St. Matthew High School (Orleans, Ontario)

Infobox Education in Canada
name= St. Matthew Catholic High School


imagesize=
motto= "PEOPLE TOGETHER WITH PURPOSE"
motto_translation=
streetaddress= 6550 Bilberry Drive
city= Orleans
province= Ontario
postalcode= K1C 2S9
schoolnumber=
schoolboard= Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board
affiliation=
superintendent= Brent Wilson
trustee= Steven Blais
principal= Christopher Mes
viceprincipal= Marcy Cooper, Peter Embleton, Don Murphy
administrator=
schooltype= Catholic high school
grades= 7 to 12
feeders=
language= English
area= Ottawa
mascot= Tiger
teamname= Tigers
colours= Yellow, Black
founded= 1981
enrollment= approx 1400
enrollment_as_of= 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 [ [http://www.orleansonline.ca/pages/N2004042401.htm Orleans Online | Local News] ] .

History

St. Matthew Catholic HighSchool opened in 1981, it waswithout a formal name. Not untilJune 1982, was the school officially named“St. Matthew” after the writer of one of thefour Gospels of the New Testament.

The school opened on September 1,1981, with about 300 students. In its firstyear of existence, it was affectionatelyknown by its first principal, Joseph Ryan, as“the far eastern school.” It was built by thefirm Kearney and Coles with Edward Cuhacias the architect, on property on BilberryDrive in Orléans, straddling two sides ofBilberry Creek. The school’s first yearbookwas entitled, perhaps appropriately,EMANON which is “NO NAME” spelledbackwards. It did have a name but since itwas the wordy “Eastern Area ElementaryJunior High School,” it was, in a sense,nameless. This all changed at the officialopening on June 16, 1982, when it wasformally named “St. Matthew Catholic HighSchool.”The school underwent twoexpansions over the years to accommodatean ever-growing student population, whichpeaked at close to 1,800 students. In 1985,the first phase of a two-part expansion tookplace, adding a number of classrooms. Thiswas followed by a second extension in 1987that included more classrooms, specialtyareas such as an automotive shop, musicroom, drama room and art room and asecond gymnasium/cafeteria. Theconstruction of St. Peter Catholic HighSchool in 1992 provided spaces for somestudents previously at St. Matthew,relieving some of the enrolment pressures atthe school.

Bear Hug

Bear Hug 1

This event was documented in the 2005 editionof the Guinness Book of World Records. On April 23, 2004,St. Matthew Catholic High School made itinto the Guinness Book of World Recordswith the world’s largest bear hug, anendeavour led by school Principal AndréPotvin and an achievement which resultedin June 9, 2004 being officially declared“St. Matthew High School Day” by OttawaMayor Bob Chiarelli. The world’s largestbear hug involved 5,117 students huggingfor ten seconds. This world record was tiedin with the school’s fundraising for cancer, asstudents and staff, with the support of localbusinesses 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 forcancer fundraising by a high school.

Bear Hug 2

Under the leadership of St. Matthew High School, Ottawa planned to be home to the largest bear hug on April 25, 2008. The plan was to break the Guinness Book of World Records for a second time. They had several thousand students hugging for over 20 seconds to break the current record held by the citizens of New Mexico (6,553). They also raised funds in support of cancer research for a second time. However, They were unsuccessful in breaking the record.

Other Achievements/Programs

St. Matthew High School hasbecome widely known for both its academicand athletic accomplishments. The wholespectrum of academic achievements hasflowed from St. Matthew High School overthe years, ranging from computer science togeography, public speaking, mathematics,science and writing. The school has anextensive cooperative education programinvolving numerous business partners whoaccept co-op students for field placements.

Drama

St. Matthew has mounted a longlist of annual drama productions., starting in1986-87 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), Go Ask Alice (2006), Get Smart (2007), Twelfth Night (2007) and Alice In Wonderland (2008), Peter Pan (in progress) (2008)

Director: Allan Macdonald a.k.a. Big Mac

Sports

The school’s two gymnasiums proudlydisplay banners representing championshipswon in numerous sports, and at variouslevels, including the provincial level. Thesports programs extend not just tointerscholastic play but also to intramuralactivities where St. Matthew has an activeand full program. The annual Bill WrenBasketball Tournament, named after ateacher who died of cancer, draws highschool teams from across the area. In thesummer of 2006, a new wooden gym floorwas installed at St. Matthew.

Identity

Logo

The school logo is a cross insidean oval, with four symbols, one in eachquadrant formed by the cross. The foursymbols are a quill representing writing,a book representing reading, a flamerepresenting the spirit of sport and foldedhands representing prayer. The name“St. Matthew” is on a banner at the bottomof the logo.

Mascot

The school mascot is a tiger.Team NamesAll St. Matthew sports teams arecalled Tigers, symbolizing speed,ferociousness and the ability to dominateand win over other teams, no matter what.

Cheer

The main school cheer is “Go,Tigers, Go!”

References

External links

* [http://www2.occdsb.on.ca/ OCCSB site]
* [http://www2.occdsb.on.ca/mth/ St. Matthew High's Official Website]
* [http://www.nufn.co.nr NUFN Official Website]