Former students and faculty at both Imperial and McDermid Community Schools in Regina took a walk down memory lane this week. The two schools, along with St. Peter and St. Michael, are closing to make way for one joint-use school. People that attended Imperial as far back as the 1950’s showed up to the farewell festival to reminisce on their time, including Rene Goertzen, who attended the school from 1959 to 1968. “This gym is filled with so many memories. Grade 7 and [Grade] 8 dances, boys sat on one side and girls sat on the other, and then we got up and danced a few songs, then we’d sit back down across the room again,” he said. Just down the street at McDermid Community School on Wednesday, Janet Galger, who attended the school from 1960 to 1965, recalled her elementary school days that led to lifelong friendships. “I’m here with two other friends that I started kindergarten with, and I have known and been with ever since. So, it’s pretty special, us coming back here to relive some of our memories of going to school,” she said. Shirley Eisler, a teacher at Imperial from 1968 to 1979, recalled a particular memory of a friendly match between the staff and students. “The boys’ team in volleyball own the city championship, and the staff decided we’re going to play them and beat them. Oh, we had to struggle to beat them. Our secretary was seconded to be on the team, she couldn’t type for three days,” she said. Both Eisler and Goertzen mentioned that during their time at Imperial, the gym floor was hardwood instead of linoleum. Eisler said that the female teachers were not allowed to walk on the floor in high heels, instead having to reroute around the gym. In the case of Goertzen, his educational experiences as a child inspired his career path. “It gave me the urge to teach, my Grade 4 teacher was so good that [I] ended up teaching school for 32 years myself. And guess what, I taught Grade 4 and Grade 5 primarily throughout my career,” he said. The new joint-use school that will be built on the site of the existing Imperial School is expected to open this fall.
