Students from Laurentide and Morison schools in the late 1950s were among students attending MCHS in the early 1960s

A previous post is entitled:

Adding to our stories about Cartierville School: we have an Honour Card from 1924

I am reminded as well of other schools from those years:

Tim Hewlings has shared photos of our grade 6 class from Laurentide School and our grade 7 class from Morison

I’m really pleased these photos are available. I was 12 years old then. A teacher at Laurentide School – Ms. Branchflower; I don’t know what her subsequent married name was – asked me a question one day that stayed with me. Our conversation (I am paraphrasing) went as follows.

She asked me how long I had been in Canada. I said, “Seven years.” She said, “It is said that it takes seven years for a child to get a really firm grasp of English as a second language. It’s now very clear to me, when I read your writing, that you have learned the English language really well.”

It had never occurred to me, until she made that observation, that I was proficient at such a task. I’m really pleased she took the time to speak with me, at a quiet moment when there was time to speak with one of her students. The conversation has stayed with me. Other teachers in years that followed said the same thing. Such feedback matters for a child.

I’m certain other people have memories from those years. It would be of interest to know of them. As well, if anyone can help with identifying students in these photos, please contact me at jpill@preservedstories.com or you can contact me through this website. I remember some of the names but not all of them.

June 1958, Laurentide School, Grade 6. Photo source: Allen Jones

June 1959, Morison School, Grade 7. With regard to the photo, Janet Barnes has commented on Facebook: “I was 4  years old.” Photo source: Allen Jones