Loading...
535-03 Page 68Verschoyle residents remember their now -removed school house fondly. Verschoyle remembers with a With a touch of no Verschoyle residents dened by the loss of a 1 that dates back nearly a in their community's hi The Verschoyle Public built in 1876, was one county's eight rural sch was closed last a despite eforts by co residents to maintain t for use as a hall, the pro sold by tender late in 1 During the early mon year, residents with a p fondness for the of watched as it was to many of them with c hand, trying to presery fragments of the memor held for them. Members of the Institute in Verscho outlined the history of t and trace its origin purchase of a lot in 1857, the original school was Accordingtothereco , a white frame building, situated on the old Cody Road near the gate of a farm then owned by Emberson Moulton. con Brow Fund touch of nostalgia touch one-room schoolhouse had - - - stalgia, a single aisle, and was furnished Th are sad- with traditional double -type onus andmark seats. Old four -foot -square maps, until century mounted on tripods, were used pi man story. for instruction. econ School, When the original school % follo of the burned, a two -room structure inter ools that was built in 1876, with a third equi ummer, and room being added in 1922. With the exception of washrooms that whol he school were added many years later, the econ perty was building maintained its 1922 Fo 973. appearance until its demolition stay the of this this year. meal articular Changes were made over the Fun d school years, however, and the Ver- unde rn down, schoyle school was a winner in at pure amera in least two of Oxford County's scho e on film School Beautification Contests. the p ies that it In 1941 the school yard was senio enlarged, with land purchased fort Women's for a ball diamond. The garden 1943. yIs have was moved across the road to the Th he school, site of the old church shed, the Scho s to the, lawn was seeded, and a barberry in192 on which hedge was planted along the i prom built. drive. i muni rds it was In the fall of 1945, the Its community participated in a work "bee" painting the outside of the school, and erecting swings, teeter-totters, and a basketball court on the play- ground. Their efforts won the first prize in the beautification contest. school `7f `tea 1A-1 9� e room added in 1922 went ed for a number of years, in 1939 it was equipped for usl training and home omits classes. In 1946, wing the redecoration of the ior, the manual training pment was moved to the School, making the e room available for home omits. r 28 years, students who ed for lunch were served hot s during the winter months. projects were rtaken by the students to base equipment for the o1, and one of these involved urchase of a radio for the r room and a loud speaker he junior room, in the fall of e Verschoyle Home and of Club, which was organized 7, was active over the years, oting a variety of com- ty programs. regular monthly meetings involved programs provided mainly by pupils and teachers, and included local talent and a At the same time, different grades were assigned to certain schools, with each teacher having only one or two grades in each room. This change meant that children in the same family might be attending two, or even three different schools, instead of each child attending the school in his or her particular area. With the building of Harris Heights Public School on the outskirts of Ingersoll in 1973, the rural schools were closed, and rural students were brought by bus into Ingersoll, to attend either Harris Heights or Victory Memorial School. With the school in Verschoyle formally closed, a group from the community set about to cam- paign for the preservation of the school;to" be ''used 'as a community hall, with the school yard to serve as a playground. Their efforts, however, did not avail, and the school was sold by tender to a bidder, who, to the chagrin of the admirers of the old landmark, chose to raze it, using the site for a new house. variety of guest speakers. In its first year, the club sponsored an Old Boys' Reunion, and in 1930, put on a number of plays in neighbouring villages. It also sponsored an outdoor skating rink for the school, and purchased a number of items such as the school's projector. The Club was involved in school fairs, and sponsored 4H Clubs and a Junior Calf Club, offering prizes for exhibits of flowers, vegetables and baking which were shown in the school and judged at the Achievement Day. According to reports, for many years the school was the scene of happy gatherings, with dances and card parties held there regularly during the winter months. With the introduction of the township board in Dereham, the entry of the Verschoyle school was made conditional on its continuing to be available for community activities, in the absence of any other suitable building in the area. It was 1967 when a kinder- garten was opened at Verschoyle. The children attended half days, with parents taking turns pro- viding the transportation. When the Oxford County Board of Education was formed in 1969, transportation to the school was by bus, and kindergarten child- ren began attending every other day on an all -day basis.