A. N. Myer Secondary School | |
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Address | |
6338 O'Neil Street , , Canada | |
Coordinates | 43°07′18″N 79°06′11″W / 43.12167°N 79.10306°W |
Information | |
School type | Public, high school |
Motto | Nulli Secundus "second to none" |
Opened | September 1957 |
School board | District School Board of Niagara |
Principal | Kim Carruthers |
Grades | 9–12 |
Enrollment | 1213 (2019-2020) |
Language | English, French |
Campus | Suburban |
Colour(s) | Purple and White |
Mascot | The A.N. Myer Marauder |
Team name | Myer Marauders |
Website | anmyer |
A. N. Myer Secondary School is a public high school located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It is located on O'Neil Street and is part of the District School Board of Niagara. As of the 2019–2020 school year, 1213 students were enrolled. A. N. Myer was one of the first schools in the Niagara Region to receive an astroturf field. It is the only high school in the city of Niagara Falls to offer the French immersion program.
A. N. Myer was named after Albert Nicholas Myer, who was the principal of Stamford Collegiate from 1908 to 1933. He lived in Chippawa, near Niagara, until his death in 1963. A. N. Myer Secondary School opened on September 3, 1957. An official opening ceremony was held nearly 2 months later on October 25, 1957.[1]
In 2023, A. N. Myer's Concert Band and Jazz Band participated in the Port Colborne Festival of the Arts, each walking away with the title of Best Overall Performance in their respective categories. The Concert Band obtained a Gold ranking, while the Jazz Band received Gold with Excellence.[2]
The A. N. Myer Boys' curling team in 2016-2017 consisted of Tyler Mills, Nicholas Vadacchino, Michael Huang, Sourena Noori, and Victor Pietrangelo. The team went undefeated in their journey to OFSAA, held in North Bay, Ontario, before winning every single game.[3]
From 2014 to 2016, the senior boys football team won 3 straight OFSAA championships.[4][5] Along with the OFSAA championship in 2016, the team also finished the season ranked 2nd in Canada, and finished those past 3 seasons with a combined record of 24–1.[6] 11 players from the 2016 "Dream Team" went on to play to football in the Ontario University Athletics League (OUA). Those players were Joshua Lisi (University of Toronto),[7] Noah Spadafora (Queens University),[8] Tyler Scholz (University of Guelph),[9] Jacob Andrews and Rico Charbonneau (Western University),[10] Tre Ford, Tyrell Ford, Rushon Dagelman, Dallas Bone, Donovan Vanegas, and Sean DeGaust (University of Waterloo).
The Junior team has also enjoyed major success over the past several years, and as the case with the seniors as well, have won multiple zone and divisional (Niagara Bowl) titles. Although one of the most notable successes was in 2013, when they won the Junior Metrobowl.[11] The seniors have made dominant runs to the past 4 Niagara Bowls (public school board champion vs catholic school board champion), but they've come up short in all 4 finals. 3 at the hands of Notre Dame College School in 2017, 2019, and 2021[12][13][14] and 1 at the hands of St Paul Catholic High School in 2018.[15] Those 3 teams would all end up making runs to OFSAA.[16][17][18][19] The juniors have also made recent runs to the Niagara bowl in 2017, 2018, and 2021. They came up short in 2018 and 2021 to Notre Dame College School,[20] but in 2017 they defeated Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School,[21] and ended up advancing all the way to the Junior Metrobowl semifinals, where they came up short to Lorne Park Secondary School.[22] The 2022 season was the most successful season since 2016, when the senior team finally returned to OFSAA. They would end up losing to Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School. The junior team also made its return to the Metrobowl playoffs, losing to Huron Heights Secondary School (Newmarket) in the semi-finals.[23][24]
The Marauders 2023 season saw them win their first OFSAA banner since 2016, as the senior team went undefeated on their way to winning the OFSAA Central Bowl, defeating Ursuline College (Chatham) 38-21 in the championship.[25] They also finished the season ranked as the 9th best high school football team in all of Canada.[26] The juniors also had a successful run that season, reaching the Metrobowl quarterfinals where they fell in a nail-biting 14-13 loss against Brantford Collegiate Institute.[27]
The soccer program at A.N Myer is ranked among the best in the Niagara region, having won several tournaments, zone championships, SOSSA (regional) championships, and OFSAA (provincial) championships. The senior boys and varsity girls have made several OFSAA appearances, winning in 1980 and 1985 respectively. In 2022, the senior boys soccer team became the first senior boys soccer program ever to win 3 straight SOSSA titles (and thus OFSAA qualifications), ranging from 2018 to 2022.
Five teenage boys from A.N. Myer were charged following an investigation into an alleged sexual assault on a woman. The Niagara Police reported that the woman had gone to a party in St. Catharines. After the party, the woman went to an undisclosed location in nearby Thorold where she was allegedly sexually assaulted. The five boys were arrested on a Wednesday morning during school hours with the assistance of school resource officers. It is also noted that all five suspects were known to the complainant. The five boys, who are on the school's illustrious football team, during their championship reign, remain unnamed due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Four were 17-year-olds and one was a 16-year-old.[28]
The graphic tellings of the courtroom were reported on by the St. Catharines Standard where the victim is stated to have testified to being "extremely intoxicated and passed in and out of consciousness". The teen football players were eventually acquitted of the charges.[29]
A 31-year-old male teacher by the name of Michael J. Molnar at A. N. Myer was charged in 2016 involving two incidents both on and off school property where he engaged in inappropriate sexualized behaviour with students under the age of 18. The first girl was a student of Sir Winston Secondary School in St. Catharines where Molnar previously taught from 2009 to 2013, and the second from a student at A.N. Myer Secondary School where Molnar taught until the start of the investigation.
The 17-year-old student at A.N. Myer had gone to Molnar for assistance because she was worried about falling behind in classes. Molnar then offered to get her caught up, however the mentoring relationship quickly evolved into much more. It is heard in court that the two began texting and calling one another and Molnar would drive the teenager around in his car. During the car excursions, Molnar and the student would kiss and hug and Molnar also touched her breasts and legs over her clothes.
The charges brought by the student at Sir Winston Churchill were withdrawn after a guilty plea, Michael J. Molnar was sentenced to 90 days in jail, to be served on weekends. In addition to the jail term, Molnar was placed on probation for three years and his name will appear on the National Sex Offender Registry for 10 years.[30]