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Helen Wattie

In 1967 the Business & Professional Women's Club honoured nine women of Kirkland Lake with an award recognizing their extraordinary achievements in their chosen fields; it was the Club's Centennial Project. Helen Wattie was one of those nine women, chosen to receive this award for her achievements in education.

Miss Wattie, as she was known by her students and the staff at Kirkland Lake Collegiate and Vocational Institute (KLCVI), was born in Bracebridge in September 1911 and began her career in education as an exchange teacher in Edmonton, Alberta. She received her Specialist Teaching Certificate in Home Economics in 1943. Miss Wattie said she came to Kirkland Lake that same year because it was the only place a job was available.

In 1950 she went on hiatus to Ryerson Polytechnic Institute to develop the Home Economics Department curriculum. She stayed at Ryerson for 5 years. During that time she revised a cookbook for use in schools that was originally written by N. L. Pattinson in 1923.

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Helen Wattie
Circa 1965
Kirkland Lake Collegiate and Vocational Institute


Credits:
Image loaned from MNH Auxiliary (Women of Kirkland Lake 2012 Exhibit)

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In 1953 she returned to KLCVI as head of the Home Economics Department, and by 1962 she was Vice Principal. Also during that year she was elected President of the local District 29 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.

During this time she rescued the female students from KLCVI from the rule that they MUST wear skirts in school or they would not be admitted to classes. Girls were attending classes with frostbitten legs from walking to school in the fashionable mini skirt! In another incident, one young girl came to school on the school bus wearing pants and forgot to bring a skirt to change into when she arrived. It was exam time and she was not allowed to write her exam unless she found a skirt to wear. She went down to the gym and was given a dirndl skirt that was in the equipment room from a dance exhibition the Physical Education Department put on at an assembly. Miss Wattie saw the foolishness of the rule and had it abolished.

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KLCVI - Kirkland Lake's Public High School
Circa 1950's
Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada


Credits:
Image from Museum of Northern History Collection

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In 1967, she took a year sabbatical leave of absence from KLCVI planning to travel the world visiting schools. When she returned to KLCVI in 1968, she saw a need for an up to date textbook for the Home Economics classes and wrote the Home Management & Nutrition textbook.

In 1972 she retired from KLCVI and headed to Ghana in West Africa for two years to train teachers in family life science. It was a post offered to her by the Canadian Universities Services Overseas (CUSO).

Miss Wattie passed away in October 2009 at age 98.