I would always go to the school at 7:30 in order to do some planning and make the final preparations for the classwork for the different grades. At the time the school had one first grader, several second graders, and two forth graders to prepare for. I had to type out worksheets making carbon paper copies in those days before I got a mimeograph machine that would allow me to run off multiple copies from a stencil. Once it was 8:00 and time to start school, I would open the door and let the kids in.
On Monday of the second week of school, I was surprised when I opened the door to find I had only one student—Darwin, my first grader. I found out that the rest of my students had all gone down to Takla Landing, the First Nations settlement, to see the visiting dentist. It would have been nice if someone had let me know.
Just having Darwin by himself really did do him a lot of good, because I was able to dedicate the whole day to working just with him. The day was also memorable because the camp electricians, finally came and hooked up both the power and furnace for the school.
I had three more dental defections on Wednesday of that week, and was told that on Friday, everyone except Darwin would again go down to Takla Landing to see the dentist. Fortunately, I was diligent and planned work for the all the grades anyway. It was a good thing I did, because on “Dentist Day” a dense fog formed over Takla Lake which prevented the kids from traveling to Takla Landing, so I had my whole contingent in school.
Above is a photo of Darwin. Below shows part of Takla Landing.
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