South Dakota Mary

Days in the old school house

At school, we sat at little desks. To get into the desks, we had to flip the tops over. Then we had to flip them back to write on top of them.

There was an average of eight or ten students in school—maybe fifteen at times—and one teacher. The classes were sometimes combined. For example, the seventh and eighth grade arithmetic might be together. You did all the subjects in one week.

At the old school house, we all had duties. We cleaned the chalkboards and erasers and got the desks in order. I helped out by getting drinking water. I took a pail and walked over to the neighbor's house to get water. Then we all drank out of a dipper.

The most fun at school, though, was playing baseball during recess at the noon hour.

Photo: Stormy Peters
View of the old schoolhouse today

We had chores to do after we got home.

There were days...years...that Ted and I didn't miss one day of school. We had perfect attendance in stormy weather, rainy weather, whatever. We always walked home together; and when we got home, we did some studying. He helped me with my arithmetic.
We also had chores to do when we got home. We had to gather eggs, feed the chickens, and help cook meals. We hunted eggs up in the hay. That's where the hens laid their eggs. We were always so happy when we found the nest.

Photo from Mary's photo album