LITTLE CURRENT—Under the direction of school principal Tracy Chapman, Little Current Public School (LCPS) held a celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the expansion of the school into its present form.
Ms. Chapman cited the school’s entry into the ‘The Little Current Story’ history book by the late local historian Sandy McGillivray.
“With the prospects of more pupils in the Howland and surrounding areas, the (Manitoulin) board of education, in the late winter of 1972, applied to the Department of Education for money to build a major addition to LCPS,” opens that citation. The additions included regular classrooms, a gymnasium, library and resource centre, a “proper” Kindergarten room, health and guidance area and other facilities.
The plans included the demolition of the old stone school building built circa 1940/41 and the abandoning of the old senior school (parts of which hailed back to as early as 1925). The changes included relocating the school from Blake Street in Little Current to its current location on Draper Street.
Construction began in the spring of 1973 and moving in day took place in the late summer of 1974.
“When all the alterations were finished,” quoted Ms. Chapman, “the school had the appearance of an entirely new building, a unified whole with little indication of where old met new. The ribbon cutting for the building took place in October 1974. Enrollment at LCPS was close to 450 that fall.”
Smaller schools in the region were closed and/or amalgamated—with the school in Tehkummah lasting the longest (closing in the 1980s) thanks to strong opposition to its closure.
Ms. Chapman called out the former staff who were also at the celebration, including John Hodder, the former LCPS principal who shepherded the new school building into existence. Mr. Hodder was called upon to speak and he recalled the efforts that went into building the modern new facility.
As a thank you gift to Mr. Hodder, Ms. Chapman presented the former principal with a T-shirt bearing his favourite saying: “I can still hear you.”
Many of the teachers who now fill the roster at LCPS were themselves students at the new LCPS building, including two sets of sisters—April Aelick and Amber Jewell and Tanya and Melissa McCulloch.
Following the remarks, LCPS junior students sang two songs that were popular among children in 1974 and then those in attendance were invited to share in a celebratory cake before touring the student’s classrooms and lockers. A bulletin board display featured the history of the school along with historical class photographs.
