The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The law of averages dictates that if you throw enough labels at something, some will stick. Take Many Faces Education Centre. Graduates and teachers of this innovative high school speak very highly of it, but it's no secret that some in the public aren't so keen. Though there's no consensus, Many Faces detractors generally conclude that the school's student body is limited to: a) Bad kids. b) Dumb kids. c) Lazy kids. d) Bad, dumb AND lazy kids (the very worst kind!). This paints a pretty warped picture of Many Faces as a place where unruly teenagers run rampant and academic standards are paper thin. Not exactly a place you want to visit, is it? There are two problems with such distortions. First, they're so often perpetrated by people who have never set foot inside Many Faces. Second, they're not at all fair. What exactly is Many Faces? It's a non-traditional high school that means different things to different people. There are probably as many reasons to attend as there are students. Some are already in the workforce and can't abide by a rigid attendance schedule. Many appreciate small class sizes and greater one-on-one teacher interaction. A number of them are adults who want an education but aren't crazy about attending class with large groups of teenagers. Others just like the friendly atmosphere. It might astound some people to learn that Many Faces has produced an impressive list of alumni. Grads have gone on to university, entering fields such as education, nursing, and child psychology. Others have written books, joined the RCMP, become municipal officers and miners, and started businesses. Not bad for a bunch of bad, dumb and/or lazy kids. Would all of these people have reached their full potential had they not found a secondary school that suited them? Who knows. Let's just be glad we need not speculate. I can speak from the heart about Many Faces because I am among its more than 270 graduates. Why did I go there? To make a long story short, I needed a second chance. I attended Hapnot Collegiate for the first three years of my high school career, but was a first-class goofer-offer nearly the entire time. It's not that I didn't have the academic ability, I just didn't apply myself. By the end of Grade 11, I finally started to get my act together. The problem was that by then I was missing a wide variety of credits I would need for my diploma. I completed Grade 10 math but not Grade 9 math, and so on. My transcript was a mess. Many Faces offered me a chance to take all the courses I needed without the worry of scheduling conflicts. Better still, as someone who was now approaching voting age, I could study on my own and not have to sit in class with a bunch of 13- and 14-year-olds. I worked hard during my two years at Many Faces. It wasn't an "easy way out," though school certainly feels easier when you're surrounded by teachers who so strongly believe in you. The students got along great and everybody was accepted. I saw neither cliques nor fights, nor much of the other bad stuff that can happen when teenagers are brought together. Yes, there were a handful of nitwits, but such is life. Today, I am fortunate enough to go back to Many Faces on occasion to snap a photo or conduct an interview. Every time I walk through the door I can still feel that camaraderie and caring that makes the school special. Flin Flon is fortunate to have Many Faces. It's not something we should frown upon like some stern nun at a boarding school. Pity that some among us allow rumours and conjecture to shape their opinion of a place they've never visited. Local Angle runs Fridays.
