Galt celebrates 50 years with 1,200 cupcakes
On Friday Oct. 11, Alexander Galt Regional High School celebrated its upcoming 50th anniversary with 1,200 cupcakes.
Students and staff gathered around the school’s new gazebo where they munched on their cupcakes, socialized, and some even got down with the music.
Showing us the very first ever AGRHS yearbook, Principal Peggy Mccourt flipped to the first page where a photo of the director of the E.T.R.S.B. at the time, Mr. J. Edward Perry, was displayed along with a message. According to Mccourt, not that much has changed.
In his message, Perry described the opening of Galt as an organized mess.
“That’s how I felt this morning,”
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joked Mccourt. Perry also talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the new school that Mccourt said remain relevant today.
More importantly, he emphasized that teachers and students need to work together to develop a sense of pride and love for the school if it is to be successful. “That’s still what we try to aim for today.”
Oct. 14 will officially mark 50 years since the first students arrived at Galt, which opened in 1969 and served just under 3,000 students. Mccourt is looking forward to a positive future. “It’s exciting because we are at a turning point. It’s another era.”
While she graduated from Richmond Regional High School, Mccourt knew that Galt was a great place to be.
“Being part of Galt, you know it’s such a rich community.”
She discussed how Galt graduates always find their way back to the school and volunteer their time, and how the community rallies together in support of projects at the school like the Campus Beautification Project.
“I was a Richmond student but I was familiar with the criticism of how it (Galt) looked like a prison.” That’s what led to the Campus Beautification Project, and with community support came the construction of the gazebo. Galt also finally received their logo on the front of the building.
When asked what is to come for the future, there seems to be a lot on the horizon. “In the next few months gym renovations will be picking up again. We are redoing the locker rooms. We are fortunate that the government has invested in building updates. We are starting to see changes and improvements, which are needed.”
Mccourt also discussed the concentration courses that are being brought to the school. “Since I’ve been here we’ve added a performing arts concentration. In the beginning there was only one group and this year we have three groups running. They made it to the National Improve Games last year. We have also been bringing in the woodworking program to help build the sets for that.”
The school has also received a new Hunting and Fishing concentration. “It’s enough to make any principal nervous, but it’s great for the community because it’s what our kids are interested in.”
More importantly, their goal is to make the school fully accessible. “When they built this school universal access wasn’t something they thought about.” How to make it accessible is now one of the primary concerns. “One of our big goals is to make the auditorium accessible.”
“We need to modernize for the kids of the future,” commented Mccourt. “We need to keep making Galt more welcoming so it’s a place where kids and the community want to be. We have kids that are competing and performing at high levels and we are proud. We want them to feel proud of where they are going, and that they have the right tools to get there. We want them to be equipped, to be resilient and face what life throws at them.”
Here’s to Alexander Galt and to 50 more years of success to come!