Archie McQueen speaks matter-of-factly about his 35-year relationship with Bennetto Elementary School.

But the 79-year-old's contributions to the North End school are anything but ordinary.

Two days a week the retired teacher volunteers at Bennetto, running an open gym program for students to attend before and after school and sometimes at nutrition breaks.

He also fills in as a supply teacher, and at the end of the school year, donates the money he's earned back to Bennetto — an amount that so far has totalled more than $100,000.

His financial contributions have supported reading and technology resources at the school, as well as a new scoreboard for the school gymnasium, according to principal Sandie Rowell.

McQueen has been doing it for years — he can't even remember how long — but he said he doesn't think about it much.

"I just do it," he recently told a Spectator reporter, noting he also supports the art gallery, the Hamilton Community Foundation and his church, St. Paul's Presbyterian.

But to the school, his support has made a huge impact.

Rowell said McQueen is like family to Bennetto and like a grandfather to many of the kids.

"He is that person you can call on when you need help," she said. "He looks for the little things he can do in the background that make the school run smoother on his volunteer days.

"He really shows us what it means to be proud of your accomplishments because you know you have that person, that champion, cheering you on."

On the weekday mornings he volunteers, McQueen is out of bed by 5:15 a.m. to get out the door just after 6 a.m. He doesn't leave the school until 4:45 p.m.

He arrives at Bennetto to unlock the equipment room before the kids arrive.

"Believe it or not, the odd boy does come at 7 a.m. or before 7 a.m.," he said.

McQueen, who said he doesn't even enjoy basketball, sits back and watches the kids play, admiring their smiles and rosy cheeks.

A number of students return at the end of the day for the afternoon program. Kids who graduated and are now in high school come, too.

McQueen said he has no problem with the older students coming back to play.

"I can't remember the last time there was a fight over the basketball," he said, noting the kids are polite and shake his hand. "I think they actually know better."

Many of the students remember him for his shoe collection, he said.

The students know McQueen is teaching when he's wearing his Nike Shox; he has more than 55 pairs of the colourful sports shoe piled in boxes in his apartment.

"I can wear a different pair of shoes up until May," he said with a laugh.

Rowell said McQueen's relationship with the students is one of respect.

He'll take kids under his wing and offer moral guidance, life lessons or other support.

"He is that male role model," she said.

McQueen acknowledges the kids may view him that way, but that's not how he sees it.

He is there as a teacher and volunteer.

"But I try to treat them decently," he said. "If I see them doing something wrong, I may say something to them, but not in a wicked way ... because I do feel for them."

He knows for some kids, open gym is the only sport they take part in due to cost barriers.

For others, it may be the only part of school they like.

"When you're at a school like Bennetto, you should do something extra for them," he said. "You shouldn't just come in at 8:30 a.m. and leave at 3:15 p.m."

Bennetto is identified by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board as a "high priority school" — a needs level that is based a number of factors including low household income, unemployment rate and recent immigration rates.

McQueen has been putting in the extra effort for his students since the start of his teaching career at the former Tweedsmuir school in 1969.

Although sticking with it has been tiring, it's also been good for McQueen, who volunteers at Hess and Mount Albion schools as well.

He could travel more; he visits Portugal each year and takes a summer trip — but that's enough for him.

He enjoys his time at Bennetto, finds it rewarding and thinks it might help keep him healthy.

But at the start, it wasn't easy.

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McQueen, who grew up in Hamilton, said his first year at Bennetto in 1984 was "tough."

"When I went to Bennetto, my first week there, the teacher across the hall ... she said, 'These are not your people.'"

"It was rough because they did not accept change," he said. "They didn't know me."

But he decided to stay, and on the first day of his second year, something changed.

McQueen was dreading going back, but his students were "just as good as can be." He felt like he had been accepted.

"I found out that they are my people," he recalled.

When McQueen put in his letter to retire at 56, he never thought he'd see the inside of the school again.

But soon after, he was asked to come back to Bennetto, and he stayed.

This year marks 50 years since McQueen first stepped into a Hamilton classroom and launched his teaching career.

His accomplishment was recognized at a recent Hamilton Foundation for Student Success gala.

Teaching for so long has meant McQueen has taught two grandmothers of his students and has witnessed many changes in technology.

"(Students) love iPads," he said. "I like it because when they're on their iPads, they're not getting in trouble."

Rowell said some teachers do come back after they retire, but she has never heard of anyone supply teaching and donating the money they made back to the school.

While his efforts might not be well-known in the broader community, McQueen said he's been recognized with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the students at the school know about the support he offers.

"They'll say, 'You're rich, aren't you?', I say, 'Yes, I am.'" (McQueen was left a portion of the legacy inherited by his aunt Ella Baird from Canadian Westinghouse president Paul Judson Myler and his, wife Maude. Baird, who served as Westinghouse's director of nurses, lived in the Myler mansion and provided nursing care to Maude.)

(Readers also may recall McQueen as the Hamiltonian who found John G. Diefenbaker dead and gave the former prime minister a pair of his own socks to be buried in.)

McQueen recalls a particular student he taught many years ago at George L. Armstrong Elementary School with whom he has always kept in contact.

The former student — now a successful business owner — was going through a rough patch with his business and asked McQueen for financial help.

McQueen said he lent him money without signing anything, and the former student paid him back with interest.

"And then after I gave him that money, his business just skyrocketed," he recalled.

For McQueen, teaching has been a "most gratifying" career — especially for someone who would have loved to have been a nurse but didn't like blood.

"I have no regrets at staying there as long as they want me," McQueen said, later adding: "My allegiance is to Bennetto."