Strathroy District Collegiate Institute

Strathroy District Collegiate Institute (SDCI) is one of two secondary schools in Strathroy, Ontario. It is a public high school in the Thames Valley District School Board. It has approximately 1350 students and 86 teachers. The students come from the local township of Strathroy-Caradoc as well as Mount Brydges and surrounding rural areas. SDCI offers a full academic program to a wide variety of students. They have a very strong School-To-Work program, and it continues to become more common to enrolling students.They also offer full programs in business and computers, technology, music, drama, visual arts, family studies and co-operative education. More information about their academic and athletic programs are available at their [http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/Strathroy/main/index.htm website.]

A new facility was opened in the fall of 2002 in a unique shared building with the Catholic school Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School. The two schools share some facilities, including the 4 gyms, the library, the cafetorium, the auditorium, computer labs, technology labs, and various other classrooms, while also maintaining completely separate schools.

The new SDCI

On September 3, 2002 over 1000 students, staff and alumni walked with the director, Bill Bryce from the old school site at 96 Kittridge Street some 3.2 kilometres to the new building at 361 Second Street. They walked behind a huge student made banner declaring that “SDCI LIVES ON".

In honour of its alumni, SDCI has named three of its classrooms after famous graduates. Two history classrooms, room 249 and 247, have been named after Sir Arthur Currie and James T. Shotwell. The music room has been named after Don Wright.

During the 2004-2005 school year, three portable classrooms were brought to SDCI. To this date, there are 14 portables on site, making SDCI the school with the most portables in the board. After 2 years of lobbying, Strathroy was granted an addition, to be completed by January 2008. Construction started on November 13, 2006 at two different sites. The north addition was opened to students on November 5, 2007, and has 14 academic classrooms, as well as a newly renovated existing wing to accommodate SDCI's growing developmental program. The other addition includes a new gym, a greenhouse, and specialty rooms for hospitality and technology. Many of the portables at the school are now not used, for the exception of "PLC" classrooms during lunch hours.

Alumni

*Arthur Currie - Canadian General during World War I
*Dr. "Susie" Carson - first woman doctor to graduate with first class honours in Ontario (1888)
*James T. Shotwell - Author of the Labour provisions in the Treaty of Versailles
*Stephen Leacock - Student teacher at the High Street campus of SDCI for three months in 1888 - see: "The Boy I Left Behind Me", S. Leacock (1936)
* Darryl Campbell - Former professional hockey player. [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=00026683]
*Brian Campbell - Currently an NHL defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks and member of the 1999 Canadian World Junior Championships silver medal winning team.
*Andy McDonald - 2000 Hobey Baker Award Finalist, NHL All-Star and 2007 Stanley Cup Champion. Currently a centre for the St. Louis Blues of the NHL.
* Mark Shephard - 43rd round draft-pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1994 draft. [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/draft/los-angeles-dodgers-1994.shtml]
* Chris Daw - Gold medalist at the 2006 Paralympic Games in Turin, Italy; bronze medalist at the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea;. Daw was once considered the fastest wheelchair athlete in the world. [http://www.lfpress.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=121572&x=articles&s=olympics]
* Kris Pearn - Story Artist and Conceptual Artist at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Formerly a Conceptual Artist and Character Designer at Fox Feature Animation Studios. Resume includes features such as Around the World in 80 Days, Titan A.E., and Africa. [http://www.banffcentre.ca/programs/85_bnmi/2005/boarding/boarding.pdf#search=%22%22Kris%20Pearn%22%22] Kris also taught 'Character Design' at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario.
*Janaya Stephens - film actress prominently featured in the Left Behind series of films as Chloe Steele.