THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Lard Pail
Lunches and Shared Knowledge
(or Life in a Country School -- part 2)
Attending a country school for
the first
seven grades of my education and then returning to the same school to
teach my
first year as an educator were rich experiences indeed.
Last week’s column began this series. I
continue with Part 2.
Persons have asked me, “What was a
typical day like with everyone in several grades studying in the same
room? Wasn’t there a lot of noise and
confusion? Did you really learn what you
should have learned under those primitive circumstances, and wasn’t
teaching
very hard?
Back from 1936 through 1943 at
Choestoe School, a typical day began with us lining up in orderly
fashion to
march into the building. Then in each
room, our teacher began the day with a Bible reading, a few verses from
the
Psalms or some other selected short passage. Next we quoted the Lord’s
Prayer
in unison, followed by the pledge to the American Flag.
There were no complaints then about this
morning devotional time, even though it was a public school. When I returned to teach there in 1949-1950,
I practiced the morning opening as I had learned it when I was a
student.
Then classes began. The teacher had
a schedule, usually with
reading, arithmetic, and spelling all done in the morning.
The class “reciting” or being taught at a particular
time, went to a bench at the front near the teacher’s desk. First grade was mainly learning to make the
numbers, count (for those who could not already when they entered
school),
learning the letters and how to form them, and learning to read in
Primer and
then first grade readers. Older pupils might work arithmetic problems
on the
board. Turns were taken reading aloud
from the reading text, with comprehension questions and discussion led
by the
teacher. The classes proceeded in an orderly fashion, first, second,
third
grades. In the upper room the classes
for fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh graders proceeded orderly. The
teacher
seemed quite adept at being able to assign meaningful seat work for
those who
were at their desks awaiting “recitation” time.
Discipline was good—we were expected by our parents to behave,
and if we
received a paddling for an infraction at school, we certainly received
the same
punishment from our parents, as well as a stiff lecture on acceptable
behavior. In this manner, good behavior
was enforced. School was a privilege and
we went to school to learn. That was an
expected norm for our community.
Two breaks came during the school
day. One was for lunch.
My title is meaningful in this regard. Each
student took lunch to school usually in
a tin bucket, a bucket that had contained lard or maybe a tin syrup
pail. In that lunch might be ham and/or
sausage and
biscuit, a boiled egg, a baked sweet potato, an ear of boiled corn, an
apple
(in season), or maybe even a jar of homemade soup.
We seldom had “light” (loaf) bread in those
days. Sometimes we would have
“store-bought” bread, a real treat. When
peanut butter became available for purchase in country stores, a
biscuit with
peanut butter and jelly was always a welcome item in the lunch pail.
Special
sweet treats were gingerbread or cookies sweetened with sorghum syrup.
We gathered outside in good
weather to eat
our noon meal, or in inclement or cold weather, we took our repast at
our desks
inside. For liquid, we drank water
carried in a tin bucket from the spring, with each student bringing a
personal
cup from home to receive the water.
Trusted older students were assigned “water duty,” and had the
privilege
of going the distance to the spring near the school to “fetch” the
water. Sometimes we would “swap” lunches,
with
students trading something in their lunch pail for an item a friend had
that
seemed enticing.
Following lunch, we had a long recess
time. Some of the games played were “Red
Rover”, “London Bridge,” Hop Scotch,” “Town Ball” or “Antni-Over.” No playground equipment graced the
schoolyard. Only the expanse of yard and
woods surrounded the building, forming ideal places for creative play
at recess
time. Games included the afore-mentioned
and also “playing house” for the younger children, who might bring a
favorite
doll to school. In the playhouse, we
outlined the house with sticks or moss, giving a name to each room just
like at
home. “Playing school” was another
favorite recess game. We were supervised
during recess times by both teachers, and any minor accidents were
quickly
attended. I might add that disagreements
among students at recess time were also summarily handled with the
proper
punishment, or “time out” from play.
Following lunch and the noontime
recess, we were ready for another session of “books” as we called
in-class
time. Afternoons, especially in the
upper grades section, were usually given to science, geography and
history. In the
lower grades, simplified science and more reading, and extra practice
in
arithmetic were the drills.
Then came the mid-afternoon recess—a
time for toilet and water break, and a very short time for some
exercise or
short games. Not more than twenty
minutes was allowed for afternoon recess.
Following the afternoon recess, any
classes not covered either in the morning or after lunch were conducted. This was often the time for intensive
spelling drills. We were quite competitive
in spelling matches, enjoying the “spelling bees,” both in-school and
competitively
about once a month on Friday afternoons when parents were invited to
come and
observe, or even participate to try to “spell down” the most adept
spelling
students. This period was also sometimes
used for recitations when we quoted poems we had memorized, or the
teacher read
to us from a continuing story book. All
too soon, 3:30 came and time to go home.
And so days proceeded at the country school in much this fashion.
Part of my title for this series
is “Shared
Knowledge.” My opinion is that the
students learned from each other as they heard recitations of the upper
classmen in their room. That way, it
could be possible to advance on one’s own level. I can never remember
being
bored because I learned something in the next grade simply by listening. Teachers then seemed to be quite aware of
this occurrence and allowed students to proceed on their own to
advanced
levels.
Our teachers comprised the whole
staff. First and foremost, they were
instructors, academically gifted and with skills to teach.
They also had the job of keeping the building
clean and in good order. They bound up
wounds sustained in playground accidents.
They felt fevered heads and applied compresses.
Discipline-wise, they were strict and a few
licks with a sapling switch were not beyond their parameters of dealing
with
misbehavior. They were likewise
community leaders. If a program or drama
were to be help on special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, or
graduation,
they came up with the proper program that made the parents glad their
children
were going to Choestoe School. When the
churches near by (Choestoe Baptist and Salem Methodist) had revival
meetings,
students were lined up in orderly rows and marched to the church to
hear the
visiting minister. No questions were
raised as to the propriety of this practice.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]