'Like losing a friend': Former students and staff say goodbye to beloved Almaguin Highlands Secondary

There were mixed emotions for former students and teachers who met outside the former Almaguin Highlands Secondary School in Strong Township.

Twenty-seven former staff and the students they taught gathered Dec. 1 at the abandoned school to say a final goodbye before the building was demolished.

See: Another brick from the wall: Retired teacher collects bricks from abandoned Almaguin High School

And: Demolition permit issued for former Almaguin Highlands Secondary School

Built in the late 1950s the school first served students of South River and Sundridge. However, it quickly expanded as other high schools in the Almaguin Highlands like Burk’s Falls and Powassan were closed. Those students were bussed to the Strong site.

In 2011 the school was shut down and replaced by a modern building.

Since then, it’s been sold a couple of times and, after years of sitting empty and broken into, the present owner is having the dilapidated building razed.

When she heard the old building was coming down, Margaret McDonald began to organize the informal event.

It started with the student alumni site where former students began talking about doing something to commemorate the former school.

Fortunately, many retired teachers have remained in the area and some of them also helped to organize the get-together.

“We called a few people, the idea developed quickly and it snowballed into what you see here today,” McDonald said.

McDonald, who was known as Margaret Moore when she was a student at the school, graduated in 1988.

As a student, she had designed the sweaters the school basketball team wore and the logo for the hockey team and cheerleaders.

After years of being away, she returned to the area three years ago and opened a clothing store in Sundridge called 89 Main.

Using her clothing store, she created several logos and phrases for T-shirts, crewnecks, and sweaters she loaned to the people who showed up at the school for the event.

Some of the apparel included the phrase “I’m an Original,” a reference to the many students and teachers who were part of the former high school.

That apparel is now available at 89 Main.

Even though more than 30 years have passed since McDonald graduated she noticed that nearly everyone at the event recognized each other.

“It was exciting and I must have hugged everyone who was here,” she said, adding she got permission from the wrecking crew to enter the property when no demolition was taking place.

One of the former teachers who made it to the event was Al Bottomley, who was also a Near North District School Board trustee from 2000 through 2022.

Bottomley grew up in the Toronto-Oshawa area and moved to the Highlands in 1969 to begin his teaching career at AHSS.

His entire 31-year career was spent at the old high school.

“This was a very diverse school,” recalled Bottomley.

Bottomley says during the early years the atmosphere at the school was “tribal” because young people from across the Highlands who didn’t know one another converged on one site.

“The Powassan kids wouldn’t hang out with the Sundridge kids and vice versa,” recalled Bottomley. “But over time the school changed them and they became Almaguin people. They went from a kind of hostility to sort of becoming a group. That was kind of neat to watch."

He said when the decision was made to turn off the heat, that’s when the school began to fall apart.

“It broke my heart,” he said.

“At that point, I buried it in my mind and lost the connection."

Bottomley says he doesn’t know if he’ll miss the abandoned school on Highway 124 when it’s demolished.

“I rarely look at it when I go by,” he said. “It’s an empty shell. The memories are in my head and I have thousands of them."

Stephen Todoroff taught at both schools.

He began teaching at the old school in 1988 until 2011 when he transferred to the new school and remained there until his retirement in 2017.

“I have lots of good memories at the building,” he said. "It’s kind of a sad day to see the building demolished. But there’s a renewal here today too because I’m seeing former colleagues."

Todoroff said the students who attended the former high school brought “a lot of energy to it every day."

Todoroff mostly taught math but he also coached soccer and basketball for many years.

What he noticed as a coach was that despite the many communities the students came from, they were eager to integrate “and become part of a unified unit."

“They became part of that Almaguin team and once the kids banded it was Almaguin Highlands against the world."

Todoroff never taught under him, but he’s heard numerous stories of how as principal of the school, the late John McDermott was instrumental in breaking down community barriers during AHSS’ early years.

“He made it a regional school and created opportunities for the kids to do things they otherwise might not be able to do,” Todoroff said.

Even though the building is now coming down, Todoroff says “The main thing is the spirit of the school lives on."

Davey Meloy graduated high school in 1987 with his Grade 12, went to college for a couple of years then returned to the high school as a 19-year-old to pick up his OAC.

“I was a 19-year-old with a car and job and I was almost like a staff member because I was an adult,” Meloy said.

Meloy was the student council president while in Grade 12 and said he was already popular among his fellow students. “But when you come back with a car, job and money you become even more popular,” he said.

“It was pretty cool and an interesting high school journey."

Now a resident of Powassan, Meloy lived in South River while in high school.

He’s worked with Almaguin Highlands Community Living for more than 30 years and performs with his guitar at various venues across the Highlands.

His music teacher Ralph Moxley was at the informal reunion and Meloy says he got to reminiscence.

“He had a pretty big impact on my life,” Meloy said.

“Mr. Moxley more than inspired me. He challenged me to be better and take music more seriously than I was. He saw a talent and spark in me. I wanted to do it for the girls and to be cool. That definitely helped me because here I am more than 40 years later and still playing music."

When Meloy heard about the quasi-reunion at the old school, he went hunting for his Highlanders school jacket.

He found it, it still fit and he wore it to the gathering.

Meloy says for him AHSS was an amazing school.

He says because of its regional nature, AHSS created an opportunity for students from one part of the Highlands to meet others from elsewhere in Almaguin.

To this day Meloy said he has long-standing friendships with people in Port Loring, Burk’s Falls, and Powassan who attended the old high school. Asked if he’ll miss the building, Meloy got a little philosophical. “The nice thing about life is the memories,” he said.

“But it’s time for the building. Watching it decay over time, falling into disrepair and abandonment is more painful than watching an empty spot."

Meloy adds once the building is gone, something else may rise from it that benefits the area. “That would numb the sting of seeing an old friend die slowly,” he said.

With that thought in mind, Meloy has been toying with the idea of writing a song about AHSS.

“It will be like losing a friend, someone who was a valued part of your life,” he said. “That will be the vibe but with the hope that another day will dawn."

Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Almaguin News. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.