PROSPECT VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT No.2129

1. The early history of Prospect Valley is best described by Miss Alice
2. (Newman) Tribe, one of the first students in the school. She tells her
3. story: “My mother and father and family migrated to Canada in May 1907
4. from northern England to Marshall, Saskatchewan by way of Lloydminster.
5. My dad and brother walked, looking for land they liked. Finally the land
6. agent drove them forty-five miles south-west of Lloydminster. My father
7. established a post office which he called Prospect Valley. Soon more folk
8. arrived and it was felt a school was needed. My father donated an acre of
9. land on the SW ¼ 6-45-2 W4 and my brothers and other neighbours built
10. the school, which opened in 1910.
11.  
12. “The first school board was O. Jardine, Sam Byers and my father. The first
13. teacher was Mr. Tyke. Some of the first families were Bevingtons,
14. Dorlands, Amesons, Andersons, Stevens, Byers and Newmans. Another
15. early teacher was Miss Maggie Sewell. The school served as an
16. educational and community centre until it was sold and moved to
17. Wainwright and became the first Public Library in Wainwright from 1951 –
18. 1967. Then it became a Young Peoples’ Centre and later a Salvation Army
19. Store. So the old school is still useful.”
20.  
21. School days at Prospect Valley in 1929 as told by J.J. McMullan, whose
22. family emigrated from Ireland. He writes “Our first term started
23. September 1929 with Miss Olive Heffern. I wore the same heavy hob-
24. nailed boots that were worn in Ireland and I remember the teacher asking
25. me to please make less noise when walking. I enjoyed my school days
26. there! One special teacher was Miss Weeks (Mrs. Jardine). Under her
27. expert guidance, we won the shield at the Musical Festival in Wainwright.
28.  
29. “The highlight of the year, of course, was the Christmas concert. One item
30. I recall was a sketch in shadow graph. I was the patient and Gordie
31. Dorland the doctor. The sketch proved to be quite successful. What a
32. sight with our tree reaching to the ceiling, sparkling with tinsel and
33. homemade ornaments! After the program came Santa Claus.”
34.  
35. Edith (Sayer) Fisher narrates her experiences of a country schoolhouse.
36. “The highlight of the school year for us kids was the Christmas Concert.
37. The 1930s were days of no television, little radio, no public library.
38. Planning started after Hallowe’en. Plays were chosen and every child
39. must have some part. There were songs, recitations, shadow plays and
40. drills. The audience was expected to admire the colour and symmetry of
41. the drill, while up to ten children in crepe paper dresses bumped through
42. intricate maneuvers on an eight by twelve stage. Perhaps we learned more
43. than we realized about tolerance and empathy.
44.  
45. “Some fathers cut the Christmas tree in the valley of the Ribstone Creek. I
46. know it was my mom who made 6’ by 10’ mesh bags for goodies because
47. we girls volunteered the mom who was the busiest to sew six concert
48. dresses. Beyond the dyed flour sack curtains we spied a sea of faces on
49. rows of backless benches waiting expectantly under the blazing gas lamps.
50. Beginning with “Oh Canada,” and ending with “God Save the King,” it was all
51. over for another year.
52.  
53. “After Christmas, the cold weather came, when we sat with our coats on,
54. while the inkwells thawed out behind the stove. When the temperature
55. dipped below –30 degrees Fahrenheit or a blizzard howled, the school
56. would be closed.
57.  
58. “Spring came at last! A list appeared on the board of Signs of Spring – the
59. Red Cross meeting, with students elected president, secretary and social
60. convener who planned a program.
61.  
62. “June brought exams when the special 8” by 14” sheets signaled our mind to
63. forget everything it had ever learned. I can recall in utter silence
64. watching the cotton fluff drifting across the room and smelling the peat
65. smoke that originated in northern Alberta, in those summers with no rain,
66. while one searched for answers to the questions. Finally came report
67. cards and we had passed! Then came long, hot, work-filled summers on
68. the farm.
69.  
70. “In the years I attended Prospect Valley there was Miss Weeks (Jardine), Miss Mickeljohn from Provost, Miss Darling (Mrs. Burton), six foot tall Mr. Hughes hired to restore discipline and ruled with the strap and Miss Johnson (Nysetvold) from a nearby district. God bless them everyone!”
71.  
72. A few memories of what took place in the field of education – perhaps it
73. was the continual listening preview as we worked and the teacher taught
74. the older children that made it worthwhile because my husband and I have
75. a better grasp of the three R’s and spelling than did our city educated
76. children at the end of eighth grade. Words fail me in paying tribute to the
77. teachers in those country schools.
78.  
79. Education may be of a higher standard today with children transported to
80. town but a lot has been lost socially with the passing of the country
81. school, the centres of social life.

Prospect Valley School District No. 2129
Submitted by Emmy (Johnson) Nysetvold

83-84-85