| Show Mathilda wasgood speller and looked forward to each Friday afternoon when spelling stayed up matches were held Prizes were given to the last Sometimesfive cent rubber eraser was given ones who Along with the spelling matches there were arithmetic and geography drills and diagramming of words great deal of memorizing went on in the early schools Mathilda Longfellow Hiawatha whispered memorize five and Recess times he recite was played hopscotch learned readings from Whittier Walt Whitman and One of the classes hadrule that if anyone had for waited to write the class for whisper Skeleton eagerly If thousand the weather and all marched very Principal rang to bring the unruly into line Valentine to receive were Day all permitted the children capes or shawls they jacks which were agate the bell there was and carried back to the school strict disciplinarians Holidays also jump the rope ball crack the whip Ginnie Duck and marbles the and in Armor marbles When it was stormy the girls spread wore on their desks or on the floor and played When times Tooked red and rooms some forward white the Valentine and lessons to with crepe hearts scurrying the children whip which anticipation paper-covered Tines The teachers were rawhide great to the box stood was used On Saint incorner had made At Christmas time the older boys would go into the mountains to get Pine or Juniper trees which would be decorated with circles of paper chains popcorn and cranberry strings Graduation from the eighth grade was given by the students The girls carried bachelor buttons Mathilda was lovely in adorned with ribbons and lace and starched were handsome in their knickerbocker pants collars and large bowties big event withfine program little baskets of lilacs and her long white ruffled dress petticoat underneath The boys and white shirts with wide stiff The first graduating class from the eighth grade of the Mt Pleasant Public School was in 1898 There was no High School there until 1908 so it wasbig step for the graduates to go to Ephraim to Snow Academy after eighth grade graduation 1891 isTong time ago School day memories are precious whether they are made in 1891 or in 1975 The early schools prepared our parents and grandparents to cope with the society in which they lived as the educational methods of today prepare their grandchildren fornew and different society Each one worked toward the same goal of building strong character and teaching students to get along well with people This is the foundation of educational practices whether in Mathildaday or in our day Source History Lund in of Mathilda Lund from Family Records Diary of Christian Church HistrianOffice These Qur Fathers 36 |
