Here are the cast members that we all know and have followed them from
junior high all the way into graduation.
Alex, who was named Pete in the Kids of Degrassi Street series was one of the nerdy guys. He missed out on the sleepover party at Luke's to write an essay. The noise from the typewriter pissed off his mother, so he put a pillow over it. How would he know what he was typing? The funniest was when Tessa got all mad at him because he hadn't kissed her yet and they'd gone out numerous times. On that note, Alex whips off his glasses a la Clark Kent and plants one on her. So cheesy! I still don't know what Tessa saw in this guy.
Alexa was the snob of the bunch and always bossed Simon around. They ended up getting married in the School's Out special. She had the same birthday as LD but offered to spend it with her when LD was in the hospital with cancer. She basically had Simon on a short leash, always telling him what to do. I always made fun of Alexa, because I thought she
had a big butt. :)
Arthur was the supreme nerd of the entire cast. Some incidents included when he returned from France and brought back Yick a baret, using a chamois when they had a car wash day and his dreams of Caitlin. Even after the poker night with the boys, he still never achieved acceptence to the in crowd. In the opening credits, he is seen wiping off peanut butter or some other brown substance off his bike. I think it's safe to say I've seen close to every episode and not once have I seen the actions leading up to that event.
Good old Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. Bryant L. Thomas (BLT) was the jock of the cast and dated Michelle through highschool. Her father disapproved of their inter-racial relationship and she moved out on her own. BLT was on a short skit on Kids in the Hall a few years back.
Bronco was Lucy's boyfriend and was into school politics. He helped put on a talent show, only to have it interrupted by Claude's death. Bronco is in the Levis commercial when they're dancing and the needle of the record skips.
Caitlin, AKA "Clearasil-Girl" has change the most throughout the show. She has gone from being just a scholar, to a dancer in the talent show, an editor for the paper, an animal rights activist and a human rights activist. She dumped Joey for Claude who later chickened out of helping her run away after vandalizing a building that supported nuclear weapons. Caitlin found out that her father was having an affair when she went looking for a nice restaurant to go out to on their anniversary. Her mother knew all about the other woman, but kept it a secret. It seems kinda cryptic that the excuse he used to get out of the house what he was going to play SQUASH. Hmmmmm...
Ah Claude, in my book you will always be the originator of the goth movement. You gotta love those skull and crossbones suspenders. :) Claude committed suicide after Caitlin dumped him and his parents decided to get a divorce. He was the most misunderstood student and killed himself for that reason. He sent a box of white roses to Caitin the day that he killed hiself blaming her for his death. After the suicide, they continued with the talent show and Degassi returns back to normal as if nothing ever happened.
Clutch was a friend of Paul, whom Lucy met when they went on a tour of their Highschool. Clutch had the best car; a blue Ford Mustang 5.0 that looked like someone took a paintball gun to it. He agreed to use it in the Zit's music video only after he heard Lucy was going to be shooting it.
Diana was a nerdy girl, but also drank and smoked behind her mom's back. The best episode was the sleepover when herself, Caitlin, Melanie, Mya and Kathleen experimented with pot.
"It's my birthday...how come I don't feel anything?" -Diana
Dwayne was the bully of the school who hated Joey, calling him a cockroach. he later found out he contacted AIDS from having unprotected sex and went into a depression. Joey was the first one to know about it, but but kept it to himself.

The twins Heather and Eric were the two I disliked the most. I couldn't tell the difference. One of them got pregnant and had an abortion which sparked a conflict with Liz.
When Joanne was in junior high, she had a mohawk.
I called her tri-spike to differentiate her from Spike (Christine). She was friends with Claude and the last one to see him before he killed himself in the boy's washroom.
Joey was the star of Degrassi, always getting into trouble. He found out that he had a learning disability in high school which was the reason he wasn't doing well in school. he played the keyboard for the Zit Remedy and wore a T-shirt that looked like a tuxedo. If I could find one, I'd wear it! He was going out with Caitlin on and off, until he cheated on her with Tessa in the School's Out special. Another memorable episode was when Joey and the Zits went to a strip club. They only had money for two and Joey had to leave.Outside, a hooker approaches Joey, but he makes the excuse he's got homework and runs away. Joey also starred in Liberty Street another Canadian series when he was older. Pat now hosts a show on Canadian Brodcasting for independant music bands on Saturday mornings. He was supposedly in the Godzilla movie, but fell victim on the cutting room floor. Pat is supposeed to be getting married this coming year and asked Yick (Siluck) to be his bestman.
Kathleen had a troubled childhood; battling anorexia, an alcoholic mother and an abusive boyfriend. All these things were blurted out at the sleepover by Melanie. Alledgedly there was someone stalking her over the internet from Austrailia.
LD was more of a tom-boy, living with her father and enjoyed working on cars. Her mother died of cancer when she was young. LD was later diagnosed with cancer and beat it.
Liz was yet another cast member I disliked just because she was so negative and quick to judge. She got into a fight with one of the twins because one of them got an abortion. Liz's first encounter with Joey was working on a class project:
"You want it; I want it; Let's do it" -Joey
<nice pickup line Joey>
Lucy was the one with a bright future in the film industry, only to have it shattered in the School's Out special when Wheels drives dunk and gets into an accident with her and Bronco. Lucy is blinded and Wheels can never forgive himself. In Degrassi Junior High, she was a problem child and shoplifter. Herself and Voula get caught on tape and charged. She was also molested by the grubby Mr. Colby, luckily Wheels came in just in time to break it up.
Luke was the one into drugs and the reason Shane became a veg after junior hign. They went to a Gourmet Scum concert and experimented with acid. Shane walked home alone and jumped off of a bridge leaving him brain damaged. This was based on a true incident where a kid did the same thing after a rock concert in Toronto.
Mya was probably the cutest of all the girls at Degrassi. She was confined to a wheelchair due to a spinal injury. She was best friends with Caitlin and smoked her first joint at the sleepover for Diana. In one episode, the girls decide to go to a movie, but didn't want Mya tagging along; they make up a lie that the theatre is not handicap equipped. She later finds out and is really hurt. I heard that she really isn't handicapped and it was only for the show. What A SCAM!!!
Melanie was Kathleen's best friend, but after experimenting with pot at Diana's birthday revealed some of Kathleen's skeletons in her closet. In the episode, '20 bucks' she get's her braces off and blows $20 on pizza for her friends. Snake invites her to the Gormet Scum concert, but the tickets cost, you guessed it 20 bucks. She takes the money from her mother's purse in hopes to return it after babysitting that evenng. When that falls throught, she is grounded and tries to sell it to Spike.
"Spike, do you want to buy a tick-et, 20 bucks?"
That's the way she said it to Spike.
Michelle, or as Joey called her "Mouse" was the quiet one of the bunch, by later became rebellious and moved out on her own. She was also taking caffine pills to stay up and study. This topic was also used on Saved by the bell and every other tenn sitcom.

Nancy was another nerd who wasn't in many scenes, but was in the intro for Degrassi junior high. She was the first to get her driver's liscense in the episode where Snake was all paranoid and ended up running over the pedestian dummies with the car.'
Nick was part of the bunch of bullies at Degrassi high. He wanted all gay people abolished since he felt they were the cause of the AIDS virus. Even after a confrontation with Dwayne, his views didn't change. He never did acccept Dwayne as a friend and disappeared out of the plotline of the show.
Paul was a friend of Clutch's and was going out with Lucy. He was bragging that he went "all the way" with her to the school. After setting the record straight, Lucy dumped him. This topic was used in an episode of Family Matters.

Shane was a star basketball player and son of a minister. He got Spike pregnant at a party and at one point became a dead-beat dad; not paying child support. After a concert with Luke, he jumped off a bridge and became brain damaged. When he returns to school, he tries to hang out with Spike, but when she brushes him off, he replys with:
"Stupid Jerk...Should Be Kicked In The Head."
O.K. Shane, whatever!

On the Degrassi Reunion Shane said he is now working behind the scenes for one of the Canadian film guilds.
Simon was basically a puppet for Alexa to manipulate. He never spoke up for himself and went along with anything she said. He was into modelling and became the spokesmodel for "Dude" jeans in the show. In School's Out, he ended up marrying Alexa.
Snake (Archie) was the guitar plaer for the Zit remedy. He was the one who found Claude's carcass in the boy's washroom after the suicide and became depressed after it. He was the one who finally told Wheels to stop living in the past and using the death of his parents as a scapegoat for everything. He also told Wheels to get on with his life and to stop blaming others for his failures. If they gave out Oscars for exceptional performance on Degrassi, he would have won for that scene. I saw a music video called Rock Past It by Scratching Post that he was in playing a hyperactive fan.
UPDATE: Stefan is currently in a GM car commercial.
Spike got pregnant during junior high, and decided to keep the baby. She was discriminated because of her appearance when she went on a job interview, but after all her hardship, she received her highschool diploma and graduated with her friends. She apparently opened up a clothing store in Toronto and/or Guelph with Liz, also from Degrassi.
"Make way for Stephanie Kaye!!"
Stephanie was a terrible actor and always got into trouble. She would leave the house in regular clothes, but once in the school ran straight to the washroom to change into a more trampy, hooker outfit. She was also Arthur's older sister. She was sent to France to study, which was her ticket out of the show, in order to persue her real (cough, cough) acting career in Canada movies.
Tabi, AKA Dipps-girl was always seen eating either a Dipps bar, or a large tub of peanut butter. She was best friends with Dwayne and Nick, but when she heard that Dwayne had AIDS, was scared off. She finally came to her senses at the prom and danced with him.
Tessa was Alex's girlfriend, but later became a homewrecker when she fooled around with Joey in the School's Out special. She got pregnant, had an abortion and never spoke with Joey after that. Snake blurted out that he was 'f***ing Tessa' and it was overheard by Caitlin.
Tim was a shy, but kind student who invited Liz out on a date to see the Gourmet Scum Pogue's in concert. When they returned home, Tim tried to kiss her goodnight and she freaked out. She later revealed to Spike that she was abused by her stepfather.
Derek Wheeler ("Wheels") had a roller-coaster lifestyle. Having lost his parent when he was young to a drunk driver, he had little discipline and his grandparents had minimal control over him. Ironically, his drinking injured Lucy causing her to lose her sight and ruining any chances for her to become a film director. When he decided to run away and live with his dad, (ironically again in Port HOPE. His real name is Neil Hope) he gets picked up be a gay. He asked Wheels is he's ever fooled around. Wheels quickly replies NO! To which the man states you should! It feels good! Nothing wrong with something that doesn't feel good! Wheels gives him a nod. When he started rubbing Wheels' leg, he decides to get out of the car and is left out on the highway.
Yick, or "Mr. Yew, the disorganized" as Mr. Raditch called him, was best friends with Arthur until he began smoking and hanging around Luke. Yick left the nerd crowd
only to leave Arthur in the dust.


Here's a picture of the school they used in the series Degrassi Junior High. The school is in Etobicoke, on Daisy street. I have been informed that they used but the outside AND inside for filming, Thanks Clayton for the update! I thought it was only used in the intro and when they walked up the steps. I'll have to play around with the picture, maybe some flames, like when it burned down at their formal or something. I passed by it on Sunday and snapped a picture with my digital camera. I'd like to go to the school they used in Degrassi High and take some pictures of that too. That's not too much of an obsession, is it? :)