South Otter Elementary, as told to M. Pepin by Leona French

South Otter Elementary, as told to M. Pepin by Leona French 

One day in the winter when the roads were rather snowy and treacherous, Leona was headed to South Otter Elementary where she had never been before. As she drove carefully south on Otter Road (248), she suddenly came to "Jump Off Hill", which she did not realize was there. Imagine her horror when she saw a school bus coming up the steep hill towards her. She couldn't brake because of the road conditions, and she couldn't look. She just closed her eyes as she passed the bus and continued down the hill to the school. 

I guess that the bus driver had quite a sense of humour. The next day he arrived at Aldergrove Secondary School where she was working and presented her with a large foil medal for being the "only teacher who could drive with her eyes closed”. 


South Otter School, by Darlene Hargrove (nee Gartner) 

Darlene Hargrove taught at South Otter from 1979-80. It was her first year of teaching. The children were not the only ones to receive an education that year. She had been raised as a city girl, and some experiences were very novel for her, such as the time a pig's testicles were brought to school for "show and tell". On one field trip to a farm, a Kindergarten child with long blonde hair had a fabulous time with a goatkid. She came home with a shagcut, and the kid had a tummy full of hair. 



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