Corinna Kitchen

It is hard to believe that 30 years have gone by since we left high school and since I moved from West Van to Toronto. Moving here to the "concrete jungle" was an adjustment as I missed the outdoor things like the beach and skiing. I did nothing to endear myself to the locals when I looked at Blue Mountain, the best ski resort in Ontario, and said "that is not a mountain, that is a hill". Needless to say I dealt with that shock by giving up skiing and began taking holidays down south instead. I now love what Toronto has to offer- great restaurants, good theater, multiculturalism, lots of local festivals and events. There is always something to do.
I have worked for the past 20 years with the provincial government in the area of corrections. Right now I work at the corporate level designing, implementing and monitoring programs for youth and adults before the courts . When I started I worked for many years directly with clients, as a probation and parole officer and as a social worker in a youth detention centre. Working with youth in detention was probably the most difficult part of my career as dealing with kids who have killed or committed seriously violent offences was something I really had to get my head around. Their life stories are a far cry from the idealic, secure and protected environment we grew up in in West Vancouver. I then worked as a Deputy Superintendent in an adult correctional facility where I was in charge of all rehabilitative programming for inmates, for 5 half way houses and for approving all temporary absence passes for guys to go into the community or home for visits. After that I coordinated provincial domestic violence programming for individuals appearing before the domestic violence courts. I have been really lucky have been able to be involved in a number of really exciting and innovative initiatives. It is very meaningful work and something I really believe in. My son Julian will be 12 in November. He is a handful but in a positive way. He is extremely bright which makes parenting him a challenge but never dull. He likes soccer and basketball and plays piano and I seem to be always driving him to one thing or another. I decided a couple of years ago that I needed to do some things for myself so I take belly dancing classes and also go Salsa dancing. In Toronto there are many latin clubs as the music and dancing are extremly popular here. It is a lot of fun.
I am not going to be able to make it to the reunion unfortunately but have really enjoyed catching up on what all of you have been doing. I was at the 20th and had a great time so I am sure you will all enjoy yourselves. I will be thinking of you. You can drop me a line at Corinna.Kitchen@ontario.ca . I would love to hear from you.
Corinna