Our school was named after Earl Kitchener who was the Secretary of State for England during the first World War. Unfortunately, he died when the vessel he was on hit a mine and sunk.
Construction of “The Earl Kitchener” (more commonly known as E.K.) began in 1913 and it was opened to the public in 1915. The main area of E.K. was built in 1914 and a cornerstone that reads “ERECTED 1914” was laid by Lord Bing.
During the first years of E.K. army corps had competitions in front of our school, before the long trek to fight (this was during World War I). Our school formerly had boys and girls up to Grade Eight, and many boys saw active service for Canada during the war. Their names are on an Honour Roll in our lower halls. The girls and boys had rummage sales and food drives and eventually sent off food to their brothers and fathers overseas.
There was a war garden on Chedoke Ave. It is no longer there. For those who had fathers or brothers overseas, their spare time in school was used to knit socks.
Originally the rooms which are now the First Base and the Music Room had no wall between them and this was the gym. Eventually, around 1954, they began construction of a new gym.
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An early photograph of the front façade and south end of Earl Kitchener School. |
| A cadet corps standing at attention in front of the school circa 1917 – 1918. |
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A maypole dance on the front lawn of the school circa 1917 – 1918. |
Updated on Thursday, May 15, 2014.