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Centenary open house planned for Blue River School

Getting ready to celebrate 100 years of education in Blue River
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Photo shows the Blue River School sometime in the 1920s.

By Keith McNeill

Residents of the North Thompson Valley have always put a high priority on education (as shown by the number and size of the scholarships given to graduates at Clearwater and Barriere secondary schools).

Blue River School is proof of that priority as it celebrates 100 years this year.

According to the local history book, Upper North Thompson Reflections, the first school in Blue River was built in 1917.

“With the arrival of more families, the need for a school became apparent,” wrote J.A. McCague. “A group met and petitioned the Department of Education to provide facilities. The government gave $900 to buy materials and, with much volunteer help, a one-room 20’x30’ school was built. My father (Wm. McCague) was the first secretary of the school board, and the teacher, Miss Bertram, lived with us. The school board supplied fuel to heat the building. The school house became the centre of activity. It was used for church services, Sunday school, parties and dances. In 1919, we had a new teacher, a Miss Raymond, from Victoria. The next year, Miss Jennie McGill from Kamloops arrived. She stayed for the next three years.”

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Blue River School was designated a superior school in the 1930s, enrolling students from grades 1 to 10 in three divisions. All other schools in the area continued as one-room facilities.

Enrollment at Blue River School was listed as eight students in 1919-20, 24 in 1927-28, 69 in 1939-40, and 52 in 1944-45.

Each school in the Upper North Thompson in those early years was governed by a board of three trustees, elected at an annual meeting of property owners.

The annual meeting had wide powers. Besides electing trustees, it could overturn any decision of the school board.

Of the 17 teachers who worked in the Upper North Thompson from 1926 to 1928, 15 were female and only one was married.

Salaries rose from $500 per year in 1908 to over $1,000 in 1929, only to drop by 25 per cent during the Dirty 30s Depression.

With the exception of Blue River, in the 1930s and 1940s, students wishing to progress beyond Grade 8 had to take correspondence courses or board away from home.

In 1946 all the Upper North Thompson school districts from Roundtop to Blue River were amalgamated into one – School District 26 (Birch Island).

Secondary school education was offered in Clearwater in 1949-50, with one teacher teaching grades 7 to 10 in a building on the Flats.

Blue River continued as a superior school, teaching grades 1 to 10.

In 1951-52, a consolidated Clearwater Elementary-Secondary School opened, offering grades 1 to 12. This school is now part of Raft River Elementary.

In 1960 (another source says 1967) the annex at the Clearwater school was converted into a 24-bed dormitory for Blue River and Avola students.

With the construction of the bridge at Avola and the new highway to Blue River making travel quicker and safer, the dormitory was closed in about 1970.

The dormitory building became the administrative office for the school district, which was renamed School District 26 (North Thompson).

After that time, Blue River students bussed to Clearwater to continue their educations.

In the mid-1970s, Blue River’s new six-room school became operational and even offered some junior secondary courses.

In 1996 the staff at Blue River School was listed as Anthoney Rempel (principal), Debbie Chumola, Pamela Clark, Kim Everard (lunch super.), Anne Ireland (steno.), Judith Mitchell (teacher asst.), Kelly Quinn (custodian), and Tim Quinn (mtce/driver).

Student numbers have fluctuated over the years. In September, 2008, for example, teacher John Blakley reported to the Times that he had 11 enrolled, up by two over the previous June.

Today, there are nine students in the school, ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 5. Teacher is Maymie Tegart. Kasey Quinn is the custodian.

Help celebrate 100 years

There will be an open house to celebrate the 100th anniversary in the gym at Blue River Elementary School on Thursday, Oct. 19, 1 to 3 p.m.

School District 73 (Kamloops-Thompson) superintendent Alison Sidow will be present, as will be Lori Bradstock, principal of Raft River, Vavenby and Blue River schools (Bradstock started her teaching career 32 years ago in Blue River when there were 38 students there).

Anyone interested is invited to visit with past and present students and staff, contribute to a time capsule project, and celebrate rural education.

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The Blue River School as it appeared in 1948. Photo courtesy of Kathy Chambers
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The Blue River boys hockey team, sometime in the 1930s. Bob Kirk was the coach. Pictured are (back, l-r) M. Tennant, J. McNeil, H. Smith, B. Smith, L. Lihow, R. Jackson, (front) R. Renshaw, B. Barron, J. Tennant, C. Tennant, and T. Barron. Photo from Upper North Thompson Reflections
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The Blue River School class of 1927.