Oak Bay
Oak Bay High School is a school in Victoria, British Columbia. In 1968, a team from the school won the Reach for the Top national championship.
Oak Bay was amongst the schools that participated in the pre-nationals Reach for the Top shows from 1961 to 1965. In the early years of the CBC era, Oak Bay, coached by Glenn Atkinson, was very successful, winning the provincial championships in 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, and 1977. In 1969, their title defense run ended early when fellow Vancouver Island school Alberni District defeated them in the regional championships.
The 1968 championship team had Jim Dempsey, Bruce Iszard, Robert McDougall, and Chris Odgers. Their prize for winning was a trip to Asia and $12,000 to the school. Despite lobbying with letters from team members and the community, these champions were not selected to represent Canada in the Trans-World Top Team competition against British teams.
In 1970, McDougall, now student president of the University of Victoria, ran and participated in a College Bowl style tournament at the university. It was done to form a team to play in the American TV show, but McDougall later found out that College Bowl quietly chose McGill and Queen's to face off against Oxford and New York teams in a special international edition.
1979 Reach alumnus Andrew Weaver is a member of the BC legislative assembly for the Green Party.
Oak Bay does not currently play SchoolReach. They do have a "Reach for the Top" scholarship fund originating from all the tournament winnings in the 1960s and 1970s, but it is awarded to the top geography students.
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