Year of 1974 Class 4 - Photo from 1966

I remember when the old primary block was the new primary block, moving in in grade 6 (Mr. Woodruff). I spent two years in that attic room with Mr. Barnett, and had a similar experience of tumbling down the stairs (although these were the back stairs by the washroom) and having the container of asparagus soup I was carrying land on my head. Ouch! Remember soup and berlingos of milk, and paper placemats on our desks?

In grade 4 I had Mr Barnett, and was held back so I had him again the following year. He was a great teacher, and two memories stand out. One were his times table drills, where we would gather on the floor behind the blackboard in the attic room in the old primary block, and he would begin. "3 times 6 is..." followed by three taps with his ruler. "8 times 6 is..." Three more taps, and so on. The other thing was that grade four was the year you could "graduate" into writing in ink. Mr. Barnett had a rose stamp, and when your work in pencil was deemed neat enough, you got one. Collect 10 I think it was, and you could start using ink. In two years, I don't think I ever collected more than 5 (thank God for word processors!) but in the final term of the second year, Mr. Barnett allowed me to write in ink anyway. My first forays into the joys of fountain pens don't bear repeating here!

Harry Albright

The great Mr. Barnett, whom I had in 4th grade, seems to whizz around between Geneva and Australia in his retirement.

Mr. Barnett's rose stamps! Absolutely - the thrill of graduating to the fountain pen!

Jenny Hunt '83

Mr Barnett remains in my memory as a comical character in his performances with the Geneva Amateur Dramatic Society in panto (does anyone except the Brits understand this concept?!) and of course, as my good friend Siobhan's father... by the way, Dean, the youngest sister Kirsty was a genius on the violin and is now a musician in the States with her husband. (Karen is married in Australia and Siobhan is in Geneva with her husband and two daughters.)

Melanie d'Heureuse

I do remember Mr. Barnett. Though he was never my teacher, his personality and presence was such that I remember him very well. He organised a short play acted by his class. I think it was based on Greek methology because the last scene was Cupid shooting an arrow through a heart. The whole play was video taped and then shown to the entire grade.

Mughees Husain

Mr. Barnett was still there in 89, I believe. He taught 3rd grade and I remember learning times tables having just transferred from 2nd grade in Illinois. He'd walk around the room chanting;
1 times 1 is 1
1 times 2 is 2 and so on and we'd repeat after him...a classic experience.

I also remember that he taught us to fold paper to make a right angle out of a scrap with no corners That was exciting to a 3rd grader, anyway.

Michelle Scott

Siobhan's message about her dad's Super 8 films brings back the time when Miss Rushton's class teamed up with Peter Barnett's to make an epic film about fifth graders who were mysteriously disappearing. They accomplished the amazing feat of having a long line of 11 year-olds hold perfectly still, while one by one they disappeared from the picture. No doubt special effects have come along way since then, although thankfully children have stayed pretty much the same.

Richard McMullen

I was somewhat of a "ruffian" while in school. I remember doing a lot of things that I regret doing. I even remember Mr. Barnett grabbing me by the hair after shooting him in the nose with a rubber band (on accident of course, although never went to trial).

Derek Thomas

Year of 1995 Class 4 - Photo from 1987