HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-07-26, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012. PAGE 11.
Prior recounts school memories
The history of Brussels Public
School ended abruptly this year after
more than 130 years of educating
children.
The school, which can be traced
back to 1872 when it was on the
corner of Alexander and John
Streets, was expanded upon in 1877
and eventually replaced with another
building 1895. The school housed
students from the time they started
school to Grade 13 – until 1950
when the Wingham high school
catchment area was expanded to
cover parts of Morris Township and
Brussels.
From then on, students in Grades 9
or higher went to F.E. Madill
Secondary School.
When it was built in 1960 the
school started as approximately half
the size it is today and cost near
$140,000 to construct.
In 1966, a new gym and three
additional classrooms were built.
The bell and cornerstones from the
1895 school were used to create the
cairn that houses the existing
Brussels Public School sign in front
of the school.
The school remained that way for
33 years until 1989 when two
additional classrooms were built
onto the northwestern end of the
building making for a total of 10
classrooms, a library and the
gymnasium.
A massive reconstruction in 1992
and 1993 of the grounds around the
school, paid for by the Brussels
Optimists and Lions Clubs, created
the existing soccer and baseball
fields and a play area.
Some of the later renovations saw
library and computer upgrades and
the creation of the Junior
Kindergarten class during the middle
of the 1990s.
While the school has covered a lot
of history since 1872, some of the
more recent changes and accolades
have been remembered by Brussels
resident, former teacher and librarian
Jim Prior.
Prior was at the school for years
before retiring near Christmas in
1996 to pursue his current career in
information technology.
“I loved teaching there,” he said in
an interview with The Citizen.
“There were a lot of great memories
involved in being there.”
One of the biggest parts and
greatest memories that Prior had of
being a teacher was seeing his
students go on and become part of
the community he lives in.
“Three years ago we did a full
renovation of my house,” he said.
“One of the coolest things was to see
that about 90 per cent of the
construction crew were former
students. It’s just a cool thing to run
into.”
Aside from running into students,
Prior’s other memories of the school
aren’t really of the building or the
time there but of the specific
students who passed through his
classroom.
“In about the 1980s they renovated
the school,” he said. “I left the
classroom then and moved to the
library. The reasoning was that I was
well-suited for the position as they
were computerizing the library and
introducing computers to the
curriculum.
“Through being in the library I got
to meet a lot of the students and one
of the greatest things was seeing
them overcome their problems and
go on to greatness,” he said. “To
have a student not only succeed but
go further than anyone thought they
would is a really great feeling.”
Some of the memories that Prior
has of the school itself revolve
around some of the big and small
events throughout the history of the
school.
“I remember certain things, he
said. “I remember when Bob Stoner
would come around and visit [then
principal] Ken Scott. He would call
everyone down to the gym and we
would just sit and listen to them play.
“I guess that there isn’t that much
freedom now-a-days, but there were
things like that,” he said.
Another memory that he has was
that, and he believes this probably
wouldn’t happen these days, is one
that was important to experience.
“I remember when, during the ’72
[Summit] series, the goal was scored
against Russia to win the game,” he
said. “We were all huddled in the
gymnasium watching the game on
television. It was a less restrictive
time, but those kinds of events were
important to see.”
Students also learned more of
what the teachers believed to be
important and less of what was
learned in a curriculum, Prior said.
“I had my own sort of curriculum
and plans when I was a teacher,” he
said. “The curriculums then were
less exhaustive and teachers
were able to move a bit more
laterally.”
The school has also housed
learning for those outside of the
Kindergarten to Grade 8 (or Grade
13) audience, according to Prior,
who taught his own computer classes
for adults there at night during his
tenure.
Whether teaching children or
teaching adults, he said that his time
at Brussels was unique and always
entertaining.
“It was always fun, never boring
for me and I hope it was like that for
the students,” he said.
Some said they felt safe in his
classroom and that they had fun, and
he finds that most students really
remember that they were worse
behaved than they actually were.
“Children all have their strengths
and all loved to show them off and
none of them were as bad as they
thought they were when they look
back years later,” he said. “It was
always good to see them use those
strengths in their life and go on with
them.”
He said that he got along with
virtually all the staff at the school
and still gets together with some of
his former co-workers.
“It was a great staff to work with,”
he said. “We still meet with each
other once a year, to catch up and
have lunch.”
The future of the school building is
as good as it possibly could be under
the circumstances, according to
Prior, who wasn’t happy to see any
school close, especially not
Brussels’, but with the closure, he’s
glad the school will have a future as
a business incubator.
“I’m please to see the municipality
[of Huron East] purchased the
school and planned to make use of
it,” he said. “I think that Brussels
will survive this. A lot of what I’ve
read has said that communities that
have schools in them that close need
to focus on something else to keep
the community running and, with the
new library, the farmers’ market and
the downtown revitalization effort,
Brussels has that.”
Continued from page 1
family at the Brussels Ontario 140th
Homecoming celebration,”
Stephen’s letter to Richmond reads.
“I will happily participate as the
parade marshal. My wife, Judith,
and I will plan to arrive in Brussels
on Friday and join the opening
ceremonies at the Brussels ballpark.
We will stay for the weekend.”
Richmond says he’s pleased that
Ainlay will be coming to Brussels
for the ceremony.
“I think it will mean a lot for the
Brussels residents who grew up
knowing this was Ainleyville,”
Richmond said.
Stephen became the 18th
president of Union College in 2006.
He also serves as Chancellor of
Union University, whose member
institutions include the Albany
College of Law, Albany School of
Medicine, Albany College of
Pharmacy, Union Graduate College
and the Dudley Observatory. He is a
professor of Sociology at Union
College.
Ainlay to make trip to Brussels
Continued from page 1
somewhere and be served food by
someone, and in the evening that
person can be serving the other at a
community function. He says it’s an
interesting dynamic that isn’t found
in many large urban centres.
Jim and Lois will be honoured
with a plaque in a ceremony to be
held at a later date.
The annual Citizen of the Year
Awards for Brussels and area and
Blyth and area are sponsored by
The Citizen.
Lees to be honoured
with ‘Citizen’ plaque
A tree for John
Local firefighters and dignitaries joined Cathy Black, wife of former North Huron Fire Chief
John Black, who passed away this year due to complications with cancer, and the Black family
in dedicating a tree to his memory on Saturday at the Emergency Services Training Centre.
The tree was donated by the North Huron Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary in honour of the
work Black had done to guarantee the safety of North Huron firefighters. (Photo submitted)
Local council, fire group work to honour John BlackBoth the Fire Department of NorthHuron Ladies Auxiliary and NorthHuron Township were involved inefforts to remember the late firechief John Black.
The auxiliary raised money to
plant a tree for Black which was
originally intended to be planted
near Black’s cottage, but his wife
Cathy decided it would be better to
have it planted at the Emergency
Services Training Centre (ESTC) in
Blyth where Black worked
hard to turn the centre into what it is
today.While the tree couldn’timmediately be planted due to theextreme heat, a small ceremony washeld on Saturday, July 21 to
recognize Black’s efforts.
The tree will be planted in the fall
according to Acting Fire Chief Keith
Hodgkinson.
North Huron Township, through
two barbecues, also remembered the
former fire chief by raising $1,370 to
donate to the Relay for Life on
Black’s behalf.
Trying not to flinch
Braidon Abell-Rinn, left, tried his darndest to get Elianne
Kreuger to laugh, giggle or fall over during a game which
called for her to remain completely still at the Blyth
Christian Reformed Church Vacation Bible School held last
week. (Denny Scott photo)