Terry Fox Elementary officially opened its doors on January 28th, 1983. The opening ceremony was accompanied by Terry Fox’s parents, Rolly and Betty Fox.
Fun Fact No.1!
Terry Fox has been honored in quite a few places. There are 15 highways and streets, 14 schools and 1 mountain all named after him!
The Timeline of Creating Terry Fox Elementary
June 16, 1982: Babich Street in Abbotsford (formally known as Matsqui) was receiving a new school. At a School District 34 board meeting, trustees had proposed to name the school Terry Fox and voted to accept the name. They could only move forward with the name if they were able to be granted permission from Terry’s parents Rolly and Betty. The board also needed the approval from the Canadian Cancer Society, the agency governing use of Fox’s name. In addition to the discussion of naming the school, trustees also discussed holding a “Terry Fox Run” to coincide with opening the new school in the fall, if the name had been approved.
June 26, 1982: The School District Trustees made the decision to delay the opening of the new elementary school–the construction was to be complete by September– by waiting to push staffing until January. 138 concerned parents spoke against the decision by signing a petition opposing the delay. The parents believed that having students move into the new school mid-year would cause affect in their learning and over-crowding in other elementary schools. The petition resulted in the reversal of the school districts decision. The distract had made it possible to go ahead with the reversal because of the savings made by closing Peardonville Elementary and adjusting the staff and the school could proceed with its original opening date.
Fun Fact No.2!
On July 7th 1982, the school district had received permission from Terry’s parents for their son’s name to be used to name the new school! The School District did not come up with the idea of using Terry Fox’s name, it was actually a suggestion that had come from a parent living in the Babich area.
Nov 10, 1982: The school opening had continued to experience major delays from its original opening date in September. A construction strike in the summer months had set the opening schedule back FIVE weeks! The staff had also discovered that the general contractor for the school had financial difficulties. While the district lawyers negotiated with the contractor, it had placed the building process another SEVEN weeks behind schedule. As they were preparing to open the new school, students would be moving from Phillip Sheffield, John Maclure, Margaret Stenersen and Abbotsford Elementary.
Fun Fact No.3!
The opening of the school had also been delayed from its original opening date due to a mishap in the creation of the Terry Fox statue. The creator of the statue had created Terry Fox missing the wrong leg
Sources Used For This Page:
Fred Fox, Terryfox.org, abbyschools.ca, Abbotsford News (from the Reach Archives), and Angela Magnon