The following is from “As I Remember Scott County,” a collection of oral histories from Scott County’s senior residents in the 1980s. In this selection, Clara Rybak shares her memories of teaching and education. It has been slightly edited from the original for clarity.
“Still sits the schoolhouse by the side of the road, a ragged beggar sunning.” – John Greenleaf Whittier
How many times have the words of this poem gone through your mind as you passed an abandoned schoolhouse by the side of the road? You must have been smitten by nostalgia if you ever taught or spent part of your school days in one of them.
My advent into teaching was purely accidental. A friend of mine wanted to take the examination to qualify her to teach in a rural school. She did not want to go to Shakopee alone to take the exam, so she persuaded me to go with her. We went armed with our high school diplomas and the results of the State Board examinations taken in high school. The County Superintendent presided over the examinations and the results were sent to our homes. He informed me that I had passed the test and was awarded a certificate to teach. He said that he had notified school boards in the county and that they would contact me. Soon, several boards came to interview me and I selected Helena, because it was nearest to home and I could walk that far if transportation was difficult.
Teacher's contract between Mary Benes and Scott County schools for the 1939 school year. It was written out on November 30, 1938 and states that Benes will work for School District 32, Scott County for a term of 8 or 9 months beginning September 1939 for $80 a month. Handwritten notes states that Benes was expected to sweep and keep the schoolhouse clean, and to start fires as needed when the janitor was not available. Additional notes state that Benes would receive two weeks off at Christmas, one week off at Easter, and all other recognized holidays if they landed on a school day. She was also expected to work from 9am-4pm. The piece is signed by Arthur Bohnsack, L. F. Burn, Frank E. Bastyr, and Mary Benes. Printed along the bottom edge are recognized holidays and rules for hiring teachers. Scott County Historical Society.
I had never gone to a rural school and had only visited one on social occasions, like a basket social. I had some teaching experience, however. In those days, it was very unusual to hire a substitute teacher if a teacher was sick or in need of personal leave. On such occasions, one or two of the upper class students were sent to take over the class. This was especially true in the elementary grades.
During my last year in high school, the principal and the eighth grade teacher exchanged classes for one hour each day. The eighth grade teacher taught a math class, and the principal taught English for eighth grade. The principal, a woman, had a beautiful contralto voice and sung for many occasions in the Twin Cities. When she needed to practice or had other duties to attend, she would send me to teach her class. I was enrolled in the math class, but I did not attend very often, except to take the tests so that there was some basis for grading. When I was suddenly thrust into a teaching situation the experience was invaluable. I did attend the summer session at the Mankato Teachers College, but the classes I took were not very valuable for my situation.
At the time I went to teach in Helena, there was a store, a creamery, and a railroad station there. It was possible to flag the 5 o’clock train and ride to Jordan for $0.25. One time, I flagged what I thought was a passenger train, but it was a freight train. The conductor allowed me to ride in the caboose because they needed to stop at Jordan to let the passenger train pass. I arranged for room and board at the store owned by Mr. and Mrs. Engles. They were the kindest, most helpful people in the world. I was a young, inexperienced girl, and I desperately needed all the help I could get, and they gave me encouragement and much valuable advice.
Helena had one of the better school buildings and equipment in the county. The teacher was expected to build the fire; see that there was adequate water supply, which was brought from a neighboring farm; keep the place clean, including the outdoor toilets; and teach. There were no lights in the schoolhouse except that which came through the windows, and on cloudy days, that was not adequate. It was heated by a stove with a jacket around it in the corner of the room. The bigger boys were in charge of the wood and water supply. Keeping a fire in the stove overnight was a work of art, and after much advice and effort, it was possible to keep the coals.
Monday morning in the winter was the worst of all. When the roads were impassable, I walked the four miles from Jordan to Helena via the railroad track. It was always plowed because the morning train had gone through. The schoolhouse was icy cold, and by the time I got the fire started, I was almost frozen.
Black and white albumen print of District No. G schoolhouse, located at Marshall's Hill on County Road 17. The exact year is unknown, but likely taken in the early 1900s. Scott County Historical Society.
If there were many trials, there were also pleasures. The children were well disciplined and were eager to learn, thanks to their home environments. I could not judge my predecessors, because I had nothing in my experiences for comparison, so I took things as they were and built from there. I became acquainted with the books and materials at hand and planned my course. I had twelve students in five scattered grades. I read as much material as was available, especially the teachers’ manuals, and somehow the children learned and so did the teacher.
I think I enjoyed the recess and noon hour periods almost as much as the children. In winter, we slid down the long hill to the railroad tracks. There was little traffic and the road was an ideal slide. In fall and spring, we roamed the nearby woods and gathered flowers and identified trees, or played games in the schoolyard.
The time after the children went home was spent preparing for the next day. There was little prepared material to be had, and not enough money to buy what there was, so seat work was left to the teacher’s initiative. I made endless numbers of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division flashcards, and phonetic and word cards out of any available cardboard. Usually, I worked at school until the light failed, and then I had to bank the fire and go home.
The Christmas program was the highlight of the year. We hung sheets for stage curtains and improvised whatever stage settings we had. It was challenging, but fun. We had no piano and my voice had points to be desired, but we sang Christmas carols with gusto, if not perfection. Lamps had to be brought to light the evening performance. Although our Christmas tree had no lights or candles, it stood proud under the students’ art class decorations. The classroom was adorned with long paper garlands daubed with paste that the smaller children had made. All the parents and friends came to celebrate the occasion.
The end of the year was marked with a picnic. The parents provided the food and it was sumptuous. It as the fashion of the community to invite the teacher for a meal once or twice during the year. This was an excellent idea because the teacher became better acquainted with the parents and the children’s environment.
Souvenir card from Fish Lake School in Spring Lake Township, with a list of the students, teacher, and school board officers, 1911. Scott County Historical Society.
The first year of teaching had its trials, errors, and tribulations, but the second year was much easier. The County Superintendent came around twice a year to discuss current problems and give advice. He suggested that I should go on to college and get a certificate that would entitle me to teach in a city school. I followed his advice and enrolled at the Mankato Teachers College the next September. A new junior high school program was just starting, which offered a certificate to teach both in junior high and elementary schools. Because I enjoyed teaching older children, I enrolled in that program. This was the beginning of many college courses and forty years of interesting, gratifying, and fulfilling years of teaching, thirty-five of those in New Prague Public Schools.
Cover Image: Photographic postcard of St. Lawrence School students posing in front of the schoolhouse, 1912. Scott County Historical Society.