NWSS FAREWELL
Having graduated from Lester Pearson Senior High in 1961, after Vincent Massey Junior High, it is both sad and exciting to see a new school being built for our New Westminster Secondary students. Simple days of mostly unquestioned routines and schedules are now replaced by more freedom and choice to help students learn to be responsible citizens over their not so simple transitional years.
I am grateful to have had many memorable teachers of whom I often think, and realize they taught more than just “subjects”. They taught about “life” through Literature, the importance of doing work well, through the Sciences, and much more. I now thank my counsellor, who told me to not bother with choosing a writing or journalist career, as it didn’t pay enough, the statement made me wonder, and it helped me to choose that calling to some extent, as I kept questioning.
I also thank the teachers who insisted some of us take “typing” when we had absolutely no desire to be secretaries, as we didn’t want to sit all day, etc. My wonderful friends and I did not like the emphasis on copying notes off boards, homework, constant quizzes, tests and final exams, and had little say about it all. We had few spares, study periods or choices, and little time to just browse in the new library that joined our two schools, So by the time we graduated, and took our first year of university in grade 13 in the senior high, some of us were not that keen on school anymore. Even so, many students did continue on to university, and some of us did so years later, seeing the value of extra learning in various ways.
Others worked, and some, in time, reared families, So over time I saw my children continue learning in new ways, at NWSS and later, also, some of my grandchildren. Over time, some of us also went to university and gathered some degrees to keep learning, and growing into more responsibilities and new life choices. Today I thank my teachers for the typing class, as it led right into word processing and computers, which led to career choices some of us never imagined. Long story short, I became a teacher assistant, and then a school teacher/librarian/counsellor. I am now working on a new career for more fun: writing; poetry included. Some challenges involved, but I learned patience from my teachers and many high school friends over the years. We still meet when we can, with stories and laughter. Life Long Learning is always with us, and so too, our many memories of our wondrous high school years.
It’s the people in schools ~ the teachers, parents and students, working together with encouragement, curiosity and care, that make a worthwhile education for all young people.
- Carla Evans, (known as Carla Savenye in high school)