A small one-room country school near Hepburn saw a lot of students pass through its doors between 1904 and 1963.
And an even smaller version of the New Home School #724 on the same site as the original building, two miles south of Hepburn on Voth Road, never fails to bring back fond memories for former students.
“I went to that school starting in Grade 1 back in 1946,” recalled 82-year-old Erwin Doell. “It was a very important place for me. It was much more than just a school. It was a place where I really felt at home, where I made many good life-long friends, and where I learned a lot.”
The New Home School replica was built in the 1980s by Reuben Andres, a former Mayor of Hepburn, retired teacher and a talented wildlife artist and woodcarver.
“I attended school there,” said Andres, now in his late 80s. “In fact, my whole family all went to that school. It was a big part of our lives.
“I guess that’s why I felt it was important to have a replica of the school at that site; so people wouldn’t forget.
“It’s rewarding to see it still standing there after so many years,” added Andres. “I’m glad people enjoy visiting it.”
New Home School was typical of one-room country schools throughout rural Saskatchewan. Students in Grades 1 through 8 learned reading, writing and arithmetic (taught to the tune of a hickory stick, as the old song goes) in a single room under the mentorship of a teacher who was often not much older than the students.
The building had a single wood stove for heat, recalled Doell.
“There was a big bell at the front with a rope attached. The teacher pulled the rope to call the kids back to class,” said Doell. “It was loud. Even if you were a long way away you could still hear it.”
What the school didn’t have was indoor plumbing.
“There was an outside toilet way out in the back yard,” said Doell. “In the winter you did your business without wasting much time.”
There were other nearby buildings as well: a barn to provide shelter for the four-legged beasts of burden, and a ‘teacherage’ for the two-legged beast of burden in charge of the menial as well as educational chores.
“The teacher would have to get up early, light the stove and get the fire going so the building would be warm for us kids when we got there in the morning,” said Doell. “It wasn’t an easy job.”
Doell recalled his first day of school in Grade 1.
“I was terrified,” he said. “I didn’t speak a word of English when I first started school, not even ‘yes’ and ‘no’.
“My biggest concern was I wouldn’t be able to find my desk. It was only one room, but to me it seemed enormous.”
Doell said the school provided an “island of safety” in what was for him a rough childhood.
Doell said in the late 1940s, the school had about 25 students. His favourite subject, he said, was social studies. His least-favourite, ironically for a man who later embraced a 31-year career as a cattle buyer, was math.
The one-room school environment had both advantages and drawbacks, he said.
“When the teachers were going over subjects with the older students, especially social studies, it was always really interesting to listen in,” he said. “You couldn’t’ help but eavesdrop because they were talking right beside you.
“That was also the disadvantage. It was very distracting when you were trying to focus on your own work.”
The students had a ball team that competed against other schools in the area
“Reuben Andres’ brother Walter was about my age,” said Doell. “Walter and I were always the first ones out on the ball diamond. He pitched and I was the catcher.
“We had a good team and we won our share of games. The best part was the sports day in Hepburn. The school board gave each kid 80 cents. Ice cream was five cents and hot dogs were ten cents.
“You could buy a lot with 80 cents at those prices. We ate so much we could hardly walk.”
Doell recalled one sports day when he was 14 years old.
“There was a well with a big metal pump in town,” he said. “After one game, Reuben Voth said, ‘let’s go have a drink of water.’ I was the first one there. Reuben lifted that big heavy handle and let it go and it hit me right in the eye. The next thing I know I’m in the back seat of a car headed to the doctor’s office. They sewed up my eye and the next day I got to show it off. I walked down the street in Hepburn and when somebody said, ‘what happened to you?’ I just replied: ‘You should see the other guy’.”
In winter, the highlight of the school calendar was the Christmas concert.
“As small a group as we were, we put on a good show,” said Doell. “Every student had a part.”
After Grade 8, Doell worked for a year before going on to high school in Hepburn. (A portion of the current Hepburn School was built in 1927 and is the oldest building in Saskatchewan still in use as a school. One of its classrooms still has old-style desks.)
Doell said his experience at school, and a Dale Carnegie course later in life, gave him the confidence to tackle the challenges of life. He and his wife have volunteered with a Christian mission in Haiti and done other charitable work at home in Canada.
“If I was going to give any advice to people today I’d say, ‘be kind to kids.’ Childhood trauma stays with a person even after they’ve grown up,” said Doell. “But the good memories also stay with you. My days at New Home School will always be special.”