The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 156

Degrassi doors re-open and adolescence on camera, are also real life teens who themselves must juggle social and peer pressures, studies, adolescence and acting. It is not, however, a point lost on Linda Schuyler, Degrassi's co-producer with Kit Hood. "Many of (the young ensemble cast) were plucked out of classrooms during talent searches," says Schuyler, herself a former teacher, "and Degrassi has meant a major change in the course of their lives. We feel a responsibility for helping them through the transition." One of the four classrooms on the top floor of "Degrassi" (two are filmed for the series and the third is a prop-make-up room) is a kind of greenroomclassroom, where the 20 or so principalsand extras catch up on homework and socialize between takes. "The children vary in age from 1 1 to 18," says Sari Friedland (production manager and den mother), "and it's especially important to help some of the newer, younger children." Many continue to attend their own junior high schools, but some, such as Stacie Mistysyn, who plays Caitlin, have had to make changes.

"It was harder in Grade 1 1 to work in classes, exams and shooting," says Caitlin, who this year changed to an alternative high school in Toronto where schedules are more flexible. "I've had to become stronger as a person. I can't have the same carefree attitude as my friends, or go to a lot of parties. I have to be part of two different social groups here, and at school." Schuyler is also aware Degrassi is a temporary stop for the actors, that some will return to "civillian" life and others will go on in the business. She's set up a fund, using Degrassi profits, to help these young people set up projects and pursue areers.

"I have to get serious about what comes next," says Pat Mastroianni, who plays the popular Joey. "What I'd really like to do is go to Ryerson and take a film course." Schuyler too has to get serious about what comes next. Some of the cast have followed the show through since it was The Kids of Degrassi and the ensemble has become known to teen viewers in Junior High. But they are getting old, relatively speaking. "I don't know if we create Degrassi Senior High, this cast does work well together," she says.

"On the other hand, the demographics for CBC favor staying with Junior High so do we get an all-new cast? Or do I retire and go to tennis camp in the Caribbean?" The CBC and PBS, which also carries the series, no doubt favor one of the former scenarios. So do millions of viewers. When one first sees the school, after turning the corner in a quiet West Toronto suburb, it looks unassuming enough. The main two storey structure, erected in the 1920's as an elementary school, has the obligatory low-level additions tacked on in the 50's to handle the baby boom invasion. Abandoned by the school board after the baby boomers moved on, a local day nursery now occupies what used to be the kindergarten room, and a private Christian school rents the ground floor.

It's only after walking through the fire doors and climbing the stairs to the top floor that familiarity begins to sink in. We've been here before. And we know its "students" teenagers with names like Spike, Snake, and Wheels, who push past the jumble of lights, cameras and sound equipment stored in one end of the hallway. They are, after all, seen weekly around the world. And this is, no offence to Head of the Class, one of the most famous and "exclusive" schools in North America.

This is Degrassi JuniorHigh. This past year, in fierce competition with TV series from around the world, Degrassi brought Canada its first ever Rockie Award at the Banff Television Festival for the Best Continuing Series. It can now be put on a shelf already crowded with awards including an Emmy, a Gemini, and a Blue Ribbon from the American Film Festival. The reasons for the show's success are clear. It presents teens with issues pregnancy, drugs, sexual harassment, physical abuse at home, biological changes, jealousy and peer pressure they recognize.

But what many viewers may forget as they watch the special one-hour opener of Degrassi Junior Highs third season this Monday on CBC (check listings for times), is the fact that the Degrassi ids, who must juggle social and peer pressures, studies, I 1 1 '1- cr.vki jx I to r. Cathy Keenan, Pat Mastroianni and Stacie Mistysyn.