School on Wheels museum tells unique
educational story
In this age when information is as
close as a smart phone keyboard, it’s hard to realize that it’s not that long
ago that there were isolated parts of Ontario where children had no chance of
getting an education. The School on Wheels Railcar Museum in Clinton brings
those days back to life.
The School on Wheels is the only
remaining example of railway cars that were converted to serve as both a classroom
for children and a home for the teacher and his family. This one is located in
Clinton because it was home of teacher Fred Sloman and his wife Cela and their
five children.
Sloman was the first teacher chosen
for a school car, an experiment between the Ontario department of Education and
the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railroads. In the case of the
Slomans’ school car, each week a CN Rail “wayfreight” moved the school car to
one of the specially-built sidings on the 149-mile route between Capreol and
Foleyet where it would remain for about five days. Pupils would come in from
the village or the bush for a week of classes and Fred Sloman would leave them
enough homework to keep them busy until his return after making the rounds of
other stops along the route. More than 1,000 students graduated from this
unique school before it was retired in 1967.
The Slomans themselves retired to
Clinton, which had been their summer home all those years, in 1965. Fred passed
away in 1973 at age 78. Cela was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1984.
A group of Clinton residents rescued and restored the school car. Touring the
School on Wheels you can see what life was like for the students and the Sloman
family.
A special Children’s Festival with Thomas the Tank Engine activities will be held August 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information check out the website at: www.centralhuron.com/schoolcar.