Katherine Carmichael says Grandma Mary Sharapura was full of praise for McCrea for the help she and other new students received from him when he was principal at McFadden Public School.
As reported by Hot As Algoma District School Board announced the names of famous people for new schools, Sault’s Katherine Carmichael recalled how school teacher Anna McCrea helped her grandmother Mary Sharapura (Kuchira) adjust to life in Canada when I was a student and teenager. resident of Ukraine
Anna McCrea Public School, on Mark Street, on the eastern edge of town, was named after a local educator in the early 20th century.
Carmichael works as an ADSB teaching assistant and Anna McCrea works part-time at a public school.
He said he knew that his grandmother, who came to Sault Ste., learned from Anna McCrea. Maria from Ukraine attended McFadden School with her family.
“My sister and I attended Ann McCrea Public School for a few years, and my grandmother was always full of stories and praise for many things built in Ste Sault, which often brought up the person of Mary and Ann McCrea.
A week before Sharapura’s death, Carmichael was working at Ann McCrea’s, where he saw a large photo of McCrea and remembered how he helped his grandmother when she couldn’t speak English.
“He always said, ‘Tell your kids,’ and he believed that he didn’t want to change the name of the school, and Anna McCrea helped so many immigrant families.”
Sharapura said that Carmichael McCrea was a humble, kind, soft-spoken, knowledgeable teacher who was very generous to children.
“I remember the last hours I could see my grandmother; He was holding her hand and talking about Anna McCrea. It was incredible.
Sharapura began attending McFadden Public School in the city setting in 1923 as an immigrant from Ukraine at the age of 12.
McCrea was the principal of McFadden Public School.
Sharapura said Carmichael McFadden School is difficult for McCrea because many of its students are immigrants from Croatia, Italy, Russia and Ukraine with varying degrees of proficiency in the English language.
McCrea pushed some of the children and was often invited to his students’ homes for dinner.
Carmichael said Sharapura recalled that under McCrea’s leadership, McFadden Public School had one of the best outdoor skating rinks in the city, adding that not only the school’s custodians but also its students and parents should preserve it as a source of neighborhood pride.
Carmichael said Sharapura liked the Sault Ste. Mary’s public school board named the school after McCrea in 1956.
Born in 1879, McCrea was appointed superintendent of McFadden Public Schools in 1914.
He encouraged his students to finish school and play in the gym, going the extra mile to provide all the necessary support for his students, such as glasses if needed, going to YMCA summer camps, feeding them during the Great Depression. 1930
In 1942, he left his job as principal at McFadden Public School to work as a clerk at Central School.
Anna McCrea died on July 9, 1943 after a short illness.
Many of his disciples fondly remember him.
Maria Sharapura died on October 13, 2008 at the age of 98.
Carmichael said he has seen many new Canadians in local schools in recent years born from Ukraine who fled the ongoing war in that country.
His grandmother shared memories with him from his days as an immigrant boy as a student at McFadden Public School.
“It seems like deja vu. Anna McCrea was a great role model for men and women in academia,” Carmichael said.
