ECHO SCHOOL DISTRICT No.1967

1. Echo School was situated approximately 12 miles north and east of
2. Kinsella on SE ¼ 32-47-10 W4. There were many bachelors in the
3. district so it was hard to get a school started. Ollie Hollar took on the job
4. of collecting eight dollars per farmer for two years so that the school
5. could be built, as in those days it was impossible to borrow the money.
6. This was a form of school tax. The school was built in 1909 at a cost of
7. $1200 and was later taken over by the Local Improvement Board. It was
8. named Echo School by Mr. Richmond, who came from California where there
9. had been a school by that name. The first Board of Trustees was Ollie
10. Hollar, chairman, Harry Barker, secretary and George Lee as trustee. Mr.
11. Hollar remained as trustee for the entire operation of the school.
12.  
13. The first teacher only remained one month, then Miss MacKenzie came at a
14. salary of $300 for six months. This meant there was a Christmas concert,
15. which was a real thrill in all schools. There were no Christmas trees
16. locally in those days so a good old poplar was decorated for the occasion.
17. Among the teachers who taught here were: Earle Moore, Wm. Miller, Lloyd
18. Cameron, another Miss MacKenzie in 1916. Miss McKitrick, Miss Kendall,
19. Miss Abbott, Miss Kapek, Miss Rowe, Miss Hanson, Miss McElroy, Miss
20. McKernon, Miss McFadyen, Miss Workman, Miss Scott, Miss Kennedy, Miss
21. Simmons (Mrs. Bob Arkinstall), Miss Somerville, Miss Wakefield (Mrs. Geo.
22. Hariman), and the last teacher was Miss Ruth Van Meer - now Mrs. Arthur
23. Landers, who still lives in the district.
24.  
25. It is hard to name the first children of the school, and also those to
26. follow, but I hope the following will bring back some memories. There
27. was Rosebud and Anna Hollar, sisters of Ollie Hollar; Landers; Richmond;
28. George and Boyce children; Evie Collison and Myrtle Scott; then came
29. Browns, Crouse, Hammer, Ratz, Shippy, Pyke, Edmunds, Elliott, King,
30. Greenwood, Tessman, Thomas, Beckett, Landers and there were several
31. generations of Hollars. The school was closed several years during the
32. early 40s and 50s and the children attended Lynx, Rodino and Willowview.
33. It was reopened in 1952 for a few years with Mrs. Landers as the teacher.
34. Then came the large school district and the children were transported to
35. Albert School by bus, driven by Vance Shippy. Echo School was sold to Mr.
36. Tobe Smith and was moved away in the 1950s.

Echo School District No. 1967
Taken from the Kinsella History Book — Submitted by Ivy Mollie

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