Recently a group gathered together to reminisce about Clear Lake’s old country schools. Sharon Seeley-Gallagher, Joan (Kronenberg) Peterson, Audrey (Stimmler) Orton, Luella (Berger) Schuette, Mary ‘Babe’ (Woebkenberg) Imholte, Ralph Berger and Audrey (Eilers) Salner all attended one of the schools or had relatives who did.

 

Clear Lake had three country schools at one time, District 9, District 13 and District 23. They were one-room schoolhouses with all the grades combined, and only went through the eighth grade. If students wanted to continue their education they had to attend school in one of the nearby towns. 

 

Joan Peterson, Sharon Seeley-Gallagher and Audrey Orton attended District 23. Like all country schools, one class would come up to the front of the class at a time and recite their lessons. The rest of the students would work on their own lessons back at their desks. The little kids whose feet couldn’t touch the floor had crates under their feet. They learned reading, penmanship, arithmetic and geography. 

 

At the end of each day the students would sweep the floors so the school was very clean. In the summer it was hot, so they would open all the windows, and in the winter it was cold. There was one wood stove in the corner of the building and the teacher would keep it going all day long. Students took turns bringing food that they would heat up and share so everyone could have a hot meal, although they also received a few commodities like dried apricots. 

 

“We would heat them up, too,” said Orton. “It was our early Home Ec.”

 

In later years the school had electricity, but in the beginning it was lit by oil lamps, and it would get so dark on rainy days the students would hardly be able to see. There was no indoor plumbing, so they used an outhouse that had a boys’ side and a girls’ side.

 

Everyone loved the field trips they would go on in the spring where they would look for bird’s nests, bugs and plants. 

 

Recess was also a favorite time, with all the students getting together and playing games such as baseball, Annie-Annie over, king’s base and fox and goose. 

 

Ralph Berger attended District 9 country school. He rode his Shetland pony nearly a mile cross country to get there, and his dad built a small barn at the school for it to stay in during the day. 

 

Discipline was much stricter in those days. If they acted up students would have to stay in for recess, stay after school or in some cases, get the razor strap. But what really kept them in line were their parents.

 

“We were afraid to do anything we weren’t supposed to do because we were scared of our parents,” said Peterson. “If we got in trouble we were afraid to go home and tell them.”

 

It was difficult for the students who eventually went on to attend larger schools. Suddenly they had to move from room to room during the day, and each grade had their own classroom.

 

“In the country schools everyone helped each other out,” explained Peterson. “The older kids helped the younger ones.”

 

“It was a real togetherness deal back then,” said Berger. “Not like it is today.”

 

All the country schools eventually closed down; with District 13 closing it’s doors in 1940 and District 23 in 1950. But the memories of their students live on.