I started first grade at the age of 5. I am so thankful I had the experience of a one-room schoolhouse for three years. Since my brothers were 6 and 9 years older than me, I was in the first grade while one of my brothers was in the 8th grade.
To get to school I walked and it was uphill both ways and down a couple. It was about a quarter of a mile from home. Others had to walk much farther. The schoolhouse was a white building on a hill, about 50 feet X 35 feet. The porch in front was graced with a sign “Gem”, the name of the school. The boys’ and girls’ outhouses were about 60 feet from the side of the building. Right by the porch was a hand pump that supplied water. The pipe ran across from the pump to a concrete and stone square about waist high that had a fountain head that supplied ice cold well water, also some fun when you were pumping water for a friend once in a while you could pump really hard and the water would squirt them in the face. The front door faced the South and all along the West side of the building were windows. Looking out of them I could see my granddad’s farm on the next hill.
The school day started with the Lord’s prayer followed by the pledge of allegiance. In 1962 the Supreme Court found that prayers violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. I began school in 1959, so for three years this is how my classes began. What a wonderful privilege that was to honor God in the school!
The rows of desks ran North and South. Desks were wrought iron and had wooden seats that were hinged to fold up, and wooden desktop was at a slant and had a cut in grove at the top to hold your pencil. All the grades 1st-8th were in this room, same teacher. Reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic were the subjects. If you were in one grade but were ahead in the subject, you would move up to do that subject with a higher grade. The older students often helped the younger with their work.
The children were all my friends and neighbors. While the teacher was working with one grade the others did their work or just listened and learned from what they heard. Recess was always fun with games like Annie Over, Steal the Flag, Red Rover, Red Light Green Light, swinging or building a fort. The bell was handheld brass with wooden handle that the teacher would ring to bring everyone back into class.
After 3 years “Gem” closed its doors. The friendships that were cultivated in those years continued through a lifetime.
Proverbs 27:9 “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice”
Grandma Lynn
“Packer and Stacker”