Library revitalisation in honour of Sammy
Son of former master is on hand to cut ribbon
Months of hard work from both staff and pupils at McLaren High came to fruition last week when the new ST Connell Library was opened at the Callander school.
Douglas Connell was present to cut the ribbon in honour of his father who spent 28 years as a teacher at McLaren.
Samuel Thomson Connell was appointed principal teacher of English and History at McLaren High in 1948, and retired in 1976 after 28 years as head of the English department.
When asked what he taught, his invariable answer was “pupils” and in his retirement speech, he said that his greatest reward was to develop the intrinsic talents of his students and to see the fruition of these talents – all the time, as he put it, with the essential ingredient of humour.
He was born in Ayrshire on January 17, 1913 and studied at Glasgow University from where he graduated MA, B.Ed. He taught in Glasgow schools before and after war service and then settled in Callander which was his home for the next 38 years.
In 1949, he married Hazel, also a graduate of Glasgow University but in the sciences rather than the arts, and who herself subsequently became a teacher of chemistry, biology and physics at McLaren.
They had two sons who were educated at the Callander school, sometimes being taught by both of their parents.
Mr Connell was known to his family and friends as Thomson and, out of earshot, to the pupils as `Sammy’. He was greatly involved in the Callander community and served as a councillor, a bailie and as provost of Callander. He was a youth leader, elder and session clerk of St Kessog’s Church in Ancaster Square.
Mr Connell was also a Justice of the District Courts, president of Callander Burns Club and founder and chairman of the 7.45 Club.
Professionally, he held office in the Educational Institute of Scotland of which he was made a Fellow. He was a trustee of educational trusts and served on the committees of a range of organisations.
One of his great interests in McLaren High was the development of the school library which did not exist when he came to the school in 1948, and his son Douglas believes it would have given him much pleasure to see its revitalisation.
Following the cutting of the red ribbon to officially open the new library, there was a vote of thanks from head boy Callum Hall and head girl Finn Manders, followed by a piece from Claire McHardy and a poem from Dillon McFarlane, both pupil librarians.
Mr Connell was presented with a quaich to commemorate the official opening and with the official part of the morning over Mr and Mrs Connell enjoyed chatting with some of the pupil librarians while a buffet lunch was served.