Community Spirit


Boarders

he boarders formed a close bond. These students not only went to classes together, but they shared a living space. Whether they had the pink bedspreads of the little girls or the blue ones of the older girls, their closeness was like that of an extended family. Many boarders had a friendly relationship with the day students, and when the Academy stopped taking students to reside at the school in the final years, many were taken in by the families that lived nearby. There were spaces that were restricted to the resident students. In addition to the dorms themselves, the boarders had a lounge upstairs with a television and one on the main floor, which they redecorated themselves in the 1960s, in orange and brown, which was "just gorgeous at the time".

Charity

The kitchen and scullery was on the south side of the school, underneath the chapel area. A soup kitchen was set up by the Sisters, and food was regularly left for men who had fallen on difficult times. They could sit on benches, in a quiet spot, as they ate. Many other activities were organized to assist those in need. The quiet, purposeful manner in which the Sisters went about all their tasks extended to the operation of St. Joseph's Hospital. A genuine interest in the wellbeing of others is what had attracted these women to the order of the Sisters of Saint Ann, and they passed this spirit of charity along to the students.

During the 1950s, a drive was organized to collect clothing for the victims of the Hungarian Revolution. Even when festivities were underway, the girls were encouraged to think of others, and the school Halloween parties were preceded with a neighbourhood canvas for Save the Children. The girls often took it upon themselves to contribute to their communities and assisted mothers in low income housing areas with cleaning and childcare and brightened the days of patients at the hospital with friendly visits. Catherine Manthorpe participated in an offshoot of the choir that sang in local nursing homes during the Christmas season.

Often it was the students themselves that were in need. The very first school prospectus made it clear that a lack of funds would not exclude those who wanted to learn, for providing education for ALL children was the very reason Mother Marie Anne had begun this teaching order. One student who attended the Academy during the 1960s and 70s came from a large family, which made paying tuition difficult. She comments, "There was never any question that they would keep us out if we couldn't pay." The Sisters took the pupils with the full expectation that they might never see the full tuition, but the mother was determined to repay them for their service and the Sisters received their final payment almost twenty years after the school closed.

The closure of St. Ann's Academy, the Novitiate and the Convent brought great sadness. The girls who had to graduate elsewhere were perhaps the most disappointed, and many who had spent most of their lives there were uncertain about the future of their community of Sisters. As one woman put it, "The people are stronger than the building."

With the restoration of St. Ann's other groups are now involved. The Society of the Friends of St. Ann's Academy Victoria, restoration and historic conservation interests, the Province of British Columbia, architects, the B.C. Fruit Testers, the Victoria arts community and many other groups and individuals in Victoria have become involved in rejuvenating the building and grounds, so that the site continues as an important historic landmark.

The Sisters of Saint Ann continue to have a presence in Victoria. Following the closure, a number of uses for the building were proposed. For a time the building was used by various government and community agencies. Concern regarding the future of St. Ann's was raised by several community groups including the St. Ann's Rescue Coalition and the Greater Victoria Concerned Citizens Association.

The Sisters of St. Ann are an active order still residing in Victoria. The Sisters do have a small archives which contains many of the records of St. Ann's Academy.