CBC Documentaries

The Lens - School of Secrets (2007x2)

Air date: Oct 30, 2007

During the 1970's, a prominent Vancouver high school initiated Quest, a one semester outdoor education program. But for teacher Tom Ellison, Quest was more than just an outdoor program. It was an opportunity to conduct his own private brand of sex education with a continuing supply of female students. For many Quest students, massages, skinny-dipping, and sexually charged comments from teachers were simply the expected. Many students were ferociously devoted to the charismatic teacher, so Tom had his pick of girls to experience their first "love" with him. For other teachers in the school and for parents, the rumours about Quest and its three male leaders were better left alone. School of Secrets is a story of self-redemption for those women, who after years of tormented silence, decided to come forward. This riveting documentary traces the outcome of the complaints filed to the Vancouver Sex Crimes Unit and the investigation that brought Ellison to trial in the fall of 2006. It also delves into the cautionary implications for the parents, the school and the community that turned a deaf ear to the rumours.