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The Champion School District No. 1909 was established formally in March 1918 from catchment previously within the Clarkleigh School District No. 1659; the breakaway district being created as a result of a district boundary dispute from November 1917 regarding the Clarkleigh School. The dispute was heard before Judge Louis Arthur Prud’homme, and the new district's suggested name being granted as sought by the petitioners.
A schoolhouse was initially located within temporary quarters on the second floor of Mr. B. Rafnkelson's store at Clarkleigh Siding. This was followed with a $2,500 debenture being approved by local voters in June 1919 and issued in November 1919 to finance a loan for a dedicated school structure completed at SW6-19-4 West of the Prime Meridian in the Rural Municipality of Coldwell. The district operated independently for only a few years with never more than 14 pupils in attendance.
In August 1921, it was re-consolidated with Clarkleigh School to form the Clarkleigh Consolidated School No. 1909. The former Champion School was then relocated to NW34-18-4 West and situated adjacent to the former Lincoln School No. 496 (since 1917, as Clarkleigh School No. 1659), where it saw continued use as one of two schoolhouse classrooms operated by the Clarkleigh School District No. 1909 through the 1920s.
The teachers of Champion School were Ethel B. Bird (Spring-Fall 1918, January-March 1919, Fall 1919), Gudrun Martiensson? (March-June 1919), Sibba Johnson (Spring 1920), Gudrey? [Gudny?] Kristjanson (September 1920 - May 1921), and Alma Young (May-June 1921).
Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.59573, W98.01743
denoted by symbol on the map above
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #49 School District of Champion, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.
School division and school district formation files (E 0027), Lincoln School No. 496, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.
School division and school district formation files (E 0027), Clarkleigh School No. 1659, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.
School division and school district formation files (E 0027), Champion School No. 1909, GR1688, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Clarkleigh School No. 1909 - Daily Registers, GR11220, Archives of Manitoba.
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.
Wagons to Wings: History of Lundar and Districts, 1872-1980 by Lundar and District Historical Society, c1980, pages 37-39.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 15 August 2026
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