St. Matthew High School (Orleans, Ontario)
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| St. Matthew Catholic High School | |
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| Address | |
| 6550 Bilberry Drive Orleans, Ontario, K1C 2S9, Canada |
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| Information | |
| School board | Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board |
| Superintendent | Brent Wilson |
| Area trustee | Steven Blais |
| Principal | Christopher Mes |
| Vice principal | Marcy Cooper, Peter Embleton, Don Murphy |
| School type | Catholic high school |
| Grades | 7 to 12 |
| Language | English |
| Area | Ottawa |
| Mascot | Tiger |
| Team name | Tigers |
| Colours | Yellow, Black |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Enrollment | approx 1400 (April 2007) |
| Homepage | http://www2.occdsb.on.ca/mth/ |
St. Matthew Catholic High School is located at 6550 Bilberry Drive in Orléans, Ontario, Canada. The current principal is Christopher Mes. The school offers grades 7-12. Their school team is the Tigers. The current school population rests at about 1402 students with about 120 staff members.
The school broke the Guinness world record for largest unbroken human chain, called the Bear Hug. The event was in support of Cancer research[1]. The school plans to hold a second Bear Hug event this year. The hug is to take place around the Rideau Canal.
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[edit] History
St. Matthew Catholic High School opened in 1981, it was without a formal name. Not until June 1982, was the school officially named “St. Matthew” after the writer of one of the four Gospels of the New Testament. Despite this slow start, St. Matthew Catholic High School is now known and highly regarded far and wide.
The school opened on September 1, 1981, with about 300 students. In its first year of existence, it was affectionately known by its first principal, Joseph Ryan, as “the far eastern school.” It was built by the firm Kearney and Coles with Edward Cuhaci as the architect, on property on Bilberry Drive in Orléans, straddling two sides of Bilberry Creek. The school’s first yearbook was entitled, perhaps appropriately, EMANON which is “NO NAME” spelled backwards. It did have a name but since it was the wordy “Eastern Area Elementary Junior High School,” it was, in a sense, nameless. This all changed at the official opening on June 16, 1982, when it was formally named “St. Matthew Catholic High School.” The school underwent two expansions over the years to accommodate an ever-growing student population, which peaked at close to 1,800 students. In 1985, the first phase of a two-part expansion took place, adding a number of classrooms. This was followed by a second extension in 1987 that included more classrooms, specialty areas such as an automotive shop, music room, drama room and art room and a second gymnasium/cafeteria. The construction of St. Peter Catholic High School in 1992 provided spaces for some students previously at St. Matthew, relieving some of the enrolment pressures at the school.
[edit] Bear Hug
[edit] Bear Hug 1
This event was documented in the 2005 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. On April 23, 2004, St. Matthew Catholic High School made it into the Guinness Book of World Records with the world’s largest bear hug, an endeavour led by school Principal André Potvin and an achievement which resulted in June 9, 2004 being officially declared “St. Matthew High School Day” by Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli. The world’s largest bear hug involved 5,117 students hugging for ten seconds. This world record was tied in with the school’s fundraising for cancer, as students and staff, with the support of local businesses and residents, raised more than $108,000 in four days in April of that year, surpassing the previous provincial record of $40,000 and setting a Canadian record for cancer fundraising by a high school.
[edit] Bear Hug 2
Under the leadership of St. Matthew High School, Ottawa plans to be home to the largest bear hug on April 25, 2008. The plan is to break the Guinness Book of World Records for a second time. They will have several thousand students hugging for over 20 seconds to break the current record held by the citizens of New Mexico (6,553). They will also raise funds in support of cancer research for a second time.
[edit] Other Achievements/Programs
St. Matthew High School has become widely known for both its academic and athletic accomplishments. The whole spectrum of academic achievements has flowed from St. Matthew High School over the years, ranging from computer science to geography, public speaking, mathematics, science and writing. The school has an extensive cooperative education program involving numerous business partners who accept co-op students for field placements.
[edit] Drama
St. Matthew has mounted a long list of annual drama productions, starting in 1986-87 with An Evening of One Act Plays. Since then, productions have included Grease (1989-90), Bye Bye Birdie (1993-94), Little Shop of Horrors (1995-96), The Diary of Anne Frank (1998-99), Godspell (2001-02), Les Misérables (2003-04) and Get Smart (2006-07). They are currently working on Alice In Wonderland which will be performed on June 5-7.
[edit] Sports
The school’s two gymnasiums proudly display banners representing championships won in numerous sports, and at various levels, including the provincial level. The sports programs extend not just to interscholastic play but also to intramural activities where St. Matthew has an active and full program. The annual Bill Wren Basketball Tournament, named after a teacher who died of cancer, draws high school teams from across the area. In the summer of 2006, a new wooden gym floor was installed at St. Matthew.
[edit] Identity
[edit] Logo
The school logo is a cross inside an oval, with four symbols, one in each quadrant formed by the cross. The four symbols are a quill representing writing, a book representing reading, a flame representing the spirit of sport and folded hands representing prayer. The name “St. Matthew” is on a banner at the bottom of the logo.
[edit] Mascot
The school mascot is a tiger. Team Names All St. Matthew sports teams are called Tigers, symbolizing speed, ferociousness and the ability to dominate and win over other teams, no matter what.
[edit] Cheer
The main school cheer is “Go, Tigers, Go!”
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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