Seeking old MRHS feeder school photos
Peppard wants youth to know conditions endured to obtain an education
Students these days have laptops, tablets and WiFi, warm classrooms, cafeterias, buses and state-of-the-art educational resources. They even have snow days.
It wasn’t always the case.
Back in the day, the countryside was dotted with schools that were often cold and drafty and lacked the amenities taken for granted today. Students were lucky to have the bare necessities when it came to books. Some of those schools were just one room with a wood stove in the middle and an outhouse outside.
And yes, they walked through snow that was up to the top of the telephone poles. At least that’s what some older folk would lead you to believe.
There were 28 of those schools in the eastern end of Annapolis County in 1948, the year the Department of Education announced 10 new consolidated high schools in the province – including one in the Middleton area.
In February 1948, taxpayers in those 28 communities voted for a location for the new school that would educate all Grade 7 to 12 students in the area. The vote was 871-45 in favour of building the new facility in Middleton – with Melvern Square ratepayers 32-3 against the deal and Torbrook East unanimously opposed.
Lawrencetown was originally supposed to be among those Middleton feeder schools, but in the end was allowed to maintain its own school.
Al Peppard
Al Peppard was studying at McGill when the tussle over location was being waged. He would soon become part of the change when he was hired at the new Middleton Rural High School as physical education teacher. The school later became Middleton Region High School and, in 1967, Peppard became principal.
Today he’s the last surviving member of that first MRHS teacher roster.
Peppard believes those 28 schools need to be remembered, but more than that, students today should know what it was like back then. He’s collecting photographs of each school and hopes to frame them and hang them in a suitable spot at MRHS.
“The goal is for present day students and others to learn the conditions their grandparents and others endured to obtain an education,” he said.
The schools
Besides Torbrook East and Melvern Square, schools that fell into the eastern Annapolis County consolidated ‘unit’ were Forest Glade, Margaretville, East Margaretville, Prince Albert, Victoria Vale, Mosher’s Corner, Port George, Mount Hanley, Outram, Brooklyn, Torbrook Mines, Spa Springs, South Farmington, Wilmot, Brickton, Meadowvale, Torbrook, Nictaux Falls, East Nictaux, South Williamston, Nictaux, North Williamston, New Albany North, New Albany South, Bloomington, and East Inglesville.
Peppard has been able to obtain photographs of all schools except Bloomington, Brickton, Brooklyn, South Williamston and Wilmot.
When the new school opened in September 1949, Melvern Square, Nictaux Falls and North Farmington sent 22 students to MRHS. In comparison, Prince Albert sent four, while Torbrook Mines and Forest Glade each sent five. In total, 278 students from those 28 schools were bused to Middleton – plus, there were the students who lived in Middleton and others from places like Greenwood and Brooklyn East.
Construction
When construction started, the new school, built by Condon Construction Company, was expected to cost $400,000. When it was partially constructed, on July 1, 1949, Nova Scotia’s then- Premier Angus L. Macdonald laid the cornerstone with help from Annapolis MLA Henry Hicks. Middleton Mayor J. D. McKenzie was chairman for the historic event.
That day, the school was described as one of the finest is the province.
“Its 12 classrooms and specialized vocational departments launches this district on a new educational era,” the newspaper at the time stated.
Can you help?
Anyone who has photographs of the schools Peppard has been unable to track down can contact him at a.k.peppard@ eastlink.ca or at PO Box 263, Middleton, NS B0S 1P0.