Interview with Irene Imbeau

Colleen:	When did you attend North Enderby School?
Mrs. Imbeau:	In the 1920's.
Colleen:	What do you remember about the social life? About the people? Was it a friendly atmosphere at the school?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Oh, yes, very much so! And the boys and the girl had to play together, because there were only 30 pupils when I started attending school age of six. It was a one room school.
Colleen:	So what was it like to be in a one room school?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well, you froze or roasted, one or the two, because there was a stove in the middle of the room. The pupils near the stove roasted, and those away from it froze. There was no insulation in those days.
Colleen:	Was the school built by volunteers?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Oh, I would imagine so, yes. The first school was built in 1906 on the far end of MacNair's property, in North Enderby, then it was moved to where the picnic ground is now.
Colleen:	What memories do you have of the school?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well, I had to walk to school everyday, and it was a mile...Some students had to walk five miles! The children took turns going and putting fire on in the morning. I think they received a big sum of $2.00 a month to do it. It was the older boys who did it.
Colleen:	Was it a hardship to do the wood?
Mrs. Imbeau:	They thought it was wonderful to get $2.00 a month in those days. Sometimes the teachers had to do it, but the children had to bring the wood in.
Colleen:	What kind of games did you play?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Oh, we had silly things in those days, like Run-Sheep-Run, and Anti-I-Over - throwing the ball over the school back and forth; if you caught it you could run around and see how many you could catch on the other side, then it would belong to your team. We also played Shinney - you make like hockey sticks out of roots of a tree, then take 2 pieces of hose and tie a cord between them, and then you'd run and flip it and try to make goals. We also played ball, and we tried to play basketball one year (we improvised our own baskets). We would pack water from the well and try to drown the gophers out. Girls would do this too.
Colleen:	What do you remember about the studies?
Mrs. Imbeau:	There were 8 grades and one teacher.
Colleen:	What was the work like compared to what we do now?
Mrs. Imbeau:	We were a lot better in spelling than most are today. I think we are a lot better at arithmetic, just the straight times tables. We were an awful lot better at reading and spelling.
Colleen:	What difference was there between your school and our school?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Far more up now with computers and calculators.
Colleen:	Would you say the schooling back then was a lot easier compared to now, or how would you compare it?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well, we seemed to know an awful lot about the world. History and Geography. We were certainly a lot better in English compared to now because of the memory work, we had to know all the poems, and we had to know all the poets. We had to memorize and memorize a lot of poems.
Colleen:	What were the main subjects you had?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Spelling, English, History, Geography, we were great on Geography. It seems we had to do more in Geography than kids do now.
Colleen:	Did you get lots of homework?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well, not too much. If we had any punishment in school for talking, it would be to stay in after school to memorize so many verses.
Colleen:	Was schooling strict back then? Were the teachers very strict?
Mrs. Imbeau:	The kids were very respective of teachers in those days. They never talked back or anything. Students would have to stay in after school, or do their homework the next day, if they didn't get it done.
Colleen:	Did the kids ever get the strap?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Yes, they would get so many straps on the hand if they were fighting outside or something.
Colleen:	What kind of winter sports did you do?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Oh. sleigh-riding mostly, then there was skating. Not too many sports in the winter.
Colleen:	Did you go on any field trips in school?
Mrs. Imbeau:	No, we didn't have such a thing.
Colleen:	Did you have any competitive sports of any kind?
Mrs. Imbeau:	No, unless you wanted to go into Enderby on the 24th of May or to Grindrod on the third of June for celebrations, and then you ran in the races and high-jumped.
Colleen:	What are your memories about your teachers?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well, my favorite teacher I had for 3 years, and she was from Victoria. The one before her boarded with us for 2 years. She came right out from England. She was a very nice lady. I also liked my first teacher. We had McLean's style writing and we had to practise it everyday.
Colleen:	Did you ever have awards' nights?
Mrs. Imbeau:	No, the only thing that we might have had was Spelling Bees usually the last day of school, and the parents competed with the children.
Colleen:	Were there prizes, or was it just for fun?
Mrs. Imbeau:	No, we didn't have monetary awards; we just did it for fun. Colleen:
Colleen:	Was it an event that everyone looked forward to?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Yes.
Colleen:	Were there a lot of students that got good grades?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well, no they marked them A, B, C. There was no competition.
Colleen:	Was it kind of like a family atmosphere? What do you remember about the students?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well, they all seemed to get along with each other, because we had to play with little ones as well as big ones. You would have 2 teams and 2 captains, and they had to pick big ones as well a little ones. The big children kind of looked after the little children.
Colleen:	Do you remember any stories about students, classes or anything?
Mrs. Imbeau:	In the winter time it would be cold, and that's when we had our P.E. We would just get up, and do our exercises in the classroom, just to warm up.
Colleen:	Did you have to wear uniforms?
Mrs. Imbeau:	No, we basically wore what we wanted.
Colleen:	Can you tell me what your favorite memories are?
Mrs. Imbeau:	No, I think mine was getting home.
Colleen:	Anything else you can tell me about the school?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Well one time, 2 boys in the same family took polio, and the school had to be closed down for 2-3 weeks. They were so afraid that someone else might get it.
Colleen:	How many buildings were there at school?
Mrs. Imbeau:	There was a woodshed, and 2 outhouses at the back, one side was boys' and one side was girls'. There were 2 recesses in which to use them. School went from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Colleen:	Over the years, how many school buildings were there.
Mrs. Imbeau:	The first school took in Grindrod and all the other side of the river too. They came across the river to come to it. When Grindrod School was built, the schools were going to be too close together, so they moved the North Enderby School up. There was only one school. Christmas Concerts were the best.
Colleen:	What were they like?
Mrs. Imbeau:	It's a wonder we didn't burn the place down. There was one door, and the cloakroom was along the whole length of it; at each end, there was a doorway that went into the school. One big room, and no other entrance, or exit. The stage was at the far end of each room, with a dressing room at each side for the actors. Everybody had to and did take part. The pump organ was in one corner and a Christmas tree. We had candles and it was only lit by lamps. The whole neighborhood would pile in to watch us kids perform.
Colleen:	What kind of performance would you kids do?
Mrs. Imbeau:	Oh, a lot of singing and a lot of recitations. It was a big event. There was a Santa Claus of course, and the School Board committee would buy gifts for every child. The children also received a bag of sweets each.
Colleen:	Was there an after school program?
Mrs. Imbeau:	We had a big picnic. It was in one of the neighbor's fields, and they always made a big freezer of homemade ice cream and there would be races and stuff. All the whole neighborhood would show up. It was a big event. The 1 English teacher, Miss Crow, she wanted to teach more voice, and she would spend quite a bit of time with the girls with part singing. Maybe just 2 or 3 trios. Oh, one year we had quite an interesting thing. The Parliament presented the school with Maple trees, maybe to be patriotic, and one day we planted them on each side of the school.