Clarence "Clancy" Patton's memories of King Edward

Moderator: newsposter

Clarence "Clancy" Patton's memories of King Edward

Postby kjohnson » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:29 pm

There has been quite a bit of feedback in regards to the King Edward School articles. Clarence Patton was kind enough to share some of his thoughts and has given us permission to post them to our website.


I only attended King Edward for one year, but it is a year I will always remember. That school year comprised the 1946-47 term. That year saw Calgary's three high schools (Western Canada, Central Collegiate and Crescent Heights) overflowing with students, and no room to accommodate out of city students. Accordingly incoming Grade 10 students from the farming communities of Glenmore (where the Pattons resided), Midnapore and Shepard together with farming communities/satellite towns and villages such as West Calgary, Ogden and Bowness had nowhere to go.

The Calgary Board of Education had to take drastic steps, so decided the the fourth floor of King Edward School together with its' four classrooms would be an ideal locale. We did have a goodly number of "city kids" from South Calgary who were also required to attend King Edward. This "melting pot" of students turned out to be an incredible mix, and we all bonded in short order. I believe this Grade 10 idea was repeated for the following school term. Total enrolment approximated 80- 90 students.

The teaching staff couldn't have been better and we were rewarded in that area by Miss Jagoe, Miss King, Mr. Kirk and Mr. Morrison. P.N.R. Morrison was a hard-working City alderman and became a vocal organizer of the provincial C.C.F. party, later to become the N.D.P. To his credit Mr. Morrison never brought his politics into the classroom.

I'm not sure how students were assigned to the classrooms, but I think alphabetizing went on to some degree. We enjoyed a full range of activities involving various clubs such as Camera, Press, Handicraft, Glee, Badminton, Drama and Track and Field together with a Student's Council.

Mayor J. C. Watson wrote in our yearbook "The Echo" that it took ambition and dreams to build the Canadian way. In my estimation that also applies to a magnificent sandstone structure - King Edward School

To me as a "farm kid", King Edward was a special place as I was able to interact with "city kids" together with farm and country students. It softened the way for my entry into the "foreign" atmosphere of city high schools.

Clarence "Clancy" Patton
kjohnson
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:55 am

Return to Featured Historic Site

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests