In the late 1970s and 1980s, Hugh Brittain would have his 6th graders at Havelock Elementary School in Saint John, New Brunswick keep a diary for a week as a creative writing exercise.
“They would seal them and I gave them free rein to write whatever they wanted: what bothered them or what was important in their lives at the time,” Brittain told CNN.
He never read the newspapers, but he put up with them so he could get them back to graduation and make his students look back as they were at 12 years old.
When he retired in 1995, he packed his papers, including dozens of newspapers he could not deliver, in a box of memories of his 34-year teaching career.
Brittain, 78, was able to retrieve some of the diaries from his authors a few years ago after a school meeting, but he still had 26 left.
“I’ve kept them all these years and I didn’t know what to do with them, I didn’t like having them, so I thought I’d try more,” he said. “After keeping them for about 43 years, I thought it was time to make sure they were delivered.”
Last month, he posted a picture of the newspapers – still in the original sealed envelopes – in a local Facebook group along with the names of the students he tried to find from his classes in 1977-78, 1981-82, 1982 -1983 and 1987-88.
“I don’t know why I did it in a few years,” Brittain said. “It just worked that way.”
It turns out he didn’t just keep the newspapers.
When Maria Yelle commented on her post, Brittain immediately remembered her and posted five pictures of drawings she had made of him when she was a student of hers in 1986.
“It surprised me so much, but it moved me so much, that I really cared and kept this job,” Yelle said. “He’s just one of the good teachers. He really wanted to be the best he could be and I remember he just encouraged us and he really cared.”
Yelle now lives in Wisconsin and says her daughter, who is in sixth grade, shows similar creativity.
Brittain said it has been interesting to hear from alumni who now live across Canada.
Austin Hutton, 45, has moved across the country to Fort St. John, in British Columbia, but told CNN that his mother told him about the place.
Hutton vaguely remembered keeping the diary in 1988, but had no idea what was inside the envelope he had decorated with drawings of baseballs.
He had written “MY DIARY TOP Secret Keep Out” with green ink on the cover.
Inside, he talked about mowing lawns and saving money to buy a new bike, play sports with his friends, drive a tractor, buy candy, and win free bottles. He signed each entry “Love Austin.”
Much of the diary focused on her falling in love with “the prettiest girl in the class.” Hutton was able to get her phone number, but said he never asked for it.
He said his four children, ages 12, 13, 19 and 20, enjoyed reading the newspaper.
“They thought it was fun to see their dad all kinds of gaga about girls, and they were impressed by the neatness of my lyrics, my impression,” she said.
Hutton said his youngest son, AJ, was the same age as when he wrote the diary and reminded them how different it is to grow up for today’s children.
“We didn’t have all the video games and electronics, everything was books in and out,” he said.
Hutton described Brittain as a phenomenal teacher and said he was one of the few he remembered throughout his life.
He said he had “emotional chills” when he received the diary, not only because it was a time capsule of his life, but because his teacher cared enough to save him for 33 years.
“For someone to have the kindness, or the heart, of wanting to hold on to that to end up sharing it, or finding a way to share it anyway, that just talks a lot,” Hutton said.
Brittain told CNN he is still trying to return seven newspapers.