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 ~ Ashton Creek School
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 ~ ~ talk with Jean MacPherson
 ~ ~ talk with Grace Lundquist
 ~ ~ talk with Sandra Farynuk
 ~ ~ talk with Donald MacPherson
 ~ ~ talk with Mr.Larson
 ~ ~ talk with Mrs. Reay
 ~ Grindrod School
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 ~ Trinity Creek School
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Jean attended the little one-room schoolhouse in Deep Creek from 1932-1940. Her family moved, and she attended school in Lake Cowichan for grades nine to ten before moving back to Enderby and attending Fortune School for her grade eleven year. She attended grade 12 in Kelowna as she had a job there.

Jean doesn't recall too much of a social life while she lived in Deep Creek, as houses were still few and far between. As far as school was concerned, her fondest memories involved the school track meets, as she was a very athletic student. For lack of anything else to do, many students participated on the school teams. All qualifying students would jump in the back of a pick-up truck and head to track meets in various neighboring towns such as Salmon Arm, Kelowna, and a few others. One year she recalls that her team won a silver coronation spoon because Queen Elizabeth was crowned that year.

The school performed a Christmas concert each year, and the students sang and danced to entertain their fairly substantial audience. Everyone in Deep Creek came to the concert, as it was a major social event for all the residents each year.

Jean and her brothers walked one and a half miles to and from school each day. In the event of a snowstorm, or heavy snowfall the previous night, her eldest brother led his siblings through two feet of snow in order to get to school. When they arrived at home, they stripped off their wet clothes at the door, so as not to get the arthritis their mother warned them about daily.

From grades one to eight Jean was in a class of three. This class consisted of the Johnson twins and Jean. One of the twins and Jean were always very competitive in their schoolwork. She remembers staying up very late at night studying in order to get the better mark. The school population in these years was at the most twenty-six pupils and two teachers; Mr. Calber and Miss McMurray taught all grades.

Jean never recalls going on field trips, except going to neighboring communities to compete in track meets.

She will always remember the time when her brother, Len, got so fed up with the girl sitting in front of him tossing her long ringlets on his desk. He grabbed his scissors, cut off the ringlet, and dipped it in his inkwell. He proved his point, but had to suffer the strap!

As far as marks went in school, letter grades were never given out. Each student was ranked first, second, third etc. in his grade. She remembers that spelling and good penmanship were stressed in school. If you weren't finished your work, you had to stay after school until it was complete.

Jean believes the main differences between modern day education and education in her time were the social life and the extracurricular activities. There were never dances because no one lived close enough together. Of course there was definitely no drinking or drugs. In her time, no one ever dressed fashionably - you wore whatever you had handed down to you.

It is obvious that many changes have occurred in the school system. Jean feels that she didn't miss anything by going to school in the 1930's to 40's rather than the modern-day school system.

Janine Farynuk
ALF School 1989