CHAUVIN SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 2196
- “How can we give our children the education that we have deprived them of
- by settling in this barren land?”
- This was a serious concern of the first Chauvin settlers and homesteaders
- even before they thought of incorporating a village. The question
- awakened the small population who turned out to a meeting in May, 1910,
- to discuss the possibility of forming a school. Joseph St. Pierre, E.E Hass
- and E. Webber, who acted as secretary, was the executive chosen.
- The new school board held their first regular meeting on June 10, 1910, in
- the office of E. Webber, a machine agent and village councillor. A
- debenture was taken out for the sum of $1,807.50 at 6% interest to build a
- structure 25 ft. x 35 ft. x 15 ft. The school site was one acre on the NW
- ¼ of 7-43-1 W4th. The tender of Jas. St. Pierre Jr. to build the school
- at a cost of $600.00 was accepted.
- During the time the school was being erected, Mrs. Patrick O’Brien taught
- seven children in her home. Among them were Edwin and Eva Hass, Phillip
- Sevigny, Antoinette, Malvina and Tom St. Pierre and Rita La Plante.
- Patrick O’Brien’s brother was the first teacher of the new school at a
- monthly wage of $65.00. This “phenomenal” salary was hard to come by in
- those early years as it was not affluent times with the settlers, and
- residents and merchants were heavily taxed to pay back the loan and to
- operate the school. Only outdoor plumbing could be offered!
- At first the secretary of the board changed every few months. In 1915,
- however, Tom Saul became secretary with a salary of $75.00 per year. His
- duties included assessing each business and residence, and then being
- responsible for collecting the taxes. He held this position for several
- years.
- Some memorabilia includes:
- 1913—the installation of a Waterbury heating system, the first heaters
- that brought in cold air to circulate with the warm air, thus making
- a healthier environment and producing more heat. Tales were told of
- children sitting in school with frozen feet, in overshoes.
- 1915—The placement of a drinking fountain rather than the pail and dipper
- — The school enrollment necessitated the building of a second school.
- Thos. La Plante built this at a cost of $670.00 and this structure
- later became the high school.
- 1917—Crowded conditions again existed and plans were made to build a
- four-room school in which the high school students from surrounding
- districts could be consolidated into one school. At this time it was
- announced that a separate Catholic school would open in the fall, so
- these plans for consolidation were tabled. Pat O’Brien was an
- instigator in the plans for a Catholic school. By this time there
- were quite a few French families in the Chauvin district, and a
- French priest, Father Huet, was here.
- 1918—Dr. Horace Greely Folkins served his first year on the school board.
- He continued to push for the consolidation of schools, a plan first
- instigated by Mr. Churchman, a Barr Colonist and early homesteader
- and railroader.
- 1919—High School was taught in Chauvin. The class was held in Dr.
- Folkins’ home for a short time until there was a room available at
- the school.
- 1920—The first edition of the A.T.A. magazine appeared—its purpose
- being to help teachers and parents keep up-to-date with the times in
- school affairs.
- —Mrs. Tom Saul was elected as a trustee, thus having a vote in the
- affairs of our local educational system before women’s rights were
- established. History was in the making!!
- —A public health nurse was hired cooperatively by all the
- surrounding districts. Small tombstones and grave markers in the
- old cemetery and on some homesteads attest to the number of child-
- ren who died in the flu, pox and scarlet fever epidemics in 1918,
- 1919, and successive years.
- —a gramophone was purchased jointly with funds from the Women’s
- Institute and the school children, who gave the proceeds from a
- concert.
- —the local board arranged a spelling match between Edgerton and
- Chauvin to be held in the I.O.O.F. Hall. Mr. D’Albertanson, local
- newspaper editor, paid the transportation for the Edgerton children.
- Sorry there is no record of the outcome of the match and who the
- successful contestants were.
- 1921— March, a lock was purchased for the “big gate.”
- —The primary classroom was closed due to a scarlet fever and
- measles epidemic. A good scrubbing with formaldehyde provided the
- necessary fumigation.
- —Chauvin School won a $6.00 Strathcona Trust prize for physical
- training. Ball equipment was purchased for the Primary room.
- —A skating rink was constructed, flooded and “ready to go” in
- December. The Board talked about a tennis court.
- 1924—A 32 foot addition was built on the north side of the High School by
- George Goede, at a cost of $950.00. Miss Todd was the first teacher
- in this room.
- —In the early school years teacher came and often stayed for only
- three months or less. Nervous breakdowns were not uncommon.
- Workload and working conditions were not considered in their
- contracts, and the Board was at liberty to hire and fire as they
- pleased.
- —One teacher is remembered for wearing a different shoe on each
- foot on some days (could it have been troublesome corns, bunions, or
- chilblains?).
- Prior to and for several years after the decade of the “thirties,” three
- teachers made up the staff of Chauvin School. The primary teacher taught
- Grades I – IV, the elementary teacher grades V to VIII and the high school
- teacher instructed Grades IX to XII. For several years the Grade eight
- students wrote Departmental examinations. Then during the thirties this
- formality changed and for the next thirty years at least, Grade Nine
- students were prepared to write Departmentals. The Governor-General’s
- Award was presented each year to the grade nine student who had the
- highest marks in the province. Chauvin can boast of several successful
- contenders.
- With just one teacher for all the high school grades, a full matriculation
- program, providing each student with the required 35 credits a year, was
- an impossibility. Thus many of our students were forced to seek Grade
- Twelve elsewhere, and we had graduates from Camrose Lutheran College,
- Vermilion School of Agriculture and Victoria Composite High in Edmonton
- to name a few.
- During the “thirties” school track meets came into existence, and
- competitive sports were held in May between schools in Edgerton, Chauvin
- and Paradise Valley. Each village school took a turn at hosting the
- competition. The “old bluff” on the north side of the sports ground
- provided shade and shelter for many athletes at the Chauvin meet. For
- several years a big attraction in the Chauvin school grounds was the
- Ferris wheel built by a Mr. Stebbins.
- Outdoor basketball standards had been erected in most schools, and
- Chauvin had highly competitive teams. The girls challenged J. Percy
- Page’s famous Grads one year—they went down in defeat but by a fairly
- close score.
- Gerald Berry, who later held an office in the Department of Education, was
- principal of Chauvin school during the late “thirties.” His coaching led the
- high school boys to capturing the coveted cup in a basketball match with
- Edgerton. Also, under his training, Douglas Perry competed in the
- Provincial Track Meet held in Calgary in 1938 and won the grand aggregate
- award (an engraved silver cup), for his class.
- In the early 1930’s schools in Wainwright Inspectorate were eligible to
- compete in the Musical Festivals held each year in Wainwright. Chauvin
- School, under the principalship of G.P. Smith, and the musical training of
- several local highly qualified ladies, brought home many medals and
- shields for first place winners. One year, Mr. Perrin Baker, Minister of
- Education, presented the coveted awards to the successful competitors.
- 1942—Sigurd A. Sorenson, B. Ed., Principal of Chauvin School from Sept.,
- 1942 – June, 1947, published the first Year Book with his class, and
- started the first Home and School Association meetings. He
- stressed “the need of combined effort and resources of the whole
- community to build an adequate school plant where more efficient
- instruction could be given —provision for new facilities providing
- instruction in Home Economics, Shop, and an auditorium for drama
- and athletic events.”
- The Chauvin School District joined the Wainwright School Division No. 32
- in 1948, and work commenced on the new Dr. Folkins School. Bussing
- began the same year when Roros and Edinglassie students were driven to
- Chauvin by Bill Spence.
- Sig’s hopes and dreams materialized with the opening of Dr. Folkins School
- in 1949 — a modern school equipped for instruction from Grade I to XII.
- Gradually, all the schools in the Chauvin area were closed. Northern
- Crown School was moved to town and served as a “Shop” room and then a
- storage space for several years. (It is now one of the buildings in Roger
- Folkins’ barn yard). The Butzeville School was moved to Chauvin in 1955
- and converted into a roomy teacherage.
- With the influx of students and increase in enrollment, classrooms bulged
- at the seams. Forty to forty-five pupils were squeezed into some
- classrooms, so an additional two rooms were added in 1958. The staff
- increased from a teacher for two grades to a teacher per grade with three
- instructors in the High School. A full matriculation program was offered.
- When more classrooms were needed, the new Ribstone School was moved
- to Chauvin in 1962.
- In 1967, St. Aubin Roman Catholic School was closed to instruction.
- Arrangement was made for Chauvin primary grades to use the facilities at
- St. Aubin, and Sister Madeline Louzon, the last member of the “Sisters”
- teaching staff, was added to the Dr. Folkins staff.
- In 1970, to further improve facilities, a gymnasium, Home Economics
- room, and Grade 5 classroom with connecting hallways were constructed
- to unite the Ribstone and Dr. Folkins schools into a squared U-shaped
- plant.
- One June 1, 1978, the original Dr. Folkins school burned to the ground, and
- students were housed in temporary quarters for two years. A “Save Our
- School” committee and our local trustee were able, after a bitter struggle,
- to convince the Wainwright School Board that it was more profitable (and
- community wise) to keep our high school here, rather than bus the
- students elsewhere. Two years later in September, 1980, students from
- Grade I to XII went back to a beautiful renovated school. Richard Perry,
- now principal, is the third generation in his family to teach in Chauvin
- School.
- Local ladies and graduates of Chauvin high, who have taught in their home
- school are: Flora Perry, Florence Farbridge, Phyllis Worrall, Florence
- Dewar, Stella Spence Taylor, Irene Cargill, Grace Burton, Laura Gray,
- Claire Folkins, Eleanor Perry, Emmy Nysetvold, Ines White, Hazel Dallyn,
- Gretchen Wright, Betty Lou Pitman, Berenice Moncrieff, Mildred Reinhart,
- Darleene Skinner, and Neil Nysetvold. More recently local teachers include
- Heather Seim, Brenda Chapman, Rae Beatty, Anita Roy, Tarla Watson, and
- Carol Benoit.
- Always working towards improved facilities, maintenance and
- improvement of instruction have been our local trustees: Dr. H.G. Folkins,
- Cecil Gordon, Lucy Paradis, Howard White, Jack Worrall and presently Mary
- Simard.
- The history of the school must indeed include mention of the young men
- and women who leave the hallowed halls to fill the places in the
- professions. Some have carried Chauvin’s name to distant places —to oil
- fields in Arabia, to NATO forces in Germany, to fisheries and meat packing
- plants in the maritime provinces, to the air space centre in California and
- the field of atomics.
- Consider those at home who have added to the district’s character, fibre
- and vitality — teachers, doctors, nurses, dentists, musicians, lawyer and
- judge, secretaries, clergyman and Lab technicians who have graduated
- from our school. Sonja (Spence) Taylor, School Secretary at Dr. Folkins, is
- currently working on her 21st year of proficient service.
- One technologist, who was successful in isolating a very rare Salmonella
- bacteria, saved the life of a small boy with acute symptoms of the
- disease. Did she expect fanfare, honourable mention or a medal?
- CERTAINLY NOT. She was playing a daily role in the ongoing field of
- research.
- Certainly Chauvin’s young men and women who joined the forces in World
- conflicts are ample evidence of the quality of calibre of our youth.
- They left their jobs, their school, their youthful plans,
- To give their strife
- There may emerge a brotherhood of man.”
- Some displays of courage and bravery in action is something that will
- never be fully comprehended, and adequately recorded. Many of our local
- students and graduates did not return. To them we bow in a minute of
- silence, and wear a poppy, remembering that they sacrificed a life for our
- free way of living.
- Let’s not forget our young farmers who are trained, skilled and excellent
- custodians of Chauvin’s richest natural resources — the soil and the
- oil fields. Together with the improvement and introduction of new breeds of
- cattle, this is a rich, diversified farming area.
- 1993— Dr. Folkins’ present enrollment is 196, including beginners in
- Kindergarten to the graduating class of Grade XII. Children from country
- districts are conveyed to and from school by 5 buses.
- Such is the story the winds of change have unfolded in a century! New
- challenges, scientific advancement at an alarming pace, and new fields of
- endeavour confront the learners of today. Chauvin’s students, I’m sure,
- instructed by subject specialists will meet the hurdles in our educational
- system, and add new interesting accomplishments to our legend of
- progress.
Chauvin School District No. 2196
Submitted by Mrs. Eleanor Perry
18-19