Remembering......

Local One-room schools

 

Oak Vale and White Schools

Hixon Twp., Clark Co., Wisconsin

 

Excerpt from Kris Leonhardt's Owen-Withee Enterprise series,

 

As money was tight, teaching supplies in rural one-room schools were sparse, and teachers learned to make due with the resources available.

Most rural schools were equipped with the standard pulldown maps and chalkboard. A few schools were also equipped with globes.

Teachers often found the Sears Roebuck Catalog to be a useful teaching aid. They used the catalog as a reader, for math lessons, or as an encyclopedia.

In addition, most schools where supplied with a library, which was no more than 4-5 shelves of books. As funds were limited, schools did not receive many new books through the course of a student's studies; therefore, students often worked their way through the whole library by 8th grade graduation.

The piano was another fixture in rural one room schools. Teachers or a talented student were responsible for playing the piano during music lessons and programs. Sometimes a pump organ was used in place of the piano. Using a pump organ required the organist to pump the instrument with their feet, while playing the keys.

Flashcards were another useful tool used for teaching math-usually multiplication. One side held the problem, while the other displayed the answer.

The Hectograph Machine was the photocopiers of early school days. Though labeled a machine, the hectograph was actually a process created by the teacher to reproduce class materials.

During the process, the teacher created a gelatin surface using knox gelatin, cold water, glycerine, and sugar. The image or words were then written on a clean sheet of paper with a purple hectograph pencil.

The sheet was then place on the gelatin surface to embed the image in the gelatin. Clean sheets were applied and up to 50 copies could be made.

Some schools were fortunate to own the seven volumes of Public School Methods. The volumes were comprised of materials and ideas for visuals, exercises, and games. Nature, spelling, history, geography, language, grammas, civic government, music, agriculture, penmanship, domestic science, and rural life were subjects covered by the books' materials.

Other supplies and published information were limited in one-room schools. Teachers were often responsible for creating their own materials through ingenuity.

This is especially true of the teachers at the White and Oak Vale schools, as both schools began classes before most school materials were available.

Oak Vale School Today (2007)

Classes began at the White school in the very early 1900's and became one of the first in northcentral WIsconsin. Classes were held in a wood shed before a school building could be constructed, the following year.

White School Today (2007)

The school conducted elementary classes until 1960, when students were consolidated into the Owen-Withee school district.

The school building still stands today at the southeast corner on what is now County Road T and Hickory Road, in section 11 of the Hixon township. It is now used as a private residence. The school bell has been preserved by Emil Rohland and is now displayed in his yard.

The Oak Vale school started out in a log building and was once known as the "Baehr School". The facility, built in 1891, stood in section 31 of the Hixon township on what is now County Road X.

In 1906, the log cabin was replaced by a new building. 17 years later a new school was built. The old building was moved to the corner of what is now County Road X and County Road O and still stands today as a private residence.

Due to low enrollment, the Oak Vale school was temporarily closed in 1952 and pupils were sent to the Withee Graded School. Two years, the school was permanently closed and students were divided between the Pineland and Owen-Withee school districts.

Story and photos by Kris Leonhardt

O-W Enterprise 2007

Oakvale School Notes

 

May 26, 1949 -- The Oakvale school finished their school term with a community picnic which was enjoyed by all.  Source: Owen Enterprise.

 

 

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