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The Bothwell School District was formed in 1919 and the first one-room school was built in 1920, in the Rural Municipality of Hanover. In 1942, another classroom was added. This school was destroyed by fire during the 1944-45 school term. A two-room school was constructed on the same yard and, in 1953, two classrooms were added. Bothwell kept its school during the consolidations of the 1960s, eventually becoming part of the Hanover Unitary School Division. A new six-room school was built in 1972 and the old school was sold. In 1983, the school was expanded to its present size to accommodate classes from kindergarten to grade nine.
A commemorative monument for Bothwell School was unveiled on 5 August 1994. A commemorative sign was erected by the EastMenn Historical Society in 2013.
Period
Principal
1941-1943
Frank Unrau Dyck (1893-1982)
1943-1944
Jacob David “Jake” Pauls (1919-2012)
1944-1946
Dietrich Penner
1946-1948
Andrew Rieger Sobering (1896-1967)
1948-1949
Vernon Reimer
1949-1953
Jacob David “Jake” Pauls (1919-2012)
1953-1954
Clifford Milton Reimer
1954-1955
Peter J. Loewen
1955-1957
Abram Enns
1957-1959
John Reimer
1959-1963
Gustav “Gus” Pokrant (1907-1981)
1963-1964
John Rempel
1964-1965
Cornelius L. “Neil” Goertzen
1965-1966
Gustav “Gus” Pokrant (1907-1981)
1966-1967
Hilda Dyck
Period
Teachers
1941-1942
Frank Unrau Dyck (grades 4-9), Irene Willms (grades 1-3)
1942-1943
Frank Unrau Dyck (grades 4-10), Irene Willms (grades 1-3)
1943-1944
Jake David Pauls (grades 4-9), Irene Willms (grades 1-3)
1944-1945
Dietrich Penner (grades 4-8), Jessie Peters (grades 1-3)
1945-1946
Dietrich Penner (grades 4-8), Helen Toews (grades 1-3)
1946-1947
Lydia Regehr (grades 1-3), Andrew Rieger Sobering (grades 4-9)
1947-1948
Andrew Rieger Sobering (grades 4-8), Mary Anne D. Sobering (grades 1-3)
1948-1949
Elizabeth Reimer (grades 1-3), Vernon Reimer (grades 4-9)
1949-1950
Jacob David Pauls (grades 4-10), Agnes Wieler (grades 1-3)
1950-1951
Jacob David Pauls (grades 4-9), Agnes Wieler (grades 1-3)
1951-1952
Jacob David Pauls (grades 4-10), Agnes Wieler (grades 1-3)
1952-1953
Jacob David Pauls (grades 4-8), Agnes Wieler (grades 1-4)
1953-1954
Clifford Milton Reimer (grades 7-9), Elvera Schroeder (grades 1-3), Agnes Wieler (grades 4-6)
1954-1955
Betty Falk (grades 1-3), Nettie Loewen (grades 4-6), Peter J. Loewen (grades 7-10)
1955-1956
Abram Enns (grades 9-11), Betty Falk (grades 1-4), Katharina Wiebe Peters (grades 5-8)
1956-1957
Abram Enns (grades 9-11), Margaret E. Penner (grades 1-4), Katharina Wiebe Peters (grades 5-8)
1957-1958
Katharina Wiebe Peters (grades 4-8), John Reimer (grades 9-11), Agnes Wiebe (grades 1-3)
1958-1959
Katharina Wiebe Peters (grades 4-8), John Reimer (grades 9-11), Agnes Wiebe (grades 1-3)
1959-1960
Gustav “Gus” Pokrant (grades 9-11), Frances Mary “Fran” Schrader (grades 3-5), Gerd Manfred “Bert” Suss (grades 6-8), Agnes Wiebe (grades 1-2)
1960-1961
Nettie Nikkel (grades 1-2, 1961), Gustav “Gus” Pokrant (grades 9-11), Frances Mary “Fran” Schrader (grades 3-5), Abraham Peter Toews (grades 6-8), Agnes Wiebe (grades 1-2)
1961-1962
Erna Ruth Falk (grades 3-5), Jake D. Hildebrandt (grades 6-8), Gustav “Gus” Pokrant (grades 9-11), Agnes Wiebe (grades 1-2)
1962-1963
Aaron Hildebrand (grades 3-5), Jake D. Hildebrandt (grades 6-8), Adina Esther Klassen (grades 1-2), Gustav “Gus” Pokrant (grades 9-11)
1963-1964
Aaron Hildebrand (grades 3-5), John Rempel (grades 6-8), Linda Carol Suderman (grades 1-2)
1964-1965
Mary Dueck (grades 1-2), Cornelius L. “Neil” Goertzen (grades 6-8), Linda Carol Suderman (grades 3-5)
1965-1966
Mary Dueck (grades 1-2), Nettie Penner (grades 3-5), Gustav “Gus” Pokrant (grades 6-8)
1966-1967
Hilda Dyck (grades 6-8), Anne Hiebert (grades 1-2), Carol Joan Joyal (grades 3-5)
1967-1968
Lydia Lorraine Falk (grades 1-3, ? (grades 4-8)
Among the other teachers who worked at Bothwell School between 1919 and 1939 were Ed Friesen, Henry Wiebe, Bernhard Schellenberg, William Hoeppner, Mary Friesen, Jacob Rempel, Peter Thomas Wiebe (1929-1930), Peter Henry Funk (1938-1939), Peter George Kehler (1939-1940), Jacob Siemens Schellenberg (1940-1941), and Margaret Reimer (?-?).
The original Bothwell School, built in 1920 and destroyed by fire in 1943 (no date) by James Tod
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 68.
The later Bothwell School, built in 1944 (no date) by James Tod
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 68.
Bothwell School commemorative monument (September 2010)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.59060, W96.88940
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bothwell Co-Op Dairy (New Bothwell, RM of Hanover)
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.
Schools - Our Heritage: From 46 School Districts to Hanover Unitary School Division (1878-1968) by John K. Schellenberg, The Board of The Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985, ISBN 0-919673-93-7.
Manitoba Heritage Council Commemorative Plaques and Manitoba Community Commemorative Plaques, Fiscal Year 1994-1995, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, page 37.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Bothwell School District No. 1961 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Glen Klassen and Ernest Braun of the EastMenn Historical Society for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough
Page revised: 6 March 2024
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