Bowmanville High School - Screech Owl Yearbook (Bowmanville, Ontario Canada)

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E SCHOOL FROM BACK Before 1912 C1972 parking lot entrancel girls' entrance, out-houses and grove of trees shown. SCHOOL FROM BACK 1972 1955 addition of boys' gym, three storey classroom block with green house, all where grove was above. Corner of agriculture barn built 1959. swswzges-arf,Vwvfmmwf:wif kmzfashe-wffmf,--LeMfv'1vf::Imasrmwewacewwaxmenmy-:s:f:smlmmzffis 1:51a-1,-12,-f t,wt-tff:-.:s.--.g-v 111,-,:.g.1 ,-r,,- New-assi-faire-eememfzwexs-:Q-:smfreaamzsfapwawfeflfwziewfrzzbsufvflfsw,-1,,1 -,-1, - Q .wwe -,fi

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Ending this period on a happy note, at Com- mencement in January, 1919, held in the Assembly Room, Capt. G.C. Bonnycastle, longtime member of the High School Board, recently returned from overseas, distributed the prizes. Upon the death of Mr. W.B. Couch in April, 1931, Dr. Bonnycastle succeeded him as chairman. . Mr. Morrison, writing some recollections of the school in 1958 at the time of Bowmanville's Centennial, spoke of the disruptive effects of the war, with some students granted cer- tificates without final examinations in return for farm work, and a number of failures among those whodid write June, 1918 examinations Cbefore his term began.J The conclusion of the war brought a return to normal conditions, reflected it would seem in the fine record reported in results of 1919 Departmental examinations of Lower, Middle and Upper School, which all students were required to write. The Statesman called it a record of which to be proud and praised Mr. Morrison and the teaching staff. VALEDICTORIANS 1912 - 1920 1912 N.W. Reynolds 1913 Ross Lang 1914 Not known 1915 Alan G. Gale 1916-' Allin F. Annis 1917 Robert Parker 1913 Evelyn Joness 1920 Jane Grigg Names of valedictorians before 1912 are not known. GOING TO HIGH SCHOOL in these years was a privilege, not always possible for all. It was not compulsory until 1920 to attend school to age 16, and for some, school days ended with Entrance Class. Others went to high school for two or three years, comparatively few proceeded to the higher form and on to univer- sity. 26 GETTING TO SCHOOL, that is, tran- sportation, was the student's or parents' responsibility, not the taxpayers'. Shank's mare was the method, or if from the country, bicycle, horse and buggy or cutter. When the roads got too bad, the student boarded in town. WHAT THEY WORE. The girls wore blouses and skirts, to the ankle in pre-War days, and boots. A big ribbon bow adorned their hair, sometimes braided, at the back. Hair bows con- tinued in fashion through the War years, when middieswith black ties and pleated or gored skirts now a few inches above the ankle, still with boots, were worn by most of the girls. Younger boys wore short pants, coming just below the knee, with matching jackets or sweater coats, and older boys wore suits with long trousers, all with shirt and tie. Hair was short and neat, topped by a cloth cap. MEMORIES When I see the girls to-day in their cute little gym suits, I wonder what they'd think of how we played basketball in our regular dresses . . . . . A new ruling by a teacher who followed Mr. Cameron was that anyone caught talking must stay an hour after school and write the lesson on the board. Who was the first one? Reta Roenigk, and poor Clarence Sharpe was also penalized. I tried to get him out of it by ex- plaining I had asked him a question, but was told he shouldn't have answered me. Poor Shar- pie! ..... I remember so many names - Marj King, Lil Bounsall, Di Fowler, Mary Galbraith, the Wight twins, Ella and Effie, and their hand- some brother Harve, Ross Stutt, Reg. Jolliffe, Hardy Nichols fboth lost in First World Warl . . . . . When I went back for a reunion, I found the old second form and the desk I used, but the room seemed so much smaller. CReta Roenigk 1908-'11 Mrs. H.T. Humby, Burlingtom, Ont.l Other recollections of Reta Roenigk's are in- corporated in the text preceding.

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We had frequent spelling bees. One I remember had the following: illegal, eligible, illegible, illiterate. In Form III there were about 30 girls and only four boys: Manson Bradley who became a metallurgist and went to Pittsburgh, Harold Sharpe, who became a medical doctor, Alick Lyle, entered the Royal Bank, served in the War, later became Town Clerk, Ern Rehder - ? CC. Ernest Rehder 1906- '08l. The question mark is Mr. Rehder's, but everyone knows he went into the family business, the Bowmanville Foundry, which he still heads, assisted by two of his sons, Tom and Lawrence. lk HF ik Ill Pk Ik Mr. Mark Roenigk remembers a couple of in- cidents related to the fact that the heating system at that time was hot air, with a large register in each classroom. In Second Form he recalls someone bringing a smoked herring to school which the boys kicked around until it landed in the hot air register. What a smell! Another time a mouse came out of the register, ran across the floor and up the outside of teacher's, Miss E.A. Allin, floor length skirt to the hip. The students watched in fascination, but waited in vain for shrieks from Miss Allin, who calmly brushed the mouse off and con- tinued with the lesson. CMark Roenigk, graduate of 1906-'07J. Mr. Roenigk entered the Royal Bank, became a manager, was in Win- nipeg for some years in that position, and retur- ned to Bowmanville upon his retirement. 'I' wk Sk Ik Pk Ik One day I took a tree toad to school in a yeast cake box. In class it escaped and climbed the wall near a girl. She screamed. Dr. Dan- deno, science teacher, promptly had a nature study lesson on the toad. CHarvey S. Wight 1907-'13D. What happened when he and some companions visited the Town Hall is told in the foregoing pages. Mr. Wight now retired at Czar, Alta., farmed two sections 180 miles south-east of Edmonton. FK bk ik Pk Ik ill I had a boon companion throughout my four years, Dorothy Sanderson, and we were in- separable. We both had a crush on a male teacher, tall, dark and handsome. We even changed our boyfriends together so the four- some would be more congenial. On the serious side, I've always felt grateful for the excellent academic groundwork that we all received un- der the principalship of Mr. Elliott, who taught mathematics, Dr. Dandeno, science, Mr. Cameron, Latin and History. I can't emphasize this enough, that under those three teachers particularly, we were fortunate young people. CMarjorie King, graduated 1913 - Mrs. C.O. Miller, Oshawa, Ont.J Attended Toronto University, received B.A. degree and graduated as a dietitian. Worked as a dietitian in army hospitals for returned soldiers, until marriage. Pk lk Sk Sk if if Form I was used for detention periods. One day a boy tried to skip out by opening the win- dow and jumping out. He landed practically on top of Principal Elliott! Punishment not remembered CStudent of 1910-'12J. Form I was at the south-east corner. at 4' lil ik all Ik I remember Molly 'Unc' Wight and the way he could run and kick a football. Kate Percy and how she used to tease me. Ross Lang who was a favourite with all the girls. Orville Hen- derson and how we enjoyed our year studying Mineralogy. Marj King who was the philosopher of the calss. I remember the Conversazione was a very special social event. The teachers: Principal