A desire to give back prompted teachers from Strathroy, Ont., to work at their former high school.

Catherine O’Brien remembers her time at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute (SDCI) as a wonderful experience that gave her the opportunity to pursue her passion for sport and where she met some of her lifelong friends.

“This experience was a great way for me to feel connected to my community and embrace school spirit,” said O’Brien, who attended the school from 1998 to 2003.

“I really enjoyed the extracurricular activities that were offered at school and I was very grateful to all the teachers who volunteered their time to coach me so I could play.”

With such good memories, it was a natural step for O’Brien to become a high school teacher. But it was her love for her community that brought the 2010 SDCI graduate back to her old school, where she now teaches physical education and heads the athletic department.

O’Brien is among more than a dozen former SDCI students who have returned to their alma mater as employees. Last weekend, as the district school’s 150th anniversary was celebrated, many said the teachers’ positive influence motivated their desire to make a difference for future generations.

“I just wanted to give back to the community that had given me so much,” said former student Susie Flegel, who has been a science teacher and counselor at the school since 2001.

Since graduating in 1993, Flegel said throughout her career she has taught both the children of her peers and now the children of her former students. The long-term connections she has made with families over the years have been very rewarding, she said.

“I love the small town feel and seeing the people you teach in the area,” she said. “There’s this longevity in a relationship that continues even after it’s gone.”

The government high school was founded in 1861 and currently has approximately 1,250 students and 90 teachers. In 2002, SDCI moved from its original location at 96 Kittridge Street in Strathroy town center to its current location on the outskirts of the town.

“There were a lot of the same families nearby. New people have come into the community and it has added another layer of diversity and culture that we can celebrate here with the kids,” Flegel said.

Full Circle Moment

Bernadette Boersma attended this school 50 years ago. Although she found her love for teaching a little later, when she accepted a teaching position at SDCI in 2007, Boersma knew it would be her forever home, she says.

“We have quite a few staff here who were students and I think that says a lot for the community because obviously it’s a choice that we make to go back to the school where we feel most comfortable and where we feel We think we can bring the most benefit,” she said.

While teaching at SDCI, Boersma started a co-ed hairdressing program that is still popular among today’s students, she said. Boersma has grown to love the school community so much that even though she retired last year, she still works there as a teacher.

Laura Berkmortel, a business and computer science lecturer, said she has witnessed the significant growth of Sttroy and the diversity it has brought since she was an SDCI student in 1982.

“When I went to school here, it was dominated by a couple of cultures, and now you can definitely see some diversity,” she said. “It was a real full circle because my kids went here too, and watching them decide to attend this wonderful school that I teach at was amazing.”