News Summary

NEW CARLISLE, Ohio — Students have to mind their manners, bow and curtsey.

The texts are the McGuffey Reader and Ray's Arithmetic.

But when they retreat in time to the Advance School on New Carlisle Pike, Clark County fourth graders tend to exercise the compare-and-contrast skills they need to demonstrate on modern day proficiency exams.

"They don't mind the outhouses at all," said retired teacher and school director Linda Clements. "They say they're better than the portable potties at the ball park."

A project of the Clark County Retired Teachers Association, the one-room school is celebrating five years of taking students into education's past.

Some changes have come to the program.

The room is now called Sara's Classroom in memory of Sara Landess, a long-time project supporter and daughter of the late Harry Turner. The Turner Foundation provided funds to make improvements needed to the building.

A second change has been general cutbacks in public schools' field trip funds.

The Springfield Foundation, the Della Selsor Trust and Freedom Road Ministries have helped with expenses to offset that, and the retired teachers have pitched in by holding fundraisers, including one scheduled for Oct. 4 in conjunction with the Kiwanis Oktoberfest in Veterans Park.

Open for 10 weeks each in the fall and spring, the program did a lot of research to give today's students an authentic experience.

Carriage Hill Farm also helped to ferret out what kinds of reproduction toys and slates should be used.

Teachers "wear period styles," said Clements, and adopt the stern, crisp instructional style of the time.

Students typically arrive at 9 a.m. with some knowledge of one-room schools. Once in their places, they are asked to put their heads down and close their eyes.

"Then we take them back to 1878," Clements said.

"When they take their heads up, we read a Bible verse, because they didn't have the pledge yet."

Instruction includes unison reading lead by a teacher; responsive readings, in which the class alternates with a student leader; and individual readings by students.

Students have to leave some modern things behind.

"No snack foods, no junk food," Clements said. "The only thing they can have is a bottle of water, because we don't have it here."

Instruction lasts until 1 p.m. with time for lunch, period games, and a class picture out front in the style of the three class pictures they have from the school's original days.

When the students are brought back to 2008, Clements said, they take part in compare and contrast exercises or review history time lines related to proficiency tests.

By then, they've grown accustomed to the acoustics that strike them when they enter the school earlier in the day — acoustics that carry echoes from the past.

——————————

Attention, children!

Those of you who have been paying attention all along know that 1,000 mostly fourth graders from Clark County visit the one-room Advance School on New Carlisle Pike every year for a trip back in time.

What you may not know is that, to do this, the school needs money to buy slates, chalk, McGuffey Readers and to cover the expense of the children's trips to the school.

The Clark County Retired Teachers will have a One-Room School Cruise-In on Oct. 4 in Veterans Park in conjunction with the Springfield Kiwanis Club's Oktoberfest to raise funds for the school.

Entry fee is $10. Registration is 10 a.m. to noon, judging noon to 2 p.m. and awards presentation at 2:30 p.m. Athena Credit Union will provide 15 special awards, and dash plaques will go to the first 70 registered and top 35 finishers.

For details call Dave Speas at (937) 322-2374 or Connie Bost at (937) 399-9204 or e-mail beacon811@voyager.net.

Now, back to work, children!