BATTLE VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT No.2184
- The Battle Valley School District was organized in May 1911. It was a
- long narrow district bordered on the north by the Battle River. First
- trustees were O. Olson, H. Woodruff and Neri Skeie. There was
- considerable disagreement as to where to build the school. With an acre
- of land purchased from O. Olson, $1100 borrowed, a school building 20’ x
- 27’ was built by Mr. S.P. Lien for $790. The first teacher, Mr. Mewberry,
- was paid $60 a month for the summer months.
- In 1928, a teacherage was built when Miss Henderson was hired for a six
- month term. School taxes were 10 cents per acre and students were hired
- to build fires at three dollars per month. The school was almost closed in
- 1914 due to lack of students. Eventually school was open for a full term.
- In 1948, the school and all the buildings were moved one mile south where
- it stood for several years. When the larger school division was
- established, pupils on the west side of Ribstone road were bussed to
- Edgerton and those on the east side to Chauvin. The Battle Valley School
- was bought by Prospect Valley F.U.A. to use as a community centre. Some
- years later the school was moved to the Edgerton Museum where it stands
- as a good example of the old rural schools.
- Miss Gretchen Richardson tells of her experiences in Battle Valley, her
- first school. “My father and I drove to Kingtons, the school secretary
- whose family came from England. I walked to school by way of
- Warringtons and through a steep river valley.
- “The first day of school I was nervous, wondering if the pupils would come
- into the school when I rang the bell. I found the children friendly. Most
- walked to school, except Swea, Albert and Willie who rode on one pony.
- Mrs. Kington gave me a generous lunch but when school was out, Mrs.
- Olson, who lived nearby, always had coffee, buns, cheese and cookies and
- made me welcome. Kingtons also had a phonograph. The record ‘Missouri
- Waltz’ must have been almost worn out when I left. My best subject was
- math but it kept me concentrating to keep up with Willie in rapid
- calculation.
- “Friday we had a program at school, but I looked forward to spending the
- weekend at home near Chauvin. As most people did not have a car, I would
- take the children for a ride at noon. First we had to start by cranking the
- car. When I had a flat tire, the boys would help and so learned how. We
- never drove our car enough to keep the battery charged so I would stop the
- car on the top of a hill and it would start when the boys pushed it down
- the hill. This was a course in mechanics given without being on the course
- of studies.”
- Jeanette (Heffren), Murray has some memories of her school days.
- “Promotion in grades often meant a larger desk and a different part of the
- schoolroom. The schoolroom always smelled so fresh and clean after
- summer clean-up and sometimes paint-up.
- “The school was heated by a furnace in the basement but because of some
- defect in the draft system, the room would fill with smoke. This was
- soon repaired after the inspector arrived one morning. In earlier years we
- used straight pens and often frozen ink. Oh! How I hated those straight
- pens!
- “The fun we had playing games at recess: Fox and Goose, Hide and Seek,
- Pom-pom-pull-away, Stealing sticks, May I, I Spy, and Ball.
- “Two big events were the Christmas concert and the June 30th picnic. Too
- soon the Christmas program would be over and Santa’s progress followed
- and he always arrived to the wonder of the little ones.
- “The end of June meant an afternoon of sports and ball with the whole
- community participating. These were followed by mountains of food
- ending with home-made ice cream.
- “After the spring mud would come crocuses, buttercups, violets and leaves.
- Finally in June would come the roses and best of all, strawberries in the
- ditches. These are a few memories of happy days in a country school!”
- Swea (Swanson) McGladrie tells of her early school days which started in
- July 1920. She tells, “Albert and I walked to school. We heard the big bell
- go ‘Dong! Dong!’ This meant we had fifteen minutes to school time. We
- hung our coats in the cloakroom, one for girls and one for boys, and left
- our lunch buckets there. We sat in double desks. It was quite convenient
- to visit with the person beside you if the teacher didn’t see you. We wrote
- with slate pencils on our slates. Much arithmetic was done on the
- blackboard. We were taught reading the phonic way! Since Albert and I
- mixed Swedish words into our language, we were really embarrassed.
- “At recess one morning, I was enjoying a sandwich when a hornet lit on my
- bread. When I took a bite, the fellow stung me in revenge. My tongue
- swelled up so big, I could neither eat nor talk.
- “The older children planted a garden on the north side of the school as I
- believe our school was involved in a fair. During some years, in winter,
- the children took turns bringing milk to school and the older girls made
- cocoa for the class. On hot days, Miss Jewel took the class on a picnic
- down to the river.
- “In May or June in 1927, our school celebrated Canada’s 60th birthday,
- the Diamond Jubilee, at a picnic north of the river. Andy Olson and I carried
- the Battle Valley banner and led the parade. Our school won a prize for
- having the best decorated truck.
- “On Friday afternoon we sometimes had spelling or geography matches.
- Other times our teacher would read from Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Anne of
- Green Gables.”
- Bill Swanson, Swea’s brother, remembers some teachers: Miss Prouse (his
- first teacher), Miss Windson, Miss Jewel, Miss Lee, Mary Kelly, Mrs.
- Sparrow, Miss Congdon, Sam Gordon, Bob Stone, Mr. Hemphill (the last
- teacher before the school closed). Bob Stone was remembered for having
- so many plants in the school room. The school had an average of fifteen
- to twenty-five students.
Battle Valley School District No. 2184
Submitted by Emmy Nysetvold
80-81-82