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