School Memories

I went to fifth and sixth grade in a small school house that was seven miles from the farm.  It had two large rooms. There were  cloak rooms on one end and bathrooms off of the other end, and a huge expanse of windows to the east or the west depending on if you were in the sixth grade or the fifth grade.

 

A kindly old lady ( Mrs. Zeller) was the fifth grade teacher, she had been teaching for years.   The sixth grade teacher was a shy young man (Mr. Cox) he was probably right out of college.

We walked from this school to the grade school everyday for gym and for lunch, it wasn’t far, less than a block away. There was a gymnasium in the basement of our building, but we were not allowed to use it. 

In my opinion the best thing about our school yard was the big old metal merry go round.

We would start with a child at each space and one in the middle, if you were in the middle you had to find a spot to hang on when your head started spinning and you were too dizzy to stand up.   The best runners would run as fast as they could around and around..then IF you were daring..and I was.. you would hop on and throw your legs over the bar and lock them in place and bend over backwards and feel the wind in your face. and watch the world go by upside down. We would play on this merry go round before and after school everyday rain, shine, snow, ice..Minnesota school kids are a hearty bunch or we used to be.  I did hear a rumor that the kids nowadays don’t like to wear snow boots to school.

I watched these children trying to get the hang of this old fashioned merry go round..it was fun to watch..no one was bending over backwards looking at the world upside down..but they were having a good time:)

Old School

This morning in Minnesota the kids in Public Schools headed off to their first day of school. How exciting..this year the grands are..one in second grade, two in fifth grade, one in sixth and one in eighth grade. ( Gosh I hope I got that right.)

I bet that no one took a lunch pail...

I bet no one sat in old wooden desks in a one room schoolhouse.

I bet they didn't play any of these games...

I bet none of the teachers followed these rules from 1915.

1. You will not marry during the term of your contract.

2. You are not to keep company with men.

3. You must be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless attending a school function.

4. You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.

5. You may not travel beyond city limits unless you have the permission of the chairman of the board.

6. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother.

7. You may not smoke cigarettes.

8. You may not dress in bright colors.

9. You may under no circumstances dye your hair.

10. You must wear at least two petticoats.

11. Your dresses must not be any shorter than two inches above the ankle.

12. To keep the school room neat and clean, you must:

sweep the floor at least once daily

scrub the floor at least once a week with hot, soapy water

clean the blackboards at least once a day

start the fire at 7 a.m. so the room will be warm by 8 a.m.

I enjoyed my visit back to this one room schoolhouse, even though I never attended an old country schoolhouse and never walked two miles uphill both ways to get to school. They built a new school in our nearby town, so I never got to go to the old country school that was very near our farm. I was close enough to walk that quarter mile..but instead the old country school was closed and I had to ride the bus to school when I went to first grade:)