Former teacher at the James School during the mid 1930s
We had a traditional Christmas program with many of the neighbors attending. I remember making mesh Christmas bags. We filled them with peanuts in the shell, candy and popcorn.
Since we had no curtains, we used a rope strung from one side of the wall to the other and used two sheets for curtains.
The James School did not have a well or a pump at that time so the older boys would take the pail and pump water from the McCrossin well. They would fill the insulated cooler in the morning and it seemed to be enough to last all day. There was a spigot at the bottom so there was no dipping into the cooler. If there was water left at night, it had to be emptied to prevent freezing. It was taken for granted that the water was fit for children to drink, although I do not know if it had been tested.
Practically all of the students brought their lunch and ate it cold at the school because there was no way to warm it. The only source of heat was the large stove or furnace in the front of the room and that had a steel jacket around it. The boys had asked for permission to eat in the boy’s cloakroom and were told they had permission as long as they did not create a disturbance. All went well until one day Mr. Carpenter arrived for a visit. He announced to me privately that there was an awful mess outside the boy’s cloakroom window. He wanted to make sure it was cleaned up. Since I did not go by way of that area on my way into school, I had not noticed. When I inspected, I found the spot covered with orange peelings from the boys’ lunches. That day, the boys had to form a clean-up squad and cleaned the whole area. It did not happen again.
An amusing incident happened while Mrs. Aurora Violette was employed there as a teacher. A skunk had been killed near my house one night. About mid-morning of the next day as the children were out for recess, the wind changed carrying the odor directly to the schoolhouse. The children convinced the teacher that the skunk was under the schoolhouse porch. She immediately dismissed school for the day. The children were delighted with the unscheduled holiday.
Former teacher at the James School in 1926-27
I think we used more of the box social money for new curtains. Superintendent Read brought the catalog with directions for measuring, ordering and installing them. He said that was my job. I did it after hours. The school money was kept in an account at the superintendent’s office. Once a local gossip had said one teacher bought her hat with school money.
One day I took my jar of cocoa from the kettle to my desk. The whole bottom came out of the jar spilling hot cocoa all over a new wool jersey dress. I hurried to Nellie Niles’ house to change. She washed and pressed the dress before I got back for supper.
In February, my sister Carol substituted for me for two days. Teachers were allowed to hire and pay a substitute for three days of the school year. When I awoke on Monday with a cold and laryngitis, Mother decided that was the time for a substitute. Carol thought the pay was too little to allow for pay for a horse and driver to take her out to the school. When I asked her to contribute any memories of her two days as a substitute, she said, “Tell them I froze my legs walking out there.”
