Little did I know that in 1945 when I took Normal Training and graduated from Shelton High School, armed with the qualifications and a Third Grade Elementary Certificate to teach in a one-room school house, what wonderful experiences awaited me. Having been raised in a small town, I hardly knew what the inside of such a school looked like, until I did my week of student teaching with Rosalie Frazell Lippincott in a rural school close to Shelton. A rural school at that time could have as many as 20 students across all eight grades with only one teacher.
I applied and was hired to teach in Elder Grove School in Custer County near Litchfield. My salary was $115 per month – $40 of which, I paid for my room and board. I lived with one of the board members, her husband and two sons. I still keep in contact with the older of these two.
Living on a farm was a new experience for me, as well as walking across a pasture to get to school. Each day before the students arrived I made sure the room was clean, brought in fresh drinking water, built a fire if one was needed, and prepared the lessons for the day as prescribed by the curriculum. I was also the nurse and disciplinarian. I had 11 students in six of the eight grades. Classes were held on a bench at the front of the room and usually were 10-20 minutes long. For the most part they were attentive, because they wanted to learn.
The older students helped the younger ones. Not to mention they were a great help to me.
We all carried our lunches to school and on nice days ate outside and usually shared with each other. During this time, we shared stories and got to know each other as friends.
Play time often was an organized activity.
We challenged a neighboring school to ball games, races, spelling bees, etc.
The school was the social center for the community. Groups held meeting there, and we put on programs for different holidays for all to enjoy. An activity often included a pot luck and most of the community attended.
This one year of teaching helped me to decide that I wanted to make teaching my career, and so started my college classes for two years at Kearney. Over the next few years I taught and then went back to Kearney State College. I received a bachelor’s degree from Kearney and eventually a master’s degree from Omaha University.
I taught for 10 years in Nebraska and then moved to California where I taught for 20 years in the Long Beach Public Schools before retiring in 1983.
I am proud to support this project that the University of Nebraska at Kearney has decided to undertake to preserve the “One Room, One Teacher” – an integral part of education in Nebraska history.
I applied and was hired to teach in Elder Grove School in Custer County near Litchfield. My salary was $115 per month – $40 of which, I paid for my room and board. I lived with one of the board members, her husband and two sons. I still keep in contact with the older of these two.
Living on a farm was a new experience for me, as well as walking across a pasture to get to school. Each day before the students arrived I made sure the room was clean, brought in fresh drinking water, built a fire if one was needed, and prepared the lessons for the day as prescribed by the curriculum. I was also the nurse and disciplinarian. I had 11 students in six of the eight grades. Classes were held on a bench at the front of the room and usually were 10-20 minutes long. For the most part they were attentive, because they wanted to learn.
The older students helped the younger ones. Not to mention they were a great help to me.
We all carried our lunches to school and on nice days ate outside and usually shared with each other. During this time, we shared stories and got to know each other as friends.
Play time often was an organized activity.
We challenged a neighboring school to ball games, races, spelling bees, etc.
The school was the social center for the community. Groups held meeting there, and we put on programs for different holidays for all to enjoy. An activity often included a pot luck and most of the community attended.
This one year of teaching helped me to decide that I wanted to make teaching my career, and so started my college classes for two years at Kearney. Over the next few years I taught and then went back to Kearney State College. I received a bachelor’s degree from Kearney and eventually a master’s degree from Omaha University.
I taught for 10 years in Nebraska and then moved to California where I taught for 20 years in the Long Beach Public Schools before retiring in 1983.
I am proud to support this project that the University of Nebraska at Kearney has decided to undertake to preserve the “One Room, One Teacher” – an integral part of education in Nebraska history.