School Days When They Walked Uphill in the Snow Both Ways!

Ah Ha!  We are in the dog days of summer and the school year is rapidly approaching.  Today, that means the frantic scramble for clothes, lists of school supplies, meet the teachers, finding classrooms, athletic practices and...

While standing in line at a local retail store, visiting with one of the stressed mothers, it occurred to me how much simpler things were, not that long ago.  My father attended rural schools up through the 40s in Kansas, for instance.

The start of the school year in those country schools meant a new pair of shoes for the oldest if the younger could wear the hand-me-downs of the older, perhaps a newly sewn dress or britches, perhaps a new ribbon for the girl's hair or a hat for the boy, paper and pencils.  Children might bring homemade bread with butter and jelly, cheese, boiled eggs, dried meat/sausage, fruit and cookies in galvanized tin pails like this one.

Younger children frequently learned not only from the teacher, but from older students which was a blessing with potentially many students for a young teacher.  Teachers in rural schools frequently were young, barely older than their students, fresh from their exams and rooming with one of the local families.  They were the first one to the school to build the fire or open the windows, bring in water, and possibly shovel off the entry.  They were the last to leave, cleaning the school house, banking the fire and closing up for the day, unless there was a school board meeting or community function.  Then they went home to review papers and the children went home for chores and studying frequently with only the aid of lanterns.  For the teachers' efforts, they might earn between $25 and $30 per month (estimated in 1896).

We are blessed in the area that I live that there is an active organization that works diligently to preserve the old country school houses and demonstrate what life was like for our ancestors.  For example:

Cherry Mountain School
First established in 1883, this limestone structure built in 1926.  Consolidated in 1949.

Pecan Creek School
Built in 1916.
Consolidated in 1955

Cherry Springs School
Built in 1885.
Consolidated in 1962

Crabapple School
Original Structure built in 1878.  This school built in 1882.
Also used as local post office.

Willow City School.
Established prior to 1876.  This building erected in 1905.
Consolidated in 1961.

And of course the very important feature of a barn where the horses were kept during the school day. Children would either walk to school or several would share a horse or a parent would bring them to school by buggy/wagon/sleigh.

Barn at Cherry Mountain School.

School houses too were frequently meeting halls, hosted dances, community programs, churches and other social events.  These schools were the backbone of every community.  The land for the schools was donated by the settlers.  According to the Friends of the Country Schools group, two families were vying for the honor of donating the land needed for the Crabapple School.  The fathers ran a footrace to decide; the winner got the privilege of the donation.

My goodness how different things are now!  Of course, one thing never changes and that is the innocence of childhood.  The daughter of the before-mentioned stressed mother told me how excited she was to start kindergarten.  She had new shoes and a new dress.  She had seen the campus and was really excited about music class.  And, she added, her school had a cemetery, you know where you eat lunch!  We all chuckled and asked if she meant cafeteria!  Darn, big C words!

Do you have a story to share about life with the country schools?  We'd love to hear from you.  Please comment with any stories, comments or questions!

Have a blessed day!