Latest News
Richmond Senior Secondary will be holding its 90th anniversary celebrations at the school on Minoru Boulevard.
Photo by Chung Chow
Richmond High celebrating 90th anniversary
Our city’s oldest high school, Richmond
Secondary, celebrates its 90th anniversary on Saturday, April 21 from noon
until 6 p.m.
John Montgomery, from the school’s graduating
class of ’58, has a long history with the school.
“My mom, Amy Edwards, was in the first
graduating class in 1928 when it was still called Bridgeport.”
It was then on the old site, approximately
kitty corner from today’s Costco.
Richmond Secondary later moved to a new
location, near today’s Cambie Senior Secondary. That building became Cambie
Junior High when, one last time, in 1952, the school site moved to its current
location on Minoru Boulevard.
Montgomery recalls one of his mother’s
teachers, Roy McNeill, was Montgomery’s principal when he graduated from the
school’s third iteration, now torn down but on the same grounds as today’s
modern building.
“That school has a spirit that is second to
none. I’m probably going to get emotional here,” Richmond High alumni president
Beth McKenzie says of the old building on Minoru. “It’s a combination of the
dynamics of the building, the staff, the students and the camaraderie.”
That spirit encouraged students to taste all
the opportunities the school offered.
“For me it made me become involved with
different subjects and aspects of thing I never would have done. I became
involved with acting. I was social but shy,” she says.
The school was different then, she says.
“It was only Grade 11 and 12 when I went
there. It was only in the late 90s when the school changed to Grades 8 to 12.”
McKenzie, who grew up on Jones Road between
St. Albans and Garden City Roads, said those were simpler times.
“When I went there in 1971 and 1972 all the
kids walked to school. Nobody got dropped off.”
Montgomery grew up in Steveston.
“It was the only high school in Richmond so
everybody in Richmond went to it.”
Later in 1956, Steveston Junior High School
opened up, eventually becoming the high school for that edge of Richmond.
Steveston’s teams and logo referred to the
village’s fishing past while Richmond High’s was a horse theme. Grad time and
the annual football game between the two schools often occasioned some
high-spirited hijinks.
“Rivalry with Steveston? I didn’t ever get
involved but I heard the stories of loads of horse dung left on steps of
Steveston High and loads of fish guts on steps of Richmond High,” McKenzie
laughs.
McKenzie remembers the previous incarnation
of Richmond High that opened in 1957.
“The floors creaked especially the ones in
our snack shop. The old school was so small that it had 15 to 20 portable
classrooms out the back. A lot of them didn’t have a washroom: how do you
manage all of that, not only for the kids, but for the teachers?”
She says the playing fields were so full of
portable classrooms in those days that “the Phys-Ed department had to go over
to Minoru to do activities.”
The new school was finished ahead of schedule
and the move accomplished over the Christmas holidays.
“They tried to bring parts of the school they
were going to tear down and bring it into the new one. All the wooden seats,
top of the bleachers, removed and milled for something else, part of gym floor
and framed it, on wall of current school. Marnie Maitland took the time to make
sure there was a place for every graduate composite photo from 1927,” says
McKenzie.
Montgomery says of the April 21 event that
runs from noon until 6 p.m.: “It will be a fun, friendly open house.”
For the event, open to all former Richmond
High students and staff, the alumni association is hoping to have vintage cars
in the parking lot along with some food trucks.
Inside, the group plans skits from the drama
club, music from the band, as well as lots of old photos and memorabilia
arranged by different eras.
If you would like to lend a hand or have
anything from your era to add to the celebration, see the ad in The Sentinel’s
classified section.
“It will be a very laid back day for people
to come and celebrate the school being 90 years old,” says McKenzie.
Asked why she is doing it all, McKenzie
replies: “It was probably one of the best times of my life.”
2 Hours of free financial consulting
Jai Xin Planning Ltd.
C$120.00 C$0.00
Use any of our home staging service and get a second month rental for free!
MiiX Interiors
C$500.00 C$0.00
Get 10% off any order
Phantom Screens Lower Mainland
C$200.00 C$180.00
