Where It All Began: Lifers Return to the Junior School

Climbing onto the school bus on Nov. 24, nineteen Grade 12 students were about to take a trip down memory lane. Their destination was the Junior School, where the annual Lifers assembly celebrates graduating students who first joined St. Michaels University School in Kindergarten or Grade 1. Many were looking forward to the moment when this year’s Kindergarten students would present them with the familiar red polo shirts that mark the Kindergarten year at SMUS, a small but meaningful reminder of where their SMUS journey began.

The bus hummed with excited chatter as they swapped stories about favourite teachers, unforgettable moments and the corners of the Junior School they could not wait to revisit. For many, it was their first time back since the end of Grade 5. Stepping into the gymnasium, they found themselves back in familiar surroundings, ready to share those early memories with the students seated before them.

Memories from the Early Years

Many of the Grade 12s spoke about their earliest days at the Junior School. For Eliot Tait, watching the Kindergarten students prepare to hand out the red shirts brought back his first day of school, when he was already so tall that none of the red shirts fit. He chuckled as he recalled wearing a white one for the first week of school. After sharing his memory, SMUS Kindergarten students had a mix up and gave Eliot two shirts, the most ironic nod to how Eliot’s SMUS story began.

Cindy Chen remembered when it was her turn to take home the stuffed raccoon from Mrs. Lincoln’s class, a keepsake that made an appearance at the assembly. Ethan Curtis recalled singing along to the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album. Sophie De Launière described how The Polar Express came to life at Christmas time with train seats, hot chocolate and golden tickets, a tradition she said captured the magic of both Christmas and Kindergarten.

Other memories captured the rhythms of Junior School life, including baking gingerbread cookies, decorating Ukrainian eggs, hatching chicks in Grade 2 and the excitement of sports day in Grade 5. Moments ranged from the simple, such as Mya Beare lighting a candle in Chapel, to the expansive, such as Samantha Hann’s trip to Nanaimo to meet authors whose books the Red Cedar club had been reading.

As each student shared a memory, a photo of their Kindergarten selves appeared on the screen behind them. The contrast between their five-year-old and Grade 12 selves created one of the most moving moments of the morning. Parents and teachers in attendance, including several retired teachers who had returned to see the now-grown students they once taught, watched as the photos appeared, taking in the years between then and now.

For parents, the images served as a reminder of how quickly those early years pass. Sophie’s father, Vincent De Launière, spoke about the strong sense of welcome he felt from the very first day of Kindergarten. Friendships formed with fellow parents have lasted ever since. Watching the Lifers return reminded him of the experience of growing up together as families and of the supportive environment that helped shape his daughter’s path.

Reunions with Teachers and Staff

When the current Junior School students filed out of the gym, parents and teachers stepped forward to greet the Lifers. Long hugs, quick catch-ups and a few happy tears marked the reunions as memories resurfaced while phones and cameras came out to capture moments of pride and gratitude.

One of those making the rounds was former Junior School counsellor Tessa Lloyd, greeting students with the warmth that defined her years of supporting them. Nearby, former Assistant Director of the Junior School Kathleen Cook reflected on how the Lifers assembly began with a brief exchange she had more than a decade ago with colleague and also a Lifer, Mathew Geddes. What began as a simple idea to turn the red-shirt presentation into a proper event has grown into the tradition celebrated today.

Geddes, currently Head of the Mathematics Department at the Senior School and host of the annual Lifer assembly, asked the assembly audience what they thought a Lifer was. Kindergarten students were keen to answer confidently that it was someone who starts in Kindergarten and stays until Grade 12.

“And some of us never leave,” Geddes added as a photo of himself in a SMUS Kindergarten uniform flashed on the screen.

Coming Full Circle

As the morning drew to a close, some of the Lifers played a game of badminton in the gymnasium with Junior School students, while others explored the old and new parts of the school, including the beautiful design of the Trottier-Morgan Annex. Saying goodbye was not easy, but they will return in the spring for their traditional visit. It will be another chance to return to the place where their SMUS journey first began, reflect on how far they have come, and offer a glimpse of what the journey ahead could look like for the students who may one day become Lifers themselves.