Kentuck one-room schoolhouse By Nichole Washburn ED358: Foundations of Education MARCH 15, 2016

Research Questions and Purpose I have always been extremely interested in the West Kentuck one-room schoolhouse, so I began my research on it. I came to find so many differences and some similarities between that school how and schools today, including the teachers salary, the layout, the cost of school supplies and the subjects that were taught within the school. I simply wanted to find out how much our schools have grown over the years. So I decided to give a little history of the schoolhouse and compare and contrast the West Kentuck school house to schools today. So my questions included What is the history of the West Kentuck one-room school house and how is it different or the same from schools today?

The McPherson County Old Mill Museum Here is a picture of me at the old mill museum where I got the opportunity to use the archives to research information on this project.

West Kentuck One-room Schoolhouse The top pictures are pictures I took inside the west kentuck school house while on the old mill tour. The bottom picture is a picture taken from within the school while it was opened.

History In 1874 West Kentuck district 69 is organized, but class was taught inside varies homes. In 1880 the first frame school building is built and in 1903 the current school building is constructed. In 1952 West Kentuck was combined with new Gottland district No. 75. In 1967 the school was moved to the Old Mill after being shut down.

The Little Red Schoolhouse The town of Lindsborg decided to paint the West Kentuck school house red to match the Swedish town, but the people who had attended the school found out about this and fought to have it restored to its original colored restored.

Reunion The Former teachers, students and board members reunited on June 2, 1979. This is a picture of some of the teachers who taught at the West Kentuck one-room school house.

One-room school houses still in use. Although many of the one-room school houses have been shut down today, there are still many that remain in use today. This particular school house is located in Santa Barbara Cty, CA and is still in use today and has been around for about 120 years. One-room school houses still in use today. http://oneroomschoolhousecenter. weebly.com/still-in-operation.html

Layout This is a picture of the west Kentuck one- room school house that was build in 1880. It had desk in rows, with chalk board and little art work. The building gave off a dual feeling. This is a picture of what a classroom might look like to in 2016. It is colorful, has white boards, and the desks are arranged in a way to help students interact with one another.

Cost of Supplies This is a picture of what some of the school supplies cost in the 1800s. This shows a big difference in how much was needed much money was needed then for education compared to today. According to an article I read by Nicole Paitsel “Today the average cost of required supplies for elementary students for the 2012- 2013 school year is $44.48. Middle school students will spend about $68.84 on supplies.” * Notice some of the differences between what students need then and what we many need today. We don’t use chalk or typing paper anymore. Some of the things that were needed seem like they would be odd to use today such as thumb tacks, magazines, screw for drinking cup, oil cloth and snap fasteners. .

Teachers Salary This is a picture of what teachers where paid in the 1800’s. Notice that teachers pay periods were between 6 months and 8 months, much shorter time span then what we are expected to teach today. The pay varied from district but West Kentuck had the lowest pay Today teachers can be paid anywhere between 29,000 and 119,000 a year

Curriculum This is a picture of what was taught daily in the one-room school house. One interesting thing is the bible readings and the loads prayer they would do at the beginning of class. This is something that over time has been taken out of public schools. . Today some of the curriculum focuses on: Math, English/language arts, Science, and History/ social studies Some electives include: Health, wood shop, sewing and cooking, and art

Fun Facts In 1934 PTA was organized. In 1935 Merry-go-around and swings were purchased 1936 Basketball and goal were purchased. 1938 a 12x14 kitchen was added to the school. 1940 The school got its first toilets

A teacher’s perspective These are some of the things past teachers of the school house had to say about there experience. I found it interesting that the first passage talks about how when one room schools vanished we lost closeness. Is this true?

Concluding Remarks I found this project to be one of my favorite experiences. I found the history of the school house really interesting. I loved being able to see how school and education has changed from the salary of teachers to the design and growth of schools today. It is remarkable to see how much school has changed. My research made me look beyond the West Kentuck school house and research if there are still school houses being used today. I found that there are still many one-room school houses being used today, which is absolutely amazing!

Acknowledgements •I Want to thank the Old Mill Museum for their assistance of this project and for allowing me to use their archives. Especially, Lenora Lynam, Lorna Nelson, and Sheila Malm.

References Oral Citation McPherson County Historical Archives. [ca. 1900’s]. Archives at the Old Mill Museum, Lindsborg, KS. Paitsel, Nicole. "How Much Do School Supplies Cost?" Tribunedigital-dailypress. Daily Press, 25 Aug. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2016. "Still in Operation." One-Room Schoolhouse Center. Web. 15 Mar. 2016. Oral Citation L. Nelson, personal communication, March 10, 2016