Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

Part of Margaret’s Valedictory is in the
right hand column on the previous page.
The existence of The Depression makes the
school’s advances of the 1930s even more
admirable. Student interviews with town
folk on boosting the local economy through
tourism is also on the left page.
Debating
Both Margaret and Elizabeth were debaters.
Debating had been introduced and fostered by
Mr. Corkum and Miss McLean. The skills and
format were introduced in grade 9 and there
was inter-class debating for The Principal’s
Trophy. One of Elizabeth’s debates is recorded
left: Elizabeth and the two teams debating are
mentioned in the fifth paragraph. Although
winning a county scholarship, Elizabeth could
not afford university. She went to Secretarial
College in Bridgewater and one of her first
jobs was with Inspector of Schools, Maxner,
who had been interim principal at Mahone
Bay in 1926. The Debating Trophy is in the
time capsule underneath the old bell in the
library of the new Bayview School. It was
awarded at the newly introduced High School
Graduation service each year.
The following is The Record’s Report of
the 1933 Closing with the announcements
including the trophy and THE
INTRODUCTION OF GRADE 12. It was
an interesting introduction. Students were to
study on their own with supervision, help and part time classes. Those who wanted
full-time grade 12 still had to catch the daily “Jitney” [a one carriage train with its
own motor] to Lunenburg Academy. It was a matter of numbers to justify the class.
But a start had been made and by ‘37-‘38 the grade 12 class was established.
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