The sound of laughter and shared memories echoed throughout the halls of North Bay’s Ecole secondaire catholique Algonquin over the weekend.
Approximately 500 people, from across Canada and parts of the United States gathered to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary.
In 1968 Rheal Perron was hired as the high school’s first principal.
“It was difficult because we were the first French language school technically in Ontario, public French school. It was approved in March, but basically, we had no building,” recalls Perron.
“Finally, we opened in Widdifield on an afternoon shift 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and this went on for two and a half years because at that time, they were building West Ferris high school."
Perron says it did not take long for the student population to grow.
“There was no public francophone school before then, just a small private school called L’Academie Notre Dame in front of St. Vincent church. The first year we had over 525 kids, the second year 700 plus and when we actually moved here, there were 900 kids. The school quickly grew to 12-hundred kids,” said Perron.
“This is when the activities were seen, and it became very clear that we could contribute something to our society. It is important to realize that the school is not a building. A school is people. The purpose of this school is to provide bilingual graduation, people who can speak in both official languages."
Carole Laperriere, formerly Martineau when she was a student, attending the first grade 9 class.
Her three sisters also attended Algonquin, and eventually all of their children.
She was part of the organizing committees for the school’s 20th, 30th, and 50th anniversaries.
“It is in our blood. It is who we are. We participated in multiple activities. We live our culture every day at Algonquin. Algonquin is really important to all of us in North Bay, because our parents, way back when, fought very, very hard to get this school. French students had to pay to go to private school to get a French education,” said Laperrierre.
“When it opened, teachers were teaching in the afternoon and the evening, because we shared Widdifield Secondary, and we were oblivious. We were teenagers. We just thought we got to go to school until late at night and sleep in in the morning. How cools is that,” grinned Laperriere.
“But behind the scenes was a whole network of people working hard so we could get an education. Our school was a family unit. We were such a small group that everyone felt like we belonged. The family feeling that we had here was absolutely incredible.”
Lucien Chaput is currently the principal for grades 9 through 12.
“This is really a milestone in the school’s history. We’re celebrating 50 years of French education in the North Bay community. We were the first French public high school that was established here in North Bay,” said Chaput.
In recent years, the school added grades 7 and 8.
Michel Page is their principal.
“It is huge to be here 50 years later. I don’t think they imagined how much the school would grow and thrive in those 50 years.”
Rene Champagne who now lives in eastern Ontario made the trip home for his first reunion since graduating.
“It was excellent because we still had the OAC’s, so spending five years in the school was absolutely amazing. The atmosphere was excellent. The teachers were fantastic. They were always there to support you. It was nice to be part of the school family,” remarked Champagne who was flooded with memories when he walked through the doors.
“It was interesting to see my picture on the wall in the Sports Hall of Fame. It was very nostalgic. It has changed a lot though. It is a lot more modern than back in the ’90s. I just wanted to show my kids where I grew up and went to school and see my old friends again. It has been excellent. The alumni did an excellent job hosting everybody. It was a lot of fun.”
With the 50th anniversary now in the books, people are questioning if there is a future for school reunions when this current generation stays connected through social media.
“I think, for the most part, this reunion was from about 1968 to about 1995. Those after are not attending,” said Carole Laperriere.
“One of our committee members said that this era grew up with social media, so they see each other all the time on Facebook. With us, we just started seeing each other once Facebook took over our lives. So, the older generation is still here, the younger ones not so much. If they celebrate the 75th, I will be 89 years old and I don’t think I’ll be on the social committee,” she laughed.
“But I’m thinking with all the technology it may even be virtual by then. I think the era of reunions may not be as popular as it was in our day because kids are connected through social media.”
While Rene Champagne agrees social media is the popular form of communication, he maintains nothing beats face to face interaction.
“We had a bond. Our time was spent with each other. With social media now it is different, and you get to follow everybody now. So, it kind of takes away that surprise of what have you been doing for the past 10 or 15 years. I’m not a big Facebook user, so it is nice to catch up with my friends and other people who aren’t necessarily your Facebook friends or your social media friends,” said Champagne.
“You can put pictures on there, but it is talking about the memories that really stand out.”
