Page 48 - 1953

Until I9I7 the school was heated by wood. Each room had a big wood stove. With the new school came a furnace and steam heat. Mrs. Robinson whose salar) was $39 . 00 a year in I889 was the first caretaker.
About 75% of the desks are the ones purchased in I9I7. These have artistic carvings of past students since I926. The lighting system has been greatly im- proved. Within the last three years each room has been equipped with fluorescent lights in the ceiling and over the blackboards. Previous to that there were the globe lights and before that the light bulbs hung suspended from the ceiling.
In I9I9 the first field day was held. The events were muob the same as now
but the winners received medals instead of cups. A big cup which is on display
in the hall has all the winners• names on it from I9I9 to I936. In I934 the
Inter-School Meet began between Stayner and Creemore. Thornbury joined next and
then Elmvale in I950 and Honeywood in I952. The last five years have been happy
ones for C.C.S. because we are proud possessors of both boys' and girls' tro- phies.
There are five shields for annual competition. For each form the student with the highest academic marks wins the shield. There is a shield for general proficiency in the senior grade.
From I88I to I9I6 the equivalent of Grades 9 and IO were taught. At that time the school received a B rating and the general high school course of grades 9 to I2 was taught. Grades 9 and IO were called Lower School and Grades XI and XII were Middle School. The highest number of pupils has been in the past few years. The attendance at present is about 65. In I9I8 there were only half this number. A third teacher bad to be engaged in I925. These facts show an increase in educational interest considering the fact that Creemore•s population has been stationary as has the population of the surrounding territory, The de- crease in attendance at C.C.S. is due to the loss of fifth form to Collingwood, N~~ Lowell pupils to Barrie, and Glencairn pupils to Alliston.
The graduates may all have their good and bad points, but they are mostly successful. They are scattered all the way across the continent. To prove that families are constantly moving here and away, there are fewer than a dozen pu- pils of the second generation in school here.
Since the very beginning there was always music. In I945 Mrs. Skinkle or- ganized a choir. Two years later they went to the Grey County Music Festival and continued doing so until I95I. It was very rare that they didn't win. Mrs. Skinkle taught music as a subject for two years previous to I950. When Mr. Pot- ter came he taught it for a year; and since then Mr. Wood, a former pupil here, has been our teacher.
A big thank you to everybody who bas helped me write this history.
THE CREEMORE STAFF
Helen Emmett
Mr. G. Tilden, B.A. Mrs. R. Skinkle Mr. W. Bluger, B.A. English, History Mathematics, Science French, Latin
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