An Oral History with Sylvia Harris Ekker, September 19, 1980

In this oral history interview, Sylvia Harris Ekker recounts her experiences as the first and last teacher at the Valley City school in Utah, teaching from 1928 to 1935 with a brief absence. She describes the one-room schoolhouse, her approach to correlating eight grades with up to 32 students, and the curriculum that emphasized separate subjects, music, and dramatics. Ekker also discusses her living arrangements, the challenges of a cold schoolhouse and snowy winters, and the lack of modern teaching equipment, leading to a reliance on nature and informal learning experiences like watching cattle branding. The interview also touches on the evolution of teaching methods, specifically the shift from phonics to sight reading and back, and her role as a census enumerator.