One-Room School Memories
I attended Elmwood Grade School for sixth grade in the school year beginning in the fall of 1958. The school closed after that year. I went on to Junior High, but my brother, a year behind me, was transferred along with fellow Elmwood alumni to Empire Grade School.
Elmwood Grade School was located on the south side of Lamm Road, three tenths of a mile west of South Baileyville Road, which when I lived there was called the Baileyville blacktop. The building still stands, and is presently a private residence.
My parents were Stanley Hayes and Mary (Marler) Hayes. When I was born, we lived at 815 West American Street in the home built by my grandfather, John Ray Marler, who was a ticket agent for the Illinois Central Railroad.
In the summer of 1958 we moved to a one-room cabin previously owned by “Cowboy” Bill Fay. We later added on to the home, which is located between the old racetrack and the county fairgrounds. Elmwood Grade School was 1.3 miles from our home—road miles. A school bus picked us up at the intersection of South Walnut and Fairground roads, which was a third of a mile from our driveway.
The school was comprised of three grades: 4th through 6th. During the year I attended, 24 students were enrolled, six of whom were 6th graders like me. Our teacher was Miss Coomber. I don’t remember her first name. I seem to recall that she was from Ohio, and possibly returned there after Elmwood closed. My classmates were Jean Wilhelms, Sandra Helms, Karen Otto, JoAnne Kaiser, and Steve somebody whose family moved away the following year.
The school had two entrance doors, one for girls, the other for boys. Both doors led to a narrow coat room, and upon looking to my left upon entering, I could see the girls coming in. I always wondered why we had separate doors since they both led to the same place. But other schools, such as Lincoln Grade School, which I attended from Kindergarten through the 5th grade, had separate girls and boys entrances. Lincoln’s were on opposite sides of the building, and are probably still marked as such.
Doors from the coat room led into the rest of the building, which was one room. Four rows of school desks six deep were on the right side of the room, from the rear perspective, and a circle of chairs was on the left side of the classroom. Along the front was Miss Coomber’s desk and a chalk board.
A coal-burning pot-bellied stove sat in the middle of the room, and it was the job of the first 6th-grade boy who arrived to build a fire on cold mornings. Most of the time that was me, and I enjoyed tending the fire. I think we lit crumpled-up newspapers or scrap paper to light the lumps of coal. In winter it took a while for the room to become warm, and I remember students working math problems while still wearing coats and gloves or mittens until 10:00 a.m.
The building had no running water nor facilities. An outhouse stood on the east side of the yard toward the rear of the lot. I suppose a pump for water was located outside, but I don’t specifically remember.
I carried a metal lunch bucket, which usually contained a sandwich (often peanut butter and honey), and maybe some fresh vegetables or fruit. The small thermos that fit in the top of the lunch bucket usually contained milk. We ate at our desks.
On most days Miss Coomber would take one of the classes to the circle of chairs on the left side of the classroom for a lesson. I remember a specific English lesson she taught to the 4th graders while the rest of us remained at our desks working on an assignment. I could hear the lesson, of course, and it served as a god refresher and foundation for higher-graded English homework I'd be assigned later. As a result, I felt that I learned more in 6th grade than I did in the two school years preceding or following it.
During these times while our teacher was busy at the side of the room with another class, we were free to walk around the classroom provided we were asking a classmate how to calculate a math problem, for example. This freedom was violated once in a while, as one might expect, but not too often.
Recesses were enjoyable with the entire student body participating in games in the yard on the east side of the building. We probably played several, but I remember only pump pump pull away, similar if not identical to capture the flag.
No sidewalk led to the building, and depressions formed in the earth in front of the steps leading to the doors. In rainy weather, they filled with water. On one day some of us thought it would be fun to wade in the puddles. Jean Wilhelms, assuming we’d get in trouble, sat on the steps and watched. Sure enough, we ended up in trouble sufficient to warrant a swat or two with the paddle kept by Miss Coombers for that purpose.
Not many people can say they attended a one-room school, but I'm glad I did.
