hand and heart

The recent post office troubles have impacted our regular fundraising efforts. Please consider supporting the Register and Catholic journalism by using one of the methods below:

  • Donate online
  • Donate by e-transfer to accounting@catholicregister.org
  • Donate by telephone: 416-934-3410 ext. 406 or toll-free 1-855-441-4077 ext. 406

100 years of memories celebrated at Toronto's St. John's School

By 
  • May 4, 2010
Old St. John's schoolTORONTO - Aside from the annual Lenten Masses at St. John's School, alumni Angela Carroll remembers joining her Grade 4 classmates in the hallway as the school set up TVs in the hallway to watch Paul Henderson's 1972 history-making goal against the Soviet team.

Carroll is now a teacher at her old school on Kingston Road in Toronto's east end and will be joining alumni in celebrating St. John's centenary milestone May 8. Carroll says the event will be special, not only because she is an alumni, but her husband also attended the school, and their children are now students there.

On its 100th anniversary, the St. John's School community was to mark the occassion with a May 8 Mass at St. John's Church, followed by a school open house from 2:30-4:30 p.m. An evening reception was also to take place at the Balmy Beach Canoe Club.

Carroll, who's been teaching at the school for a decade, recalls the few seconds after Canada won the 1972 hockey series against the nation that would become its long-time rival.

“It was just mayhem. The entire school just roared as the entire country did,” she said.

St. John School was built in 1910, starting out with a small building in 1909. It began with 25 students, ballooned to 1,300 in the mid-1970s, then dropped to about 300 students. Currently, it has about 550 students.

Some notable events at the school included the filming of a TV special by singer Anne Murray at the school's gym in the late 1960s.

Among her many memories of the school, Carroll says she recalls the Notre Dame Sisters, whose convent is beside the school, teaching at St. John dressed in their full habit.

“I'm walking into these classrooms and remember that plaque or statue,” she said. “It's precious, I cherish it. It's part of who I am, having spent all my childhood years here and more than half of my teaching years.”
More in this category: « Catholic principals slam minister over Ontario budget call to freeze wages Halton board chair resigns »

Please support The Catholic Register

Unlike many media companies, The Catholic Register has never charged readers for access to the news and information on our website. We want to keep our award-winning journalism as widely available as possible. But we need your help.

For more than 125 years, The Register has been a trusted source of faith-based journalism. By making even a small donation you help ensure our future as an important voice in the Catholic Church. If you support the mission of Catholic journalism, please donate today. Thank you.

DONATE