White School 1946 - Story below picture Front Row: Billy Burkhardt, Landon Teets, Jim Burkhardt, Gordon Sechler, Johnny Karns Second Row: Donna Sechler, Gail Sechler, Jean Haggerty, Nancy McClelland, Nancy Yeager, Patty Teets, Mary Jane Haggerty Third Row: Gary Hosack, Chuck Karns, Bill Karns, ?, Donna Stearns, Grace Karns, Burt Shontz, teacher Recollections of the School and A Story about how Dad saw that the School had Textbooks Dad and The Books One year when I was going to White School we had a serious problem with books. They were very old, had missing or torn pages, & there were not enough to go around. Dad approached Billy Smith, who I assume was a school director. He was also Lulu Miller’s father & lived on the N E corner of Rte. 8 & Pone Lane. The barn sat close to the road on the corner. I assume the subject was presented several times to Billy Smith because one night after supper Dad’s patience had worn thin & he took himself down to pay a visit to Billy. I remember it was dark when he left. After a while he came he came back with some boxes of books. They had been "hidden" in straw in the barn. I don't know if they were really hidden or had been put there to help keep them dry. Also, I'm not sure how Dad knew he had books in the barn. I do know our side of the township always felt Congress Hill was the "fair haired school" & White School the “ugly step-sister". Can't you just see Dad knocking on the door and saying to Billy "Get your coat, we’re going to the barn and get some books". I don't think many people would have argued with Dad especially if it was a 'justice for all situation'. I'm pretty sure he would have won. Anyhow, the next morning Dad delivered the books to White School & everyone lived happily ever after ! P.S. Also I don't know if the barn had electricity or if they had to poke around in the dark. I'm sure it wasn't very well lit even if there was electricity. And, I don't remember what kind of books they were or for what grade level. He must have known what he was going after. Sorry I can't be more specific - I was only 7 or 8 at the time & not privy to much "insider info." Recollections of White school I attended White School 1944-45, 1st grade; 1945-46 2nd/3rd grade; & 1946-47 4th grade. The school closed after that year. It was located approximately 1/4 mile N. of the Polk Cut-off on Rte. 8 on the east side of the road. In recent memory, Paul Showers had a tractor & garden supply store just a little south of where the school stood. About 1949 the school building & contents were auctioned. Ralph Eakin bought the building & had it moved to the N W corner of Rte. 8 & the Polk Cut-off and made it into a home. It sat/sits just behind the store on the north side of the lot. It was heated by a pot belly stove that sat in the middle of room & a little to the back, which was actually the front of the building. If you sat near the stove in the winter your crayons melted & if you sat by a window you froze. The teacher was responsible for starting the fire in morning & keeping it going all day. It burned coal which was stored in the wood shed behind the school along with some wood for kindling. The boys’ outhouse was behind the woodshed & the girls’ was farther back on the north side of the property. The girls’ was at least a "2 holer", maybe 3, & one of them was lower for the little people. I don't know who kept them clean. We got water from a hand pump that was in the front yard. It was up on a platform & I can remember climbing up it to be able to get on the back of one of the boys’ bikes so I could go for a ride There was a stage at the front of the room (back of the building) that was 2-3 steps higher than the classroom. There were black scrim curtains that could be pulled when needed and there were some shelves that were used for supply storage. Also in the room we had a long recitation bench on the left facing the stage. The various classes (grades 1-8) were called up when it was their turn for lessons & recitations. It was long enough for 6-8 students. On the right just in front of the stage was a tall (from a 2nd grader’s perspective) stool. If you were bad you had to sit there facing a corner. There was a map case that was quite impressive. It was made of oak & had a hinged door & hung on the wall. It was about 4 feet long & 18 inches tall & held quite a few maps that pulled down like a window blind. It was so old a lot of the western states were still territories. The U. S. maps were in several sections & there were also world maps. Some desks were single & some were double. They all had inkwells we dipped our pens in & everyone had a “felted paper” blotter to blot the wet ink during our penmanship class. At recess we played tag, hide & seek, Rover Red Rover, andy,andy over, or crack the whip & we jumped rope. On rainy days inside we would play jacks, pick up sticks & do puzzles. The girls quite often took their dolls & paper dolls to play with at recess. My 1st grade teacher (1944-45) was Mrs. Barr. I don't know anything about her - not even her first name. She probably was 50 + at that time. I remember her as being rather tall & having dark hair. In 2nd grade (1945-46) Mr. Burt Shontz was my teacher. He was an older man & had taught at several Sandycreek Twp. schools over the years. He lived across from the school & south 2-3 houses. That year there were only two of us in 2nd grade, Patty Teets & myself, and he decided we were capable of doing 3rd grade work. Voila, we were 3rd graders. Alice Keith was my 4th grade (1946-47) teacher. She was a super teacher and very nice lady. She lived in Franklin and her husband drove her out to school every morning & picked her up in the evening rain or shine. We all walked to and from school, some of the boys rode their bikes, & we walked home and back at lunch time, again rain or shine. There was a set of stone steps (4 or 5) with a hand rail which led from the road up to the school yard and on either side of the property a worn diagonal foot path up the little hill we used that most of the time. Then the road was only 2 lanes & a little lower than it is now so the school sat up. Contributor Nancy McClelland Sadler Transcriber Sandra Everett severett@everettinfrared.com