In correspondence between Duane Thayer and Bonnie (Girvan) Ekse in Spring 2005, Duane had the following memories of attending a rural school as a child:
When I was 5 years old I enrolled at a school known as Cook #7 located 6 miles north and 1 mile east of Odebolt. This building was razed several years ago. I loved school and believed that I had the greatest and prettiest teacher. I realize now that she was probably only 19 years old at this time and was responsible for just over 20 pupils scattered through grades 1-8. I have no recollection of any discipline problems. She always appeared calm, kind and understanding. Unfortunately, she left after my first grade year and other teachers followed.
There were four of us that began our school careers that year. By the following fall, two had moved out of the district and a third was retained. As a result of this, I found myself alone in grades 2 through 6. I was the top student in my grade and also held the bottom ranking!
At the end of 6th grade, I convinced my parents that it would be beneficial if I were to attend the Odebolt public school for grades 7 and 8. Graduation from High School followed in 1947. Next I attended and graduated from Iowa State Teachers College (now known as the University of Northern Iowa). After this I earned an M.A. degree from the University of Iowa. I spent 33 years in education as a teacher and principal.
My purpose in relating this to you is simply to say I have never forgotten my first grade teacher. She made such a lasting impression. I'm sure that you are aware that my first grade teacher was your mother, Dorothy Carlson.
...and later after we’d responded with a letter and photographs of the children of Cook #7:
What a flood of memories your letter, pictures and memories of your mother brought back to me! Just imagine - all of us lived within the 4 square miles surrounding the school. Today you would probably not find over 4 or 5 in that same area. All parents were farmers except for the 3 Kreutz children. Their father was a minister in a church 1 mile east of school.
I remember most details and could draw the basic floor plan of the school.
Those Christmas programs were big to us and the school was always packed with parents, friends and relatives. Everyone had several parts.
When we asked Duane Thayer’s permission to use
the above reminiscences on the history site, he responded affirmatively. He sent
along this additional vivid account of his country school education at Cook #7.
No doubt his own career as an educator has increased his empathy for the many
responsibilities of his country school teachers!
Although Bob and I lived one and a quarter miles from school, we never walked.
We had a bicycle and a pony available to us. During first and second grade we
hitched the pony to a buggy and drove to a barn adjacent to the school. We left
the pony in the barn and walked about two blocks to school. Fred and Stella
Traver lived on the small farm. I think they were uncle and aunt to the Travers
at school. When the snow was deep, our father would hitch a team of horses to a
bobsled and off to school we would go.
The school library was extremely limited. As I recall it consisted of two or three shelves approximately four to five feet wide. I believe the books were fiction except for a set of out-dated encyclopedias. Each teacher supplemented this by going to the Odebolt Library and selecting individual books for each student suited to our interests and abilities. They all did a good job of selecting these books. Each teacher usually had one book going which she read to the entire school. She would read for ten to fifteen minutes most days. Some of the books I remember being read to us were Heidi of the Alps and two or three Jack London books. (Where did they find the time?)
When called to the front of the room for a lesson, you wanted to be prepared. Frequently if you didn’t know the answer to a question, someone at their seat would raise their hand and answer for you. They might well be a grade or two behind you. (Embarrassing.)
Two of the older boys upon arrival each morning would carry a milk can to the nearby farm and pump water, return it to the school and dump it in the water crock. This was our day’s supply.
Activities engaged in by students at recess in the spring and fall were: softball, prisoner’s base, and pump, pump pole away. A swing and teeter totters were on the ground (usually used by the smaller kids). In the winter we played Fox and Goose, went sledding, built snow forts, and did some snowballing. Afterwards, the large hot air register in the center of the room would be covered with wet mittens to dry.
As I reflect on my grade school experiences, I am amazed at what was expected of those teachers. They did custodial work, sweeping, dusting, firing the furnace, and shoveling snow in addition to the task of teaching eight grades. There was no one else to turn to for help. I wonder what provision there was for a teacher illness. I don’t remember a substitute coming in my six years at this school, which must have meant that they reported for work regardless of how they felt, poor souls.
- Duane Thayer, Geneva, IL