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Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Blumenort School District was established formally in November 1878 and a one-room schoolhouse operated near the present-day Blumenort in the Rural Municipality of Hanover. The first teacher was Cornelius P. Friesen, who was paid $50 plus oats and hay for his livestock plus firewood. He was expected to construct the benches and tables for the school. In the spring of 1920, a new school was constructed at NE21-7-6E based upon the architectural drawings of Gilbert C. Parfitt. It served the educational needs of the community until 1935 when the district was subdivided to form the new Twin Creek School District No. 2260. The building was moved to SW21-7-6E where it became Twin Creek School, while a new school was constructed one mile north of the old site, as Blumenort School. This building was expanded in 1940 to a two-room structure, with a third classroom added in 1961. Four years later, a new three-classroom school was built one-half mile north and one-half mile east of the former location.
On 9 January 1967, the Twin Creek School was destroyed by fire so its students were bused to Blumenort School. To accommodate the increased enrollment, a portable hut was attached to the existing school as a fourth classroom. In 1968, administration of the school was taken over by the Hanover School Division. In 2013, a commemorative sign was erected by the EastMenn Historical Society.
Principals (Blumenort School)
Period |
Principal |
1914-1918 |
Heinrich R. Reimer |
1918-1919 |
Gerhard Giesbrecht Kornelsen (1878-1958) |
1920 |
Wilhelm “William” Kornelsen |
1920 |
Heinrich R. Reimer |
1920-1940 |
No Principal |
1940-1942 |
Aaron Reimer Wiebe |
1942-1943 |
Gerhard Johann Peter “John” Kliewer (1898-1944) |
1944 |
Margaret M. Toews |
1944 |
Cornelius L. “Neil” Toews |
1944-1955 |
Gerhard K. Reimer |
1955-1958 |
Irvin H. Penner |
1958-1964 |
Arthur Bernard “Art” Wiebe |
1964-1968 |
Melvin Penner |
Principals (Blumenort High School)
Period |
Principal |
1963-1968 |
Gerry B. Doerksen |
Teachers (Blumenort School)
Period |
Teachers |
1914-1915 |
David P. Reimer (junior grades), Heinrich R. Reimer (senior grades) |
1915-1916 |
David P. Reimer (junior grades), Heinrich R. Reimer (senior grades) |
1916-1917 |
David P. Reimer (junior grades), Heinrich R. Reimer (senior grades) |
1917-1918 |
Heinrich R. Reimer (senior grades), Maria R. Unger (junior grades) |
1918-1919 |
Gerhard G. Kornelsen (grades 1-5, 1919), Maria R. Unger (grades 1-5) |
1919-1920 |
Gerhard G. Kornelsen (grades 2-3, 1919), Wilhelm “William” Kornelsen (grades 3-5, 1920), Heinrich R. Reimer (grades 3-5, 1919) |
1920-1940 |
(See below) |
1940-1941 |
Margaret M. Toews (grades 1-3), Aaron Reimer Wiebe (grades 4-8) |
1941-1942 |
Margaret M. Toews (grades 1-3), Aaron Reimer Wiebe (grades 4-9) |
1942-1943 |
Gerhard Johann Peter “John” Kliewer (grades 4-9), Margaret M. Toews (grades 1-3) |
1943-1944 |
Cornelius L. “Neil” Toews (grades 4-9, 1944), Gerhard Johann Peter “John” Kliewer (grades 4-9, 1943), Margaret M. Toews (grades 1-3; grades 1-9, 1944) |
1944-1945 |
Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 4-9), Margaret M. Toews (grades 1-3) |
1945-1946 |
Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 4-8), Margaret M. Toews (grades 1-3) |
1946-1947 |
Helen Pankratz (grades 1-3), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 4-7) |
1947-1948 |
Helen Pankratz (grades 1-4), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 5-9) |
1948-1949 |
Helen Pankratz (grades 1-4), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 5-7) |
1949-1950 |
Helen Pankratz (grades 1-4), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 5-10) |
1950-1951 |
Betty Koop (grades 1-4), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 5-11) |
1951-1952 |
Betty Koop (grades 1-3), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 4-8) |
1952-1953 |
Annie Isaac (grades 1-3), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 4-8) |
1953-1954 |
Annie Isaac (grades 1-4), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 5-8) |
1954-1955 |
Annie Isaac (grades 1-4), Gerhard K. Reimer (grades 5-8) |
1955-1956 |
Annie Isaac (grades 1-4), Irvin H. Penner (grades 5-8) |
1956-1957 |
Annie Isaac (grades 1-4), Irvin H. Penner (grades 3 & 5-8) |
1957-1958 |
Annie Isaac (grades 1-3), Irvin H. Penner (grades 4-9) |
1958-1959 |
Lena Schinkel (grades 1-3), Arthur Bernard “Art” Wiebe (grades 4-8) |
1959-1960 |
Helen Letkemann (grades 1-3), Arthur Bernard “Art” Wiebe (grades 4-9) |
1960-1961 |
Helen Letkemann (grades 1-3), Arthur Bernard “Art” Wiebe (grades 4-8) |
1961-1962 |
Helen Letkemann (grades 1-3), Alvina June Wiebe (grades 3-5), Arthur Bernard “Art” Wiebe (grades 6-8) |
1962-1963 |
Hilda Siemens Friesen (grades 1-2), Helen Letkemann (grades 3-5), Arthur Bernard “Art” Wiebe (grades 6-8) |
1963-1964 |
Helen Letkemann (grades 3-5), Annie Penner (grades 1-2), Arthur Bernard “Art” Wiebe (grades 6-8) |
1964-1965 |
Helen Letkemann (grades 3-5), Annie Penner (grades 1-2), Melvin Penner (grades 6-8) |
1965-1966 |
Helen Letkemann (grades 3-5), Annie Penner (grades 1-2), Melvin Penner (grades 6-8) |
1966-1967 |
Eva Fast (grades 1-2), Helen Letkemann (grades 3-5), Melvin Penner (grades 6-8) |
1967-1968 |
Henry Dueck (grades 5-6), Eva Fast (grades 1-2), Melvin Penner (grades 7-8), Margaret Ruth Toews (grades 3-4) |
Teachers (Blumenort High School)
Period |
Teachers |
1963-1964 |
Gerry B. Doerksen (grade 11), Peter U. Dueck (grade 10, 1963), Marion Edith Jasper (grade 10, 1964) |
1964-1965 |
Lorene Kiu Chui (grade 9), Gerry B. Doerksen (grade 11), Glenn Rudolph Klassen (grade 10), Theodor Cornelius Martens (grade 9) |
1965-1966 |
Gerry B. Doerksen (grade 11), Glenn Rudolph Klassen (grade 10), Theodor Cornelius Martens (grade 9) |
1966-1967 |
Gerry B. Doerksen (grade 11), Glenn Rudolph Klassen (grade 10), Theodor Cornelius Martens (grade 9) |
1967-1968 |
Murray C. Barkman (grade 9), Gerry B. Doerksen (grade 9), David Friesen (grade 9, 1967) |
Among the teachers who worked at Blumenort School through the years were: Cornelius P. Friesen, John B. Toews, Gerhard K. Giesbrecht, Heinrich R. Reimer (1907-1914), Gerhard G. Kornelsen (1920-1921), Frank Wiebe (1921-1923), David P. Reimer (1923-1924), Abraham P. Toews (1924-1927), Wilhelm “William” Kornelsen (1927-1928), John C. Reimer (1928-1939), and Aaron Reimer Wiebe (1939-1940).
Photos & Coordinates

Blumenort School (no date) by A. A. Herriot
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 27.

Blumenort School after a second classroom was added in 1940 (no date) by A. A. Herriot
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 27.

Blumenort School commemorative sign (July 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina
Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.60201, W96.70957 denoted by symbol on the map above
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Sources:
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.
Plans and shop drawings (GS 0100), Blumenort School District No. 62, GR3125, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Blumenort School District No. 62 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Glen Klassen, Ernest Braun, and Rose Kuzina for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 27 January 2022
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