Each year at St. Michaels University School, we honour a special group of students known as “Lifers”—those who have been with the school from Kindergarten (or historically, Grade 1) all the way through to graduation. On November 25, all 27 Lifers were invited back to the Junior School for a special, annual assembly.
As a Lifer myself (and so is Middle School teacher Mr. Mike Danskin), I have a deep appreciation for what it means to be part of this community. My own journey began back in 1981, with my first memories taking place in the main hallway of School House, where I was guided through the admissions process by Ned Symons at age five. While the Junior School of that era still echoes in the current campus, the stunning Trottier-Morgan Annex has transformed the space with a breathtaking redesign.
I have countless fond memories of my classmates and teachers—Mrs. Miles, Madame Levitt, and Mr. McAlpine, to name just a few. Though decades have passed since my graduation, you can still find me in the School House Building, now one floor up in the Mathematics Department.
This week, students in my Advanced Topics of Mathematics class were asked to write reflections upon our discussions of the Theory of General Relativity from a geometric perspective - we have been trying to wrap our minds around the concept of curved spacetime. One of my students, Roseline, shared this article1 which describes our universe as “living niches” produced through interactions that create an “intersubjective spacetime”, a local universe for each organism. As I write, I am struck by the juxtaposition of these thoughts and the Lifers experience, enriching and co-creating the community through their interactions over the past 13 years.
In 2012-2013, my first child, Avery, went through her own admissions process with Kathleen Cook. That year was a special one for the school, as we saw the introduction of a double-cohort of Kindergarten students—a first in SMUS history. Fast forward to today, and Avery is now in the graduating class of 2025, part of our largest cohort of Lifers ever, with 25 students.
It turns out that Avery and Will Cuddihy are part of a special legacy: both are children of Lifers. Will’s mother, Erika, was one of the first girls to attend the Junior School, joining in Grade Six when girls were gradually introduced into the younger grades in the 1980s. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t until 1984-85 that girls were added to Grades 1, 2, 3, and 7, and the school became fully co-ed the following year.
In a fascinating twist, Will’s sister Eva (class of '23), and now Will (class of '25), and Avery (class of '25) are the first “Lifer’s Lifers”—children of Lifers who are also Lifers themselves. This makes me wonder if there are any alumni from the pre-amalgamation era who made it through both St. Michael’s School and University School, only to have their own children follow the same path.
Today’s Lifers Recognition Assembly is a particularly meaningful one. It’s a celebration of this group’s journey through time and space at SMUS. It’s also a moment of gratitude for the families who have invested so much to provide their children with this opportunity. For Junior School teachers, it’s a joy to see how their former students have grown. And for the five Faculty children in this group, as a Faculty parent myself, I know the day will be filled with pride and emotion.
VIVAT!
1The E-series universe is a spacetime code that is produced ad hoc and locally by interaction among participating organisms. Interaction is the key explanatory principle in this context (Bateson2, 1972, 1979), and the intersubjective spacetime of the E-series represents the biological world in which organisms exchange information with others or with their environments to produce their living niches, a local universe for each organism. This practice is what creates the E-series universe.
Nomura, N. The Biological Production of Spacetime: A Sketch of the E-series Universe. Found Sci 29, 553–570 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-023-09908-x
2The great-grandson of Gregory Bateson is in the SMUS graduating class of 2026.
