Glen Greene:
CLASS OF 1982
New Westminster Secondary SchoolClass of 1982
New westminster, BC
Mcpherson Park High SchoolClass of 1980
Burnaby, BC
Seaforth Alternate SchoolClass of 1978
Burnaby, BC
Edmonds Elementary SchoolClass of 1977
Burnaby, BC
12th Avenue SchoolClass of 1977
Burnaby, BC
Glen's Story
Life
Throughout school, I never really had any idea of what I wanted to do after graduation, but I knew that I didn't want to go to school anymore. I had dozens (and dozens) of short-term jobs, doing everything from auto mechanics, warehouse management, and just lumping freight, to designing and building displays for trade shows. In my early 20's, I hitchhiked all over Canada and the western US.
I've been with Master Builders Technologies since 1992: we're a very small part of a very big conglomerate (Degussa), and we make chemicals for ready-mix concrete. I started in Vancouver, and I've worked at our plants in Seattle, Allentown and Cucamonga. In 1999, I was transferred here, to Edmonton, and it's been a bit of a culture shock, trying to adjust. ...especially after 35 years in the same neighbourhood!
My girlfriend lives in Calgary, and we see each other most weekends. We've been friends for almost 20 years, but have only been dating for the last six. She has a daughter, who is 15, and she manages a Shoppers Drug Mart.
I miss Vancouver and am always happy to hear from anyone who remembers me!
School
Kindergarten was first offered, in Burnaby, in 1969-70 but they didn't have it at all schools, so I only attended Twelfth Avenue for one year. After that, I attended Edmonds Elementary until the beginning of grade seven, and I had several long-time friends there, like Pat Kail, and Grant Schabor. Some of the better teachers I had at Edmonds (this doesn't necessarily mean that I appreciated them at the time!) were Linda Haynes, Sue Tatum and Bill Chambers. In grade 7, I had a terribly poor teacher (who shall remain nameless), so I transferred to a new school, a...Expand for more
nd started all over.
Burnaby Lake was an alternate school and I feel that I really excelled in the less structured environment. I gained a lot of self-confidence there, and I learned self-reliance. I often found school to be too easy and boring, so finally I was able to work ahead of my grade level, create my own research projects, and undertake studies outside the school.
I attended grades 9 and 10 at McPherson Park and made some of the best friends I've ever had there, like Dan Thompson and Mike Speicher. I skipped literally hundreds of classes over the two years, and we could usually be found on the back steps of the All Saints Church, or as far away as David Grey Park or Sears. McPherson had some good teachers, like Lloyd Pelech, Bill West and (believe it or not!) Mr. Baillie.
In school, my friends were usually (but not always) the mis-fits, the people who (like me) really weren't interested in school. They didn't care if you had money, or whether or not you were popular, or what you smoked or drank, or if you smoked or drank at all, they were just happy to have someone to hang with, and I always thought that was cool! Unfortunately, they were often the people who dropped out, got thrown out, or just moved on.
When I got to New Westminster Secondary, I had decided to just buckle down, finish my last two years and graduate. As a result, I never really bothered making many friends there, and I know that was my loss, but I knew some really great people at NWSS, and I still keep in touch with a few. I thought New West had some really poor teachers (not trying to offend), but there were some good ones too, like Maurice Knight, Stewart Hyslop and George Hawksworth.
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