A Windsor high school is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Walkerville Collegiate Institute on Richmond Street turned 100 on September 5th, 2022.
An anniversary celebration is taking place at the school on May 19 and 20.
Allan Cruickshanks taught at the school in the '70s and was also a principal at the school in the '90s.
He's co-chairing the anniversary celebration and says around 700 people have already registered to attend.
"It's a pretty significant event I think to celebrate 100-years of education to the community," says Cruickshanks.
He says the event includes decade rooms with photos and memorabilia, live entertainment, an assembly, an alumni basketball game and a dinner.
Cruickshanks says the school has always had an excellent reputation as an academic centre.
"Early on it was very strong in athletics as well, some teams won the Western Ontario championships in basketball and I think a couple of other sports," he says.
Cruickshanks says the school became a centre for the creative arts in the '80s.
"It still has in fact a very strong arts program which it had actually before but it was just part of the regular school program," says Cruickshanks. "The centre for the creative arts brought people in from all over Windsor and sometimes actually Essex County."
He believes the school is an educational, arts beacon for the Walkerville community.
"It's pretty significant to have people coming back and it's interesting to hear the comments we get from people, how much Walkerville meant to them in terms of it's inclusiveness, it's acceptance of people and the friendships that they made that still exist to this day 50, 60 years later," says Cruickshanks.
The organizing committee is expecting up to 1,500 people to attend. That includes graduates and former staff members.
An anniversary celebration was planned for last year but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.