Ever heard of Sir George Simpson Elementary School?
Probably not, unless you were a student there when it changed names to Robert Rundle almost 50 years ago.
That name change was one of the many surprising facts about Robert Rundle Elementary revealed last Thursday as part of a new exhibit on the school’s history at the St. Albert Public School Board’s head office.
The exhibit is part of a series of displays on local schools put on by the St. Albert District 6 Historical Foundation, said foundation chair Joan Trettler (who also chairs the school board). The group has previously profiled Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Sir George Simpson, Paul Kane and Leo Nickerson schools.
The exhibit consists of glass-topped tables stuffed with pictures and articles on Rundle’s past, as well as its namesake, Robert Terrill Rundle. “He was an early missionary,” Trettler said, and was arguably the first teacher in Alberta. He was also the first Protestant minister to travel west of the Red River.
The school that would be Rundle opened in 1965 with about 420 Grades 1 to 4 students, the exhibit reports. At the time, it was known as Sir George Simpson Elementary.
The school was the first in the district to have carpet, Trettler said – an experimental measure meant to reduce noise and increase comfort. Everyone loved the carpet, so soon every school in the district had it. “Then they found that carpet held germs and stuff,” she said, chuckling, “so now we’re going back to non-carpeted floors.”
The school’s name was the source of much confusion as Sir George Simpson Junior High School was right next to it. After a contest, the school decided to change its name to Robert Rundle on April 6, 1970.
Rundle was, and is, a leader in many ways in the district, said John Osgood, who has been its principal since 2001. “It was a leader in math and science. It was a leader in character education.” It also had the first special education and enrichment program classes (a forerunner to today’s academic challenge courses).
The exhibit will be open to the public for the rest of the school year. Next year, it will feature a profile on Lorne Akins.
Call 780-460-3712 for details.
A St. Albert Catholic High graduate has scored one of the U of A’s biggest scholarships.
St. Albert Catholic High School graduate Grace Bellerose received a BMO Financial Group Entrance Citation scholarship last month.
The scholarship, worth $20,000 over four years, is one of the biggest available to a new student at the University of Alberta. To qualify, applicants must get at least a 95 per cent overall average throughout high school, write a personal essay, provide an academic reference and be nominated by a senior school administrator.
Bellerose, 18, says she was shocked when she learned she’d received the award. “I knew that a lot of people would have applied,” she said, and she was surprised when she got the congratulatory email. “I couldn’t believe it was actually happening.”
Bellerose said she was one of the four vice-presidents of her school’s student union last year (the union has four vice-presidents instead of a president) and volunteered with the Rotary and yearbook clubs. “I tried to help out around school and be involved with more than academics because that can’t be your whole life.” Outside of school, Bellerose trains as an opera singer.
She was not, however, the valedictorian of her graduating class. That honour went to her identical twin sister, Jennaye, whose marks were just a smidge higher. “It was very close.”
Jill Stewart, who taught Bellerose English at St. Albert Catholic, said she was thrilled to hear of her win. “Grace was a delight to work with,” she said, and was consistently humble and generous in class. “A model student on every level.”
Bellerose now hopes to get into medicine or dentistry at the U of A.
