Donahoo School

Donahoo School is located south of Wildwood, Alberta, in the Chip Lake area west of Edmonton. There were two schools; one was tiny and used from 1914-1935 and the second school was an average size for one room schools in Alberta. The newer school was used from 1936-1957 as a school and is still used to this day as a community hall and church. Today’s blog is about the school and a former student – whose mother once taught at Donahoo and other nearby schools – that I met in November 2020.

First School: 1914-1935

“The Donahoo School was built in spring of 1913 or 1914 … The School was about eighteen by twenty-four feet. The men who helped build the school did not have to pay school tax that year. Mr. Wm. Poaps, the first teacher, was hired for July and August. when he was not teaching in Edmonton during the summer holidays.”

Carl Ivan Oberg

The history of the old school is told through these vignettes by people who were familiar with the school. I didn’t see the original school as it’s no longer on the site. It may have been moved or used for firewood. Joseph Zemp was the last teacher before the old school building was replaced in 1935. The adjoining cloakroom was his living quarters for that year. In 1936 the present school and teacherage were built. Mr Zemp continued on as the Donahoo teacher until June 30, 1940.

“The building was too cold to hold school during the winter as you could see out through the logs”

Mrs. Helge Rehn

Second School 1936-1957

Alice Leakvold taught at Donahoo School from 1951 to 1954. The significance of her time as a teacher in this school is that we met her son, Karl (or Carl) Leakvold when he passed by the school on his tractor. Karl lives and farms nearby and keeps a close watch on the school as well as tending the grounds as needed. He was happy to talk to us about stories from the school although most of them had to do with the strict discipline that was handed out by the school and/or the parents of the students. Karl said he received all his formal education at this school except for grade nine as he had to go to Wildwood for that year. Karl added that the school gets lots of use even now. It’s used as a community hall for various events and is available for private rental. It’s also used for church services every second Sunday as can be seen from the sign shown below. The sign also shows how tired and frustrated the locals are with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We had no school in the winter, school started May 1 and ended August 31. The classes were from grade one to eight; one or two children in each grade. It took a few summers to struggle through each grade, which meant most of us never got past grade three. Some days were missed because of heavy rain and mud or farm work. When it was wet we carried our shoes until the last puddle where we rinsed our feet and put on our shoes – many times when the weather was nice we went barefooted”.

Mary Hampshire

2023 Fire, Evacuations and Food

The spring and summer of 2023 is still unfolding as I write this but it has been memorable so far. The rains were reticent to arrive and quench the great thirst of the forests and fields. Such dry conditions represent open invitations to wildfires and they have arrived and spread with a vengeance. Never in my memory have so many communities in northwest Alberta been evacuated to other communities only to be evacuated again when even the “safe” communities became threatened by more of wildfires. Some people lost homes and other buildings but there has been no loss of human life, so far.

Before the start of the wildfire season, Donna Powell, a busy lady who is the primary reason why this school has been restored so extensively, graciously invited me to an open house complete with lunch and refreshments. This school has avoided being sold for scrap, being converted to a granary, being abandoned to elements or any of the other indignities that may befall a historic but obsolete school largely because of Donna’s efforts. As the fires spread, I wondered if the school would now be burned down in the chaos of the spreading flames. Donna lives near the school, told us she had to evacuate her home not once but twice! Somehow despite all the possible opportunities for fire to destroy Donahoo School it continues to stand. The unflappable Donna had no intention of cancelling the open house even though the air still carried the acrid smell of smoke. When my wife and I arrived, we were treated like honoured guests. I was given the opportunity to ask questions and photograph the school inside and out. The photos and comments that follow are the result of attending that open house (or open school?).

The rules for teachers are posted on the wall. I’ve read similar lists for other schools so I’ve no doubt that this list is genuine (although item #4 does push the credibility factor somewhat). I wonder if they had a different list for men? Double click on either of the above two images for a larger version.

The upright piano was donated by Mrs. Brown, the second school teacher at Donahoo. It was delivered on a hay wagon. Mrs. Brown said that the piano should stay because all schools should have a piano. Note that the desks are original to the school.

Is this the spirit of Mrs Brown giving piano lessons to a Donahoo student or is that Lily with (her grandmother perhaps) a model to give some perspective to the school’s interior?

The Union Jack flag was originally nailed to the wall and had splatters of paint from the many times the walls were painted in bygone years. Details are everything and even the globe features political borders commensurate with the time the school operated. Note that the photograph below the flag is of Queen Elizabeth even though our head of state is now King Charles. That’s because the school operated when there was no King Charles.

The above image shows the original old stove that heated up the school back in the early days. Behind it is the kitchen in the space that previously served as the girl’s cloak room. On the other side of the door was the boy’s cloak room but it’s been removed now. Donna shared with us her secret for making this old stove look so good. Gear oil; specifically, tractor gear oil. The outside of the stove is not the least bit greasy. Somehow the gear oil brings back the original black colour without leaving a sticky residue.

References:

I obtained all of the information in this blog about Donahoo School from Volume I of, “Where The River Lobstick Flows”, (pages 115 to 120) with the exception of the information obtained first-hand from Karl Leakvold. All monochrome images are from the Lobstick book and all colour images were captured by me, Glen Bowe.

Donna Powell is the current President of the Donahoo School Community Association (in 2023) and has provided a great deal of information about the Donahoo School. She has been instrumental in getting the school fully restored and continues to add period appropriate items and maintain the property.

It’s important to respect and protect the places that I visit to photograph. For this reason I am reluctant to give out exact locations, although for proper context I do try to describe the general location. If you recognize a place featured in my blog posts please do not give out the location in the comments. If you visit a place featured here please respect the owner’s legal rights for private property and obtain permission before entering their land. If it is on public property, such as a place on Crown land, always leave it in as good or better condition that it was when you arrived, including ensuring that the door is properly closed. Together we can help to ensure that these historic structures are available for the next generation to experience and explore. There’s no better way to learn history than to stand in the place where that history happened.

This old house is located not far from Donahoo School. Could this be where some former students lived?