DRAYTON – Grade 4 and 5 students in Mount Forest are celebrating this week as the Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) has chosen the name they suggested for a new elementary school in Drayton.
Saint Martin of Tours was the name proposed by a Grade 3/4 class at St. Mary Catholic School in Mount Forest last school year.
It is also the name of the Roman Catholic Church in Drayton.
Trustees voted unanimously for the name during an Oct. 6 board meeting.
The school is expected to open in 2026, with space for 222 students and 64 day care children from Mapleton and Minto.
According to a proposal from the students, “St. Martin was a kind, wise and humble man.
“He is most famous for cutting his cloak in half and giving half to a beggar,” the students stated in a report about the school’s name.
“He dedicated his life to helping the poor and standing for what is right … He showed great love for others, even strangers.”
The board has been working on determining a name for the new school since April, when a naming committee had its first meeting.
The committee included a trustee, a parish priest, two senior administrators, principals from nearby schools, student senators, a parent and a community member.
In May, the committee met to review 26 names suggested by the community and used a scoring matrix to narrow it down to the top-four options.
These four options were Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Saint Phillip Neri, Saint Teresa of Calcutta and Saint Martin of Tours.
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was proposed by a WCDSB employee who said “given the continued journey of Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples here in Canada, I feel naming the school after the first Native American Saint would be a fitting and important gesture.”
Saint Phillip Neri was proposed by a parent whose children will attend the Drayton school, who said Neri was the patron saint of joy and laughter, and Drayton is known for Drayton Entertainment, which brings “a lot of joy to the community.”
Saint Teresa of Calcutta was proposed by a WCDSB employee because Saint Teresa “dedicated her life to help the sick, the hungry, the homeless and those that were unloved and uncared for.”
In September, director of education Mike Glazier met with Bishop of the Diocese of Hamilton Douglas Crosby, who “thought that all the names were excellent,” as did the board’s executive council, the report states.
Superintendent Betty Farrell said all four names “would be a great inspiration to students and future staff there.
“We had a lot of discussion and it really was a difficult choice.”
She said the biggest factor in selecting Saint Martin for the school’s name was student input.
Farrell also noted historical significance of the name, calling it a “nod to the past people of the Drayton area because they are the ones that named their church.
“We thought that if they had the money at the time to build a school, likely they would have named it Saint Martin of Tours.”
Prior to the decision, Glazier said a group of St. Mary students approached him during a cross country meet to ask if the board would pick their selection for the name.
When he told them their proposal had made the top four, Glazier said “they were over the moon.
“They told me stories about all the work they had put into it and what they learned about Saint Martin of Tours,” including him giving his cloak to someone in need.
Trustee Vikki Dupuis said, “Saint Martin is credited as the first conscientious objector in all of history,” in addition to being the patron saint of the poor, soldiers, tailers and wine makers.
“So that pretty much covers it,” she said with a laugh from the other trustees.
