Nov. 1996
                              PROFILE OF A GRADE SCHOOL TEACHER
Here in western Kansas one room school houses dotted the landscape. I am not sure how it was in earlier days. Sheridan County was organized in 1880. I doubt if there was any formal school in the county prior to that time. Probably home school, teaching the three R's was the rule. Perhaps a few families banded together for that purpose. I would rule that out because my father stated that only four families lived along the Solomon River in what is now Sheridan County when Grandfather settled along its banks. Indeed it was a flowing stream at that time. Few settled away from the creeks because they needed water. The population changed rapidly in the eighties. As a matter of fact the population soon numbered more than four thousand and it has been declining since that peak. Americans have always took pride in our high literacy rate, so schools soon became organized. The building was usually a wood frame building perhaps twenty four by thirty. The teacher might have as high as thirty pupils and all eight grades. Since transportation was probably on foot or horse back it was mandated that no child should need to walk more than three miles to attend school. Most were closer, I and my brothers and sisters walked about two miles. Quite often the teacher was a young woman fresh out of school. In my time one could graduate from high school, take a summer of "normal" course, pass the required test, then they were a qualified teacher. Most teachers I knew were women. It was not unusual for a young teacher to have a pupil or two almost as old as she was. It was customary for a teacher to board and room with a local family. I think that custom was changing about the time I finished grade school. Cars and improved roads made it easier to travel. I believe that my father attended Normal School. He may well have held a teacher's certificate but he did not teach school. My mother taught at least one term. During their early years I am sure that an eighth grade diploma and normal school were sufficient to obtain a teacher's certificate. I suspect in the earlier times the teacher often married a local resident. The school was supervised by a three man school board. I suppose that a woman might have served after the nineteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed. It was called the women's suffrage movement. It gave women the right to vote and Frances E. Willard was a leader in that movement. Since I was born about that time I was named Willard. It is safe to say that schools evolved. Certainly a young, inexperienced teacher must have had a hard time. Eight grades were called to the recitation bench at the front of the room each day. In the course of a normal day they might be called forward for a lesson in geography, arithmetic, grammar, English, spelling and history. Not all grades took all these studies every year. A bit of arithmetic would soon convince you that the time was too limited for that. The school day started at nine a.m. and lasted until twelve o'clock with a fifteen minute recess. It started again at one 1 p.m. and lasted until four o'clock with a fifteen minute recess. This equaled five and one half hours per day, five days per week, eight months per year. Eight years were normally required to complete this course of study. If a pupil failed and did not complete the required course of study, that pupil could quit school at age sixteen. This happened for various reasons. A slow learner might just give up. Many compassionate teachers would make the extra effort and try to get the pupil to finish More frequently it was a case where the pupil was absent from school and working at home. This more often happened to a boy but sometimes a girl might be required to take the place of an ailing or dead mother.
There were truancy laws but with local control of the school they were not rigidly enforced. Did the teacher have complete control over the school subject, to the elected school board? No, the county superintendent wielded a great deal of influence. I believe they were elected and they might be re-elected many times. Naturally the teacher wanted us to shape up during the county superintendent's visit but they could come unannounced. Their office also required them to supervise the county examinations. These exams were given every spring to every seventh and eighth grader. A passing grade was required. A diploma was issued to all eighth graders who met the requirements and graduation ceremonies were conducted in a central location every spring. I graduated in nineteen thirty three. This was during the depth of the depression. It was decreed that the boys would wear bib overalls made of blue denim and chambray shirts. The girls wore gingham dresses. Quite an appropriate attire, don't you think? We may have been poor in worldly goods but we certainly had our pride and so did the teachers. I do not mourn their passing but I believe they served us well. So let it be.