CAMBRIDGE – It’s no exaggeration to say you can trip over history just about anywhere inside Galt Collegiate Institute.

Just ask Peter Hardy, who taught math and history in the Water Street North high school for 30 years until 2003.

One day in his retirement year, Hardy was on attendance duty in the office and tried to open a cabinet drawer. It jammed halfway open. He pulled harder and harder, until a black-and-white photograph inside gave way.

The portrait of a soldier rattled around in the drawer and ended up looking Hardy in the eyes.

“There was a ribbon on the corner of the photo . . . my dad was in the military and I knew it was to show he was awarded the Victoria Cross.”

It didn’t take Hardy long to learn that George Kerr was a Galt Collegiate graduate who won the British Empire’s highest military award for bravery in First World War. Nobody, however, ever figured out where the photo came from.

Hardy’s discovery was timely. There was talk around the school about how to celebrate stellar graduates from Galt Collegiate over the years, to encourage today’s students of believe in their potential.

The Stairway of Excellence grew out of the school’s 150 anniversary celebration in 2002. Money left over from the party was used to mount and frame the photos and biographies. Hardy joined Mark Hunniford, Charlie Wilson, Rick Koskela and Earl Famme on the selection committee, who picked Kerr and 19 others for first ceremony in 2003.

They included beloved CBC radio host Peter Gzowski; Graeme Ferguson, Robert Kerr and William Shaw, who developed the Imax movie system; Alan Cairns and Donald Shaver, both members of the order of Canada; and Walter Walker, a master canoe builder.

Today, there’s 42 photos and biographies on the walls of the busy staircase alongside Tassie Hall, picked based on straightforward criteria: “excellence in their field” and enrolment at Galt Collegiate.

Vice principal Dave Wilson – son of retired principal Charlie – said there’s never been any accidental damage or vandalism to the framed photos, despite hundreds of students jostling by daily.

Two more names will be added at this year’s commencement on Oct. 23.

One is Dr. Dean Chittock, an internationally renowned blood specialist now working in Vancouver. The other is the late Normie Himes, an all-around athlete who played in the NHL player in the 1920s who returned home to be a sports booster and store owner.

The stairway ceremony is early in the commencement program. The inductee or a family member accepts a copy of the plaque before heading for a reception in a nearby classroom while graduates receive diplomas.

For the first time this year, organizers couldn’t find a relative for an inductee: Everybody on the committee knew about Himes, but they couldn’t track down his son.

In August, a plea for information was printed in local newspapers. The response was immediate.

“My phone didn’t stop ringing. I must have had 30 calls . . . and at least as many emails,” Hardy said.

People reminisced about growing up with Himes, curling with him, taking golf lessons from him. Several gave offered contact information for Himes’ son in Toronto.

The affection and memories Himes’s name triggered taught Hardy much about a time when Galt Collegiate was the only high school in town and centre of social life.

“I think it was kind of neat. You realized it was still a small town. It was Galt. Everybody knew everybody.”

The stairway is open to public viewing during school hours, but check in at the office first. A list of winners and nomination forms are available by clicking here.

kswayze@therecord.com