It was 1975. I was teaching in the middle of London, in a very academic girls’ school, when I emigrated to Canada to take a job at Abbotsford Christian School. At that time, the grade 1-10 school was divided into elementary and junior high sections. I joined five other teachers in the junior high school, working with students in grades 8-10.

Dozing Off

Most students were from farming families and many of the boys would probably have preferred to be on the farm rather than in the classroom. Those students were already hard workers at home and took on extra jobs, such as chicken catching.

After a night of this work about half a dozen boys came to school in the morning and while sitting in the warm classroom listening to the grade 10 lesson, their heads went down on their desks, and they fell asleep. The bell rang for the end of class, but it failed to raise them from their slumbers, so the rest of their classmates quietly left the room.

The next class entered without disturbing them. The class got underway and eventually the students woke up.

The grade 8’s and I laughed hard when we saw the looks of absolute bewilderment on their faces. Once they realized they were in school, they couldn’t understand how they were back in grade 8.

They soon headed off to their grade 10 class where those students were also amused by them.

New, Bare, And…Dark

The following year the junior high moved up to the present location on Old Clayburn Road.  There was already a small school building with four classrooms for the primary grades, but these students moved to the Mission Highway location. The construction of the new part of the school was not completed when school started in September.

That year there were two classes of grade 8’s and 9’s and one of grade 10. Four classrooms and five classes. I was given a classroom in the corner of the gym (what is now the international student office). It had bare walls, bare concrete floor, no windows, and was part of the new construction.

This wasn’t a problem until it was necessary for the construction workers to turn the power off in their area. We were plunged into total darkness making it hard to evacuate the room. Usually, it only lasted a minute or two, so we stayed put. But I never knew what was happening with my students in the dark!

Chapel In the Hall

The only place where all the students could fit together for chapel was sitting on the floor in the hallway (outside the present mechanics shop and classrooms). The speaker stood at one end of the hall and kept the attention of the student way at the other end. Chapel has sure changed since then! This was certainly nothing like the chapels held these days in our new learning commons.

When we returned to school after Christmas, the construction was completed. We had four new classrooms, offices, a kitchen, and a gym. This provided us with room for the school population to grow.

People sometimes ask me how I could have stayed in the same school for so many years. It was a wonderful community with a great vision. Looking back, I don’t think I stayed in the same school. Sure, it had the same name, the same purpose, the same location, but it kept changing.  The school, like its students, has grown up and is still on an exciting journey.