John J. “Jack” Nearing said he couldn’t believe it back in 1997 when he heard St. Albert’s Catholic school board was naming a new school after him. The next year, he was at the new J.J. Nearing Elementary along with some 300 students to celebrate its opening.
“I remember planting a tree in front of the school and hoping I’d live long enough to see that tree grow up,” Nearing said.
He has, and this Friday he’ll be back at the school that bears his name to pay it – and that tree – a visit.
Staff, students, alumni and Nearing will be at J.J. Nearing Friday for the school’s 20th anniversary celebration. Nearing is one of the only two people alive today who have a St. Albert school named after them (the other is Joseph Demko).
J.J. Nearing officially opened its doors on Oct. 8, 1998, but the school delayed its 20th anniversary until this week to accommodate Nearing’s schedule and coincide with Education Week, said vice-principal Helen Jackson. Staff and students were excited, as it was Nearing’s first formal visit to the school since its 10th anniversary.
Students will get to see pictures from the school’s early days and meet alumni such as Nearing and Donna Fedoration, the school’s first principal. School alumni and dancer Joshua Beauchamp will put on a performance. There will also be cake.
Nearing, 87, said he was greatly honoured to be invited back to the school, and hoped to touch base with old friends and to see how the school had changed.
“I can’t believe that 20 years have passed,” he said.
Roots of history
Fedoration, who still lives in St. Albert, said J.J. Nearing came about as a way to resolve a space crunch on the north side of town.
“At the time, the only Catholic (elementary) school north of the river was Bertha Kennedy,” she said, and neighbourhoods like Deer Ridge and North Ridge were growing fast.
The $3.2-million school was slated to open in September 1998 in a field near Deer Ridge Drive and Hogan Road. Nearing was picked as the school’s namesake out of a pool of 50 candidates, the Gazette reported in 1997. He was the last superintendent of St. Albert Catholic District 3 and oversaw its amalgamation with the Morinville and Legal districts in 1994 to create Greater St. Albert Catholic.
J.J. Nearing had several innovative features when it opened, such as whiteboards and a snazzy new computer lab full of those gumdrop-shaped iMacs, Fedoration said. It also had “breakout” rooms that linked classrooms so different classes could work together. The school’s sod and playground were installed by parent volunteers.
Fedoration recalled that a bagpiper from the RCMP led students from room to room as part of an opening day parade on Oct. 8. Nearing and students planted a coniferous tree by the front entrance. It was about five feet tall at the time – now, it’s about twice the height of the school.
The school’s theme was “growing a new family tree,” and saw older and younger kids paired as “big buds” and “little buds,” Jackson said. The school still runs this partnership program today.
J.J. Nearing had some portables added to it soon after it opened, and this year converted its computer lab into a fitness room, Jackson said. The school probably won’t expand any more, but will get a renovated gym with a bouldering wall this summer.
Nearing, who now lives in Calgary, said he plans to tell students Friday about the importance of education.
“Practically everything in their life will depend on it.”
Call the school at 780-418-6330 for details on Friday’s celebrations.
