As this school year comes to a close, and with students missing crucial in-person time at the school, I wanted to take a moment to journey all throughout the Martingrove lifestyle. Here is a recounting of all the little, unique features that fill the school with life and personality, making it a vibrant and interesting place.
Chapter 1: The Timeless Opportunities for Thrill Seeking and Spiritual Enlightenment:
As we all know, Martingrove’s in-person classes begin at 8:45 in the morning. In fact, a couple years back, the school even had its own standard time, independent from geolocation, where all of the clocks in the school were set 2 minutes ahead of the rest of Ontario. Whether or not this was intentional, it definitely made getting to school in the morning an even more adventurous affair…
There are often those people who arrive at school with 5 minutes left to rush to their locker and then to class. The excitement of living on the edge when arriving late to school helps wake them up in the morning.
Now, if you do happen to arrive late, you must go through a humbling ritual of standing still in the hallway, facing the uncanny smile of the supervising teacher during the playing of O Canada. In a way, this makes for a bit of spiritual enlightenment. The national anthem echoing throughout the vestibule and the murmuring of fellow students creates an almost serene atmosphere, prone to inner self-reflection. Many students were there once, standing in shame, repenting their tardy crimes, asking Marty the Bear for forgiveness and most importantly, hoping for enough strength to make it to class before the matinal announcements finish and they are marked late.
Chapter 2: The Local Food Hotspots
One of the focal points of the MCI morning rush is the large amounts of delicious breakfast snacks. Many will be familiar with the world-famous MCI Cheese Bread©, fruits, Melba toast, cheerio packages, and straight-up loaves of bread that sit in the office hallway, constantly eyed and picked up by the students throughout the day. Some may have heard of the school’s cafeteria where you can buy a hearty meal at lunch. We also cannot forget about our local Metro or Tim Horton’s. But did you know that Martingrove used to have its own school snack store… and even a hot dog stand?
Oh, dearest Bear’s Den, you are still missed! The school’s widely famous snack store had to close down in 2017. But before it met an untimely end, it lived a glorious life. Pop, chips, and chocolate galore, Bear’s Den held everything needed for a Martingrove student to fuel themselves during the day. Situated in the booth in the southwest corner of the school’s foyer, the colourful tint of the snack packaging attracted many Bears hoping to satisfy their sweet tooth. Soon after, the Bears became bees, as the sugar highs asserted their dominance, and students began to buzz around the school, making for a vibrant afternoon.
I would be remiss not to mention our beloved Jerry, who animated and lit up the front of the school every lunch when he arrived to sell his wonderful hot dogs and beverages. Lines formed in front of him even longer than those for Bear’s Den, stretching from the street all the way back to the school’s doors. Unfortunately, at the same time as the banning of Bear’s Den, Jerry’s presence in front of MCI became a memory. However, we have been informed by a trusty source that he was seen outside another high school in Toronto, bringing happiness to new faces.
Chapter 3: The Secret Math Textbook Office
MCI has a second story, but do you know just how big it really is? We all assume it ends with the classrooms. However, if you can get your hands on a map of the school, you’ll see that on the east side of the second floor, behind the photocopier room is a seemingly unsuspecting door. Little did we know that the math textbook storage room was looming right behind it.
Now, this would not be a very interesting part of Martingrove if it was just a regular old storage room, however our sources have managed to find a copy of the school’s floor plan. They have found out that the Math textbook room happens to be huge. It makes you wonder if there are really that many textbooks to store in there…
We here at the Beacon have a connection to an investigative journalist who was able to get a glimpse on the inside. According to them, it was filled with rows and rows of intimidating textbooks, but they insist that this is a cover-up. Our connection had with them a radiation detector which reported traces of Hawking’s radiation deeper in the room. We here at the Beacon have reasons to believe that secret research projects are currently taking place in MCI’s math textbook room that study the nature of gravity in an effort to create a wormhole to a different universe. Knowing how heavy most of the math textbooks are, this does not seem far off.
Chapter 4: The Best Parts of the Music Hallway
We shall not forget the Strings and Band rooms with the memorabilia on the walls, pictures of generations and generations of virtuoso students and competition trophies won year after year by the pupils of Mr. Stoica, Ms. McAskill and, in the future, pupils of Ms. Chang.
There is something inspiring in the way the instruments line up along the walls like well-trained soldiers. The old piano tells stories of students playing Fur Elise during impromptu concerts during breaks between rehearsals. Mr. Stoica’s bubble gum dispenser sat in the corner of the strings room, always mysteriously filled in.
Next door is the auditorium, a witness of glorious Winter and Spring concerts, galas, and ceremonies year after year for welcoming new students, graduations, and commencements. Walking now on the eery silent hallways one could imagine hearing the cheerful voices of generations and generations of teenagers full of hopes and dreams who coloured the walls and ceilings with their liveliness.
Chapter 5: The Fitting Meaning of MCI’s Motto
What would a recounting of all things MCI be without mentioning our school’s windowless nature? Window jokes have become a centerpiece in the Martingrove lore. Many origin stories have been created detailing how the school’s unique architecture came to be. Some say the lack of windows was meant as a way of conserving heat during the Torontonian winters. Others claim the school was once used as a bunker during the war. One of our very own Beacon writers has written an article about one of MCI’s most interesting origin stories that you can check out.
The truth is that Martingrove is a special school regardless of the building architecture. There are fabulous teachers and support staff who are diligently opening windows in students’ minds to create, to discover, to see the world from different perspectives, and to soar to the sky. Throughout my time at the school, I have met people with creative and vibrant personalities, and I have seen active, welcoming clubs and teams. Altogether, it makes the school stand out because of the hard work and talent of its amazing students and teachers. This is what truly gives life to our school motto: Lumen in Vobis Est - “The Light is Within You!”