Porter Lake School District No. 4311
Porter Lake School was situated on the NE ¼ 13-44-3 W4. The school
got its name from a lake on the same land which was named after a Mr.
Porter who lived in a small house near the lake. The school was built in
1928 by Oliver Jardine and opened in November, 1928. The first teacher
was Miss Sager (Bazley) with a roll-call of 17 increasing to 21 in April of
1929. This was a more modern school than most in that area with inside
toilets in the basement.
Some of the teachers that followed were: Mary Hill, Gladys Mills, Lillian Pitman, Grace Burton, Beth Reinhart, Inez Snyder (White), Everett White, Evelyn Ford, Helen Badiuk, Marg Clifford, Jeanette Heffern, Mrs. Roach, Bob Stone, Myrtle Nicholson, Mrs. Alma Enger. Mr. E. Spencer was the first secretary, Frank Moran, chairman and Bill Marshal and Joe Wehenkel first trustees.
In 1952 progress reached our little country schoolhouse and after many meetings the powers that be closed the school, some students going to Edgerton others to Ribstone. The last roll call was: Jim and Joey Frazer, Frances Oleson, Vivian and Vera Boomhower, Grace Sayer and Mrs. Alma Enger as teacher. That last year, Mrs. Enger took all the students on a tour of Edmonton, some going by bus and others in her car, over roads deep in mud where construction was going on, no small accomplishment. What a wonderful day for country children!
Porter Lake was one of the better schools in the area with its indoor toilets, which were greatly enjoyed, until one day the boys dropped a rock into the bowl destroying it. After that, they had to run out to the “wee house.”
During the years the school was not only a place of learning but also the
centre of social activities, and, most important, the school concert.
Everyone turned out to see the students act out their plays, songs and
drills. Much praise is due to these teachers and the event is sadly missed
by many.
The school term ended with the June picnic in 1952. The Porter Lake community ended up buying the school, using it for dances, bingos, suppers, and whist drives, real family affairs.
Some School Daze of Remembrance:
- - drowning gophers in the school yard
- - eating dinner sitting on the rafters of the barn
- - fighting fire behind the barn
- - Frances riding “Nigger”
- - smoking cigarettes made with leaves
- - making a hole in the wall between the girls’ and boys’ cloakrooms.
- - scaring teacher’s horse
- - teacher being snowed in for three days
- - not enough room in the barn for the horses
- - sitting in the corner with a dunce’s cap on
- - putting a dead gopher on teacher’s desk
Porter Lake School still stands but is seldom used any more.
Porter Lake School District No. 4311
Submitted by Emmy Nysetvold
105-106