A crisp new teaching certificate and the
beginning of my career. This was the fall of 1995. I will never forget the
butterflies in my stomach as I walked into New Hope, District 153, a basement
schoolhouse in rural Gothenburg, Nebraska. This was my very first teaching
position and I would teach Kindergarten through eighth grade. New Hope had
three board members, enrolled seven students and one parent taught music.
Computer class was once a month. Hayes McGraw was both the principal and
superintendent. He drove from Broken Bow to observe my classroom.I was excited for the first day school and greeted my students outside at the top of the staircase. I was going to be tough and teach the children to value education. As the students entered, little did I realize they would teach me as much as I taught them. At 11:15 a.m. two students stood and went into the kitchen without permission. I intended to discipline them when one said, “Our lunch takes 45 minutes to cook in the oven.” These students did more than just learn; they worked hard at school, then went home and worked on the family farm.
Some special memories from New Hope are: Alamo our pet iguana, anti-over, pump-pump-pull away, red rover and football played in the little grass lot by students of varying ages. The older students helped the younger ones while I taught specific lessons.
Every night I took a stack of teacher’s manuals home nearly taller than I am to prepare for the next day. Carpet lined our walls which was perfect for pinning up class work. Each Friday, I drove the students into Gothenburg for weekly library book checkout, an art activity, and pizza with County Line School.
Our Christmas pageant and potluck dinner attracted so many farm families that our schoolhouse was packed full. Another big event was the Custer County Music Competition held in Broken Bow. This was something we looked forward to every year. New Hope always celebrated traditional holidays with parties. The kids wished we would get a big snowstorm so that we could all spend the night at school. One of our fondest field trips was to Sidney, Nebraska, where my father was county judge.
The sheriff locked us in the jail.
This marks my 19th year of teaching. I will always be thankful for the time I spent at New Hope School and will cherish relationships I built there forever. I am confident that the life lessons learned in a one-room school far outweigh anything I will ever have the opportunity to witness again in my educational career.
Some special memories from New Hope are: Alamo our pet iguana, anti-over, pump-pump-pull away, red rover and football played in the little grass lot by students of varying ages. The older students helped the younger ones while I taught specific lessons.
Every night I took a stack of teacher’s manuals home nearly taller than I am to prepare for the next day. Carpet lined our walls which was perfect for pinning up class work. Each Friday, I drove the students into Gothenburg for weekly library book checkout, an art activity, and pizza with County Line School.
Our Christmas pageant and potluck dinner attracted so many farm families that our schoolhouse was packed full. Another big event was the Custer County Music Competition held in Broken Bow. This was something we looked forward to every year. New Hope always celebrated traditional holidays with parties. The kids wished we would get a big snowstorm so that we could all spend the night at school. One of our fondest field trips was to Sidney, Nebraska, where my father was county judge.
The sheriff locked us in the jail.
This marks my 19th year of teaching. I will always be thankful for the time I spent at New Hope School and will cherish relationships I built there forever. I am confident that the life lessons learned in a one-room school far outweigh anything I will ever have the opportunity to witness again in my educational career.