First High School built at Kinkora, 1955 (Author’s Collection)

"in-st Grade x11 Guauatudouu Class at Kinkora Hugh School, 1956

Front Row L. to R.: Anna Marie Campbell, Marina Roberts, Charles Roberts, Mary McIver, Rosemary Mulligan, Audrey Steele, Bernard

McCabe.

Back Row L. to R.: Eric Doucette, Kevin Farmer, Audrey Cameron, Wilfred McCardle, Joan McIntyre.

Missing from photo: Alberta Atkins and Desmond Duffy. (Author’s Collection)

120

In addition to the closure of the school at Maple Plains, and the reduction of the number of grades taught in the schools at Middleton, Newton and Shamrock, it brought more students and teachers to Kinkora, and put Kinkora into a new role as a regional centre of education. In the school year 1959-1960 at Kinkora there were 262 students being taught in six classrooms (four elementary and two high school) by eight teachers, of whom six were Sisters of St. Martha; a decade later there were more students in thir- teen classrooms (four elementary and nine high school) be— ing taught by nineteen teachers, of whom thirteen were laymen and laywomen, and six were Sisters of St. Martha. These changes would continue into the next decades.

Parents and students were proud of the quality of educa— tion provided in the Kinkora schools. Much of that pride resulted from the extra time the Sisters of St. Martha spent with the students, including supervised study in the even— ings in the classroom as the Sisters of St. Martha’s convent, at no extra cost. Another area in which the Sisters made Kinkorans proud was the training they gave students in drama, singing, music and dancing. The school schedule provided opportunities for young people to test their talents in these performing arts: in the regular Friday school club meetings, which always included an entertainment section; in the annual Christmas and June concerts in Kinkora Hall; and the church choir classes. Students also competed local- ly before going on to wider contests such as the Schurman’s School Parade, broadcast over the Summerside radio sta— tion CJRW each Friday evening, and the annual P.E.I. music festival and drama festival. During the four years in which Kinkora entered plays in the P.E.I. Drama Festival (1949-1953) students from Kinkora won three first prizes for their plays, including awards for best actor and actress, and a second prize for one of their senior plays.37 Table 11:5 names the winners in the junior plays.