“For many of us, our years at AHSS were extraordinary and had a lasting impact on our lives and our contributions locally and around the world,” says Kathy Copeman-Stewart, one of the original founding members of AHSS: The Early Year Project in June 2020.
The project's goal is to celebrate and document the rich early history of the school and to honour the leadership of John McDermott and his remarkable team.
“Combined with that was the recognition that the original school building we'd loved was abandoned and in disrepair. There were virtually no online images of our proud Almaguin Highlands Secondary School. So much history seemed to be at risk of being lost forever.”
The original group has expanded to a group of alumni who bring a range of skills and perspectives to profiling those AHSS early years.
Collaborating with 1976 Charlie Driscoll Award winner Kathy Copeman-Stewart on the AHSS Early Years Project are founding members Jim MacLachlan, who contributes his humour and insights from the perspective of being a new teacher in those early years, Vicki Whitmell, 1975-76 AHSS student council president as webmaster and Kathryn McDermott Edmondson who brought her own experiences as well as her parents’ lens and her father’s voice.
1979 graduate Terry Lynn Schneider Phillips joined the project and became facilitator of a very engaging AHSS Early Years Facebook Group which has 1,000 members. Alumni athletic competitors Yinka Aiyede, Tracy Whitmell Martin and Gordon Briggs are dogged athletic researchers and Paula Long Bentley, Wanda Murray Hill and Rick Moore are trusted content contributors, editors and sounding boards.
Special thanks for Allan Dennis who worked with us for the first year, Wendy Oshell who donated a collection of yearbooks gathered during her time working at Almaguin and Terry Mannella and Jamie Teoppner who contributed many photos.
If you would like to contribute photos or memories to this project please be in touch.
We would love to hear from you.
The project's goal is to celebrate and document the rich early history of the school and to honour the leadership of John McDermott and his remarkable team.
“Combined with that was the recognition that the original school building we'd loved was abandoned and in disrepair. There were virtually no online images of our proud Almaguin Highlands Secondary School. So much history seemed to be at risk of being lost forever.”
The original group has expanded to a group of alumni who bring a range of skills and perspectives to profiling those AHSS early years.
Collaborating with 1976 Charlie Driscoll Award winner Kathy Copeman-Stewart on the AHSS Early Years Project are founding members Jim MacLachlan, who contributes his humour and insights from the perspective of being a new teacher in those early years, Vicki Whitmell, 1975-76 AHSS student council president as webmaster and Kathryn McDermott Edmondson who brought her own experiences as well as her parents’ lens and her father’s voice.
1979 graduate Terry Lynn Schneider Phillips joined the project and became facilitator of a very engaging AHSS Early Years Facebook Group which has 1,000 members. Alumni athletic competitors Yinka Aiyede, Tracy Whitmell Martin and Gordon Briggs are dogged athletic researchers and Paula Long Bentley, Wanda Murray Hill and Rick Moore are trusted content contributors, editors and sounding boards.
Special thanks for Allan Dennis who worked with us for the first year, Wendy Oshell who donated a collection of yearbooks gathered during her time working at Almaguin and Terry Mannella and Jamie Teoppner who contributed many photos.
If you would like to contribute photos or memories to this project please be in touch.
We would love to hear from you.
