Long-time Sydenham teacher Karen Veroni spoke at last night's closing ceremonies for the 50 year old school.

With thanks for sharing with our readers Karen.  Here are her remarks in full:

Thank you for coming as we celebrate the end of an era, and reflect on memories of Sydenham. I am honoured to be speaking tonight. I have spent almost two decades teaching at Sydenham and I have seen many changes. I have seen many students graduate from these halls, and move on to Strathcona, or Hillcrest and then onto West Hill and OSCVI. There are so many rewards in teaching and I'm sure my colleagues would agree that one of the best rewards is hearing about your former students' successes.

When tasked with speaking tonight, I had many thoughts and ideas swirling in my head. MY mind went back to my first days teaching here...when I shared a grade 5/6 French Immersion class with Nancy Shaw. From the moment I walked into this school, it felt like home to me. That was because of the people. People, like Elizabeth Harris and Bonnie Hutchinson, who were never too busy to stop and listen and always greeted everyone with a huge smile.

It was because of the sense of community. We held many school community events, movie nights, the fall fair, Cub car races, community dance nights, Spring Penny Carnival which has evolved to Family Fun Night. We used to hold a Christmas craft afternoon (and right here in this gym hundreds of students would work together in multi-age groups to create gingerbread houses and other Christmas crafts.) The afternoon was completely run by our supportive parents. Trays of goodies were delivered to classrooms by Frosty the Snowman. It was an afternoon that everyone looked forward to with great excitement. It was an afternoon of community!

It felt like home because of how learning was celebrated: science fairs, Sydenham Fall Fair; speeches in French and English; field trips; a primary and junior band, led by Alan Caldwell (even before we had intermediate students); the grade 4/5 camping trips at MacGregor Point with Mr. Leming and Denis Landry; amazing Rememberance Day assemblies led by Monsieur SanCartier; and more recently a stellar performance of Le Petit Prince.

It felt like home because of how staff and students showed respect for one another, and it continued to feel like home for the next 19 years for me. And...I believe it really felt like home for some of our former students because they often returned as co-op students, and then even as teachers (Mme Kasperavicius and Mme Doneathy are both graduates of the early days of French Immersion at Sydenham...and Mme Doneathy , by the way was a student in my first class here).

Over the years Sydenham has grown and experienced many changes. When Victoria Public School closed, WE were the fortunate ones, as we inherited more fantastic students and amazing teachers and our French Immersion population doubled. Through all of the changes Sydenham has continued to feel like home, and part of who I am. As a community we have so much to remember and of which to be proud.

As we close the doors of ecole Sydenham Community School, we keep our memories alive...memories of the learning, the celebrations, the losses, the teamwork, the struggles, the light bulb moments, the smiles, the tears, and the friendships of staff and students and their parents. To East Ridge we take with us our Tiger Spirit! The spirit to ROAR and succeed; the spirit to make new friendships, and new celebrations.

Let's make our new learning community one of the best!!!