A.M.H.S. student reunite, reminisce

Calgary

It was an unusual weekend, Aug. 30-Sept. 1. Two hundred-and-ninety-six adults got together to remember what it was like to be teenagers for a few years sometime between 1946 and 1964. They were students then in a school that today no longer exists, on a place that today nobody would recognize for what it once was, of which the only remnants are the memories of the participants. They came together at Dalhousie MB Community Church in Calgary to celebrate, to commemorate, and to praise God for His faithfulness. They were the students and the staff of the Alberta Mennonite High School open from 1946 to 1964 in Coaldale, Alta.

Eight private high schools were built in Canada primarily by Mennonite immigrants who came to Canada over the three-year period between 1926 and 1929. AMHS was one of them. They came out of a unique physical separation from the world in the old country into a new world where physical separation was no longer an option. They wanted their youth to be equipped for life in this new world, wanted young men and women who should be able to express the Anabaptist views of their fathers before governments and authorities, wanted their young people to become "good people with a genuine faith who would not be a source of shame to their community".

Parents and concerned supporters decided to build a school in Coaldale. To that end they made incredible sacrifices in both time and personal lifestyle. They paid a great price in order that their children should have qualified teachers who would instruct from a biblical perspective, instill values and help students find meaning and purpose as they learned to integrate life and faith. They were willing to do it. They believed in their mission.

Did they succeed? Sitting around banquet tables Saturday night were nurses, doctors, dentists, teachers, accountants, farmers, wage earners, politicians, business owners, engineers and more. Yet in the biographical sketches the things mentioned most frequently were 1. the effect of the teachers, 2. the significant and lasting friendships, 3. the spiritual emphasis, 4. the cultural aspects, the singing and the dramas, and lastly, as if of least significance, 5. academics. Even with students seeing academics as the least important aspect of their stay in the school, their marks in the Provincial Departmental Exams were usually in the upper 10-15% of the province. Obviously one lesson was learned. It is more important what you become than what you accomplish. Heartfelt words of gratitude to Board members, teachers and parents were spoken. It was very clear that most felt they would not be where they are today had it not been for those precious years in AMHS.

Helga Loewen, Edmonton

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