Part 3 in a series introduced here.
→The school recognized the centennial in a variety of ways. This included inviting an alumnus to visit various classrooms and share stories about his days at the school, and in the local area. Bill Lewis is his name, and his participation in the centennial enriched everyone’s experience. Bill attended William Burgess from 1933 until 1941, when he enrolled in East York Collegiate High School. He participated in the 1994 anniversary event and played a prominent role in the centennial celebration on May 3rd.
Bill’s remarkable energy and engaging personality was perfectly suited to meeting classes, and at the end of the school-year students often cited his classroom visits as among their highlights of the year. Many of his recollections demonstrated major changes in school life and in the district. The degree of separation of boys from girls in Bill’s day usually surprised students, and they were often surprised by milk deliveries, the ice wagon, and the oak grove that used to be next to the school. But there was continuity with the past to note as well: the joy of play, the challenge of school-work, the importance of friendships and family, the powerful influence of good teachers.
The arts were centrally important to students’ experience of the centennial. Many classes chose to do paintings inspired by the centennial, or other forms of art.
The school’s music teacher led efforts to write a centennial song, which students practiced in anticipation of the celebratory open house on May 3rd.
The chief initiative the school took to recognize the centennial was the production of the centennial birds, which were mounted on the Torrens Ave exterior wall of the school. These painted wood cut-outs of dozens of different varieties of birds now “fly” above the school name, and across the front of the school for all to see.
They make a lovely addition to the school building, but their real charm is that William Burgess students largely created them. Students, usually in groups of three, chose their birds, and made a series of designs. These were adapted into wooden cutouts marked with a basic design that students painted, then finished and mounted outside in time for the centennial.
