麻豆视频

Barry Sharpe has been walking down the halls of the Yorkton Regional High School since before the school existed. Back when it was just a pasture, when Sharpe was a child, they would play in the area, and the fairway of a golf course he made for himself roughly aligned with the entry foyer where the school stands today.

That entry foyer has now been named after Sharpe, in recognition of his many contributions to YRHS over the years.

To Sharpe, the recognition is very humbling.

鈥淵ou work, and hope for the best, but when you get something like this it鈥檚 very special.鈥�

Of the many contributions to YRHS over the decades, one of the things that Sharpe was recognized for was spearheading the national leadership conference, which will return to the city in 2020. He admits that in the beginning, he was specifically told that he should try to avoid hosting any conference at the school, since they knew Yorkton was going to get pressured to host the provincial conference in two years time.

鈥淚 snuck in the back and made sure I snuck into my chair.鈥�

He agreed to take it on if North Battleford couldn鈥檛 get approval for the conference from their school board. Thinking they were safe, he agreed, but then North Battleford couldn鈥檛 do it. The next year, then Premier Grant Devine spoke at the Weyburn conference, and when asked what the province could do for the International Year of the Youth, where he suggested they could take the student conference national. Sharpe later got provincial funding for the conference as a result, and it quickly took off, though there were challenges.

鈥淎ll of a sudden, to get people to come to Yorkton for a national conference, no airport here... It was a challenge, it was, but we had 1,000 students here, it turned out really well, and it took off... It鈥檚 become a great thing across the country.鈥�

One of the unique things about YRHS is the sheer number of students who return to the school as teachers 鈥� including Sharpe鈥檚 own son Roby, as well as principal Mike Haczkewicz, who Sharpe suggested run for SRC president back in his student days. Sharpe said that it鈥檚 a great example of what makes YRHS a school that the city can be proud to call its own.

鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing, a lot of schools, the students leave and they never want to come back again. When you look and you see 28 students have come back to teach here, and 18 support staff, that鈥檚 unbelievable.鈥�

To Haczkewicz, it has been a priority of his to start recognizing people who have contributed to the school and the community, so they wanted to recognize what Sharpe has done, and continues to do, for YRHS. He notes that while theoretically retired, Sharpe still shows up at school decked out in orange to help when they need it and gather the superannuated teachers to pitch in.

鈥淔or him to see this happen in his lifetime I think was huge. It means an awful lot, he鈥檚 touched so many hearts and so many people and continues to.鈥�