EDUCATION IN ST. PETER'S ABBEY

The history of education in St. Peter's colony goes beyond the 75th anniversary celebrated this year. In the first 10 years of the century, 17 private (parochial) schools were established as well as 49 public schools. In addition two separate school districts had been set up, one of which still exists today. In the period between 1903 and 1921, education in the colony was conducted in private (parochial) schools or public (government supported) schools. While two separate school districts were organized, these seem to have emerged more by circumstances than by forward looking planning. More about these two later.

In the entire colony, there was an on going struggle, at times spirited, between those who favored the government supported public schools and those who favored the private schools. As far as this writer can discern, except for the situation which existed in Humboldt and Watson where there was a slight Protestant majority, almost all other areas of the colony were populated by German Catholics (mostly from the United States) who outnumbered any other religious or ethnic group.Probably the German Americans readily accepted state supported schools because of the double taxes they were subject to in the United States. In the colony, with their rather large majority, the German Catholics felt they could keep control of their schools and still get government grants to help operate them. To many, it seemed, government aid and local control was the best of both worlds. At least, with government aid, the cash strapped settlers would feel some easing of their financial burdens.

Benedictine influence was somewhat limited because of geography, communication and the many duties pastors had to perform in a pioneer settlement. If the school was adjacent to the church, or if the church was the school, as happened in a few instances, more attention could be given by the pastors.It is noteworthy that half of the private schools were initiated in the three year period from 1906-1909. During the same time one of the separate schools was established.The resolutions began: "Since it is of prime importance that the young generation of the entire St. Peter's Colony receive as far as possible a thorough education, penetrated by a religious spirit, and as the German mother tongue should be cultivated as far as circumstances permit, be it hereby resolved. "Commission which would regulate parish schools, carry out inspections, examine teachers, certify them for teaching Christian doctrine, and supervise parish school expenditures. The Commission was also to ensure that existing parish schools were maintained; it was instructed to attempt to establish at least one school in each parish near the church as soon as possible. Furthermore, the resolutions provided for local parish school committees which would be subordinate to the Parish School Commission. In Bruno, Fr. Chrysostom Hoffmann devoted much time, energy and influence in ensuring that the local parochial school would become viable. However, it seems he was overly optimistic and misread the support of the Catholic majority. The school ceased operation in 1928, 22 years after it opened. The Bruno situation is a good example of the independent thinking of the early settlers with regard to church, school and language.

There were often disagreements among the settlers on what course of action should be followed on certain issues. One thing that does become clear is that the German Catholics were attempting to promote a Canadianization of their schools. This would be a blend of their new country and portions of their German heritage. As the First World War approached, the insistance on a Canadian way was to stand them in good stead. The number of public schools continued to grow after 1918, and the parochial schools declined. By 1933 the number of public schools had risen to 77 and all but one of the parochial schools had closed. In 1934, the last of the 20 parochial schools closed its doors. The school was St. Angela's. In 1905 the Catholics in Humboldt were in the minority. That year they petitioned to organize a public school to include country and village students. Later that year, Protestants with some Catholic support petitioned for a public school for the village only, which was granted. In the case of Watson, some parallels to the Humboldt situation existed. In 1905, Catholics, who were in the majority, petitioned for a public school. The request was granted and the ensuing elections returned all Catholic trustees. Then a petition was circulated requesting a change in boundaries. The request was granted before the school had opened. The second election returned two Protestants and one Catholic trustee. While a split in the community occurred it did not follow ethnic or religious lines. There are two versions of what happened.

One appeared in the Bote, and the other from 31 ratepayers, many of them Catholic, who gave their version in the form of a letter. Nothing happened until 1909 when Catholics, now in the minority, petitioned for a separate school. The fact that an Orange Lodge had been organized and that the public school teacher became engaged to one of the chief Lodge organizers may have influenced the ratepayers to organize a separate district. The Watson district had Irish Germans, German Americans and other ethnic groups, in contrast to the predominately German Catholics of Humboldt and area. The school opened in 1910. This school stood where the north Sacred Heart Church parking lot is now located. In 1923, the second Catholic separate school building was constructed. The third and final separate school building was constructed in 1956. In 1964 an agreement was made whereby Grades 9 to 12 students from the separate school moved to the Watson High School. The Catholic students from the rural areas could attend the separate school for their elementary education. Religion was taught in the high school by the pastor for a number of years. In April 1974, after much deliberation and discussion, the separate school rate payers voted to amalgamate with the public school. Since then the separate school building has been the elementary school in Watson.

Sources:
St. Peter's Bote, Rev. Chrysostom Hoffmann's Daybooks, interviews and numerous brief references in such sources as school files held in the Saskatchewan Archives and St. Peter's Abbey Archives