While not homemaking-related, this might be interesting for those who’ve enjoyed my book. Also, I recently realized that I never created a print version, so sadly, as of right now, it’s only available in the e-book format.
Some time ago, I was in the neighborhood of the Old Order Amish schoolhouse where I taught during my second year of teaching. I asked my husband if he could pull into the driveway so I could take a picture. The schoolhouse sits on the property of an Amish family but since the farmhouse was further down the lane, I assured him it wouldn’t be awkward.
I had taken several pictures of the community’s first temporary schoolhouse where I taught my first year, but for some reason, I never took a picture of this particular schoolhouse.
The outside has changed a little--part of the porch is now enclosed and a second smaller building sits on the gravel area where I used to park my car. The school bell that I rang to start the day and at recess used to sit atop a post outside the door; now it’s mounted below the peak of the roof and can be rung from inside.
I took the picture above, then to my husband’s horror, I tried the door of the schoolhouse. As I’d guessed, it was unlocked. I figured that if by chance someone came to investigate, I’d wind up in a nice chat with an old friend, or at the least I’d meet a member of the community who’d joined since my teachingdays. I was hoping that my boldness would attract attention. My husband didn’t even get out of the car to retrieve me, he just sat, appalled, wondering how he came to be driving a getaway car for a schoolhouse snoop.
Because school wasn’t in session, much of the personality was missing--no charts or children’s artwork on the walls, no left-behind coats or lunchboxes, no mugs on hooks by the water jug. It lacked that comfortable lived-in look. Still, the room was remarkably unchanged.
Oh, the old blackboard.... I loved that workspace. During the course of the day, we’d use the entire length of this same blackboard for arithmetic problems, poetry memorization, and all the other assignments and announcements. I used one of those gadgets that mark five lines with chalk at the same time so the young scholars could line up and practice their penmanship.
Two of my other favorite things in the schoolhouse were the penmanship charts and the pull-down vintage map of the United States attached to the top of the blackboard (you can just barely see it in the top center). The penmanship charts above the blackboard were hand-lettered, and included the alphabet in German, their first language. The vintage map came from me. I had found it in a closet in my home, left by the previous owner who’d salvaged it from the public one-room schoolhouse he’d attended as a child.
This little desk bookshelf, where I kept all my teacher copies, was a gift to me from one of the school families. I left it to my successor and am glad to see all the teachers since have done the same.
No one ever stopped in to check on me and even worse, no one stopped to question my husband about trespassing. But after so many years, I was glad to at least get a peek and a few pictures of my old schoolhouse.
I’m the co-author of A Housewife Writes and author of Two Years as an Amish Schoolteacher, available on Amazon. (affiliate link) I love history and learning about the lives of our grandmothers who loved their families and managed their households. I share their stories and wisdom that are still meaningful as well as ways of keeping a modern home in the spirit of past times.
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