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Loss of student and teacher left a hole in the heart of Valley school

Mackenzie Rooney and Dennis Dechaine improved the lives of students and staff

Tammy Rooney says her daughter, Mackenzie, made her a better person.

“And that wasn't me raising her, that was her being that special person,” Rooney said.

Mackenzie was 16 when her life was cut short after an ATV crash in August 2012. 

The Grade 10 student at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School had a knack for putting others' needs before her own.

During her time at the high school, Mackenzie and a friend sometimes snuck into the building before classes started so they could stick post-it notes to their peers' lockers with positive messages tailored for each individual. 

They never took credit for the act of kindness. 

“Mackenzie had a huge impact on the school,” her mother said. “She was physically missed. When you walked in the school, you could tell there was an empty hole.”

To help fill that hole the Valley East high school has hosted a memorial walk and fundraiser for the past four years, in memory of both Mackenzie and Dennis Dechaine, a technology teacher at the school who died of a rare form of brain cancer in 2013.

Dechaine only taught at the school for a short time – he was an automotive mechanic before making the switch to education – but he also left a strong mark on his students.

“He was very well respected by his peers and his students,” said his wife, Anne Dechaine.

Dennis helped launch the school's breakfast club, which provided free, and nutritious, breakfasts for students who needed them.

He could often be found in the school cafeteria helping prepare those meals to help his students get a good start to their days. 

For the fourth annual walk in memory of Mackenzie Dennis, students were asked to dedicate their walks to people they have lost in their own lives.

“All of us in our lives have experienced the loss of a loved one,” said Anne Dechaine.

Participation in the walk was voluntary, but at least half the school's student population showed up to pay their respects to a past student and teacher most of them had never met. 

The money students raise from the walk will go towards a trust to support programs and equipment to help improve students' lives at the school.

In past years the walk has raised between $6,000 and $10,000.


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Jonathan Migneault

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