Teaching Memories
of
One Room Schools
A Daughter’s Tribute
For Louise Schierbaum Hueffmeier, One-Room School Teacher
My mother, Louise Schierbaum, was the oldest of the three “teaching Schierbaum sisters,” and the oldest daughter of Oscar and Katie Schierbaum. (Her older brother, Ivan, was also a teacher.) She often talked to me about her teaching years.
Two conversations were especially significant for me. The first was when my mother visited my classroom in suburban Chicago during my first year of teaching, and we compared first-year experiences. The second was our last visit before she died when I was a principal and working on a doctorate in education. We talked then again of her teaching years.
Although her brother and two sisters left after several years, Louise continued teaching in one-room schools for about 12 years. She loved doing it.
In those days, there were plenty of reasons for young men and, in particular, women to be discouraged with teaching. They began immediately after graduating from high school with no preparation. The older boys in rural schools missed days frequently to attend to farm chores. Many were close to the age of their young female teachers. They weren’t eager to follow directions, and sometimes weren’t eager to learn. My mom had the advantage of having been responsible for her younger siblings (there were eight children in the family), which equipped her to deal with her older male students. She taught a younger brother and sister for several years, not uncommon for rural teachers at the time.
The one-room school buildings were isolated. The young teachers boarded with families near their school, miles from home. They were responsible for opening the building as well as cleaning and putting wood in the stove. School administrators were not present to share the responsibilities for curriculum or discipline issues. School board members often had their own agendas and didn’t hesitate to exert their authority over the young teachers.
Louise spoke often of driving a horse and buggy to school. She allowed her students to feed and water the horses at recess. One of her proudest achievements was to purchase a Model T, which made it possible for her to drive her brothers and sisters to school, college summer school, shopping, and other places.
One of the reasons for her long tenure may have been the attention she received from St. Charles County Superintendent of Schools B. H. Jolly. His name, “Jolly,” made an impression on me as a child. His signature on my mom’s teaching certificate caught my attention when I was going through her things after her death. She said that he understood how difficult the rural school boards were and gave her good advice. He must have realized that she thoroughly enjoyed teaching regardless of the hardships. He encouraged her to pursue college courses.
Like her sisters and other teachers in the area, Louise attended Central Wesleyan College in Warrenton, MO, during the summer for recertification. She gave her teacher’s salary to her father, and spent summers doing housework in St. Louis to earn money to attend college. She achieved almost two years of college credit attending alternate summers.
John Dewey’s work in education was being studied in colleges throughout the country at that time. My mother was influenced and enthused by his theories. Dewey was a progressive educator who wanted to make education more interesting and meaningful for children. Louise talked of school boards criticizing her for buying art paper and crayons out of the school budget. So, she began to buy these items with her own money. During my childhood, we would occasionally meet some of her former students, who spoke highly of her teaching ability. One student came to her wake.
My mother loved to read, especially poetry and American literature. She would often tell me stories from Edgar Allen Poe or O. Henry while she pinned curls in my hair on Saturday nights. She had memorized many poems by American poets, in particular Longfellow and Whitman. I can still remember fragments of Hiawatha.
We often talked about the teaching techniques employed in the one-room schools. They didn’t actually teach eight grades. One year a teacher would teach 5th grade and both 5th and 6th graders would cover the 5th grade curriculum. On the alternate year, the teacher taught 6th grade, and 5th and 6th grade students used 6th grade materials. The same system was used with grades 7 and 8. A student who excelled starting at the lowest level of 6th or 8th grade often didn’t go back to the lower grade during the alternate year.
The students in 1st and 2nd grade would be called to the teacher’s desk for instruction in reading, grammar, spelling, penmanship, and math. In this way, their understanding and progress could be closely monitored. The other grades stayed at their seats for instruction. Any student needing assistance was assigned a tutor form one of the upper grades. History and geography began in 3rd grade. No science was taught.
Textbooks, which were scarce, often were shared. Students brought a tablet and pencil to school and wrote on both sides of the pages to save paper. Upper grades were required to have a fountain pen. Teaching equipment consisted of a globe and blackboard. Memorization was a prized skill, and students were encouraged to commit dates, historical facts, and poetry to memory. My mom must have been a great role model reciting poetry.
Louise spoke often of the end-of-the-year program when parents were invited to hear the students recite poetry they had learned during the school year. The children also sang patriotic and American folk songs from, for example, the Golden Book of Songs and Stephen Foster. The students decorated the schoolroom with lilacs they brought from home. The smell of lilacs always brought those May memories back to my mom.
Louise ended her teaching career at about the same time that rural one-room schools were being phased out in favor of larger consolidated districts. One of my mom’s last teaching assignments was in Augusta, MO. My father used to say that his friends told him there was a pretty new teacher in town so he made it his business to meet Louise.
writtn by Melba Hueffmeier Hanssen September 2009
HOME