Friday, September 12, 2008

Article #21 Rural School Memories

While writing her life story, my mom described her school days in Silver City which is now a ghost town near Eureka, Utah. She lived with her widowed mom and four siblings in a small home next door to the new elementary school. All that remains of that building now are the cement steps. In its time, it was an impressive two story white masonry building with a bell inside a tower to signal the start of school. (In the photo below Mom is in the first row, fifth from the left.)


Recalling those days, my mom wrote, Every morning all the students and teachers would line up outside before school to watch the flag raise and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Then everyone marched in quietly to their classrooms as one of the teachers played lively music on a piano from inside the building. The school had a nice playground with swings, slides, teeter totters and monkey bars. The girls liked to play jacks and jump rope while the boys liked to shoot marbles. Everyone liked to play tag and chase each other around the school house. Most grades were combined 1st-2nd, 3rd- 4th, 5th-6th, 7th-8th but 9th grade was by itself. Upstairs was a very nice gym or auditorium.

In 1912, there was a new Junior/ High School built in Eureka which was five miles away for 7th graders on up. Students from Silver City and Mammoth were bused to school there. It was quite a transition to enter into a much larger school after 6 years in a small community where everyone was acquainted. Our new school Tintic High School had lockers, a lunch room and different teachers for each class. My subjects at school included Math, later Algebra, English Literature, Science, Chemistry, Typing, Shorthand, Home Economics-cooking and sewing, and Physical Education which consisted of exercises, volleyball and softball, but no football for the boys. 

Extra curricular activities included Drama Club, Glee Club, and Pep Club-I was a cheer leader for baseball and basketball games. My younger sister played in the band and got to travel to away games. Annual school activities included the Senior Hop and the Junior Prom with live orchestras from out of town. At the dances we had program cards that you filled out to dance with different partners during the evening. I was the first one in our family to graduate from high school. Seems like schools then are very different from our schools today.

7 comments:

  1. Wow, Lin, I can think of many ways high school today is different: no typing (keyboarding maybe), no shorthand (not used anymore), no home economics, (they do a combination of consumer science and computer stuff), dances seldom have live orchestras and never dance cards or programs (now we have to worry about the things students wear and how they dance--in Trib today). I'm just warming up.

    Her memories of elementary brought back some of my own recollections. Thanks.

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  2. How precious your mother's memories are. It's wonderful that she wrote them down. I was struck by the orderliness of the students back then. Whooping and hollering were not allowed, because there was no need to worry about a child's "individuality" and "creativity" and (and big one when I was teaching) "self esteem." Today many teachers would be criticized for expecting a high degree of self-discipline from their students. What a shame self-discipline has become unpopular.

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  3. My great-aunts taught in a 1 room school house with all grades and a wood stove. I think it was a simpler time..

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  4. I think there are vast differences between the schools I attended and the schools of today. There are also vast differences in students. They've even changed since my children were attending. And, I'm sorry to say, I don't see most of the differneces being due to positive changes.

    I love remembering more innocent times, morality was more black and white, not so many shades of gray.

    I love reading articles like yours and sharing them with young people of today and letting them know what their lives could be like... should be like.

    I also enjoyed the comments of some of your retired teachers.

    Another home run post, my friend.

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  5. I missed going to a one room school by one year. My older siter did.
    I know there were kids who didn't learn, but they usually sat quietly and didn't bother the others. When they dropped out of high school, there were jobs they could go to.
    Now we hear about our schools failing, but there is so much more to meeting the needs than there used to be. When I was teaching I became resigned to doing the best I could, knowing that my best was far from good enough.

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  6. You know, Lin, I don't think they have. I have my Gram's textbooks and I'll be dipped but they are about the same as what goes on today. I like that. Beautiful thing.

    Thanks for this post.

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  7. Oh my goodness, that elementary school reminds me of mine in Hawaii. I remember standing in the hot sun while the flag was raised and we said the Pledge.

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