Corn Valley School District 4320

SE-28-39-2 W3
1920 - 1957
near Aberdeen, Saskatchewan
SW quarter section 6 township 39 range 2 west of the 3rd meridian

Hello. I took a photo of the old Corn Valley single room school in the 1980’s shortly before it was torn down. I have attached a scan. I hope you can use this on your great website. Thanks.

"Corn Valley School was a one-room country school with eight grades, about three miles from Aberdeen, Saskatchewan. School started on August 27th in 1956. John had 25 students and his wages were $3,425. The school was heated by a huge stove, which stood in the middle of the room on a metal sheet for protection."^{Source Willms, Margaretha.}

I had to smile when I saw that. Mr Willms was my Grade 4 teacher the year before the school was closed. The year afterwards all the kids in the area were then bussed to Aberdeen.

My first teacher was Mr Schellenburg as mentioned in the write-up. Mr Willms came after him. The write-up covers so many of my memories as well. The teachers house was also on the yard as well as the barn. Mrs Willms memories in her book covers a portion of the challenges of country school teachers houses (I believe she mentioned Corn Valley) . Frank Taylor was my fathers teacher and left a very positive last impression on him. He lied about his age and joined the Canadian Army when he was 15 and served overseas in WWI. He was gassed and always had a persistent cough all his life. He became a teacher after the war. When he passed there was no funeral and his body was donated to science.

When you entered the front door, the boy’s cloakroom was on the right, girls on the left. The rows of desks were set by grades with the Grade 1 at the very front on the first isle on the right as you entered the classroom. Once school commenced we all sang O Canada. I recall some exercises by our desks (singing Head, shoulders, knees and toes). At lunch we would all go out into the yard and eat there (except when raining or in the winter). No one was allowed back into the school until lunch was over. The end of the day we sang God Save the Queen. Interestingly, the only flag I saw ever flown at this school was the Union Jack.

Best regards,
Gordon Thompson
Calgary

Addendum. School location must have been the SE-28-39-2W3 as the school was directly east of my Dad’s farm which was the S-29-39-2W3. Thanks. Gordon Thompson

Post Script:
Attached is a pdf of the Corn Valley write up as promised (cut and paste from the Aberdeen supplement). My first teacher was Mr Schellenburg as mentioned in the write-up. Mr Willms came after him. The write-up covers so many of my memories as well. The teachers house was also on the yard as well as the barn. Mrs Willms memories in her book covers a portion of the challenges of country school teachers houses (I believe she mentioned Corn Valley) . Frank Taylor was my fathers teacher and left a very positive last impression on him. He lied about his age and joined the Canadian Army when he was 15 and served overseas in WWI. He was gassed and always had a persistent cough all his life. He became a teacher after the war. When he passed there was no funeral and his body was donated to science.

When you entered the front door, the boy’s cloakroom was on the right, girls on the left. The rows of desks were set by grades with the Grade 1 at the very front on the first isle on the right as you entered the classroom. Once school commenced we all sang O Canada. I recall some exercises by our desks (singing Head, shoulders, knees and toes). At lunch we would all go out into the yard and eat there (except when raining or in the winter). No one was allowed back into the school until lunch was over. The end of the day we sang God Save the Queen. Interestingly, the only flag I saw ever flown at this school was the Union Jack.~Gordon Thompson

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Willms, Margaretha. And the Meadow Lark Sang: Prairie Memoirs Born Mennonite Page 361. Digitized online by Google Books.

Aberdeen, 1907-1981 Aberdeen Historical Society 1982

Aberdeen Supplement 1907-1985 Aberdeen History BookCommittee1986 -NOTE: Gordon Thompson had a copy of this supplement, and sent in information which contained the school location, teachers and pupils of Corn Valley School. Thank you kindly.

Addendum; prior research on the Union Jack uncovered that the Union Jack was first used in Canada as early as 1610 and continued as the flag of Canada until 1945. In 1965, the Maple Leaf flag used today replaced the Canadian Red Ensign flag (1921-1957).

Teachers:

Beggs, Mrs.
Fitzsimmons, Miss
Hamm, Mrs
Huckaby, Betty
Hutton, Miss
Kingston, Mrs
Kitchenmaster, Mrs
Larson, Orland
Schellenberg, John
Sims, Mrs.
Smith, Kathleen
Taylor, Frank

Student Family names:

Buhlers, Dave
Buhlers, John
Danchuk, Harry
Gordons, Clarence
Halvorsens, Oscar
Hamolines, Joe
Hopper, family
Hryciw, John
Huckaby, Elzie
Huckaby, Gilbert
Hwyciw, Mike
Kowal, John
Kowal, Fred
Mantyka, Fred
Marsdens, The
Newton, Dick
Remus',
Skelton, family
Thompson, John

Nearby Placenames:

^{Source: 84
Aberdeen No. 373 located at is a nearby Other Municipal-District Area-Miscellaneous
Albert located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Alvena located at 12-41-1-W3 is a nearby Village
Arma located at 4-42-3-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Bergheim located at 37-3-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Blumenheim located at 31-39-3-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Blumentahe located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Blumenthal located at 33-40-3-W3 is a nearby Hamlet
Brevoort Park located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Brunskill located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Caswell Hill located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Cathedral Bluffs located at is a nearby Hamlet
Central Business District located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Cheviot located at 28-35-3-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Chortitz located at 5-41-4-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
City Park North located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
City Park South located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Clarkboro located at 36-38-4-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Clark's Crossing located at 38-5-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
College Park located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
College Park East located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Corman Park No. 344 located at is a nearby Other Municipal-District Area-Miscellaneous
Dalmeny located at 10-39-6-W3 is a nearby Town
Eagle Ridge Country Estates located at is a nearby Hamlet
Eastview located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Fish Creek located at 7-42A-1-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Floral located at 36-4-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Forest Grove located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Grant No. 372 located at is a nearby Other Municipal-District Area-Miscellaneous
Greenfeld located at 15-40-5-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Greystone Heights located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Grosvenor Park located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Gruenfeldt located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Gruenthal located at 28-40-4-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Hague located at 7-41-3-W3 is a nearby Town
Hochstadt located at 26-40-4-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Holliston located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Hudson Bay Park located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Industrial located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Lakeridge located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Lakeview located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Laniwci located at 35-40-2-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Larkhaven located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Lawson Heights located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
MacNab Park located at 8-37-5-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Martensville located at 21,28-38-5-W3 is a nearby City
Mayfair located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Neuanlage located at 23-40-4-W3 is a nearby Hamlet
Neuhorst located at 31-39-4-W3 is a nearby Hamlet
North Industrial located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
North Park located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
North Saskatoon located at 37-5-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Nutana located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Osler located at 20-39-4-W3 is a nearby Town
Prud'homme located at 12-39-28-W2 is a nearby Village
Rak located at 39-2-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Rheinland located at 31-39-4-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Richmond located at 15-37-5-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Richmond Heights located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Rineland located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
River Heights located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Riversedge located at is a nearby Hamlet
Rosthern No. 403 located at is a nearby Other Municipal-District Area-Miscellaneous
Saskatoon located at is a nearby City
Schoenweise located at 19-40-4-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Silverwood Heights located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Smuts located at 8-40-1-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
St-Denis located at 4-37-1-W3 is a nearby Unincorporated place
Sutherland located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Vonda located at 4-39-1-W3 is a nearby Town
Warman located at 31-38-4-W3 is a nearby City
Wildwood located at is a nearby Unincorporated place
Woodlawn located at is a nearby Unincorporated place}