It’s important to remember where you came from, how far you’ve come and what events have shaped you.
And now Belmont secondary’s history is on display for all who enter the new school.
It was a project principal Ray Miller decided needed to be done roughly four years ago. On a tour of the old Glen Lake school building, roughly where the new Belmont is located, Miller noticed a number of artifacts that had been forgotten and gathering dust.
“I saw all these pictures on the walls, just left there,” he said. It was at that time he decided Belmont’s legacy would not be abandoned and was something that needed to be highlighted in the new building.
Now, proudly on display just inside the school’s front entrance is a timeline showcasing important events in the school’s history.
The 11-metre display case was filled by eight students, ranging from grades 10 to 12, led by instructor Cindy Cullen.
“She was hand-picked,” Miller said, joking he often refers to her as “the kid whisperer.”
Cullen was tasked with guiding a class – created for the purpose of this project - through an open-ended assignment that’s only goal was the creation of this display.
“It’s not the kind of class that most teachers envision … It was the essence of personalized learning,” Miller added.
The students that worked on the project unveiled it Tuesday afternoon for alumni, school trustees, district officials and other guests.
Many of those alumni in attendance were invited into the class to share some of their experiences at Belmont, and it was something Cullen said that really helped bring history to life.
“It was just amazing … It wouldn’t have happened without the alumni,” Cullen said. “It was a terrific experience.”
One of the students in Cullen’s class, Grade 12 Mattie Duddridge, noted it was a relief to have the project finished, especially since the class spent an entire semester working on it. “We’d put it together on poster boards but we hadn’t seen the finished version until now.”
The final version of the timeline was completed by Seriously Creative.
During the research process, one of Duddridge’s favourite discoveries was that the school once had its students divided into four houses that competed against each other for points. “It was kind of like Harry Potter,” she said with a laugh.
That was one of Judy Partridge’s – class of 1953 – favourite memories too. Points were awarded for participation and school spirit. A display tracked their results and students would check it every morning when they entered the building. “Everybody participated … We had really good team spirit, the whole school was involved,” Partridge said.
Another fond memory included what her Belmont looked like. “It was quite amazing how the school was built out of army huts,” she recalled.
In May 1948 Belmont was officially reopened in a new building, one fashioned out of nine sections of old huts that housed soldiers during the war. It was 110 by 180 feet and featured five classrooms, an auditorium, nurses’ room and washrooms. It was quite different than the new building.
“It’s just so much fun looking back and remembering. There’s so many good memories,” Partridge said while taking a closer look at the photos on display. Miller added, “it was really tough at the end, they had too many events.” Those that didn’t make it into the display will be featured in the three touch screens also located at the front entrance of the school. A hydro box near the Glen Lake Road entrance of the school will also be wrapped with images that were unearthed by this process.
And Miller has one more request for the community. “For a lack of a better name we’re calling it ‘Alumni Corner,’ (but) if anyone has a better suggestion, we’d love to hear it,” he said.
