Patapun School, St Peters

PATAPUN S.D. NO. 1636
submitted by, Pat Goodman

On July 2, 1912, the S.D. of Patapun No. 1636 was formed consisting of the River Lots 185-235 inclusive. On July 6, 1915, River Lots 160-184 inclusive and Sec. 1, 12, 13, 24, and fractions of sections 2, ll, 14, and 23 in rp. 14-5E, were added to the school district. On June 6, 1922, the boundaries were readjusted by detaching SW 1 / 2 of I , Sl/2 of 2, in tp. l4-5E and River Lots 225-235 of the Parish of St. Peters. A final adjustment was made May 5, 1925 by adding River Lots 220A-223A in the Parish of St. Peters.

On Jan. 1, 1960, Patapun S.D. No. 1636 became part of the Consolidated S.D. of Happy Thought. Notice of Tender – Sept. 20, l9l2: “Tenders will be received by Rev. L. Laronde, Sec. Treas. of Patapun S.D. No. 1636, Box 339, Selkirk, up to noon on Friday,
Sept. 27th, for erection of one-room frame school Patapun School picnic, 1937. Pauline Zabogruski, Annie and Dona[d Leftruk. building at or near Lot 242, St. Peters. Plans and specs can be seen a1 “Moody and Sons” of Selkirk. ”

When the school opened for the first term 1912-13 the teacher was Mary Louisa Kendall with 48 students from Grade I to 5. This comprised of 27 in Grade 1, 7 in Grade 2, 12 in Grade 3, I in Grade 4, and 1 in Grade 5. The first record of salary was in 1914, when the
teacher’s yearly salary was $600.

At the time of the formation of this school district the trustees were: Thomas Daniels, D.W. Stranger, Rudolph Olsen and the Sec. Treas. was Rev, L. Laronde.
The Official Trustee took over the running of Patapun S.D. from 1919, under the direction of A. Willows, 29 Lenore St. Winnipeg, until 1957 with Mr. A.A. Mac-
Donald in charge.

Friday, Jan. 31, 1958 a special meeting of the electors was held at the school for the purpose of electing local school trustees. There were 17 persons present at this
meeting chaired by Mrs. S. Molitowsky, with J.A. Cameron as Secretary. Elected were: Sam Uskiw, Ernest Beck and Mike Wuzinski.

On Jan. l, 1960 Patapun S.D. consolidated with the Happy Thought S.D., the trustees at this time were Sam Uskiw, Mike Wuzinski and Nick Kopansky.

In 1915, the school was closed for 5l /2 days for treaty. Beside regular classes, religion and moral principals were taught. Students were always aware of changes around
them by noting things such as, April ll, 1918, the ice moved out. In Sept. absences were high because many children were picking potatoes. The school was closed from the 4th week in Oct. to the beginning of Dec. because of a Spanish Influenza outbreak, before
reopening the school was cleaned and disinfected. There were still many children away sick with the flu as late as Feb. 1919. Jan. 15, 1919, the school was closed because
there were two funerals and a marriage. School was closed in certain days for several years so children could attend the Selkirk Fair with their families.

May 3 and 4, 1920 the Hudsons Bay Co. put on a pageant at Lower Fort Garry. Oct. 14, 1920, a pilgrimage from Winnipeg to churches of St. Andrews, St. Paul, St. Peters, and St. Clements to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the arrival of Rev. John West in Rupert land.

In Jan. 193?, there were 7 cases of mumps, 3 cases of itch and 5 cases of flu, total attendance for the school that year was 27 children. It has been noted in 1945 a
Grade 5 pupil named Sam Uskiw had the best possible attendance.

The average attendance at Papapun school from 1912- 1960 was 28 children in grades I to 8, as high as 48 in 1912 and as low as 20 in 1948, and in 1959.

The total expenditures for the school year 1933-34 was $587.32, this included the teachers salary, caretaking, fuel, equipment and stationary, as compared to the final
audit for this school in 1959-60 which was $3010.00.

For your information, most of the teachers who taught at Patapun No. 1636, are listed below:

Mary Louisa Kendail l9l2 1913
Edhh A. Fingland l9l3 1914
R.H. Smith l9l4
R.D. Askin l9l5
MargaretEalon l9l5-1916
Margarel A. Dixon l9l7-1918
Agnes R. Connelly l9l8
Alfred Cook l9t9-1922
No record could be found lor 1923-1924
William TinnLrl 1925
LavinaWilliams 1925-1926
Edirh Emma lrene Ablet] 1926-1927
James Thomas Kulma 1927 1928
Thos. R.K. Tozer 1928-1930
Gwendoline Jessie Carter 1930 1934
Viola Melinda Grace Frost 1935-1936
Lalrra Mary Louise Randall 1936-1938
Jessie Dorothy Angus 1939-1940
Mabel lrene Fletcher 1940-1942
ElizabethGwendolineMcKenzie 1943
Solvis Nelson 1943 1944
Marion M. Sawchuk 1944 1945
StephanieNychek 1945-1947
Stephanie Molitowsky 1947- 1950
Evelyn Veronica Antonick l95l
Mary Jane Komodowski l95l-1952
Miss Slephie Stella Tarnowski 1952-1953
Mary Jane Komadowski 1953 1954
Mary Jane Levin 1954 1955
Mrs. Sophie Klim 1956 1960.
Poplar Park School. Left to Right: Paul Matko, John Fill, Mike

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