The Mapleton Historical Society hosted a presentation on one-room schoolhouses on Nov. 6.
Guest speakers for the event, held at the Drayton United Church, were two retired teachers who taught in the schools and a pupil who attended.
“Its been 65 years since I graduated from teachers college in Stratford in the early 1950s,” retired teacher Dorothy Dickson said. “It was an exciting time to be in Stratford as it was the beginning of the Stratford Festival. They erected a huge tent to use as an amphitheatre.”
Dickson lived with her parents, who farmed on the 10th of Maryborough. Three school trustees met with Dickson and offered her a teaching position at SS#5 in Maryborough. She accepted and was able to live at home and walk to the school.
“I was paid $2,100 for the school year, which was $100 more than the going rate at the time. And, I was to have five new boys and one new girl in Grade 1 that year,” Dickson said.
The caretakers, who lived next to the school, lit the fire in the stove each morning. Nicknamed “the Octopus” because of the maze of duct work that surrounded it, the stove kept the students warm during the winter months. The school had new cloak rooms, indoor washrooms and electricity. Typical of any classroom in that era, the desks were in rows facing the front of the classroom and the teacher’s desk was raised. The library was similar in size to a large china cabinet.
“Teaching was structured and the teacher taught directly to the students, often teaching eight grades at one time. On occasion, classes were combined when new topics were being taught,” Dickson said.
Opening exercises consisted of swearing allegiance to the flag, a Bible story and The Lord’s Prayer. Each child had a speller and a reader. A weekly spelling list was part of the classroom curriculum. A health card was assigned to each student with fingernail cleanliness, hair brushing and teeth cleanliness recorded daily.
Each fall the children entered art work, crafts, printing and writing into the fair. A lot of time was spent marching around the school yard, practicing for the fair’s parade. The older students marched out front holding the school’s banner.
“One year I made bagpipes out of plaid wall paper,” Dickson said. “Another year there was an igloo made out of corrugated paper. Even though the weather was extremely hot the children wore their winter coats on the float.”
Every child performed in the Christmas concert. Wires with safety pins attached were strung across the stage holding the curtains in place. Wire was also used to make wings for butterflies and angels. Santa handed out candy and the nativity was a large part of the concert. Costumes and props were stored in the corner of the room at the back of the school.
“Even though it was a one-room school house, the children learned memory work, drama, music, art, design and religion while preparing for and performing the concert,” Dickson said.
A music teacher taught the children music theory and a new song during their weekly visit to the school. Students participated in the Music Festival doing recitations, singing solos and duets and playing the piano.
The last Friday of the month was Red Cross Day during which the children learned the roles of president, secretary and treasurer of an organization. Red Cross magazines and pins were ordered for each pupil.
The inspector came to the school to inspect the teacher not the students. The teacher was responsible for all the books. Attendance was sent to Stratford, calculations were made and school supplies ordered.
“Compared to today, the children learned more of the three Rs and more about sharing, encouragement, honesty, patience, independence, self discipline and hard work,” Dickson said.
Erla Dickson, Dorothy’s sister-in-law, was hired in 1949 by a three-man board, following an interview for a position at SS#3 Nichol, Fergus. There were 24 pupils attending from Grades 1 to 7. Dickson boarded from Sunday night to Friday afternoon at a nearby home for $1.25/day.
School hours were 9am to 4pm, with a morning and afternoon recess and a one-hour lunch and recess combined.
“There was a rope to pull to ring the school bell. The first time I pulled it nothing happened. The harder I pulled the louder the bell got until the last time I pulled it. The bell flipped over and stayed in that position until one of the trustees pulled it back down,” Dickson said.
The first day of school was a half-day, allowing parents to shop for necessary school supplies.
The inspector visited twice a year and visits were unscheduled. He spent half a day going over the books and the remainder of the day walking the classroom, observing.
“A pot belly stove kept the school warm. A potato could be placed under the steel ring located around the middle of the stove,” Dickson said.
“If the stove’s temperature was right a freshly baked potato was ready to eat at lunch time.”
The school had non-flush indoor chemical toilets for which a neighbour supplied buckets of water. By the late 1940s, electricity was introduced to the school and the school also became the social centre for the area. Euchre games, crokinole parties, music nights and square dances were held. People visited while enjoying sandwiches and cakes.
“Dutch speaking students learned to read using pictures from the Eaton’s catalogue and magazines,” Dickson said. “Booklets were made using a cut-out of a lady as a mother and a man was father. The children were taught to understand emotions also by using cut-outs. One youngster brought in a picture of a lady who was smiling to represent the word happy. The lady was only wearing a girdle.”
Upper Grand District School Board trustee Bruce Schieck attended SS#17 Maryborough as a youngster.
He recalls playing Red Rover, the Fox and the Goose and skating on the wet hole behind the school in the winter. All the schools had blackboards and lessons were written in cursive on the boards.
High school students were bused into Drayton. There was a principal, four to five teachers and 15 to 20 students in a classroom. Subjects were algebra, French, Latin, shops and chemistry.
Gym classes were comprised of volleyball, basketball and, before prom, dance lessons. Initiation included students rolling an egg down the hall by the nose or being tossed into the water trough at Henry’s Hardware.
“Today the Upper Grand District School Board has 62 elementary and 11 secondary schools with attendance reaching over the 34,000 pupil mark,” Schieck said.
“The school board’s budget is $364,715,000 per year with 85 per cent of the budget going toward salaries.”
