One-Room Country School: South Dakota Schools

After the development of the railroad system, many different groups of people had the ability to travel to South Dakota more easily. Once settlers were able to reach South Dakota they began setting up towns with stores, churches, and schoolhouses. The book, One-Room Country School: South Dakota Stories, is a compilation of testimonies from the teachers and students who attended these schoolhouses spread across the state. The various teachers and students who shared their stories came from many different areas of the world throughout many eras. Some of the teachers who shared their memories had been living in South Dakota before they started teaching. Others came from neighboring states such as North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa to find a

In some areas of South Dakota, there were Native American students that attended the one-room schoolhouses. Most of the students came from families who lived on farms near the school. Teachers recalled new students moving to South Dakota from other countries. The other students were always excited to have more classmates but the teachers struggled with new students who did not speak English. There were times when older students had to translate for the kids who spoke German, Norwegian, Danish, or Czech. There were many different reasons for these teachers and their students to settle in South Dakota. Teachers mainly settled in South Dakota because it was where they could find a job and where their family lived. The students’ families settled in South Dakota because there was room for their farms. Living in South Dakota proved to be difficult for many teachers, students, and families. There were many struggles involved with teaching in the schoolhouses since they did not have very much surrounding them. One teacher learned that she “would have to be a nurse, doctor, mother, counselor, cook, custodian, babysitter, referee, and diplomat” all while still being the teacher (Wilson 2). New teachers did not have anyone to help them yet they were still expected to teach 10 to 15 kids who varied in age and ability. One of the teachers mentioned that her first job began a week after her 18th birthday (Wilson 3). Because it was

During the winter months, the teachers often worried about snow. There were many times when the students had to stay overnight at the schoolhouse because the teachers could not allow them to go home on their own. One teacher remembered a day when her and her students were trapped inside of the school, “ One day a terrific blizzard hit the area. Dismissal time approached and I realized that the storm was life-threatening. There were no telephones, and parents had to trust in my judgment to keep the children at school. A kind farmer who lived near the school followed the fence line and brought us food and blankets” (Wilson 108). Although it was difficult, many teachers were able to stay in South Dakota and keep teaching. They did this because their communities relied on them to teach and take care of the children. Some teachers felt that being a teacher was preparing them to be a mother or a wife in the future. One teacher said, “None of us then thought too much about the hardships and sacrifices we made, but tried to do our very best to provide an education for the children we had the privilege to have under our care” (Wilson 129). This shows how some teachers viewed their roles in the kids’ lives. Teachers were role models for their younger students and were able to greatly influence their