Norma MacDonald , teaching Grade 1 and 2 school children , Nampa , Alberta , early 1950s
Teachers in My Family
Robert Proudfoot | Article and Photos
I grew up in Beverly ( Edmonton ) and went to Lawton Junior High . We studied historic Beverly , a blue-collar town built on coal mines and meat packing plants , populated by diverse peoples . I learned from my mother Norma that , before Lawton school ’ s opening in 1957 , Beverly Central School operated nearby from 1914 to 1955 , and her mother , Olive Webster , taught there during the First World War .
Olive Webster ( second from right ) and fellow teachers at Beverly School , 1915
46 | arta . net FAMILY
Olive Webster came west from Prince Edward Island in 1911 as a single , young lady , taught in various schools enroute , and upgraded her credentials to Second Class Certificate at Calgary Normal School . She then gained employment with Edmonton Public Schools in 1914 at Oliver , but was reassigned to Beverly Central School in 1915 .
Grandma was transferred in 1917 to Colonel Farquhar School . With one classroom open , she was in charge of “ surplus ” children in Grades 1 to 3 . Every day , Grandma rode the
streetcar , then walked 1.5 miles to school . She was small , but her pluck , discipline , and desire to train children about productivity and knowledge motivated her students to progress and become responsible . Grandma taught in a substandard building that was cold , lacked electricity or indoor toilets , and suffered floods and falling plaster . She received two glowing appraisals from Inspector Fife : “ Good , conscientious and capable teacher who is doing excellent work … citizen-making teaching … who manages her school well .” After Col . Farquhar School closed in 1918 , she taught at Queen ’ s Avenue School in 1919 , but then resigned , married George MacDonald , and homesteaded in northwest Alberta ’ s “ Peace Country ,” where Norma was born .
George , as Chairman of Wanham School Board , welcomed Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Holodomor into their farming community during the Depression . Norma and fellow pupils in the one-room school befriended kids who did not speak