The School on the Hill from the Twenties
By Margaret Pauly Tate
Grammar school, i.e., Brooks Hill School which was located on the present day Skyline School site, was interesting, and the walk to school was also interesting. The school was a mile and a half from home. The school trail ran down one hill to McCarty Creek (now spelled and called “McCarthy”) and up the next hill to the school. Before us kids started our morning trek our family had breakfast together which usually consisted of oatmeal mush. Dad blessed the food and after we had eaten, Mom read a chapter from the Bible. The Book of Psalms was her favorite. All of us would kneel down while Dad prayed – probably for us.
With the coming of fall came the opening of school and our daily walk. Off we went to learn “Readin, Ritin, and Rithmetic.” But nature also had her open book to teach us about the great outdoors which we walked through every morning and afternoon. Seeing all the natural beauty around us made it easy to believe that “God saw all that He had made and it was good.”
When the snows of winter came we had to dress for it. Dad would wrap our legs up to the knees so the snow wouldnʼt get into our galoshes. Then off to school weʼd go. Education must have been important to them.
In the creek bottom were the remnants of the old Kaiels Sawmill, right beside the trail, and some remnants of the homes that had been there. We would find shards of old crockery, dishes, fruit jar lids and other ordinary things which we considered real finds. The iron pieces of the old mill are no longer there. They were sold to a scrap dealer before WW ll. Kaiels Mill was part of local history.
The school had only two rooms with four classes in each room and one teacher for each room. We learned to read by learning the alphabet from flash cards, then onto using the phonics method of sounding out words in the Elson Reader, I think. The stories were not only designed to teach reading but also to teach a moral and uphold the ethics of the time.
The subjects that were taught were reading, writing, arithmetic, some art, music (singing) and spelling. Spelling was important. We had spelling bees, one of which I won. Maybe more which I have forgotten. In arithmetic we learned our ʻnumbersʼ also things like two and two always makes four and so on. We also learned the multiplication tables. There were classes in art which I barely remember but I do remember the music (singing) classes which we had often. I still remember the songs we sang and hear them on the good music station. They were portions of great music compositions. We also sang “America”. It was enjoyable. I realize now that some of the teachers had well-trained voices. We respected the teachers the same way we respected our folks. Some of their names were Miss Scroggins, Miss Welcome, Mr. Gaither, and Miss Schaeffer.
Recess was a time for fun. I had a little friend in the early grades named Charlotte and we would often play on the rings as well as other fun things like hop-scotch. For the older kinds there was soft ball, blind-manʼs bluff, and ante-over, as well as sack races. When the school year ended we always had a school picnic with lots of food and ice cream. One year it was held by McCarty Creek above Folkenberg. Usually it was held on school grounds.
I forgot to mention that Christmas programs were also fun times, with Lots of Christmas music, poetry, and plays. If you were chosen to be in a play you were sure that you were the star of the show and did a whole lot of giggling and showing off. Typical kids. This is what I remember of Grammar School on the Hill.
RR0703
Grammar school, i.e., Brooks Hill School which was located on the present day Skyline School site, was interesting, and the walk to school was also interesting. The school was a mile and a half from home. The school trail ran down one hill to McCarty Creek (now spelled and called “McCarthy”) and up the next hill to the school. Before us kids started our morning trek our family had breakfast together which usually consisted of oatmeal mush. Dad blessed the food and after we had eaten, Mom read a chapter from the Bible. The Book of Psalms was her favorite. All of us would kneel down while Dad prayed – probably for us.
With the coming of fall came the opening of school and our daily walk. Off we went to learn “Readin, Ritin, and Rithmetic.” But nature also had her open book to teach us about the great outdoors which we walked through every morning and afternoon. Seeing all the natural beauty around us made it easy to believe that “God saw all that He had made and it was good.”
When the snows of winter came we had to dress for it. Dad would wrap our legs up to the knees so the snow wouldnʼt get into our galoshes. Then off to school weʼd go. Education must have been important to them.
In the creek bottom were the remnants of the old Kaiels Sawmill, right beside the trail, and some remnants of the homes that had been there. We would find shards of old crockery, dishes, fruit jar lids and other ordinary things which we considered real finds. The iron pieces of the old mill are no longer there. They were sold to a scrap dealer before WW ll. Kaiels Mill was part of local history.
The school had only two rooms with four classes in each room and one teacher for each room. We learned to read by learning the alphabet from flash cards, then onto using the phonics method of sounding out words in the Elson Reader, I think. The stories were not only designed to teach reading but also to teach a moral and uphold the ethics of the time.
The subjects that were taught were reading, writing, arithmetic, some art, music (singing) and spelling. Spelling was important. We had spelling bees, one of which I won. Maybe more which I have forgotten. In arithmetic we learned our ʻnumbersʼ also things like two and two always makes four and so on. We also learned the multiplication tables. There were classes in art which I barely remember but I do remember the music (singing) classes which we had often. I still remember the songs we sang and hear them on the good music station. They were portions of great music compositions. We also sang “America”. It was enjoyable. I realize now that some of the teachers had well-trained voices. We respected the teachers the same way we respected our folks. Some of their names were Miss Scroggins, Miss Welcome, Mr. Gaither, and Miss Schaeffer.
Recess was a time for fun. I had a little friend in the early grades named Charlotte and we would often play on the rings as well as other fun things like hop-scotch. For the older kinds there was soft ball, blind-manʼs bluff, and ante-over, as well as sack races. When the school year ended we always had a school picnic with lots of food and ice cream. One year it was held by McCarty Creek above Folkenberg. Usually it was held on school grounds.
I forgot to mention that Christmas programs were also fun times, with Lots of Christmas music, poetry, and plays. If you were chosen to be in a play you were sure that you were the star of the show and did a whole lot of giggling and showing off. Typical kids. This is what I remember of Grammar School on the Hill.
RR0703