Two Different Histories

The Little High School That Could
By Doris J. Thomson (née Brown)

In the 'dirty thirties' there was no money among prairie farmers to send their young people to an area where secondary school was available and yet education was a top priority for my parents and others in the community. I was too young to remember the origin of the idea or the detailed planning that went into it. All I can report is what my surviving friends and I can recall.

The Lauderdale school grounds occupied a corner of my uncle's farm about 10 miles northwest of Castor, Alberta. It was larger than most rural schools and served sometimes as many as forty students in grades one to nine. At one point a curtain was hung down the middle and two teachers were hired to serve the burgeoning pupil load. On the "senior side" some students were taking correspondence courses to continue their education beyond grade nine under the supervision of the teacher. One year (and too many active compasses through the curtain) proved that this plan was inadequate.

In 1935 a group of parents decided that if the government couldn't or wouldn't build a local high school they would do it themselves. Having received approval for use of the public school grounds, toilets, barn and teacherage and with the promise of government funding of a teacher, they proceeded with their plan. The building was erected on my uncle's property but facing onto the school

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grounds, thereby assuring the use of the grounds with the building itself remaining privately owned.

Each family donated $100 (not an easy thing to do when wheat was 25 cents a bushel and beef was eight cents a pound) to purchase the lumber which was trucked from a sawmill near Rocky Mountain House. The building was raised by the farmers themselves and desks were gleaned from neighbouring schools. The first teacher was Helen Armstrong and only grades nine, ten and part of eleven were offered. Education beyond that was obtained, if at all, by correspondence course or by attending high school in the local town.

When local school districts were amalgamated into school divisions in the mid 1940s, school bus routes were established and students were bussed to Castor or stayed at the newly established dormitory there. The little school was closed and sold to a local farmer to serve as a chicken house. It met an ignominious end when it burned down from an overheated brooder but its story stands as a memorial to independence and determination.

History Was Made
By Ron Rhine

On December 1, 2005, the Okanagan Branch of the Alberta Retired Teachers' Association came into being. We believe it is the first of its kind in any of the provinces. The process had started in late May and by September we had an investigative social meeting. We determined that there were potentially 150 people from Vernon to Osoyoos who would be eligible for membership. An organizational meeting was held in December with 32 people present and a constitution was adopted, membership fees were set and an executive elected.

The president is Ron Rhine, tel: (250) 768-8336,

The treasurer is Barrie Thompson, tel: (250) 765-6600 and the secretary is Marilyn Resler, tel: (250) 767-2727.