A Week Later - Class Update

Hall-Jones, M. Willowview School. Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, p. 3. Manitoba Historical Society, https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/willowviewschool.shtml.

Still riding the high from the proof-of-concept test last week. The teacher told me that during the parent–teacher interviews the following week, six parents mentioned that their kids came home buzzing about Thomas and everything they’d uncovered. That alone made my week. Hard to beat the feeling of a story landing that hard with Grade 5s.

I’m back in research mode now, trying to figure out how to make the kits feel more “real.” I’m also knee-deep in the Alberta social studies curriculum, making sure these kits don’t just look good but also align with classroom objectives. Not glamorous work, but necessary.

On the McMeekin front, I stumbled onto something unexpected. While digging for more pre-war details, I found a page about his old school district. I was excited; it even had an old photo of the one-room Willowview School. Then I saw the line that stopped me cold: one of the teachers listed for Willowview School was one T. Douglas McMeekin. That one’s going straight into the kit! Now, if only I could track down a photo of him.

The search continues.

—Dan Barnfield