New West's old N-Dub gets a goodbye

Despite the pandemic, New Westies far and wide are getting the chance to say their goodbyes to the old New Westminster Secondary School (NWSS) building.

Beginning with the building of Vincent Massey Junior High in 1949, and followed by the merging of the former with Lester Pearson Senior High in 1966, today it’s the only high school in New Westminster. It’s also considered one of the largest in the province.

A group of determined alumni realized they wouldn’t be able to say their farewells at an in-person event due to COVID-19, so they created a video to mark the occasion. Part of the work included creating a GoFundMe to help raise funds for not-for-profit NewWest.tv to put it together.

“There was an announcement for the closure of the old school, and that the new one was almost built, and we said, ‘what are we going to do?’ We have to say goodbye to this wonderful, historic, majestic piece of history that’s been part of New Westminster for decades,” says Karen Klein.

Klein was a student at the school, and is now the director of the school’s International Education Program. She and a number of others with ties to NWSS – a parent advisory council president and a school board trustee – decided to approach the superintendent about some kind of send-off.

“The superintendent said, ‘you should start something,’ and I said, ‘yes, I’d love to!’ And so we did.”

The ‘Farewell NWSS’ Tour clocks in at a little more than two hours, but includes stories from staff and students in different decades. There are even some famous faces, like New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian, West Vancouver Mayor Mary-Ann Booth, and Metro Vancouver's Chief Administrative Officer Jerry Dobrovolny - all photographed from left to right, below.

From potential hauntings at the school to field trips stateside, the video highlights the rich history of NWSS. There is also a walkthrough of the old building, along with a slideshow of pictures,to allow people to take multiple trips down memory lane. The main video has upwards of 20 people participating in interviews. Some of the photos came from the school, but there are also contributions from the New Westminster Museum and Archives.

“The thing about having one high school in the city is that people don’t move around,” explains Klein. “So, we have teachers who taught for 30, 40 years in the same building.”

With a smile, Klein remembers the contributions of Doug Woodward, who, as Klein puts it, ended up teaching at the school for over 40 years. Another current teacher, Klein says, has also spent 40 years with NWSS – and is still there.

As we walked through the old grounds, Klein noted how tough it is to say goodbye.

“It was really a sad day when we moved over to the new school, but it was also a proud day. It was bittersweet, because you’re saying goodbye to an old friend, in a way. As a student, it’s a piece of your history, a piece of your childhood. As an employee, it’s like, ‘okay, we need to move into a safer building!’”

As we look at some of the spaces, Klein points to the old Massey Cafeteria, where she says she “ate many a french fry” as a student. She wonders what happened to the school’s rooftop apiary, and hopes that the bees that used to live there are doing okay.

Plans are still being figured out for some of the grounds as abatement continues. One of the options includes a memorial garden, which Klein says would include input from the Qayqayt and Coast Salish Peoples.

The new NWSS building opened to students, teachers and staff in January of last year.