Getting an education the old-fashioned way -- in a one-room schoolhouse

By Rennie Phillips

I was visiting with my brother in Nebraska the other day and he commented how he and his wife had gone into Arthur, Nebraska, and ate at Bunkhouse Bar & Grill. Mavis and Irwin Smith had come up from Ogallala, Nebraska, which was about 40 miles, and were also there eating. Mavis commented that she liked some of my articles. The ones she didn't care for were the gardening ones. Mavis was one of my grade-school teachers back a bunch of years. She is a nice lady. If you ever come within a drivable distance from Arthur, go eat at Bunkhouse.

I was born in a very sparsely populated area in Nebraska. There were maybe 500 or 600 people in the whole county, which consisted of around 600 square miles. That's less then one person per square mile. The county seat was Arthur, and at that time it had a population of about 200. There was a grade school in Arthur where a good number of kids went, but since I lived in the country we all went to a small county school. There was a small entry room, maybe 4 feet by 8 feet, where we hung our coats and put our overshoes when we wore them. That was where we had a small stand where we put the water bucket with a dipper to drink from.

The main room was maybe 16 feet wide and 20 feet long. I'm not real sure because when I was little it seemed real big, but probably was a lot smaller than it seemed. The building faced north and south, with the entry on the south end. There were blackboards along the north end, and that was also where the stove was. It seems like I spent a lot of time drawing on the blackboards.

When I started, there were two small outhouses: one for boys and one for girls. There was also a horse barn for the horses when students rode to school. I never rode to school, and I can't remember anyone ever riding to school. That must have been before me.

There were never many students going there, so probably 15 was the most. All nine grades were in the same room, so they were from kindergarten through eighth grade. Before school started we would go put the flag on the flag pole and we'd pump a bucket of drinking water. We always started the day saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Always!

It seems like we had recess or break mid-morning and mid-afternoon. At noon we broke for lunch, which we all brought in lunch boxes of one kind or another. I never brought something that had to be kept cool. Mom always was concerned about food spoiling, so we brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or brown sugar sandwiches. Usually some chips of one kind or another. At times I brought soup in a thermos. I loved tomato soup, and still do.

I can't remember, but I bet we brought homemade chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies.

After we finished eating we went out and played for a while. In the winter when the ice was frozen on the pond of Trenaries, we would go skating. That was always fun. We also played softball and did the hop-skip game, which we had drawn in the sand. At times we just went exploring. That was always fun.

After we came in from the noon recess the teacher would read from a book, and some of us would take a nap. I probably would listen and nap. I can't remember. I know I enjoyed the books. One of my favorite destinations in Arthur was the old library. I loved to go look for books. Probably my favorite author was Zane Grey. I loved reading about guys like Nevada.

Around Christmas in our one-room school we would have a Christmas program. All of us had to memorize a saying and then try to say it in front of a crowd without forgetting the lines. That's hard to do when one is nervous. Most of the time we would make Christmas gifts of one kind or another for our parents. One year I made a one-string banjo out of an old cigar box, a broom handle and a guitar string. I learned a couple songs on this makeshift guitar that I played at Christmas. I wish I'd kept it. One year I got a fire truck at the school Christmas party. I wish I'd kept it hidden from our boys.

I sure appreciate the dedication and sacrifice my teachers put forth when I was in grade school. My first teacher was Shirley Harrington. We are friends on Facebook today. Shirley just taught me in kindergarten, I believe. My second teacher was Mavis Steinke, who taught me for several years. Probably from first grade up through fifth or sixth grade. Then her husband Harold taught my school up through eighth grade. He was the teacher when we got news that President Kennedy had been shot. It was the first time I'd ever seen him cry. All of them were good teachers. I don't have a negative thing to say about the three.

I know I ended up with a love for reading and a desire to own all the books I could. When I started to minister here in Scott City my goal was to read at least a book a week. Most of these we bought because Christian books are few and far between in most public libraries. I loved old books, so I would hunt them down in book stores, flea markets or yard sales. I still love old books. One of my favorites is "The Way Of Holiness," by Phoebe Palmer, which was published in 1871. I have a few that are older, but none that mean as much as this old gem.

I didn't have discipline problems at school, even though there were older students. All of us kids knew that if we misbehaved at school we'd get a tanning when we got home. And this wasn't a swat or two or a good tongue lashing. I mean we would have got a tanning. From grade school on through college I called all my teachers by Miss or Mrs. or Mr.

Times have changed both for the good and the bad. When we did away with those small one-room schools I think it was for the bad. I sure enjoyed that old one-room schoolhouse.