W.L. McLeod preserves school history with photo digitization project

This summer, WL McLeod Elementary Principal Libby Hart and her team undertook a significant project to preserve and digitize historical school photos dating back 40 years. The initiative is a nostalgic nod to the school's past, which was originally known as Vanderhoof Elementary.

Hart explained that the team collected and scanned over four decades' worth of photographs that had been stored in deteriorating frames.

When the school hallways were painted a few years ago, all these old photos had to be removed and were in the storage ever since, Hart said.

"We decided to not put the pictures back up, just because they were getting very old and sometimes falling apart in very old wooden frames and broken glass," she said. A lot of these pictures date back to 1960. 

Hart personally disassembled the frames and scanned the pictures into a comprehensive photo archive. The digitized photos have been transformed into a Power Point movie, which will be shared on the school's website for alumni to enjoy.

"So we now have this movie of pictures that we've had at McLeod from people that went here since they were little kids,” Hart said.

Hart emphasized the importance of these photos for community engagement and nostalgia. When the pictures were on the wall, visitors at events like the Christmas concert, open houses, or while visiting their grandchildren would always stop to admire them, she said.

"So we knew how important the photos were and that they needed to not just stay in storage, that they need to be shared. And this seemed like a good way to do it.”

Hart said the school looks forward to reconnecting with its alumni through this new online gallery, celebrating decades of history and memories.

McLeod Photo Archive can be viewed on the school website at wlm.sd91.bc.ca/PhotoArchive