Ada Lynne Symmonds Maul
In the fall of 1941, I enrolled as a freshman at Kearney State Teachers College. I had chosen the Department of Rural Education. The instructors were a husband and wife team, Mr. and Mrs. R.W. Powell.
After a year of Rural Education, we could apply for a school. Buffalo County had a good supply of Districts.
My first school was at District #31, five miles northwest of Amherst. It was there that I had eight or ten students, grades Kindergarten, 3rd, 5th, and 8th.
School boards served as our guide and the County Superintendent would pay surprise visits to see if we were doing our jobs. A report was filed but sometimes mailed to us too. After 1 ½ years at District #31, I went on to Eddyville Elementary (Grades 3rd and 4th) and finished the year for a sick teacher.
My last year was at the Watertown School in Buffalo County. After that, I was California-bound to make some more bucks (in defense work).
This was three years of mixed education and my memories are wide and varied. Fun and games were alive and well…! Tasks were also variable! I bonded with other women who taught in other locations. There were gophers to chase, flags to raise, water to carry, birds who sang praise.
“Oh, what an era,
To cherish and recall.
Then to remember,
We did it all.”
-Ada Lynne Symmonds Maul
In the fall of 1941, I enrolled as a freshman at Kearney State Teachers College. I had chosen the Department of Rural Education. The instructors were a husband and wife team, Mr. and Mrs. R.W. Powell.
After a year of Rural Education, we could apply for a school. Buffalo County had a good supply of Districts.
My first school was at District #31, five miles northwest of Amherst. It was there that I had eight or ten students, grades Kindergarten, 3rd, 5th, and 8th.
School boards served as our guide and the County Superintendent would pay surprise visits to see if we were doing our jobs. A report was filed but sometimes mailed to us too. After 1 ½ years at District #31, I went on to Eddyville Elementary (Grades 3rd and 4th) and finished the year for a sick teacher.
My last year was at the Watertown School in Buffalo County. After that, I was California-bound to make some more bucks (in defense work).
This was three years of mixed education and my memories are wide and varied. Fun and games were alive and well…! Tasks were also variable! I bonded with other women who taught in other locations. There were gophers to chase, flags to raise, water to carry, birds who sang praise.
“Oh, what an era,
To cherish and recall.
Then to remember,
We did it all.”
-Ada Lynne Symmonds Maul
District #31