This is Story # 18 in our Harry Forbes Remembers series. It comes to us from his sister, Helen Hoszouski
The One-Room Schools on the Prairie, Part 2
The school our family attended stood on a hill a half mile from home. We walked there and usually went home for lunch.
Nine o’clock on weekdays, when the weather permitted, found us grouped around the flagpole singing ‘O Canada’ and saluting while the flag was raised. In inclement weather, we stood at our desks and sang the National Anthem. The ‘Lord’s Prayer’ was then recited, the teacher called the roll, and we were ready for the day’s work. Each school day ended at 3:30 with the singing on ‘Good Save the King’.
The captains of these establishments were the teachers, many of whom had only shortly before left their own teen years behind. These individuals were greatly respected by most ot the young ones, though there were nearly always a few pranksters. Their misdeeds, putting mice in the teacher’s desk and such pranks, when viewed in the light of what happens in schools now, seem to have been niggling, but all drew their own punishment when warranted, often from the strap in the teacher’s hand or from dad’s when the culprit arrived home.
When asked to answer a question, we stood by the side of our disks. If one wanted to speak, a hand was raised and kept there until you were given permission.
Those teachers really were miracle workers. They had grades one to eight to teach and if any students were taking their high school grades by correspondence, they corrected the lessons and gave help when needed. Just imagine the schedule they had to have for a day! The little kids needed a great deal of their time, but they also had to teach all the subjects to the other grades and then mark their lessons at the end of the day. Music was taught at our school without a piano or organ. Handicrafts too were worked in. That is where I learned to knit using two well-sharpened pencils or spikes. All this the teachers did for a pittance. Three hundred dollars a year is one figure I remember.
When students reached high school age, they could apply for correspondence lessons to continue their schooling. The children could remain at home instead of having to go to town or to a larger school. The lessons cost $1.00 for each subject required.
Some teachers did the janitor work also, but at our school students took on that job. My oldest brother did it for quite a few years, and when he left, my sister and I took over. When we left, our younger brothers did the job. We were paid a bit.
A visit the teachers sometimes dreaded was from the school inspector. Unannounced he would arrive one day. He would listen as the teacher taught some lessons and then put the pupils through their paces. The inspector I knew all through my school years was a Mr. Brown. We all liked him, though he scared us sometimes.