Sunday, August 30, 2020

Back to School!


Do you remember the song School Days?  Written in 1907 by Will D. Cobb and Gus Edwards, its lyrics are those of a couple looking back sentimentally on their childhood together in primary school.


"School days, school days
Dear old Golden Rule days
'Reading and 'riting and 'rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick
You were my queen in calico
I was your bashful, barefoot beau
And you wrote on my slate, "I Love You, Joe"
When we were a couple o' kids."

This tune echoed in my mind as we drove up to see an old one-room schoolhouse that is in Morrison, Colorado, on the other side of the foothills from where we live.  Medlen School consists of a one-room schoolhouse, a teacherage next to the school where the teacher of the time lived, two outhouses, and a water pump.  It was a charming relic of the past when the area was sparse with settlers but education was still considered important.
I nostalgically remembered my early school days that were held in a four-story building in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1960s, that held many more conveniences.  As a member of the baby boomer generation, there were almost 60 children in each of my classes throughout the eight years of primary school! 



Medlin School, located at 8579 South Turkey Creek Road (CO Road 122) south of Morrison, Colorado, was built in 1886. The schoolhouse was originally built as a log cabin but later received clapboard siding in the early 1900s. The schoolhouse was restored as an example of a 1920s schoolhouse museum by the Jefferson County Historical Society.



The Medlen School closed in the 1950s, and in 1953 it was given to a group of local citizens. The structure and outbuildings became the property of the South Turkey Creek Community and functioned as their social center.  The Medlen School was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 and was restored as a museum. The Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society offers an authentic "Medlen School Days" experiences for school children who have completed first through fifth grade, to experience a typical country school with several grades; to learn “the four R’s” – reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic and recitation – just as children of the 1920s did; and to participate in the games they played, the songs they sang, and the fun they had. Unfortunately, those events had to be canceled this summer due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, but hopefully will be restored someday soon.

There are many other rural school buildings still standing in Colorado, and they can be viewed on this link on the History Colorado web site



The area where Medlen School is located remains somewhat rural in nature, dotted with ranches and an occasional house. The air was still somewhat filled with a smokey haze from the four large wildfires that are still burning in our state. The Pine Gulch fire on the western slope is now officially the largest fire ever in Colorado's history.  It has burned 139,006 acres of land north of the Bookcliffs near Grand Junction and is now 77% contained.  God bless all the firefighters, over 900 total personnel who have come from several states, to fight this fire that has been burning for a month. Since its start, numerous homes and cabins have been evacuated, but to date, the fire has only taken one structure, an old abandoned building. 



My grandchildren began their new school grades for the year last week.  They were very happy and excited, as all children should be to go back to school! The youngest begins kindergarten and the oldest begins Middle School. The first two weeks are remote instruction at home, and then they will begin in-school instruction.  We are all hoping for the best for this new school year. although we know there may be many challenges ahead due to the pandemic and they may return to remote learning. What are your school plans this year? 
Stay happy, safe, and healthy!

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35 comments:

Anne Fraser said...

My grandmother went to a similar village school and at 13 put her hair up and became a pupil teacher. I love the word teacherage. It is new to me. My grandson is hoping to start school next week. He missed six months of nursery so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

eileeninmd said...

Hello,

Great tour of the Medlen School. It is tiny compared to schools we have now. My first school had 2-3 classrooms for each grade from 1st to 8th grade. Your grandchildren look so happy, I wish them all the best. Take care and stay healthy! Enjoy your day! Have a great new week!

Maggie said...

Medlen School is straight out of Little House on the Prairie, a programme that I used to watch many, many years ago, it is adorable. Your grands look very happy to be going back to school, hopefully they.ll be back in the classroom again soon.
Happy Mosaic Monday.

Martha said...

I love the little schoolhouse and your grands are adorable! :)

Ruth Hiebert said...

I so remember those days, Kindergarten to Grade 8 in a small one room school. Yes the teacheage was there and so were the two outhouses. One thing for sure, we did not have an easy life, but we had fun and learned well.

Powell River Books said...

I know kids are excited about getting back to school, but it is still a worry. As a retired teacher and administrator I'm actually glad I don't have to help make it happen. If a child got sick under my watch I would be heartbroken. Educators are front line workers and heroes in my opinion. - Margy

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I'll be stuck singing the school days song today! heehee! Love the happy kids ready to go back to school!

Lydia C. Lee said...

So cute! Love the photobomb!

stevebethere said...

Loved these especially the last 3 awww! :-)

Have a cutetastic safe week 😷😷😷

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

We’ve always enjoyed visiting old school buildings as both of us worked in education field as well as of course having four children heavily involved in it ))! In the early years of our marriage, Bill taught for two years in a one-room rural school (between Alturas CA and Lakeview Oregon). It was a smidgen larger than the one you visited! Now it is our older two great-grandsons who will be going to school in some form or other (I feel quite elderly as both of them are older than your adorable grandchildren... but these are such challenging times to be raising children, I think I’m happy to be a couple generations removed!). I’m glad you are able to get out a bit Again, as we are grateful also for that.

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

cute little schoolhouse

Lisa notes... said...

I do remember that song! But only the first few lines. ha. It was good to see all the lines here. And what cute pictures you took.

NCSue said...

There was a one-room schoolhouse building down the street from us, although it hadn't been used as such for years. I'd have loved to tour it.
Thanks for taking us along on your journey, and for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/08/oriental-lily.html

NanaHood said...

My grands are virtual school so far. Yours are adorable and yes I remember one room school! My mom and dad both attended one.

Tom said...

...all children should be to go back to school during normal times, I'm not so sure about now!

Angie said...

Pat - how appropriate that your post is about schools - a hot topic these days! I hope that your grandkids will be safe as they return to school. We don't have grandkids (yet) and our son just graduated from college, so we do not have to "deal with" this right now. I worry for all those that do! Thanks for linking up to Mosaic Monday!

Lorrie said...

Those schools of old are charming, but I'm glad for indoor plumbing and no outhouses. As a teacher I choked at the thought of 60 students in an elementary classroom like you had when you were in school. Your grandkids are so cute!

Rosie said...

My mother went to a similar school of one classroom for the whole school in Daysville, Canada back in early 1900's. She had many fond memories and stories to tell. My grandchildren, here in Australia, have been back at school for this term but were home for almost one term earlier in the pandemic. Thanks for sharing and hope you are well.

Naush said...

Pat, the only time, I've seen such buildings was in "Little House on the Prairie" - Do you remember that show in the 70s or 80s ? Its remarkable how the structure has survived so many years.
I wish your grandkids plenty of best wishes for their new school year.
Naush
(visiting you from www.doodlebuddies.net)

ellen b. said...

Happy school daze to your dear grandchildren. Dear's mother taught in a one room school house in Kansas in the forties.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I always enjoyed first day of school then it went downhill after that!!

sixty kids per class!! My goodness, how did any teaching get done. We always had about thirty to thirty five.

My first grade teacher in Arizona started teaching before Arizona was a state. Talk about old school.

Fun60 said...

Glad the school is going to be preserved as an important historical institution. School returns this week. It has been 6 months for many children since they were last in a classroom.

Jeanie said...

This is a wonderful post -- love how you tied it into your favorite schoolkids! Whom are, I might add, adorable!

Dawn said...

Children of all ages in one room and I'm willing to bet them wound up with a better education than most today.
Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade

Tanza Erlambang said...

love to read about rural schools in America.
beautiful photos

Donna @ Modern on Monticello said...

Such a charming schoolhouse. Thanks for sharing it with us this week at #HomeMattersParty I hope your grandchildren have a great school year.

Linda said...

Interesting post. Best of luck to the children starting school. And prayers for the firefighters.

Trekking with Becky said...

Interesting. I've never seen a one-room schoolhouse before. My grandmother went to a two-room school house in northern Canada back in the early-1950s. She had just come from Japan in 1949 and had to learn English well enough to go to high school.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

I'm imagining that water pumped by hand was the sweetest-tasting water of all.

Karen (Back Road Journal) said...

We had a red school house right down the street from our home in New Hampshire. It was built in 1834, a hundred years after our home there was built. They open it once a year on Old Homestead day. I hope your grandchildren have a year of school without too many complications. BTW, I've had problems leaving comments but it is somewhat fixed although I don't know if it will link to me. I hope you are all doing good. Karen (Back Road Journal)

Spare Parts and Pics said...

My fingers are crossed that my granddaughter can return to in-school classes in the not too distant future. Wonderful photos of your very cute grandkids!

betty-NZ said...

Thanks for all the words as I only remember the first few lines, too..
What a wonderful piece of history that has been retained. Great photos.

I'm so excited to see you at 'My Corner of the World' this week!! Thanks for linking.

Madge said...

Hi Pat! Love this school post.. So cool it's been taken care of. ❤️

Lowcarb team member said...

Nice to see these old school houses/buildings.

Lovely photographs of your grandchildren.
One of our five grandchildren went back to school last Thursday, the other four start this Monday. Of course we all hope the term goes well.

All the best Jan

Rambling Woods said...

My great-grandmother taught in a building like that..Long line of teachers in my family..