The school in nearby Osage was built and finished so that I could attend First Grade in the new school in 1957. No country school for me..my parents bought a farm close to a country school with thoughts that their children wouldn’t have far to walk to school. I rode the bus. Ivan Siegford was the bus driver. He and his wife owned the Hardware store in Ponsford. I got on the bus at 7:45 to 7:50 every morning to ride six miles in to school.
The old school has been renovated and it is now apartments. We were invited there one afternoon last week for coffee. One of Far Guys shirt tail relatives lives there.
I stood in line to get on the bus in this covered area for four years.
I could hardly believe that the drinking fountain between the first and fourth grade classes was still there. It looks so short. I stood in line here too.
I think the door on the left was a furnace room. The double door further down was the milk room..that is where we went to have our milk break and it was also the room were the girls were segregated from the boys to watch a short film on how our bodies were changing. The boys were oh so curious what the girls film was all about. As far as I remember the boys had no film to watch in a darkened room with the School Nurse.
Straight ahead was the entrance to the gymnasium/lunch room. To the right are two doors one was the in to the lunch counter and one was the out. The “in” door is not in the photo..and that white door has been added. I stood in line at the “in” part to get lunch. I loved school lunch..Spanish Rice was one of my favorites and green beans and cooked carrots and peaches. We were encouraged to finish our lunch and we had to show our lunch tray to the Principal Mr. Vaadland before we could leave the lunch room.
It was an interesting afternoon that brought about many memories:)
It's time they saved some things of the old school. At least it lives on as apartments, many schools are just left to decay.
ReplyDelete"Going back" warms heart cockles, dudn't it? Thank-you for sharing a look at your school days (Daze for some, I do believe! LOL!) I hope you treated yourself to Spanish Rice, green beans, cooked carrots and peaches for supper!
ReplyDeleteOh, childhood memories are so sweet. I'm glad you had a chance to go back, and walk those hallowed halls one more time!
ReplyDeleteI love taking trips down memory lane.
ReplyDeleteThe food you ate in school is so much healthier than what they offer kids these days. That drinking fountain is still there, what a miracle! And it IS really low to the ground, but then again, so were you back then. Great trip down Memory Lane; you always do it so well. :-)
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how much you remember of that school. Great though that even if it can't educate anymore that now it can house!
ReplyDeleteNothing like stepping back into the past:)
ReplyDeleteWhen I visited the high school I went to it was kinda eerie since the buildings were no longer occupied. I could almost hear the echoes. I walked to elementary school and the bus to high school. Interesting that the water fountain is still there. Yea it is low to the ground but so were you. You make me smile.
ReplyDeleteI have seen some present day school lunches and they are not nearly as healthful as the one you describe. And what a good idea having the trays inspected after they eat. So many children throw away food that is not appealing to them. It seems many want junk food and won't eat anything that is good for them.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories:)
ReplyDeleteI'm not remembering any milk breaks or lunches at the elementary schools I went to in Canada. I do remember something about them supplying us with some milk the year I started school, in England.
Nice to see the old school being used as something else though.
Isn't it amazing how things we thought were so big as kids are really small - like that water fountain. You had some nice favorite foods for school lunch. I had to brown bag mine. My old grade school was torn down two years ago. It was a wonderful school and it was so sad to see the wrecking ball smash her to smithereens.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful tiny fountain - one that seemed so big to us as a child!
ReplyDeleteHope you meant you had carrots and peaches - but as separate dishes! ;-)
My old grade school still stands (it's nearly 100 years old!) and many additions and improvements have been made. I laughed at the "short" water fountain -- I always feel that way when I see a place from my youth!
ReplyDeletePeace,
Muff
It's fortunate that your old school is still there in some form. Going back to these places brings back the memories.
ReplyDeleteAt least they've changed the building into something useful and not left it to decay. What a trip down memory lane. We had our special girls film at night and had to bring our moms. I still have the booklets they handed out!! OMG! They're in the nostalgia boxes someplace. "Very Personally Yours" was one of them, I remember. My mom just asked me after we left--do you have any questions? Nope. That was the extent of my sex education--LOL! ;) Thanks for the memories, Connie!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, to turn a school into apartments.
ReplyDeleteAnd what great memories. :)
I went to over a dozen schools growing up. How interesting, to go back to one of them...
ReplyDeletePearl
One thing I don't miss about being a public school teacher is all the standing in line I had to supervise. Wonderful when I got to college, no lines in college in the 50s and 60s except for standing in line to sign up for classes. Nice there are on-line sign-ups now.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering how long those walls stayed white! Ha - probably not so after one day of little kid fingers all over them!
ReplyDeleteI love old schools. Sadly, in the south, they tore down a lot of the old schools and built new ones that aren't nearly as substantial. I'm glad to see that they have found a way to use the building.
ReplyDeleteI do remember the films and the little booklet called, "You're a Young Lady Now." The girl on the cover was wearing jeans with her hair in braids and looking into a mirror. The girl looking back at her had her hair down and was wearing a pink party dress. (I wanted to be the girl in jeans.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lil' tour - it brought back memories for me too! I remember that water fountain and the ol' principal too. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun opportunity to revisit the school. Cute memories too. I remember loving the corn flake/peanut butter dessert bars at the school lunch room!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I got the chance to go back to my old school about 15 years ago and go through it before it was torn down for condos. It was quite sad. The school had earlier been a mansion set on 23 acres. It included the "well house" where we had French class, the "stables" where we had English class, the "bird cage" which had been an aviary for math class and servants quarters where we had art class. The mansion was used for the boarding students. The "pool" house was used for P.E. class. It was a lovely mansion and should have never been razed. I'm so grateful I had the chance to see it again.
ReplyDeleteWhat a trip filled with little girl memories this must of been. It's funny how short the water fountains and potties are when we are grown. Heeehehehe!!!
ReplyDeleteHope Far Guy fixed you your 'Dream Meal' when ya'll returned home.
Have an amazin' day sweetie!!! :o)
My old school is still in use today. It was so strange to see it after 30 years of not being there. They had lowered all the ceilings and the rooms seemed like small caves. It is great that they have recycled that building to good use.
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