By Ed Stozek
For the Herald
This past year our grandson Syd started Kindergarten.
Since his parents live on a farm near Cartwright, Man., they initially drove Syd to school. Several months later Syd started to take the school bus. It was a big step of independence in the life of a five-year-old boy and it made me think of my school related experiences during my formative years.
The term consolidation meant the joining together of two or more school districts under one board of school trustees with provisions made for transporting students to school. Amalgamating into larger groups would provide many benefits so that children in rural school districts could receive educational advantages more nearly equal to those who attended city schools.
The first consolidation in rural Manitoba occurred in 1905 at Virden and at Holland and in the ensuing years more schools followed suit.
In the Oakburn area consolidation had been discussed as far back as 1915, however, it was not achieved until 1958, following the creation of divisional systems in 1956.
Eleven one-room rural schools with a student population totaling 286 students joined and formed the Oakburn Consolidated School District No. 255 and became part of the Pelly Trail School Division No. 37. That same year construction of a new elementary school began at Oakburn.
It is interesting to note that if one travelled on the gravel road running past our farm, one passed three one room country schools. Each of the schools were located three miles apart. The schools at Rogers and Zaporosa consolidated in 1960 and the school that I attended, St. John, consolidated in 1964.
At this time high schools were located at Inglis, Russell, Binscarth, Angusville, Rossburn, Oakburn and Elphinstone.
Prior to consolidation, attending high school was a challenge for the graduates from the rural one-room country schools. Many students took their Grade 9 courses by correspondence since rural folks had the added financial burden of providing daily rides to school or paying for room and board in town for their children attending Grades 9 to 12.
By 1960 the need to stay in town to attend high school came to an end. That year my father got a school bus route. He took the train to Lethbridge and purchased a yellow school van and drove it home. It was the beginning of daily school bus rides for the high school students from the Seech area.
St. John did not close its doors until 1964. By that time my father was no longer a bus driver. As a Grade 7 student, I officially boarded a school bus that September and amid the chatter and excitement of seeing familiar faces the bus made several more stops to pick up students who lived closer to town. We finally arrived at our destination and entered a modern six room elementary school. We learned to experience the daily routine of learning the three R's with the added challenge of the concept of new Maths and some basic French.
An added bonus included a gymnasium and a large playground that catered to our indoor and outdoor physical activities.
The nine-mile school bus rides to Oakburn continued until Grade 12. For Grades 10 to 12 an extra bus ride was necessary as the university entrance courses were offered at Elphinstone, adding an extra 13-mile journey from Oakburn.
The trips to Elphinstone were always interesting as we were all high school students. We had a lot of things in common.
Discussions often involved the latest rock n' roll music, a great deal of local student “news” and getting last-minute answers to the geometry assignment questions.
Consolidation proved to be a successful venture as we were exposed to a wide range of experiences that were not available in a one-room country school setting.
This included teachers who specialized in subject areas and the option to participate in school sports teams. Our school population was akin to a close-knit community.
As for Syd and his school experiences, he has adapted well to his new role as a student. He recently noted that he looks forward to his rides on the school bus because he has a buddy to sit with.
