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Schools
~ Ashton Creek
School
~ Enderby
Schools
~ Grindrod
School
~ Hupel-Mabel
Lake School
~ Mara
School
~ North
Enderby School
~ Springbend School
~ Trinity
Creek School
Transportation
On October 2, 1924, work commenced on
the new school to be constructed north of Enderby at the junction of Highway 97A and Emeny
Road. A news item in the Okanagan Commoner dated November 20, 1924, states:
"Springbend School opened on Monday with 17 pupils, with Miss Beth Bunn of Grindrod
in charge. The desks and seats have not yet arrived, but the scholars and teacher are
making the best of what they have."
The Springbend School took in the area from Fenton Road to Steve Brodoway's on Highway 97A, and from the corner of Springbend Road to Bert Barnes and the Berry Farm. Also the north end of Glenmary Road.
In 1933 the teacher's annual salary was $800. The annual salary was raised in 1943 to $850 and in 1944 to $960. Minimum annual salary in 1945 was $1000.
Teachers' transportation varied. Miss Fenton drove a model T Ford Coupe. When it became law to have a driver's license, she parked her car in a garage and never drove again. Miss James road a bicycle to and from Enderby. Teacher who boarded near the school walked to school. Mr. Nelson lived in a house on the school property.
An item that teachers used to duplicate work sheets for pupils was called a Hectograph. Springbend School teachers Charlotte Carbert, Pearl Andersen, and Peter and Betty Ward remember using the hectograph.
Jean (Salt) Kuchel, a pupil at the school from 1934 to 1942 recalls in grade six, that Miss Anderson had the pupils produce a newspaper. Using the Hectograph, a 10 page newspaper titled "Springbend Echoes" was printed. In the 1941-42 school year Jean earned $4 a month to do the janitor work of lighting the fire, general cleaning and carrying water from the creek. A boy from the class was hired at $2 a month to do the janitor work of emptying the pails from the outhouses. The boys' outhouse was located near the highway, and the girls' outhouse at the lower end of the school property. During the winter the boys would throw snowballs at the girls on their way to and from the outhouse.
Olive (Fenton) Gray and her sister Frances (Fenton) Bartell were pupils at the school from grade one to eight. To have enough pupils to start the school in 1924, Olive started to school when she was 5 years old. Olive remembers that Mrs. Twigg, a resident who lived near the school, taught the pupils to sing "The Maple Leaf Forever". She remembers recitations at the Christmas concerts, when her grandparents, Andrew and Jensine Andersen brought an organ to the school. She remembers the school inspector, A.E. Miller coming to school a couple times a year, and how scared she and the other pupils were when they knew he was to arrive. She remembers Dr. Keith coming to school once a year to check the pupil' eyes, ears, and general health, and herds of sheep going past the school to graze on Hunters Range.
In 1927 the school celebrated May Day with a May Pole Dance, and Olive was elected May Queen. Olive and Frances either walked or rode their bicycles to and from school. She recalls that they and others who rode bicycles would race between the school and Brodoways.
In the early years the first thing to do in the morning would be to put up the Canadian flag. When the pupils were seated at their desks they recited the Lord's Prayer, then the teacher went to each pupil to inspect their nails, hands, elbows, neck and teeth to check if they were clean. Olive recalls that the teacher would award a small prize to the row of pupils who had the best record at the end of each month.
John May attended the school in 1935-36. From 1940 to 1945 John supplied wood to the school for the wood furnace which was purchased from Waterman-Waterbury Manufacturing Company in Regina and is still in use. The furnace has a stamped metal enclosure around the stove to prevent anyone getting burned. Back of this enclosure was a favourite spot for Miss Fenton's dog Patches.
A couple of entries in the ledger show a cheque issued to John May on February 17, 1940 for $14 for 6 cords of wood, and on August 22, 1941, a cheque issued for $3.15 for repairing woodshed and piling wood. John also worked as a janitor at the school for two or three years.
Many games were played at Springbend School. Some of the games were Run Sheep Run, Pom Pom Pull Away, Blind Man's Bluff, Fox and Geese, and Hangman.
It was reported in the June 16, 1950 issue of the Enderby Commoner that the School Board has decided to close the Springbend School. On June 1, 1955, School District #78 (Enderby) sold the Springbend School and lot to the Springbend Club for $1 to use as a Community Hall.
June Griswold
Okanagan Historical Society Report #61, 1997