Sprung Court is named for Whitman Lyman Sprung, a former principal at Stratford CVI
Whitfield Lyman Sprung, principal Photo: Collegian 1934
"The student of today is being educated for life in a changing world. Never before was there a greater need for the well-trained mind, the clear thought, the determined will, the disciplined character which a collegiate training ought to have a share in creating. "
Excerpt from the editorial forward in the 1934 Collegian, by Whitfield Lyman Sprung
Whitman Lyman Sprung
Sprung Court is named for Whitfield Lyman Sprung, principal from 1927 to 1940 of Stratford Collegiate and Vocational Institute (now Stratford Intermediate School), at 60 St. Andrew St.
Sprung was born in 1875 near Brighton, Ont., and entered teaching immediately upon graduating from secondary school school there. After five years, he enrolled at the University of Toronto, where he majored in mathematics and science, and and graduated in 1903. He taught two years at Forest secondary school and then was principal at the secondary school in Lucan. In 1906, he qualified as a public school inspector. In the same year, he married Jessie Thorne Macaulay (1878-1954). She had been born in Hilton, about seven kilometres north of Brighton. They had three children: Lyall, Elizabeth and Reginald.
In 1908, the Sprungs moved to Stratford, where W. L. taught mathematics at the collegiate.
In 1913, he presented a paper, titled Mathematics for Teachers, at the Ontario Association for Teachers.
Sprung made an impact on students. He was often successful at having 100 per cent of his class pass the provincial exams. In one year his students took both first and second places in scholarship mathematics for the entire province.
Sprung served as president of the Stratford Teachers' Association and the Perth County Teachers' Association, as well as chairman of the mathematics and physics section of the Ontario Educational Association and of that organization's college and secondary section.
In 1926-27, he was the fourth president of the Rotary Club of Stratford. He was an active member of Tecumseh Lodge, A. F. and A. M. It was also in 1927 that he began his 14-year run as principal at the SCVI.
He died in Stratford in 1950. Source: Streets of Stratford 2004