Class preserves Kitchener school’s past while preparing for its future
When the final bell of the school year rang out Thursday it also marked the end of a very special student project at Suddaby Public School in Kitchener.
For Lisa, a 9-year-old student, it’s a bittersweet moment.
“I’m excited but I’m still sad because it’s my favourite year,” she explained.
While Cole, 11, was looking forward to spending more time outdoors.
“I’m really excited because in the summer I’m going camping with my family,” he said.
Lisa and Cole, along with a group of their peers, spent the term creating a student documentary about the history of Suddaby Public School.
It was founded in 1857 and is one of the oldest educational institutions in the province.
Claire, 9, was one of the film’s directors.
“I think what surprised me the most was how interesting the history of the school could be [and] how interesting and fun it could be to explore that,” Claire explained.
Students at Suddaby Public School in Kitchener on June 27, 2024. From left to right in the front row: Claire, Lisa, Cole and Boi. (Ashley Bacon/CTV News)
“There was a lot of history, I was kind of surprised,” added Boi, the film’s 10-year-old editor. “You don’t expect there to be so much history in one building, do you?”
Gabriella Bensason, their French Immersion teacher, was inspired to start the project after learning her neighbour had ties to the school. She asked him to visit Suddaby so the kids could interview him, and that’s when they came up the idea for a documentary.
“We’re walking on the same floors of people who worked here 100 years ago,” said Bensason. “We’re looking out the same windows, the same trees are still in the front. Just having that appreciation, I think, is really important for the kids.”
Teacher Gabriella Bensason at Suddaby Public School in Kitchener on June 27, 2024. (Ashley Bacon/CTV News)
There’s also a portrait of founder Jerimiah Suddaby hanging in the school, which was painted by Group of Seven artist A.Y Jackson in 1912.
Victorian classroom closing
Suddaby Public School is also saying goodbye to a part of its past.
The Waterloo Region District School Board announced they’re closing the Victorian-era classroom museum and turning it into a modern learning space.
“The idea of the classroom was really to give students a perspective of what the classroom would have looked like, felt like, what types of things you learned, in that room,” Bensason explained.
One of the Victorian-era desks at Suddaby Public School in Kitchener on June 27, 2024. (Ashley Bacon/CTV News)
The hope is that the documentary helps preserve the school’s past for future generations.
“I’m excited to share this project with everyone because I think it was a great accomplishment,” Claire added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6946509.1719687583!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Who are the richest people in Canada? Here's how many billionaires there are
If you gathered all the wealth that billionaires currently have worldwide, you would have about US$14.2 trillion, according to Forbes Magazine. But what about in Canada alone?
'7 years of regret': Raunchy leg piece wins bad tattoo competition at Edmonton Expo Centre
Friday night was a celebration of mistakes for a small group of body art enthusiasts.
Time crunch, rules mess could plague a Liberal leadership race
Calls have intensified for Justin Trudeau to resign as head of the party he almost single-handedly pulled back from the brink after a decimating electoral defeat in 2011.
Despair in the air: For many voters, the Biden-Trump debate means a tough choice just got tougher
The sound you might have heard after the presidential debate this past week was of voters falling between a rock and a hard place.
Lightning deal Sergachev, Jeannot; Maple Leafs acquire Tanev's rights at NHL draft
General managers wheeled and dealed Saturday in Sin City.
235 flights cancelled as WestJet waits to hear from labour minister on next steps in mechanics strike
WestJet said 235 flights have been cancelled Saturday as it waits to see what the next steps are in its ongoing labour dispute with its mechanics.
A year ago, she drank battery acid to escape life under the Taliban. Today, she has a message for other Afghan girls
Holding a mirror steady in one hand, Arzo carefully applies pencil to her brows as she gets ready for an English lesson a short walk from her home on the outskirts of Pakistani megacity Karachi.
A Florida auctioneer was about to sell an 1800s pocket watch. He learned it was a stolen piece of U.S. presidential history
A pocket watch that belonged to Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt was returned to his New York home this week after it was stolen decades ago and later showed up at an auction, according to the FBI and the National Park Service.
U.S. and Europe warn Lebanon's Hezbollah to ease strikes on Israel and back off from wider Mideast war
U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militants from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Iran and Israel traded threats Saturday of what Iran said would be an 'obliterating" war over Hezbollah.