Blue and White: Haig Life Then and Now

By George Yi

Student Life

Founded in 1928, Earl Haig Secondary School has been the site of countless students’ coming of age. As North York’s premier school, Haig has offered curriculum and supplementary opportunities to artists, athletes, and academics alike. In 1932, the annual publication of the Delphian Yearbook commenced. With the 1982 founding of the Claude Watson Secondary Arts Program,  the school evolved into a hub for student art. In 1996, the Earl Haig building was deconstructed; the only remnant of the old building is the Cringan Hall auditorium, named after Robert (Bob) Cringan, former principal and teacher. The school reopened in 1997 and has become the Haig we know today. This year, Haig turns 97 years old. In honour of its upcoming centennial anniversary, I set out to research the history behind the walls of our beloved school. For the past few months, I’ve conducted extensive research scouring the internet and looking through dozens of Delphian yearbooks from Earl Haig and Toronto Reference Library archives to see what has changed. Here is what I found:

OLD HAIG

IMAGES IN FASHION

Earl Haig once hosted solely student-produced fashion shows with a catwalk, featuring dancers as models, along with visuals, on the Cringan Hall stage. This event has been hosted since 1985, known previously as Images In Fashion or Fashion Design Awards. Previous fashion shows had industry fashion designers and choreographers attend as judges, from Project Runway Canada, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Next Top Model Canada, and more. Combining lighting, sound, visuals, choreography, and design, there is no doubting the dedication and hard work put into these shows. 1989’s Images In Fashion was STEP BY STEP. Proceeds went to Covenant House.

CURRENT HAIG

FASHION EVENT

Currently, Visual Arts Council organizes the annual Fashion Event. This immersive arts night has recently been structured to have visualizers of each designed garment be presented in Cringan Hall, and the second half allow guests to head to the Wave Gallery to view the designers’ outfits and socialize with designers and artists alike.

Past themes for Fashion Event include: Bubble Tea Bling (2018), Dollhouse (2019), Cyberdelia (2022), What On Earth (2023), Next Station Is…(2024)

Previous Fashion Event visualizers:

FASHION EVENT 2023 OFFICIAL FILM:

https://youtu.be/eKWpFTElRFc?si=xmJl6OlT6EgcLmGd 

FASHION EVENT 2024 OFFICIAL FILM:

https://youtu.be/2bxWYpeeczc?si=325DRjVG3TfEuJSq 

OLD HAIG

UNITED WAY WEEK

Earl Haig has hosted its United Way Campaign (today’s Outreach Week) for fundraising festivities and activities for as long as we can remember. United Way Week would typically fall on the last week of October, with Halloween sometimes falling on the same day as Carnival Day. Back then, United Way Week was organized by the United Way Council and ended with a United Way CN Tower Climb.

The previous United Way campaigns included bake sales, a haunted house, a kickoff assembly with dance pieces from the dance majors, music performances, Beavertails, pancakes, henna tattoos from art majors, a dance-a-thon, and, of course, fundraising booths! The last United Way Week was held from Oct 29 to Nov 2nd, 2018. 

CURRENT HAIG

OUTREACH  WEEK

Earl Haig adopted the term Outreach Week to describe its week of fundraising to support a charity organization in 2022. This week ends with the annual Carnival Day, in which first period classes prepare booths to raise money for a chosen organization. This year, we donated to the White Ribbon Campaign Foundation, which combats gender based violence and The Stop, which focuses on food insecurity in Canada.

Outreach Weeks now fall on the first week of December. After two years without Carnival Day due to the pandemic, SAC created a new council called Outreach Committee/Council which collates the Community Representative and Student Advocate to organize community outreach and advocacy initiatives within the school community such as Carnival Day.

OLD HAIG

FRESHMAN  WEEK

Several decades ago, Earl Haig had a whole week dedicated to welcoming new grade nines to the school. Freshman Week included an assembly, the Rookie Rumble, and the Freshman Dance. Activities would be spread throughout the week along with football games and pep rallies to give new Haigers a taste of the student life.

CURRENT HAIG

GRADE NINE ORIENTATION  DAY

Now, grade nines have one day of fun outside on the field during the afternoon, with several field day activities. Some of the past few activities include tug-of-war and musical chairs. This year, Leaders Collective’s Events Committee worked on implementing more non-physical activities to accommodate all students. These activities included Charades and singing the School Song. A few years ago, Haigers also smeared blue and white paint on their face to demonstrate Haig spirit on orientation day!

OLD HAIG

STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTIONS

In May 1981, the annual executive student council elections were held. The exciting events that took place during that campaign week prior to the elections included: poster hanging, campaign speeches, an open forum, and a parade. Finally, after several days of much campaign activity, the votes for 1981-82 were chosen.

CURRENT HAIG

SAC ELECTIONS

Election season at Haig now falls sometime in April, preparing the next up and coming student leaders with a Poster Race campaign and election week ending with an assembly. Student Activity Council (SAC) allows students to apply to run for an executive position on the council and prepare a 1-minute speech for the student body. Candidates have the chance to put up a maximum of 10 posters, handmade, and promote themselves on social media platforms to win over the hearts of students. A position on SAC also means having your own presidential position on a council; ie. The Social Rep leads the Social Committee.

Elected positions are selected by the student body through a google form shortly after the speeches. These positions include: Student Body President, Junior Mayor, Clubs & Councils Rep, Social Rep, Eco Rep, Arts Rep, and SOPSS Rep. 

Alternatively, appointed positions - Vice President, Student Advocate, Multicultural Rep, Community Rep, and Senior Media Masters - are selected by the outgoing and incoming SAC reps in May. Stage Crew Rep and Athletics Rep are selected within their respective councils.

Original Building, Courtesy of Delphian 1956