Summary information
| Repository: | South Peace Regional Archives |
| Title: | Woking School District 4671 fonds |
| Title [parallel]: | Saddle Mountain School District 4671 fonds |
| Reference code: | 0249 |
| Date: | 1940-1997 (date of creation) |
| Physical description: | 50 cm of textual records |
| Language: | English |
| Dates of creation, revision and deletion: | Processed by Mary Nutting Exported from AoR and added to new database May 2022 – TD |
| Note: | Historical notes taken from Burnt Embers: a history of Woking and district in the Burnt River Valley |
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
The first classes in the Saddle Mountain School District (later known as Woking) were held in the Yakimuk home from November 1934 to May 1935. There were 23 students and Ted Zaichkowsky was their teacher. The next year, the same term was taught by Alex Zaichkowsky in the home of Sawa Shura. In 1936 they formed Saddle Mountain School District No. 4671 and received a $500 grant from the government to help build a school. It opened January 1, 1937 with Miss Jean McNaughton as the first teacher and 34 students from grades 1 to 5, many of them unable to speak English. Other teachers at Saddle Mountain included Henry Wiebe, Miss Ethel Fildes, Miss Lorna McEwen, Miss Connie Barlow, Miss Doris Gillard, Mrs. Mabel Tracy, and Mrs. Gladys Dufresne and Miss Geraldine Knezevich as supervisors during the war years. Mrs. Lucille Thornton was the last teacher in 1948-49. Saddle Mountain School closed in 1949 when a new school was built two miles west in Woking, a two-room school to consolidate the schools of Saddle Mountain, Chinook Valley and New World. Although it was new, it was not modern. Heating was still by Franklin Stoves in each room, outdoor toilets were still in use, and the water was hauled in by the bucket. By 1951, the school had outgrown this facility so the barn (which had been built for horses but never used) was renovated to another classroom; Edward Pearce was the first principal and Lucille Thornton the other teacher. The old Saddle Mountain School became a community hall.
Custodial history
The records were preserved and given to the Spirit River School Division No. 47 sometime after it was formed in 1940. Peace Wapiti School Division assumed responsibility for this division in 1994 and the records were deposited in the Grande Prairie Regional Archives in 2003.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of Daily Registers from 1940 -1997.
Notes
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on contents of the fonds.
Restrictions on access
There are no restrictions on access.
Accruals
No accruals are expected.
Access points
- Textual record (documentary form)
- Education (subject)