The tragic loss of country schools

May 2024 My husband Keith and I attended a reunion of grade school students who once attended District 8 country school. Keith attended until grade five when his parents moved to another farm. Joe Widdowson, along with his wife Jean, planned the event.

As we entered the Lucky Duck in Gibbon where the reunion was held, I was surprised at how many showed up, including one teacher. Other teachers sent letters. One former student traveled all the way from Arizona. Some recognized me from Kearney Christian Women’s Connection (KCWC) luncheon (I used to do the newsletter), or from my columns in the Hub. It was nice to have that familiarity since I really didn’t think I’d know anyone much beyond Joe and Jean.

 It was good for Keith to catch up with old friends and as we ate and conversed, to be reminded of those long-ago school days. Eventually District 8 school was discontinued, and students attended town schools.

 Until sixth grade, I attended schools in the different towns, and states, where my pastor dad served church congregations. That changed when he was called to a country church in Northern Kansas. We loved the church and its people. The farming community also had a small one teacher country school. All grades first through 8th were in one room. There were two other students in my class other than myself.

I quickly learned, I wasn’t as advanced as the other girls in my class and had to work to catch up. Each grade had desks together. We also did things like music together. Another positive was that we learned and kept remembering the basics because we older kids often worked with the younger students. Mrs. Carmen had a well-oiled system that worked. She made me feel special even though she had to deal with all the students in all elementary grades.

 She not only taught reading, writing, science and math, she also taught self-reliance, research, and the satisfaction of helping others. We learned responsibility as we helped younger kids and each other. Recess was time for races and playing games. We each brought our lunch. In the process, we bonded as a group. At the time Kansas had quite a few country schools in existence.

 After completing 8th grade all the students both from the country and town schools, were required to go to the high school and take a proficiency test.  Interestingly, year after year, the country school students scored higher than those who attended town schools. That didn’t surprise me since I’d been behind when I’d gone from a small-town school to a country school.

 Yet, a few years down the road, consolidation became the rage. Larger schools could offer more opportunities, parents were told. Larger schools meant better-equipped science labs, and on and on. The country schools became a relic of the past. Small towns also lost one of their centers as smaller towns consolidated their schools into larger ones often between the towns.

 No one seemed to take seriously the difference in scores from town and country students. No one considered that schools as well as churches anchored a community. When pioneers established homes and farms, one of their first considerations was to build a school often used for both school and church. Americans were committed to education and made it happen as soon as possible. 

 Country schools had benefits larger schools don’t have, several already mentioned here. Smaller schools allow for more personal attention, especially with students who fall through the cracks in a larger school setting—or they become troublemakers. Parents have more say in a smaller setting and those involved are often family, friends, etc. which makes everyone adults and kids more accountable. 

 Getting rid of country schools was a colossal mistake. At Keith’s reunion I watched those from all grades share positive memories of their time at the District 8 school. Years ago, I watched Bill and Malinda Gates on a talk show. They spoke about the failures of large schools. They proposed small neighborhood schools.

 I agree we need to rethink our view of education and start thinking smaller instead of larger, so the focus isn’t on administration, government or often forced curriculum, but on basics and care and concern for the ones, supposedly, for whom schools exist—our children. Umm. Sounds like the country schools still have something to offer. I wish someone would take this idea seriously.

© 2024 Carolyn R Scheidies

Published column Kearney Hub 6/27/2024
…Loss of our country schools

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