Living history: Jackson third graders get look at life in a one-room schoolhouse

JACKSON TWP. ‒ The schoolroom was silent except for the sound of chalk on the slate boards as students worked a math problem.

"(The sound) is almost soothing," Susan Gardner said as she observed from the back of the class.

This math lesson was a little different. Third graders from Strausser Elementary School were not in their modern classroom with math books, pencils and notebooks. Instead, they were seated at wooden desks in a one-room schoolhouse .

"We are making history come alive," said Gardner, the director of Jackson School for the Arts.

Each year, Jackson Local third graders study Jackson Township history and visit the one-room schoolhouse at 7756 Fulton Drive NW.

Jackson Township's one-room schoolhouse

About 470 students will visit the living history museum that once served as one of 10 one-room schoolhouses in the township. Center School, once located at Mudbrook and Wales Avenue NW, was moved and preserved. The school built in 1870 is now home to the Jackson Township Historical Society and houses township history.

For many years, the historical society hosted the third-grade students presenting them with what it was like to attend school in a one-room schoolhouse more than a century ago.

Kim Demor, president of the historical society, said in the past the visits were lecture-based but they are more hands-on since students in the Jackson School for the Arts took over instruction.

Gardner's JSA students - about 28 sophomores, juniors and seniors - participate each year, serving as the teachers at the school during the six days of visits. In May, the students prepare a script incorporating math, reading, art and theater lessons. They practice throughout the summer to prepare for the students' visit in October.

The JSA students' participation fulfills community service requirements, Gardner said.

Jackson one-room schoolhouse lessons

Dressed in period clothing, the teachers lead the classes, starting the day by singing "My Country Tis of Thee." They discussed the "Swiss Family Robinson," acted out a play about pirates and treasure maps and decorated a top during art class.

Each third grader received a nametag with the name of a student who attended one of the township's one-room schoolhouses more than 100 years ago. Some of the names were recognizable like Yost and Rohr.

As part of the class, the students looked at a map of the township from 1875. The teacher pointed out the Eveyln Yost family farm. Today it is Mallards Crossing housing development. Students learned that surnames such as Wales, Everhard and Lutz remain street names in the township.

Students also got a chance to write with a quill and play games such as marbles.

"It's great to see the kids in the one-room schoolhouse and it great that we can preserve it for them," Demor said adding that she visits the students to discuss the one-room schoolhouse to explain its heyday when it didn't have electricity or heat. There was no water and no bathroom. Children drank out of a shared cup from a jug.

Senior Avery Simpson was one of the teachers. The 17-year-old has participated the last two years.

She hopes the kids get something out of the visit besides getting a day outside of the classroom.

"I love working with the kids," she said. "They are mostly excited about working with us."

Strausser third-grader Cheyanne Stefan made a few observations about the students that once attended the school room.

The 9-year-old noticed that most of the girls had shorter hair and they all had pretty, long names.

Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com.

This article originally appeared on The Independent: Living history: Jackson third graders get look at life in a one-room schoolhouse