1-room school sparks memories
SLIPPERY ROCK — Students swept the floor, stoked the stove and rang the hand bell. They dipped their fingers (and pigtails) in inkwells and — if they were really bad — carved their names into wooden desks.
One Slippery Rock University graduate who remembers the do's and don'ts of the one-room schoolhouse is 81-year-old Gloria Wilkenson. She attended Hickory Corner, the white, clapboard school now located across from Slippery Rock University's Old Main building, for grades 1 to 8.
Last month, Wilkenson paid a visit to the school for the first time since 1950, driven to campus as a surprise by her daughters.
There were the desks with inkwells, the wooden piano and American flag in the corner. And there was the bell rope, hanging from the ceiling as if the bell was there for her to ring again.
“It looked exactly the same on the outside, except that the water pump now out back was in front of the school,” she said.
Hickory Corner School, located between Slippery Rock and Butler, served the Butler County community from 1881-1963.
The McCandless family gifted the building to the university in 1998. The university uses it to teach early-education instruction methods and as a museum to illustrate the roots of America's early system of education.
While providing a nostalgic remnant of the past for current Slippery Rock students, for Wilkenson the 1,000-square-foot schoolhouse echoes with the memory of young voices, soot and harsh conditions such as no running water, toilets or refrigeration.
Students had air conditioning, she joked, they opened and closed the windows.
Still, Wilkenson said the one-room approach promoted a better sense of community.
“As I think about it, we came out of a small-school education,” Wilkenson said. “I had two teachers for eight years, yet we excelled. We worked hard. We were disciplined and we had fun at school. I can remember playing baseball, that was our recreation.”“We helped each other a lot, and I think we got more individualized teaching,” she said. “We were sort of a clique and a family. All of the students would help when a new kid arrived. We would stick by him, and play with him and take him in.”Keith Dils, SRU dean of the College of Education, said Wilkinson's memories illustrate the dedication one-room teachers showed their students and the level of camaraderie between students.“Really, her story is a testament to the quality of teachers in America, who lead the world in teaching and education, as we did back in the 1920s and 1930s and we still do,” he said. “Think back to the 1920s and 1930s, teachers had to teach not only first-graders but eighth-graders who were about to take off for high school.”“One hundred years ago, only 30 percent of Americans progressed past eighth grade in their education, making the one-room schoolhouse an important time in their lives,” Dils said.“She has fond memories because the teacher took an interest in her, followed her for eight years, kept things challenging so she would learn and continuously feel inspired,” Dils said.Born and reared on a farm in Butler County, Wilkenson said she and her younger brother helped work the farm and attended Hickory.Which students would be there every day was not known considering many students walked miles along gravel roads to get to school.“I can remember we had terrible winters; there were three feet of snow,” Wilkenson said. “There was no clearing of the roads, and World War II was on, so everything was rationed. We wore snowsuits, and we often left our pants on in the school. That building wasn't very warm.“We'd all bring a bag lunch or dinner bucket and store our lunch on a shelf back in the corner. There was never any refrigerator,” she said. She usually ate peanut butter and jelly.Students ranged in age from 5 to 15. They used his and her outhouses with “improvised” toilet paper. Wilkinson recalled a shed filled with wood and coal.Every morning, students rose to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and prayer was common.The teacher taught reading and writing, penmanship, mathematics, civics, history, geography and other subjects.“I don't think we had textbooks like kids do today,” she said. “We used workbooks and flashcards.” She said the school's current furnishings are true to her memory, except an inside sign saying Hickory Corner School was on the outside of the building. She remembered the bell atop the school from the rope hanging from the ceiling.“The teacher rang the bell after lunch,” she said. “We had to obey the teacher; we had respect for the teacher.” While a dunce cap occupies one corner of the room, Wilkerson said she does not remember the teacher using the cap. She did order students into the corner for a timeout if they were misbehaving. Wilkenson said the university deserves credit for restoring the one-room school and using it to contextualize the history of education.“Everybody should know a little about the history of education,” she said. “We probably weren't as primitive as some of the schools. It was a good experience. I think today's kids have missed that experience. We had a lot of fun; it was a fun time.”Born Gloria Cratty, Wilkinson earned her bachelor's degree in public school nursing in 1975 and a degree in counseling psychology in 1983. She worked as a nursing and nursing educator before retiring in 1998. She divides her time between Arizona and Western Pennsylvania.
