COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – Where no one was excluded

Once upon a time, turns out a long time ago, I lived in a community that somehow was able to accommodate everyone. The concept of everyone included long time farmers and younger ones, and everyone in between. It also included families that had a long history in our region, and those that were relatively recent arrivals. The reasons for moving to this community were diverse, but for the most part it was because families were looking for a place where they could live in peace.

Rosengard, that community of long ago, was the place where I was born. The longer I live, the more I realize how much I have received throughout my life. In a very real way, living in Rosengard gave me a phenomenally solid grounding that continues to hold a powerful influence on how I live my life to this day.

In the old Rosengard school house of my childhood it seemed that there was always room, as well as a place for all comers. There were, of course, requirements from the provincial department of education concerning teaching in a manner consistent with fulfilling the requirements of the curriculum. There were also certain age requirements of those in attendance. In fact, attendance was mandatory within certain parameters.

There was nevertheless also flexibility, and certainly adaptability regarding, as must surely be the case in every educational institution, the ability of those in attendance, as well as individual variations. Some students lived a far greater distance from the school than others, and might sometimes be late, having been delayed for certain valid reasons.

In retrospect, I think that, in a sense, the school played an important balancing role in our society. All of us were expected to speak English at school. For those of us in my first grade, that meant learning a new language by being immersed in English language studies in every subject. For children, it seems, that is a relatively easy undertaking. Before long, our first language(s) was replaced by English as it became our dominant means of communication. We now developed the capacity to communicate with much of the rest of Canadian society, both in speaking and writing in a language that was foreign to many of the parents of our community.

Of paramount significance was the fact that these educational opportunities included girls, thereby opening up the world to all of us. Most of us have taken that fact for granted, knowing nevertheless that this is not so for many women the world over.

The more I ponder the benefits of that early childhood education experience, extending to early adulthood, the more I recognize how much I benefitted from it. That was so also in the context of the structure that was inherent in that system.

Since one teacher taught all subjects to students in eight grades when I began Grade 1, it goes without saying that all of us were exposed to the instruction given to the students in those other grades. It could be argued that we might well be distracted by the instruction given to other grades, in addition to all the other sounds of pages being turned by students focusing on their individual lessons. I think however that we absorbed a great deal by the simple process of osmosis, when hearing the teacher’s lessons to the other grades. While perhaps not optimal, I think it nevertheless had benefits, being exposed to lessons and subjects taught beyond our own grade level.

The significance of our own history, and the uniqueness of our culture and languages were not part of our curriculum, although, to a certain degree German was taught as a second language. Fortunately for us, our parents and the community in general, valued our own stories. For me the lessons I learned from my parents, and the songs we sang in our home, as well as in our church services, continue to resonate with me.