I had a chance to teach school for a short while today! Well, not exactly! Because of my job associated with the library, I was asked to accompany one of our directors to the Nottawa Stone School for a couple of hours for a field trip the library sponsored in conjunction with our summer reading program!
I was asked to present bits of lessons for about a half hour. We read from McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader, and wrote vocabulary words on the board. I played the old upright piano and we sang "America" and "Frogs Went to School." We had a full house for the program!
This basin, pail, dipper, cup, and towel sit in the coatroom near the front door. Students in the old days probably would have used such to wash up before lunch and after recess.
Here's my hat on the coat racks. Tall one for older students and teachers, shorter rack for little children. See the rope to the big bell in the belfry hanging next to the hat. The old picture is of a gathering of students, probably turn of the last century. Wainscoting lines the bottom of the walls. The entire building has been pretty well kept and the architectural details are great! One parent that attended the program said her parents attended school here. That was probably in the late 1950's or early 1960's. The school was built in 1870.
Here's a view of the front behind the teacher's desk, up on the platform. See the wooden box? I am quite sure it is the old roller maps of the world by continent. We had them in all the classrooms when I went to school.I wasn't tall enough to unlatch and open this one, but I've searched auctions for 20 years trying to purchase one. Just last week I let one go to a higher bidder.
And of course, the "necessary room." I think it is cute that this little outhouse was left, padlocked, of course, even after newer bathrooms were installed! Outhouses are another vanishing American scene.
I hope you enjoyed this little return trip to Nottawa Stone School, of my favorite historic locations in our pretty county! Blessings, LORI