I should think it would have to be about MCHS, and about the long process of growing up and older – Mr. Decarie

MCHS Student Council, 1962-63. That's Mr. Decarie on the far left of the photograph and Mr. Saul on the far right. Source: MCHS 1962-63 yearbook

I’ve had the good fortune to be in touch with Mr. Decarie, who taught at Malcolm Campbell High School until the end of the 1962-63 school year, after which – he made the decision on the first day of school in 1963-64 – he went back to school to get his MA and PhD.

Graeme Decarie – whose blog can be accessed here – has given permission to share his recent email messages at the Preserved Stories website, for which fact we owe many thanks.

Among the topics we have discussed concerns what he would share, if he were speaking to attendees at a reunion such as the MCHS 60s Reunion and Celebration of the 60s.

With regard to the latter reunion, taking place at Old Mill Toronto on Oct. 17, 2015, Graeme Decarie, who started teaching at Parkdale in 1957, comments:

“I’m not sure what one would say to an audience like that. I should think it would have to be about MCHS, and about the long process of growing up and older. It should be as personal to them as possible.”

The photo above shows Mr. Decarie along with other members of the 1962-63 MCHS Student Council. You can enlarge the image by clicking on it. Click again and you can enlarge it further.

Military history

I’ve shared with Mr. Decarie the fact I enjoy reading about military history, and that I have read with interest the work of Donald Savoie, with regard to governance issues in Canada. Graeme Decarie replied, with regard to these topics:

• I taught a course in military history at Concordia. As to Don Savoie, I am not one of his admirers. He always takes a position completely in agreement with Irving Oil. In universities in general, big business has largely taken over. It knows nothing about education – but it’s very interested in getting control over what is taught.

• For those who went to Parkdale School, it’s very multi-ethnic, now. It’s also showing its years.

• And I can at last tell a secret. I never finished high school. I failed grade ten, and was failing eleven when the school gestapo started checking my many notes for absence and raised awkward questions about the signatures. So the principal called me down.

• “Let’s face it, Decarie”, he said. “You have no brains at all. It’s time to go get a job.”

 [End of comment from Graeme Decarie]

High school credits

You can read more about Mr. Decarie’s back story at previous posts (see below). I will continue our discussion – including about how Mr. Decarie finally got his high school credits and his BA, before continuing on with graduate studies – in subsequent posts.

Graeme Decarie taught grades 7 to 11 for six years. Loved it. Then went back to school for an MA at Acadia & PhD (History) at Queen’s

Graeme Decarie mentions that Mr. Hanna was principal of a high school way up the Ottawa River

Graeme Decarie (teacher at Malcolm Campbell High School) recalls Raimbault Creek, the stream that ran through Cartierville in the 1960s