History of Education in Beiseker, Part III

I joined the staff of Beiseker School in the fall of 1969.  I had been teaching in the City of Calgary but I didn't like it.  I was greatly disillusioned.  I thought it was far too impersonal.  I was pretty much ready to quit teaching and do something else.  My move to Beiseker changed that.

Beiseker was a small school then, actually it had a population similar to today's; 383 students. It had one classroom for each grade.

I found the kids, their parents, and this community to be friendly and straight forward.  I worked in Beiseker School for 17 years, and I was saddened when I was transferred to Crossfield. 

The staff and students have done some amazing things over the years!  Here are just a few;

The Bi-Campus & Tri-Campus;  To offer a larger program of courses to high school students, Beiseker School paired up with Kathyrn School and offered high school courses in each school.  Later Beiseker and Kathyrn joined with Acme School to form a Tri-Campus, offering different high school courses and programs in all three buildings.  To my knowledge, this was the first and possibly the only Tri-Campus program to operate in Alberta.  What is even more amazing was that it also involved two school divisions (Rocky View and Golden Hills)!

The "E.O.F." Program;  The Elementary Opportunities Fund was set up by the provincial Department of Education and given to individual schools to offer different programs to their elementary students.  Beiseker School received such a grant.  Here the grant was used to give any student a short little boost in learning in one small area of either Math or Language Arts.  The Girls' Boot Room in the basement of the original school building was converted into a classroom and a teacher (Miss W. Abbott) was hired.  Our E.O.F. Room ran very successfully for three years until the government pulled the funding for the entire province-wide program.

The Sports Programs;  I think Beiseker had Rocky View's first (and perhaps only) cricket pitch!  Mr. S. Wallace was a champion Cricket bowler (pitcher) and played on the Canadian National Cricket Team.  While teaching in Beiseker, he taught cricket to his students! The Bi-Campus (and later just Beiseker School) has fielded many top sports teams over the last 50 years!   Many of those championship banners proudly hang in the Gym now.  Next time you're in there have a look at that impressive display!  Remember: Once a Beiseker Bandit, always a Beiseker Bandit!!

Industrial Education;  Beiseker School was the first school in this entire area to offer an Industrial Arts Program with a full shop!  The shop was constructed in a temporary prefab building immediately south of the original main building.  It offered welding, photography, graphics, woodworking, automotives, and metal working.  That shop was replaced by a more permanent structure more than 10 years ago.

The Community School Program; In the early 1980s, Beiseker School was one of over 100 schools from across Alberta to apply to become a Community School.  A Community School was one that worked much more closely with the community around it.  Programs and the curriculum were tailored to the needs of that community.  Instead of a school being open just 200 days a year, a Community School could be open more than 300 days a year!  Of course that costs money, so the provincial government set up a large fund to help offset those extra costs.   Beiseker was the only school in Rocky View to attain Community School status!  Unfortunately the provincial Community School project funding was terminated in the late 1980s but the Beiseker Community School moniker proudly remains.

These are just five programs which made Beiseker Community School just a bit more special.  Teachers, Administrators, and students, past and present have much to be proud of.  I hope you all get a chance to visit Beiseker Community School during the reunion set to begin on Friday, June 12 and continue over that weekend.  Check out those banners in the Gym, search for a familiar face or name on the grad photos in the hallway, leaf through the old yearbooks.  Be proud!

The History of Education in Beiseker, Part II

While the rural school districts were gearing up and flourishing around Beiseker, students who lived in the village had no school to attend.

Village students had to attend the Odessa School District school, located about 4 km. northeast of Beiseker.  In 1913 there were too many kids for Odessa to handle so a school district was set up in Beiseker. The first schoolroom was set up in part of F. A. Lount's farm machinery dealership warehouse.  A year later the schoolhouse was built.

That school provided the same rudimentary education as did the rural one-room schools.  In 1918, Odessa School District and Beiseker School District joined to form the Beiseker Consolidated School District #55 and the new Beiseker Consolidated School was constructed on a site now occupied by St. Mary's Catholic Church.  That district operated until 1950. 

In 1951, the new school building under the control of Calgary Rural School Division #41 was finished on its present site across Second Ave. from the Consolidated School.  The Consolidated School was demolished and construction of St. Mary's began in 1955.

The present building has served this community well ever since.  There have been many additions and renovations to the building starting with the Gymnasium, then the south east wing which has been added to at least twice.  Then came the East Wing beyond the Gym.  Meanwhile the basement of the original school building was renovated to serve as classrooms.

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In 1967, a huge community and school project was undertaken to create the Centennial Mall, in front of the school.  The project director was then-Principal William Hansell.

Six hundred bags of cement, a mountain  of sand and gravel, and plenty of muscle power went into building the Centennial Mall!  The Mall featured a circular raised flower garden, and park benches.  It also had a large Canadian Centennial Symbol embedded in concrete.

We were told that every effort would be taken to preserve the Centennial Mall during renovations, but I see no evidence of it today.

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Beiseker had a number of teacherages for staff members to live in while working here.  The first were actually teacherages brought in from the now-defunct rural school districts.

At least one was placed on the school grounds while three were placed along Fifth Ave., across from the fire hall.  The teacherage in the school yard was eventually sold, moved and renovated.  It is now a private residence on Ninth Street.

The second round of teacher homes were built in the late 1950s & early 1960s. Two were constructed on Fifth Street and two more were built on Seventh Street.  All have been sold by the school division to become private residences.

The History of Education in Beiseker

As you know, Beiseker Community School is celebrating 100 years of education in the village in a couple of weeks.  As a tribute to this milestone, I am doing a series of blogs on the history of education in this area.  This is the first.  I hope you enjoy looking back.

If you would like a more detailed history, go to the Beiseker Station Museum or the school itself.  Most of the information for my thumbnail history was taken from the Beiseker history book; Beiseker's Golden Heritage, published in 1977 and a few other books on Alberta's history.

Alberta became a province in 1905, and shortly thereafter settlers began pouring in to build new farming communities throughout the southern part of the new province.  In that first twenty years, Alberta's population grew and grew.  The Province started to urge the new communities to set up their own school districts, both in the new communities and in the rural areas.

Rural school districts were usually designed around a township or portions of one or more townships.  The school was built in the approximate center of the new school district on a corner of land a farmer donated or sold to the new district.  The position of the school was important.  It was supposed to be placed such that all the students could ride or walk to school easily, no more than three miles.  A barn was built on the school property to house the students' horses and a "teacherage" was constructed to house the teacher.

Some teachers lived in the basement of the school house itself;  that was more common in Northern Alberta.

School districts often got their names either from the farmer or colonization company who gave up the land, the first chairman of the new district, or the name of the area based on a geographical feature.

Around Beiseker we had many such districts.  Some of the names of the districts around here are; Greenfield, Paddy Springs, Beeman, Scotia, Brushy Lake, and Silbernagel, among others.  These tiny school districts paid their teachers a few hundred dollars a year to teach the formative grades in those little one room schools. Supplies were short, times were tough, but these little districts started what I consider one of the best educational systems in the world! 

Many famous Albertans got their start in such a school.

Taxation: Setting the Mill Rate

Step one was the assessment; figuring out how much the entire municipality is worth (the Overall or Total Assessment). 

Step two is building a budget to determine how much the municipality needs to operate for one year.

Step three is setting a mill rate.  Setting the mill rate is really very simple.  All you have to do, is divide what you need into the overall (or total) assessment.  The mill rate is the number of dollars the property owner must pay, per thousand dollars of his property's value, as declared on the assessment.  For example; if a home's assessed value is $200,000 and the mill rate is set at 6.5 mills, the homeowner must pay 200 X 6.5 = $1300 in property tax.

Oops, not so fast!  The provincial government shoves its hand in there, too!  The Ministry of Education tells each municipality how much it will take to pay for education services in the area.  They don't ask, they don't advise, they just tell and take!  Alberta Education simply dips into each municipality's bank account a couple of times a year, and snatches out tens of thousands of dollars each time. 

If a municipality is having difficulty collecting its taxes, this makes the operation of that municipality even harder!  The province takes those funds out - whether or not the municipality has been able to collect them!   If some taxpayers are unable (or unwilling) to pay their taxes, the municipality suffers because it still must make sure it has the money in bank to pay the TOTAL bill for the provincial education portion of the property tax -- even though some of those dollars haven't been collected yet!

When you receive your tax notice, check down to see how much of that is going to the province.  It will be listed there as a mill rate for education.  This is added onto the municipality's mill rate. 

Questions for the Candidates: Health, Education and Social Services

This last question is about 'HESS.'  In my view, every time our provincial government wants to tighten the belt, they start by reducing funding to Health, Education and Social Services!  Funding for these three areas is hard enough as it is, but tougher times make it almost impossible.

• Plans for new or upgraded health facilities are put on hold or dropped completely.
• Funds to school divisions are frozen or reduced even though student populations are ever-increasing.
• Health workers, social workers and teachers are asked to accept reduced or frozen salaries even though their jobs are becoming more difficult.
• Funding for new neighborhood school construction is years (sometimes decades!) behind the identified need for the facility. 

Question #5:  If your party forms Alberta's next government, how will it maintain needed funding to Health, Education, and Social Services while addressing these tough economic times?

Aggie Days 2014

I have returned.  For this past week or more, I have been a part of the Calgary Stampede's Aggie Days!

I have served on the Stampede Agriculture Education Committee, which organizes Aggie Days, for almost twenty years - and I look forward to the event every spring!  Our purpose at Aggie Days is to show urban elementary students where their food comes from, and how important Alberta's agriculture is to us all.

This year we ran from Wednesday, April 9th until yesterday, April 13th.  During the week, we run our Educational Component.  This year, we welcomed over 11,000 elementary students, about 500 teachers and a couple of thousand parents, helpers and supervisors.

This past weekend was Family Fun Days.  More than 30,000 visitors came to see our Aggie Days "Barn", set up in the BMO (Round-Up) centre at Stampede Park.

During Aggie Days we milk cows, shear sheep, mill wheat, raise chicks, herd ducks, milk goats, thresh grain, make canola oil, raise beef cattle, look after horses, make ropes, visit with llamas, learn about bee-keeping, see alpacas,  watch stock dogs working, learn about raising pigs, hear and read agriculture related stories, learn a bit about our native heritage, learn about rodeo and chuckwagon racing, and a host of other things!

For each day of the event, I spend about ten hours a day at Aggie Days then I come home and prepare next day's newsletter: The Ag Rag, so it leaves me little time for anything else!  I'm tired but happy we had a very successful Aggie Days 2014.  In a couple of weeks we'll start planning for Aggie Days 2015!

Keeping Beiseker Happy and Healthy

Beiseker is very lucky to have the support services it already has, for a community of our size.  But they can be better!

• Community Links:  This new facility in Lions' Centennial Park (across from the Community Centre) has made living here even better for many people!  Family support services, parenting programs, counselling services, and a multitude of other programs can be accessed through Community Links!  The building also houses our very active and attractive Library and Play School.
• Medical Centre:  Our Medical Building on Main Street at Third Ave. is home to a physician twice a week and a dentist once a week.  It is not operated by the Village but is supported by them.
• Education;  Beiseker Community School is now a K to 12 facility and will become one of the main attractive features for those considering moving to Beiseker in the future!
• Recreation;  Our village offers an amazing choice of recreational activities and facilities, from the village owned Beiseker Arena (operated by the Ag Society) to playgrounds and outdoor facilities such as the skateboard park and ball diamonds. 
• Youth Justice:  Young offenders in our area can be referred to the Alternate Measures Program through the Big Country Youth Justice Committee, founded here more than twenty years ago!  If they successfully complete the Alternate Measures Program, the young offender avoids having a police record.
• Fire Department;  Beiseker has a very active and effective volunteer fire department manned by very dedicated people.  Their job has been made easier with the recent purchase of a more modern fire truck! Operating in conjunction with our fire department is our first response medical team who are equipped and trained to provide assistance to those in our village injured or ill and waiting for the ambulance.

With your vote, I will continue my efforts to enhance these services.  Here are some of my goals;

• To investigate the possibility of having the Community Links program open more than two days per week.
• To help get the word out as to what the Community Links programs and facility can do for you.
• To communicate with the operating board of the Medical Building to make sure they are receiving all the assistance they need to operate this important facility.  I do firmly believe in the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - and I will recommend the village become involved only if invited!
• To keep reminding the provincial and federal governments that we need effective policing from our RCMP detachment here, with a full complement of officers at all times.
• To remain serving on the Big Country Youth Justice Committee and I will be active in recruiting new members to that committee.
• To continue supporting Rocky View Schools and their efforts to make Beiseker Community School an active part of our community.
• To ensure that the recreational facilities meet the need of our villagers and to keep them in tip top order.
• To do my utmost to create mutual aid agreements with all surrounding jurisdictions in regards to emergency services.  I believe this is imperative to maintaining a strong volunteer fire department, providing emergency services to Beiseker and the surrounding area.
• To once again throw our voice into the debate to have a full hospital built in Airdrie.

Mayors' Showcase

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending the Mayors' Showcase and Celebration of Citizenship held at Stampede Park in Calgary.  The Mayors' showcase was started a few years ago to celebrate projects done by students in and around Calgary.

Previous celebrations were held at the Palliser Hotel, but this year,the Boyce Theater at Stampede Park was the venue! AMP Radio morning DJs Ryan & Katie were our emcees. 

Host mayor Naheed Nenshi of Calgary, along with the mayors of Olds, Longview, Beiseker (that's me!), and Strathmore were there to cheer on students from various schools in and around Calgary.  Here's some of the featured projects of these students;

• Students in grades 7 to 9 at Wilma Hansen School in Calgary were recognized for their horticultural project in and around their school.
• The students of Father Lacombe High School in Calgary focussed their goal on helping people like themselves internationally. Their project was called Father Lacombe Social Justice Club.
• Olds High School students helped those in the community in need by working with a local group called Christmas Angels.
• The students of Longview School in Longview saw the need for reducing the amount of garbage shipped out of the community. They focused on the creation of a comprehensive composting program. Their compost will be placed in the beds of the Memorial Garden to help support its continued growth.
• Westmount Elementary School in Strathmore developed a Youth Leadership Challenge program concentrating on awareness of community, citizenship and culture.  They also developed a reduce , reuse, recycle program in their school.
• Banded Peak School in Bragg Creek, Langdon School in Langdon, Muriel Clayton Middle School in Airdrie and Springbank Middle School in Springbank worked on a Eco-Inquiry project. They researched the relationships and interdependence between communities and their natural environments.

Each and all schools were recognized for their contribution and their students hailed as leaders of the future! 

All in all it was a very uplifting afternoon.  I enjoyed watching the young people celebrate their success, and start planning for future projects.    After the speeches and presentations, the students were treated to popcorn,  fruit punch, and other "kid-friendly" goodies. 

Overall, the celebration was far less formal than it would be in the Palliser - and I think it was much more enjoyed by those we were celebrating; the kids!

The Showcase is a part of the program operated by the Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation with its major sponsor the Building Trades of Alberta.   Well done - Great job!

Pathways to Success

I was recently brought up to date on a facinating study and action program called the Pathways to Success Coalition.  This international study examines a country's program to prepare their youngest citizens (ages birth to six years) for their life ahead.  They look at the child's physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and thinking skills, and communication skills and general knowledge.  Thousands of kids have been tested around the world.  The results have been posted in the form of a report card. 

Those results are rather alarming for Canadians.

Canada scored a disappointing 24th among the nations of the world!  Sweden scored the highest!  Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Hungary, New  Zealand, Slovenia, Austria, Netherlands, U.K., Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, South Korea, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, U.S.A. and Australia all came ahead of Canada!

That means that the young kids (0-6 years old) in all those countries have a better chance of success than the kids in Canada!  Maybe Canadian kids catch up when the enter grade school.  That's possible.  But I think parents would want to make sure their kids have the best opportunity for success as early as possible!

At present, we're not sure on how we address this concern.  More information will be presented in the weeks to come.  As a former educator, this whole process facinates me.  We need to make sure that young Canadian parents have all the tools and strategies available to make sure their kids are successful in the future.  Stay tuned, there's more coming!