Valley Gardens Middle School Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary
Valley Gardens Middle School marked its 50th anniversary with a community celebration on October 23, 2025. Past and present students, teachers, and administrators were in attendance, reminiscing and sharing stories while enjoying a piece of cake and looking at artifacts and photos from the school’s past.
Speakers in the formal program and conversations amongst attendees showed that Valley Gardens is more than just a school building; it is the heart of a community and its roots run deep.
Current principal Brenna Frith opened the evening with land acknowledgements before inviting RETSD superintendent/CEO Sandra Herbst to bring greetings. Sandra had spoken with some current students and shared their thoughts about their Valley Gardens school experiences. Every comment demonstrated that the students believe Valley Gardens is a special place.
Brenna then invited former principal Kai Jacob, who retired earlier in 2025, to give remarks and emcee the rest of the program. Kai grew up within the River East Transcona School Division and started his teaching career at Valley Gardens. Although he did not attend the school as a student, he shared that his wife is a former student who still talks about her time at the school.
“Whenever I even touch a piece of wood,” he said, “she tells me, ‘that’s not how my shops teacher from VG did that.’”
Kai invited another former principal, Carolyn Lintott, to the podium, followed by current guidance counsellor, Jenilee McLarty. Jenilee shared that she grew up in the area, attending John de Graff, Valley Gardens, and Kildonan-East Collegiate. Kai Jacob was one of her teachers at Valley Gardens.
Two groups of students were also invited to the podium to read letters they had written as part of a school project. Earlier in October, students opened the school’s time capsule from 1975, learning a bit about what Valley Gardens was like back then. Students then wrote to Valley Gardens students of the future, sharing the ups and downs of student life in 2025, asking questions of their future counterparts, and making predictions about what they think life might be like for those future students.
The students’ letters are being placed back into the time capsule. Perhaps at the 100th anniversary celebration, students will read the letters from 2025 and let another audience know if today’s students accurately predicted flying cars and robot teachers.
