With high school graduation
fever sweeping the
Southern Interlake last week,
perhaps you felt the urge to
dig up that dusty old yearbook
and reminisce about the
good old days.
That's exactly what Allan
Johnson did a few months
ago and his fond memories
as principal and science
teacher at Stonewall
Collegiate led him to create
an online yearbook to commemorate
the 50th anniversary
of the class of 1957.
"I came across the yearbook
and started going
through it," Johnson said by
phone from his home in
Gatineau, Que. earlier this
week. "I started wondering
about all the folks and what
they were up to now."
The Web site is an online
re-creation of the original
'56-'57 SCI yearbook complete
with pictures, grad
write-ups including future
aspirations, the valedictory
address and the principal's
message.
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"One of the things that hit
me when I read the yearbook
was my message," said
Johnson. "I said many years
later you might come across
this and fondly leaf through
it. Isn't that interesting, because that's exactly what I
did."
Johnson was named principal
of the school at the ripe
age of 20 and just out of university.
"Back then there was no
shortage of jobs," he said.
"Instead it was which job do
you want to take? My dad's
cousin was a professor and
as there was a shortage of
teachers, he encouraged me
to go into teaching for a year
before deciding on a career.
So I became principal on a
letter of authority. I was 20
years old, younger than a lot
of my students."
Now 69, Johnson is retired
after devoting his entire life
to education. He received
his doctorate in education in
1971 and spent the majority
of his time teaching in the
Winnipeg School Division.
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He also.served as a consultant
for the Manitoba
Department of Education
and as director of continuing
education and community
services at the University of
Winnipeg. Today, Johnson
devotes much of his time to
his "hobby" software company
based in Winnipeg.
Although Johnson only
spent one year working in
Stonewall, he said the experience
changed his life forever.
"That job determined my
career," said Johnson. "It
was probably the best teaching
year l ever had. No group
was more fun to be with."
Johnson encourages those
who were in the class of
1957 to take a stroll down
memory lane at
www.magma.ca/~ajohnson/s
ci56-57/sci.html. You can
also contact him by phone at
(819) 685-3070 to contribute
a "Where are they now?"
profile for the Web site. As
Johnson writes online: 'I am
hoping that some of you will
find this site and will decide
to share with me and others
the story of your life. Where
are you now, and what have
you been doing over the past
50 years?'
"I'm sure a lot of people in
the class still live in or
around Stonewall or in the
Winnipeg area," said
Johnson. "Who knows, maybe some might be interested in a reunion of some kind."
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