Feature Article on schoolhouses. Topic:
EDUCATION
Written by Betty Bevans & Barbara Adams in July, 1998
| ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSES - RELICS OF RURAL EDUCATION...Pg 3 | |
| "The one-room school sat
on one acre of ground and was built of brick. The front hall, or vestibule, was about six
feet wide and served a dual purpose of providing a place to hang coats and keeping the
cold outside air from going directly into the school room in cold weather. The other side
of the inner wall of the vestibule was the back of the school room. The teacher’s
desk was at the far end of the room and on a level about six inches higher than the floor
of the area where the students sat. The desks for the students varied in size with the smallest desks in front, nearest the teacher, and the largest at the back of the room. The children sat at a desk that fit, rather than in an area for the class they were in. Between the smallest desks and the raised area where the teacher’s desk was located were two long benches. Each bench could hold 8 to 10 students. One, for the older students, was higher off the floor. The students of a class or subject would sit on the benches for their lessons from the teacher or for reciting to the teacher. If two classes were studying the same subject they might both be at the front of the room, on the benches. One teacher, Tom Riley, had on his desk a bell about 2 inches in diameter with a push-button on top. He would tap this bell to signal that the students on the benches should return to their desks and others should come to the benches… The school had a bell in a bell tower on top of the school. A rope from the bell passed over a pulley and hung down through an opening in the ceiling of the vestibule. If the person ringing the bell pulled too hard, the whole bell would tip over, the rope would come off of the pulley and a child would be sent to the neighboring residence to borrow a ladder so the rope could be put back over the pulley. The bell was rung for the start of school at 9 A.M., at noon and to tell the children to come in from recess." |
Rebirth: Beneath the skin of modern siding is the Finkenbine School at the intersection of County Rd 25-A and Sharp . Rebirth: Beneath the skin of modern siding is the Finkenbine School at the intersection of County Rd 25-A and Sharp.[Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] |
