MOOSE JAW — It’s the “end of an era” for 104-year-old Westmount School, as the building will close later this month and staff and students transfer to the new school this fall.
Westmount began in 1914 as one classroom in a room rented from the Presbyterian Mission on 12th Avenue Southwest for $30 per month and three-quarters of the coal bill. A four-room school building then opened on Nov. 1, 1921, with an average of 40 pupils per room.
To honour the community’s history, the school held a farewell celebration on June 5, which featured food trucks, an outdoor carnival, archival displays in the gym, cake and an auction to raise funds for playground equipment at Coteau Hills Elementary School.
Erika Topp is the longest-serving teacher at Westmount, having taught there since 2005. She is teaching kindergarten this year, while she taught other grades over the past 20 years.
“It’s been wonderful. The kids are amazing. I absolutely love all the families that I’ve met and got to teach and been a part of this school and this community,” said Topp, who was one of three teachers participating in a “human slot machine” game outside.
“It’s been great.”
Topp had many favourite memories but singled out how the school is culturally diverse and a microcosm of the world, which allowed her to learn more about her students and their backgrounds.
“You see kindness exemplified in our school every single day. It’s really amazing,” she continued.
Another big memory is her then-boyfriend proposed marriage more than a decade ago when helping set up her Grade 4 classroom before school started in September. Also, her children now attend, with her oldest daughter graduating Grade 8 this year.
Topp wasn’t sure what she would miss not being at Westmount, but said everyone was moving to Coteau Hills and forming a bigger family with staff and students from Empire School, which was exciting.
“Yeah, there’s lots of memories. It’ll be tough,” she added. “But I think all of our families are coming with us, so it will be good.”
Shawna Facette was looking through old yearbooks in the gym with her daughter, Kyrin, and found herself as a kindergartener from 1982-83. Kyrin joked that it was funny to see her mother’s picture since the latter had not aged, aside from having a different hair colour.
Meanwhile, Facette said she had many good memories from her time there, particularly participating in air bands with friends.
“They actually filmed it all in Grade 6 and they had it on … (TV), so we were, like, famous for a while. And we got to tour different schools with the band, so it was great,” she chuckled.
Facette also recalled attending when a new wing was being added to the building. She and other classmates then moved into that section for their Grade 6 year; they attended Empire for grades 7 and 8 since Westmount lacked those grades.
Lorrie Moldowan (née Karmarznuk), sitting outside eating with her daughter and granddaughter, said she started attending in 1964. She enjoyed being there and liked her teachers — they were “different” than today — but admitted she “wasn’t a very good student.”
“The play time was always good,” she remarked, adding that her daughters, some granddaughters, and her father, Harry, also attended, with the latter attending in 1933.
Trish Alexander has been the principal of Westmount for five years and has loved being a member of the community and serving a diverse group of students and staff. She also liked how the school was full of history, which she thought should be celebrated.
As for the school closing, she said it was “the end of an era,” but was excited to join Coteau Hills as its principal and create a new era of memories.
