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1905: 1909 - First Oyama School

By 1909 there were six school age children in Oyama. This was not enough students to start a Provincial school so the parents hired their own teacher, and a room in the Lloyd’s house on the east side of Wood Lake was used as the first school. The children attending the first school were: Jack Towgood, Mabel Irvine, Edna and Floyd Whipple and the two Geer children. The first teacher was Barbara Irving.

According to the records, a meeting was held in 1910 to elect the first School Board in Oyama. Dr. W. H. Irvine, A. Geer and A. S. Towgood were the first Trustees. It was their job to hire teachers, manage the finances and maintain the school.

The four Towgood children: Jack, Tom, Alice and Robert all completed grades one to eight; they were the first Towgood generation to go to Oyama School. A total of three generations of Towgoods have gone through Oyama School.

As the number of students increased the first school building was erected in the form of a lean-to tarpaper shack that stood just west of the Lloyd home.

Source: Bernardo, Sandra. The Histories of Winfield, Oyama, Okanagan Centre and the Commonage Schools.

See also: 1910, 1915, 1920, 1935, 1945, 1955, 1960, 1970, 1975, and 2000.