RETURN TO THE STONE SCHOOL

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!

 I hope you will remember that back in November me and my daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren took our own little field trip to this same country schoolhouse. http://lorizehr.blogspot.com/search/label/school   http://lorizehr.blogspot.com/2012/11/vanishing-american-education-part-2.html  It is made of fieldstone, prevalent on the nearby farms. Our farm is absolutely filled with fencerows of these stones and even boulders about 5-6ft. tall stand in our woods, having been gathered by farmers and piled up out of the fields for decades. We joke that we live on a stone quarry! My home is only a few miles from this school.

I made my prairie dress out of soft cotton and constructed an apron to match. Both patterns are old. The dress is from the '80's and the apron was a reproduction for the Bi-centennial era around 1976. I added ruffles to the front which weren't in the original. I even had the old-fashioned boots and straw hat to complete the outfit! Green and cream are one of my favorite color combinations for clothing, china, and decor! Both the boots and hat were very warm to wear on a day like today. I think it was about 93 during the morning hours we were at the school. Only the stiff breeze coming in these big old windows kept it tolerable. I stationed myself by the window for most of the program 'til it was time for me to "teach." The children's slates and chalk are on the window ledge.

 I know this picture is blurry, but through the open window and across the road, horses are grazing and pretty white barns that are typical of our beautiful rural county made a nostalgic scene if you could catch the view between cars on the highway!

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.

 I loved the way the flag seemed to be trying to cover the front door. We had a good wind out there today and we were all thankful. Even with the breeze, we were stifling by the time we left and you saw how I was dressed! I do not know how our ancestors were able to tolerate the heat in the old styles they wore.

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