With report cards in hand, sisters Kaneisha Johns and Jaylyn Pelletier-Lerat are happy to complete their school year at Scott Collegiate for the final time.

“Just thinking about the school going to be gone, it touches my heart because we have a lot of good memories in the school,” said Johns, who will be a Grade 12 student in September.

“It’s a really good school, so it’s pretty great here, I like it here,” added Pelletier-Lerat, who will be in Grade 10 in the fall.

After 94 years, Scott Collegiate high school, is closing its doors and will soon face the wrecking ball in in July.

Over the years, the school has seen many changes, including the addition of the auditorium, the gymnasium, the art department and the community centre.

The school also had many visitors, including Prince Charles in 2001 and former premier Allan Blakeney also gifted the school with a headdress given to him by the Cote First Nation.

Shannon Fayant has been the principal of Scott Collegiate for the past four years. She says although the move into the new Mamaweyatitan Centre is bittersweet, she believes it’s time.

“The heating in the building is very much probably like it was in 1923. Very hot; very cold; very hot; very cold. Many students had to wear their jackets in the classrooms or we would have to relocate students because they were too hot. Our students deserve betters and it’s time for us to go into a building where we can regulate the heat; we are able to drink water from the fountains,” said Fayant.

Rob Deglau attended school at Scott Collegiate from 1972 to 1976. He also helped organize a school reunion which brought together past students from around the world.

“A lot of students got to see the new Mamaweyatitan Centre so they realized the school isn’t gone. It’s just going to be reborn,” said Deglau.

Deglau remembers a time when the parking lot was full of hotrods and friendly competition.

“Competition with the south end school and you gotta remember back when this school started, there was only one or two schools so there was really that rivalry,” added Deglau.

Elmer Martinez has been a caretaker of Scott Collegiate for the past three years. Both Martinez and Fayant say with Scott Collegiate being Regina’s oldest school, there have also been many ghost sightings.

Both have stories of figures moving in the auditorium, classrooms and hallways. Lights flickering on and off in rooms. People hearing a piano play in the empty auditorium, unrecognizable voices being heard from the other side of a door and chairs falling down by themselves.

“At the beginning (of working here) I can feel something but now I am use to it so I am not really scared,” said Martinez.

“There are always some stories that come up and people mention or talk about. Anywhere from somebody hearing somebody blow a whistle in the auditorium, hearing footsteps in the gymnasium and no one is there or music coming on by itself,” added Fayant.

Fayant says many held back tears during the last graduation ceremony and while the building will be gone, she is proud of the memories and life lessons made within Scott Collegiate walls. Like the student’s organizing the Scott Collegiate graduation powwow at First Nations University and the importance of cultural teachings.

“The students held the tobacco up and put prayers within those tobacco ties and they knew exactly what to do and why they’re doing it so to me, that was probably one of my… ‘we have come a long way in for years’ moments,” said Fayant.

For Johns and Pelletier-Lerat, they can’t wait to be in their new school.

“I haven’t seen it yet, I heard we have two gyms in there!” said Johns with a smile.

“It’s not only going to be a school, it’s going to be a public place so more people are going to be there so I think it’s going to be good,” added Pelletier-Lerat.

Some parts and pieces will be saved for the school but once Scott Collegiate comes down, the space will become the new playing field where new memories will be made for future generations.