finally, a humble and gracious Mr. Officer spoke to the crowd, saying he enjoyed meeting and being inspired by the 2000 students he supervised during his 21 years at St. George’s, and said that the school was great for three reasons: its dedicated staff and faculty; its exceptional students and their families; and its board and committee members, who understood the school’s raison d’etre and were committed to the school’s mission.

He paraphrased Orson Welles by saying that after 21 years, it was time to stop his story, and is leaving the school in excellent shape for his successor Sharon Klein. He also admitted that he will have his own Hollywood ending to his career as St. George’s Head of School next month, when he walks off the stage the same time his daughter Eugenie graduates from the high school. Although he will continue his involvement with St. George’s with the Legacy 21 Campaign, as well as its alumni and recruitment divisions, Mr. Officer jokingly suggested how he was going to handle his retirement on his farm in Franklin Centre, Quebec (which he dubbed as the “Kingdom of Jim”): “I plan to lie down on my couch on the first month, and clean my basement on the second month.”