NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

THE GRIM reaper visits Hillside on the eve of its destruction. In June, the West Van middle schooi closes its doors on its final
graduating class. The school will be razed and the site sold to a developer to help fund the new Caulfeild elementary school.

Hillside Homecoming

Former staff,
students go
back to school

BY LAYHE CKRISTENSEN

Community Reporter

THOUGH TOM Taylor is
saddened by the loss of
Hillside, he is buoyed by 20
years of school memories.

“It was a wonderful school.
We were lucky as teachers
because we had the raw materi-
_als. Those kids would have
taught themselves.” says the 95-
year-old who retired from teach-
ing eight years ago.

The lifelong West Van resi-
dent taught at Hillside from 1965
to 1986. During his cross-genera-
tional teaching career he coun-
seed the children of former stu-
dents and the sons and daughters
of former classmates, many of
whom he hopes to see again at
the Hillside Homecoming this
Saturday, May [1.

For the many grads and for-
mer staff expected to attend, it
will be the last chance to rehash
old memories before Hillside
Middle School. after only 36
years of service, closes its doors
for good at the end of the school
year. (The school board plans to
sell the site to a residential devel-
oper to help pay for the construc-
tion of the new Caulfeild elemen-
tary school.)

Taylor, tike many parents of
Hillside’s curfiest’ grads was a

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

TOM TAYLOR (cenire) is joined by past and present students

Marcia Lewis, Jeremy and Casey

Balden, and Hillside’s princi-

pal Warren Hicks. Former students and staff reunite May 11.

student at West Van High when it

was located at 1735 Inglewood -

Ave. That building was demol-
ished in March. As a child he
used to pick apples in the orchard
at what is now Queens and
Orchard Way. That was before it
was leveled and Hillside was
constructed in 1958 at 2295
Queens Ave. His first year teach-
ing at Hillside was 1965. At the
end of the following school year,
Hillside graduated its first senior

ass. The next year, Taylor was
vice-principal.

He credits longtime principal
Dick Wright and vice-principal
Doug Todd for the early develop-
ment of the school. “They did
just.a splendid job and the kids

Michael

loved them.”

Taylor also) commends
Smith and — Bill
‘SicKiwick, who developed the
Hillside running — program.
‘Though Hillside had a reputation
for being a jock schvol, it had an
artistic side as well.

The school’s thestre program
flourished under Bill: Elliot. i
longtime staff member who
retired earlier this year. “Bill had
a talent for staging plays that was
equalled by none other.” recalls
Taylor.

Above all, families encour-
aged their children to strive acad-
emically, which, for the most
part. they did.

“Hillside was a conservative,

very traditional and highly
demanding school that produced
some very fine scholars,” he
recalls. It was generally consid-
ered “in” to do well, he says,
except during the counter-culture
movement of the late "60s and
early ‘70s. what Taylor calls the
“problem years.”

During those years purents
became more involved in the
schooling of their children,
which Taylor saw as a good
thing. even if their suggestions
were somewhat offbeat. “Parents
would come into the school and
wonder why seats were in rows
— they wanted circles.”

Academics took a back seat to
having fun and mischief-making
during the post-hippy/pre-disco
years. Taylor and his colleagues
often threw up their hands in
frustration. But even those kids
turned out OK, says Taylor who
visited with former students at a
25-year reunion and found them
to he a responsible group.

Some issues, ke smoking on
schoo} grounds. were recurrent.
Even in the ‘60s there were prob-
lems with students butting out on
neighboring lawns and walkways.

Student dress was another
cause for concern, Competition
for ctothes was always keen.
Some things never change...

The school opens its doors
this Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
for tie Hillside Homecoming. All
daytime events arc free. Tickets.
$15, for an evening dance start-
ing al 8 pom. are still available.
Phone the Homecoming Hotline
at 926-1953 for more informa-
tion,

HEAD OF THE CLASS

“THE YOUNG people who went to this
school were really quite incredible,”
recalls Tom Taylor.

During his 20 years at Hillside. the former
teacher and vice-principal saw countless stu-
dents rise to the head of the class and achieve
success upon graduation. Among the stand-
outs:

CLASS OF '67: lawyer Mike Bolton and

businessman Peter Struk.

CLASS OF ’68: mining executive Michael

Allan, stage manager Brian Buckingham,
physician Nancy
Crossen and buok-store
owner Celia Duthie.
Allan, recalls Taylor.
was a “wonderful boy.
fine athlete and good
student.” Buckingham
produced “the — best
school musicals and
plays around”, and
Duthie was “a grilty.

CELIA CUTHIE = determined person: eth-
ical to a fault.”

CLASS OF ‘69: stage and TV actor Roger

Barton, former Whistler mayor Drew

Meredith, fashion designer Christine

Morton, jazz musician Graham Ord and

swimmer Elaine “Mighty Mouse” Tanner.

Meredith, says Taylor, is “a good Caulfeild

boy who became a good

solid citizen.” Taylor

remembers Morton,

who designs and manu-

factures lingerie and

bridalwear under the

internationally success-

ful Christine and Co.

label, as “very talented

and very quiet.”

CLASS OF '70:

VSO bassoonist Chris CHRISTINE

Miliard. Toronto radio MORTON

personality Dan .

Williamson and West Van artist Craig Yeats.

Millard’s choice of career was no surprise —

his family was musical, recalls Taylor — but

he was also “extremely capable as a student

— a top-notch academic.”

CLASS OF ’71: Vancouver Island physician

Terry Hartrick.

CLASS OF '72: Greg “The Czar of Tar"

Curtis and VSO clarinetist Rob Sheffield.

CLASS OF '73: stage and TV actor Vicki

Matthews, now de-

ceased and physicist

Lorne Whitehead.

Whitehead’s high-

school caption reads

“Lory, the brain.” and

Taylor confirms that

Whitehead. now a pro-

fessor at UBC and

inventor of note, was a

“physics genius ... justa

dandy guy.”

CLASS OF '74:

reporter Karen Gram

and musical stage performer Stephen Aberte.

Aberle was “absolutely brilliant. Even in his

teens, he had stage presence ... and a lot of nat-

ural dignity.” ;

CLASS OF '75: stage

and TV actors Tan

Morton and Brenda

Robins.

Another grad, West

Van's mayor Mark

Sager, Taylor remem-

bers as “always the

essence of responsibili-

ty. If he even made a

promise, he would keep

it”

CLASS OF '76: TV reporter Cathy Pope.

CLASS OF '77: stage actor Gabrielle

Jones.

CLASS OF '78: WV artist Ross Penhali.

CLASS OF '80: gallery owner Catriona

Jeffries, TY reporter Mike Killeen and
musician John Mann.
“Boy, there’s a talented
person.” Taylor says of
Mann, an original
founder of Spirit of the
West, “A helluva decent
guy.

CLASS OF ‘81: rising
star and) country-music
recording artist’ Megan

| Metealf (utterly unas-

MIKE KILLEEN = suming and totally tal-
ented”), and music ar

ringer Scott Harding.

CLASS OF '82: stagecraft expert Ingaborg

“Borya”™ Brown, movie director Corby Fox

and stage actor Mark Weatherley. ,

—- Layne Christensen

LORNE
WHITEHEAD

MARK SAGER