S.S. #1 Conmee School House

By L.O. Pajamaki

S.S. = School Section

Our Storied Past the legacy of Conmee Township

The first school to be built in Conmee Township was the S.S. #1 Conmee this one room schoolhouse was built in 1909. The schoolhouse was built by volunteers and was location in the S ½ of Lot 2 Concession 2 a military lot in those days. This structure was made of hewn logs. The first teacher was the Rev. Victor Parker. The first trustees were W. Caldwell and Manfred Colpitts. Children going to the school house were: Caldwells, Kate and Jack Enders, Marion Arril, Don Torrie, May and Ethel Colpitts. The schoolhouse was destroyed by fire the following year (1910) and it was two years before another school was built

In 1912 the second S.S. #1 Conmee Schoolhouse was built. It was built on the N ½ of Lot B Concession 2. This structure was again a one-room school. The first teacher was Albert Yoell who was paid $35.0 per month. Other early teachers were Pearl Brock, Ruth Ditmars, Dick Pifer, and Hazel Pifer. In the early years teachers could not always be hired, some only stayed for two months. Teaching in rural areas was not too appealing to most; you would have to board at someone’s house and perhaps walk miles to get to the schoolhouse. The rural areas were somewhat isolated compared to the city and winters so cold that classes were conducted during the winter months for the first few years. The school was heated by a box stove for many years. It was the practice for the first person to arrive to light the stove. The students would gather around the stove for the better part of the morning to receive their lessons. This was because the school did not become comfortably warm until midday

Young people would have always been subject to stories that their parents would recall how rough they had it when they attended school. In Conmee the stories would walk five or six miles to school. During the winter months students would wade through the snow on foot. If you were fortunate you owned a pair of skis or snowshoes. Rarely did pupils ride to school in a sleigh. When they did, the children would keep warm with heated stoves wrapped in blankets and places at their feet.

In the 1930s the school in Conmee provided grades one through eight. If students wished to continue their education further they could enrol in grade 9 and 10 correspondence courses which were supervised by the teacher. These were discontinued in 1940-42. In order for them to complete high school students would have to board in town (Fort William or Port Arthur) this involved an expense that many could not afford it was not until 1947-48 that bussing to town began.

In 1948-49 the schoolhouse was moved to the west side of the highway onto the N ½ of Lot 1 Concession 2 and put onto a basement with holding tanks for the ‘biffies’ that were planned to be attached. This was never completed. It had a wood furnace. The No 2 School on the 5th Concession Road was closed down by this time and the students started to attend the No 1 School with Ed Sovereign as teacher and school bus driver. Mr Archinger taught for 4 months then Elgin Malinoski was hired in January 1950 with 56 students from grades one to eight.

In 1952 the Conmee School Board rented the hall across the road (3rd Concession) from the school to accommodate the added students. The senior grades 5-8 were taught in the hall leaving the grades 1-4 classes in the school house. This caused the board to hire another teacher Mrs Sarah Winslow. Mrs Peggy Pajamaki and Mrs Winslow were the last teachers to teach in this schoolhouse.

In 1959 the Township of Conmee purchased the schoolhouse and it became known as the Conmee Municipal Building. Conmee Council used the building for their meetings and later in 1968 for the office of the clerk and the roads office.

In 1979 saw the opening of the new Conmee Community Centre and the building sat empty until 1986 when council granted the Conmee Community Centre board permission to have the building moved to the Community Centre lot to be set up and used for a museum. In 1986 the building was moved over and repairs were complete. In 1987 the Conmee heritage board was formed to operate the Conmee Heritage Centre. The Heritage Centre was used for a number of functions and in 1988 when the board lost direction the building was converted back to the Community Centre and used for storage.

In 1998 council of the time donated the building to the Founders Museum in highway 61. The Founders Museum moved the building over to their location and has it set up as the Conmee S.S. #1 school

List of teachers at the SS#1 school; Ann Garbutt, Sarah Winslow, Fran Regan, Peggy Pajamaki and Elgin Malinoski

1958 saw the construction begin on a new two room school on the highway (school road now Illka Drive) on the N ½ of Lot A concession 5. The new Conmee Public School opened for classes January 2 1959 with Mrs. Peggy Pajamaki teach senior grades and Mrs Sarah Winslow teaching the junior grades.