Port Perry High School

Port Perry High School
Address
Box 870, 160 Rosa Street
Port Perry, Ontario, L9L 1L7
Canada
Coordinates 44°06′10″N 78°57′08″W / 44.10286°N 78.95211°W / 44.10286; -78.95211Coordinates: 44°06′10″N 78°57′08″W / 44.10286°N 78.95211°W / 44.10286; -78.95211
Information
School type Public
Motto "Ex Obscuritate Ad Lucem" trans. "Out of Darkness toward the Light"
Founded Grammar School, 1868; High School, 1871
School board Durham District School Board
Superintendent Ann-Marie Laginski
Principal Kandis Thompson
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1231 (2011)
Language English
Colour(s) Red, Silver and Black
            
Team name Port Perry Rebels
Website www.ddsb.ca/school/portperryhs/Pages/default.aspx

Port Perry High School is located in Port Perry, Ontario within the administrative responsibilities of the Durham District School Board. Port Perry High School is the oldest High School in Durham Region being first established in 1871. The school has a population of roughly 1250 students coming from many of the surrounding areas. The school is located on Rosa Street just up the road from historic downtown Port Perry. PPHS is home to the Port Perry Rebels their very successful athletic teams.

History

Some accounts suggest the intent to establish a high school in Port Perry dates to January, 1868, when James R. Youmans corresponded with the Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, Edgerton Ryerson, regarding the appropriate textbooks required to conduct instruction of grammar school students. In September, 1868, Port Perry Grammar School opened in the second-floor room of the Common School located on Ottawa Street in Port Perry, with an enrollment of 24 boys and 2 girls. Between 1868 and 1873, enrollment fluctuated between 23 and 64 students, with a maximum of 6 girls during that period.[1]

In 1871, as a result of "An Act to Improve the Common and Grammar Schools of Ontario", the name of the Grammar School was changed to Port Perry High School. In 1873, construction began on the Port Perry Union School, a facility that would house the Public and the High School in a single location. When the new building opened at the corner of Queen and Rosa Streets, 64 students were enrolled in the Classical and the English programs offered at the High School.[2]

From 1874 to 1926, the population of the High School varied substantially, with a high of 127 students in 1880. Several Port Perry High School students fought in the Great War of 1914-18; ten students died in action during the war. A plaque was erected to honour them by the staff and students of PPHS in June, 1919. It was recently restored and is located at the south parking lot entrance of the school, outside the Library-Resource Centre.[3] In April, 1926, a massive fired destroyed the 50-year-old structure. Lost in the flames were the entire archives of school records dating to the opening of the Grammar School in 1868 and the Common School of 1858. As well, generations of school photographs were not only lost, but probably stoked the fire that completely engulfed the school. The site of the building is commemorated by a plaque located on High School Hill, the park located at the corner of Queen and Rosa streets in Port Perry.

In May, 1927, a new facility for Port Perry Public and High School opened on Rosa Street, a few steps north of the Union School site. The new school featured 11 classrooms, six for the High School and five for the Public School. The building also featured a gymnasium (the Senior Developmental classroom is now located in this space), and an assembly hall (the Drama Room currently occupies this space). The cost of construction for the "New School" was $100,000.[4]

Eight Port Perry High School students sacrificed their lives during the Second World War. A commemorative plaque in recognition of their valiant efforts also sits outside the school's Library-Resource Centre. Many of the High School's students contributed at home as well, working tirelessly on farms across Scugog and Reach Townships to contribute to the war effort.

By 1952, the cornerstone to a new Public School in Port Perry was laid on Queen Street, just west of Ottawa Street. The movement of public school students to what is now R.H. Cornish Public School opened several classrooms to students enrolled in the High School's programs. However, the existing school facility did not meet the needs of the community or of the growing enrollment Port Perry High School was experiencing. Under Principal Grant MacDonald's leadership, an aggressive expansion program brought a new wing north of the existing building (with a combined gymnasium/auditorium) in 1961 and a second addition which included a second smaller gymnasium, central offices, a cafeteria, classrooms and a full technical facility in 1967.[5]

In 1998, a third phase of expansion brought a modern music education facility to PPHS (located in the old 1967 Library), and a brand new Library/Resource Centre was erected south of the 1927 building. Beginning in 2012, a fourth phase of expansion will bring a new Science wing south of the Library/Resource Centre. Port Perry High School will also receive new Outdoor Education, Cosmetology and Culinary facilities.

Rebels Athletics

The Port Perry Rebels for many years have been an athletic power in Durham Region. PPHS is regarded as having some of the most talented coaches and athletes in a wide variety of sports. PPHS offers Basketball, Badminton, Football, Hockey, Rugby, Wrestling, Volleyball, Golf, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, Track and Field and Cross Country. The Rebels compete in LOSSA (Lake Ontario Secondary School Athletics) and contend for championships on a yearly basis. The Rebels main rivals are the Uxbridge Secondary School Tigers and the O'Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute Redhawks.

The Rebels Boys' and Girls' rugby teams are often contenders at the provincial level. The Senior Boys' team won an OFSAA Championship in 1999 and an OFSAA Bronze Medal in 2006.[6] The Junior Boys' team earned a Barbarian Cup Silver Medal in 1996 and 1997.[7] The Junior Girls' rugby team won a LOSSA Gold Medal in both 2009 and 2010. The Senior Girls' team was an OFSAA participant in 2005.

The Rebels Senior Football team has also had great success. The Rebels won LOSSA in 2005 after bringing their team back following a lengthy absence. The team posted a 9-0 perfect season in 2010 while on their way to their second LOSSA Tier 2 Championship in 5 years.

The Boys' and Girls' wrestling teams have also won several individual OFSAA medals in the past decade with many wrestlers moving on to compete in university and on the world stage. Recently, the school's track team has also received special attention - particularly its middle distance and cross-country runners, and its field event participants. Several have been OFSAA Track and Field finalists over the past decade.

The Girls' and Boys' Volleyball teams have also enjoyed significant success in the past 2 years. The Senior Boys were LOSSA Champions in 2009 and LOSSA Finalists in 2010 and 2011 while the Junior Boys have been crowned LOSSA Champs back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. The Junior Girls merited a LOSSA Championship in 2011 as well.

In 2012, the Ultimate Frisbee team was founded. Based on a team vote, the team name became "The Disc Jockies". The team competed in the Reach the Beach Ultimate tournament on Cobourg Beach. The team, although having mixed results on the field, were crowned The Spirit Champions of the tournament. Members of the Disc Jockies have been known to post popular Frisbee trick shot videos on YouTube.

The Rebels Senior and Junior Girls Basketball teams have recently captured LOSSA Silver Medals: the Senior Girls in 2010 and the Junior Girls in 2011, on both occasions falling just short in the LOSSA Championship game.

Academics and Extra-Curricular Programs

Port Perry High School has provided strong and diverse academic and extra-curricular programs for much of its existence as a secondary school. Nearly 75% of Port Perry High School's students come from small hamlets and communities in the Township of Scugog that surround Port Perry, including Greenbank, Seagrave, Blackstock, Epsom, Nestleton, Utica and Raglan. The school is a hub for French Immersion students from Scugog and Brock Townships, and provides a Gifted Program for students from all three North Durham townships. Port Perry High School also provides a variety of Special Education programs, including Modified, Multiple Exceptionalities, Practical Learning Program, Senior Associated and Senior Developmental classes.

The Scugog community has recognized some outstanding academic and co-curricular programs offered at the High School. These include programming in Mathematics, Science and Technology, Canadian and World Studies, Co-operative Education and the Fine Arts. Mathematics students have fared well in the Pascal, Cayley and Fermat contests sponsored by the University of Waterloo's "Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing".[8] Since the mid-1960s, PPHS has offered a wide variety of Technology programs, including Communications Technology, Horticulture, Automotive, Manufacturing, Hospitality and Cosmetology, Health Care, and Carpentry. Science and Technology students have, along with main corporate sponsor General Motors Canada Engineering sponsored the FIRST Robotics team known as Fast Eddie Robotics, or Team 1006. Fast Eddie won the 2004 Greater Toronto Regional Chairman's Award, and the 2005 Waterloo Regional Chairman's Award. Fast Eddie Robotics has participated in Regional tournaments across the United States and Canada, and won the 2006 Arizona Regional. In 2011, Fast Eddie Robotics competed in the Championship Match at the Greater Toronto Regional event, meriting a Silver Medal. Team 1006 has been invited on four occasions to travel to the FIRST World Championships, participating on three occasions in these competitions at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.[9] Specialist High-Skills Major programs in Automotive Tech, Hospitality and Tourism, Culture and the Arts and Environmental Studies have been a recent addition to these diverse offerings. The Canadian and World Studies program offers an innovative, double-credit Outdoor Education program that combines in-class certification and training in canoe/kayak, cycling and first aid with practical experiences in the field completing wilderness hiking, winter camping and canoe trips. The Co-operative Education program offers innovative placements in such popular workplaces as home building sites in Brooklin, Ontario, the Canadian Armed Forces Militia in Oshawa, Ontario, TVOntario and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario.

The school has been internationally recognized for a strong Music program.[10] Many of the school's ensembles have achieved Gold Medal standards at music festivals across Canada. Performance ensembles include a range of guitar, vocal and instrumental groups. Port Perry High School's Music Program has traveled extensively over the past three decades, including tours to Austria/Hungary and Germany, Chicago, Washington, Cleveland, Banff, Vancouver/Victoria, Ottawa/Kingston, Boston, and Montreal. The Visual Arts Program offers studies in studio art and photography, and shows student artworks at several community events, including an annual exhibit of student works at the Kent Farndale Gallery at Scugog Memorial Library in Port Perry.[11] Over the past decade, students in the Visual Arts program have travelled annually to New York City to visit the city's major museums and galleries. The Port Perry High School Drama program has fielded several successful Improv teams over the past decade, and sponsors an annual Drama production in the Spring each year.

Port Perry High School has a long record of student leadership. The school's Student Council is active with annual fund-raising activities benefiting children and youth in Canada and around the World. The school's Athletic Council provides an intramural sports program for students. The school also has a Gay-Straight Alliance, an Ambassadors Program, a MADD Chapter, an Environmental Club, a Christian Youth group, a Gaming Club, and a Reach for the Top Team. Students who are active with these groups are encouraged to attend PPHS's annual Leadership Camp, which takes place in May each year.

Notable graduates

Several distinguished individuals have graduated from Port Perry High School since its inception in 1868. Herbert Alexander Bruce, who graduated in 1885, was a World War I surgeon to the British Armies in France, a founder of Wellesley Hospital in Toronto, the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1932 to 1937, and the M.P for the riding of Toronto-Parkdale from 1940 to 1946.[12] John Ross Roach, who attended the High School during World War I, was an NHL goaltender with the Toronto St. Pats (Maple Leafs), the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers from 1921 to 1934. The "Port Perry Cucumber" led the St. Pats to the Stanley Cup in 1922.

Several Port Perry High School Graduates are leaders in Canadian business and industry. These include George Cope, 1981 (President and CEO, Bell Canada Entreprises); Wade Oostermann, 1981 (President, Bell Mobility and Residential); Tye Burt, 1975 (President and CEO, Kinross Gold); and Keith Calder, 1981 (President and CEO, Walter Energy).[13]

Some former students have distinguished themselves in the world of athletics. Jim Zoet, 1973, played NCAA basketball at Kent State University and in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons. Jim played with the Canadian National team as well as professionally in Europe and South America. George Burnett has had a notable coaching career in the AHL (Binghampton; Cape Breton, Calder Cup Champions- 1993), the NHL (Edmonton Oilers; Anaheim Ducks) and the OHL (Niagara Falls, Oshawa, Guelph, Belleville).

In the world of science, the neurologist Vladimir Hachinski, 1968, is an international authority on stroke prevention. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2008 "for his contributions to the field of neurology, notably as a clinician and researcher in the field of stroke and dementia."[14]

In the world of entertainment, several PPHS Graduates have made a mark. Musicians such as Pete Smith, 1985 (Jazz saxophonist), Leslie Ann Bradley, 1996 (Opera), and Melinda Delorme, 1998 (Opera) are graduates of Port Perry High School's Music Program. In fashion design, Tracy Doyle, 1996, is a leading fashion photographer and marketing executive, while Brad Goreski, 1995 is one of Hollywood's leading fashion stylists and will host his own reality television program "It's a Brad, Brad World" on Bravo during the 2011-2012 season.[15] In broadcasting, Kate Beirness, 2003 is an anchor with TSN, one of Canada's top television sports broadcasters.

Finally, Kent (Gerrow) Farndale, graduated from Port Perry High School in 1951. Mrs. Farndale is well known for her fundraising efforts for Lakeridge Health Corporation-Port Perry (the local hospital) and the gallery that bears her name at the Scugog Memorial Public Library. But those are two of the many instances of community volunteerism that Mrs. Farndale has engaged in locally. She has been chair of the official board of the Port Perry United Church, past president of the Community Memorial Hospital Foundation, past chair of the hospital board, on the fund-raising committee for Town Hall 1873 (a community performing arts centre in Port Perry), and a founding member of the Scugog Choral Society and the Scugog Council for the Arts. She was the founder, Director and Curator of the Kent Farndale Gallery, 1982-1992. At the regional and provincial level, Mrs. Farndale was heavily involved with the building of the Durham Regional Cancer Centre at the Lakeridge Health Corporation-Oshawa Hospital site, and has had a long involvement with the Ontario Crafts Council as a member of the Board of Directors, chair of the Patrons' Dinner, and member of the fund-raising and regional regeneration committees. She is the co-author of "Stitches in Time", a book about the history of Port Perry's Community Memorial Hospital. Mrs. Farndale has been the recipient of many awards: the Ontario Crafts Council John Mather award for Lifetime Achievement; a 10-year volunteer service award winner from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Communications; the Paul Harris Fellow Award winner from the Rotary International Club of Port Perry; a 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal and an International Year of the Volunteer Certificate of Honour recipient from Lakeridge Health Corporation. The Kent Farndale Bursary for the Arts, an annual award for emerging artists and performers in the Scugog community, was named in her honour in 1992. Over the past four decades, Mrs. Farndale has continued her association with PPHS as a patron of the Arts at the High School.[16]

See also

References

Out of Darkness into Light - A History of Port Perry High School by Paul Arculus (1987)

  1. ↑ Arculus, Paul (1987). Out of Darkness Into Light. Port Perry, ON: Paul Arculus. pp. 5–13.
  2. ↑ Arculus, Paul (1987). Out of Darkness Into Light. Port Perry, ON: Paul Arculus. pp. 19–23.
  3. ↑ Arculus, Paul (1987). Out of Darkness Into Light. Port Perry, ON: Paul Arculus. pp. 41–42.
  4. ↑ "Port Perry's New School". The Port Perry Star. May 25, 1927.
  5. ↑ Arculus, Paul (1987). Out of Darkness Into Light. Port Perry, ON: Paul Arculus. pp. 74–75.
  6. ↑ "OFSAA - Past Champions".
  7. ↑ "Past Champions". Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  8. ↑ "Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing". Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "Team1006". Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  10. ↑ "Music Department". Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  11. ↑ "Students Show their Stuff". Metroland Newspapers. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  12. ↑ Arculus, Paul (1987). Out of Darkness Into Light. Port Perry, ON: Paul Arculus. pp. 24–25.
  13. ↑ Arculus, Paul (February 2011). "Tops in Their Class". Focus on Scugog.
  14. ↑ "UWO Prof gets Order of Canada". London Free Press. 2 July 2008.
  15. ↑ "Brad Goreski". Huffington Post.
  16. ↑ Bartlett, Deb (July 12, 2002). "It's better to give than receive". Port Perry Star.
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