My introduction to Dufferin was on September 1944 when I lined up at the south door to go into the Kindergarten to start my I year with Miss Mary Miller, Miss Francis Fleming & Miss Helen Dunbar. I particularly remember the rhythm band & the sewing cards, paper weaving & paper folding that we assembled in our Kindergarten Books periodically so we could take it home to proudly display our work to our family.

We began and ended our days in the Kindergarten room as our Graduation Banquet would be in this same room in 1953. I thought the Kindergarten room was absolutely huge but when I returned to the school for the school reunion in 1 973 I was totally blown away with the fact that it was about the size of a regular classroom.

I remember Miss Fox in Gr. 1 & Miss Taylor in Gr. 2. and see them frequently as they often attend RTO functions organized by Ted’s RTO social committee.

In Gr 3 I must have been a little nervous or perhaps hungry, as I remember Miss Pattison scolding me for biting my reader.

In Grade 4 we met Miss Abra for the 1st time.

Mrs. Mackenzie who wore braids in her hair taught us Gr. 5 on the 3rd floor. This is where we were drilled on those times tables!

I think about this time we rotated from class to class for special subjects. Miss Sinclair taught us to sing in parts & also appreciate music. I vividly remember Miss Sinclair reading the story of the Nutcracker to us as we listened to the recorded music. Those fond memories flashed in my mind again about a year & a half ago when in Saint Petersburg, Russia I had the opportunity to attend the Nutcracker Ballet.

Who could forget the times spent in the art room with Miss Wilton. I remember that I had absolutely no artistic talent what so ever!

About Gr. 7, Mr. Marshall taught us science & I think taught the boys’ phys ed among other things.

I remember Grade 8 the best of all. We had the classroom next to the office as were taught Math by Mr. Moffat & Grammar & girl’s phys ed by Miss Abra. Mr Steinacher taught us literature or reading & I must have been a little loquacious at the time as he made me write out the lines . ‘I must not talk in school’ until I had filled the page!

I don’t know how well you remember your x’s tables now that we use calculators all the time but I'll bet you all still know those prepositions that Miss Abra taught us:- _

Prepositions - in, into, at, to, over, above under through, with, without, of, for down, beside during, on, like, between, beneath from, across, upon , against among

-or how about those linking non action verbs:- am. is , are , was, where, seems, appears, become , became be & been

- Personal Pronouns - I me mine we us ours, you, yours, thou, thee thine, he, she, it, they, them theirs.

In Home Economics, Miss Pritchard taught the girls life skills that we all use today: cooking, sewing & ironing. Speaking personally, I do as little of these as possible! That long white apron, though, was a marvel with its buttons buttonholes, straps, ties, the multitude of finishing edges & all capped off with our name embroidered on the hem. Everything we needed to know about basic sewing for the rest of our life was learned in making that apron I will always be thankful to Miss Pritchard who helped me make my graduation dress. She showed me how to make certain that all the butterflies in the fabric were flying in the same direction!

I don’t know how the boys felt about Mr. Capel’s lessons in Manual Training but I saw some pretty exciting wood carvings come out of that area some of which were resurrected for our 50th reunion.

I recall the assemblies that we had in the 2nd floor hall. The classes from the 3^rd floor stood on the staircase.

Unique to our school were the fire shoots that started at the 3^rd floor. I remember riding down them in a couple of fire drills.

I remember the girls’ playground on the east side of the school where we played hopscotch, volleyball, skipped single rope or double Dutch, played marbles & threw our rubber balls against the wall ( Indian rubber lacrosse balls being the best!) The boys played on the West side of the school. I also recall those metal bicycle racks that held you fast by the tongue in the winter.

The ball diamonds were on the south side of the school where the "new" Dufferin stands today. I can recall playing on the girls’ baseball team. I could hit the ball, run the bases quickly & catch the ball but was a little weak in the throwing department so I had to play short stop in order to be able to throw the ball to the bases. I found a school crest among my souvenirs that says, "1953 Dufferin Girls Softball Champions"

The teachers’ entered the school by the north doors but when the bell rang the students lined in rows by classroom, the girls on the east doors & the boys on the west doors. Once we were all quiet we were allowed to enter the building.

The building has been gone now for some 30 years, but Dufferin was not just about the building. It was the people that made the wonderful memories that we share today.