Carrying History Forward: M.M. Robinson HS Students Take Part in King's Baton Relay

Student speakers Kallem Manning and Griffin Dekker stand with Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward with the King's Baton following the ceremony at Spencer Smith Park.

When the King's Baton arrived at M.M. Robinson High School on a warm May morning, it carried the weight of nearly a century of athletic history woven into the very fabric of the Burlington community. Students lined the hallways, teachers gathered near the atrium display and a quiet hum of anticipation ran through the building. For many, the moment had been months in the making.

The King’s Baton Relay is one of the Commonwealth’s most storied traditions, marking the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games every four years. This year, the relay took a new form: each of the 74 Commonwealth nations and territories received a blank baton and were invited to design it in the spirit of their own nation, with three common engraved regions reserved for the country name, the Games details and a word unique to each nation.

At the opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, all 74 batons will be brought together for the first time. The Baton made only three stops in Canada, with Burlington chosen as one of them, a distinction that speaks directly to what makes M.M. Robinson HS’s involvement so meaningful.

In 1930, Burlington and Hamilton hosted the first edition of what would eventually become the Commonwealth Games. That founding event was organized in large part by Burlington’s own Melville Marks “Bobby” Robinson (the school’s namesake), making this region one of only a handful of places in the world with a direct connection to the origins of the modern Games. That history provided the backdrop for everything M.M. Robinson HS did to prepare students for this year’s relay.

As part of two weeks of celebratory events leading up to the relay, the school’s front foyer was transformed into a living exhibit connecting students to that 1930 legacy. Archival photographs, historical documents and artifacts tracing Burlington’s role in the founding Games were installed for students, staff and visitors to explore. In classes, students watched original archival footage, while others created daily trivia about Bobby Robinson that was broadcast throughout the school all week.

Nicole Hagley, the department head who organized the week’s programming alongside fellow staff members Mary Velpel, Stephen Payne, Heather Howell, Laurie Crabtree and Meagan Beaudoin, said the team wanted students to understand that what they were about to be part of was not a passing event but a continuation of something that began before their grandparents were born.

“These events celebrate the values and vision of Melville Marks, while creating a stronger community and connection through the power of sport,” she said. “This is a historic moment, one that I hope stays with our MMR community and inspires us to uphold Melville Mark Robinson’s legacy and values in one’s daily actions, while passing this rich history onto our next generation of Rams.”

Timothy Billington, wearing his Summer Canada Games medals, leads the Baton through the halls of M. M. Robinson High School alongside “Robbie” the Ram.

On Tuesday, May 5, the Baton made its ceremonial journey through the school’s corridors, led by Timothy Billington, a student in M. M. Robinson HS’s Community Pathways Program who had competed at the Summer Canada Games and wore his medals proudly as he carried the Baton through the halls. Alongside him was “Robbie” the Ram, the school’s beloved mascot, as students and staff lined every doorway to watch them pass.

The Baton wound its way through the tech hall, past the library, through the math and science hall, up to the third floor English hall, through the cafeteria, the fitness centre and the physical education hall and back to the foyer. A bagpiper then piped students into the school-wide assembly in the gymnasium before leading the group outside to cheer on the school’s rugby players. Walking past classmates, teachers and the legacy exhibit they had spent weeks with, each student who held the Baton described the experience in similar terms: surreal, humbling and unforgettable.

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Pipes and Drums added a ceremonial backdrop to the afternoon.

From the school, the relay moved to Spencer Smith Park, where Burlington's waterfront provided a stunning setting for the public ceremony. Hundreds of community members, including families, local athletes, elected officials and school groups from across Halton, gathered along the lakeshore. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Pipes and Drums provided a stirring ceremonial backdrop, their sound carrying across the park and out over Lake Ontario as the Baton made its way through a crowd that had clearly come prepared to celebrate.

The Baton is carried through Spencer Smith Park during the public ceremony on Wednesday, May 6.

EcoClub co-presidents Griffin Dekker and Kallem Manning, both in Grade 12, were student speakers at the event. Manning said the week gave his school community a rare chance to act on the values they hold most deeply.

“For me, the King’s Baton Relay is a platform for all of us to share with our community what we value most,” he said. “I found that by spending this week alongside my school and community, we have refocused our visions, our passions and our mission to leave this world better than we found it.”

Dekker echoed that sentiment, reflecting on the community the week had built. “The connections and community involvement I’ve seen and been a part of over the course of preparing for the King’s Baton has been life-changing,” she said, “and that’s only made more intense by our direct connection with M. M. Robinson’s legacy.”

The atmosphere at Spencer Smith Park was one that participants and onlookers alike are unlikely to forget quickly. There was pride in the air, not just in the relay itself, but in Burlington's specific place within it. Speakers at the ceremony drew explicit connections between 1930 and the present, reminding the crowd that this community had been here at the very beginning and was now here again, nearly a century later, standing in the same civic spirit that launched the Games in the first place.

For M. M. Robinson’s students, the day offered something that cannot easily be replicated inside a classroom. The King’s Baton Relay, by its nature, asks participants to think beyond themselves, to consider their place within a community, within a country and within a global tradition that spans decades and continents.

Rachael Ballum, a Grade 10 student at M.M. Robinson HS, said the week brought that into focus in a way she did not expect.

“To have such a connection with Bobby Robinson, the founder of the Commonwealth Games, is incredibly inspiring. He showed me that if I set my mind to something for the greater good of the world, it will pay off and a positive global impact will be made.” The students who lined the hallways, who held the Baton and who stood at Spencer Smith Park and watched it pass through their city were doing exactly that.

The Halton District School Board is committed to creating experiences that extend student learning beyond the textbook, connecting young people to their communities, to history and to the wider world in ways that shape who they become. The King’s Baton Relay at M.M. Robinson High School was exactly the kind of moment that reflects that commitment. Burlington students showed up to honour a legacy that is uniquely their own, and in doing so, added another chapter to a story that has been building since 1930.

Learn more about how the Halton District School Board supports student achievement and well-being through the Multi-Year Strategic Plan.