A while ago Nelson and I were running errands and decided to take the back roads home instead of the highway (for 28 miles). He said, “There’s lots of interesting stuff off the beaten trail that nobody gets to see.”
Driving along winding roads past country fields, colorful farm equipment, and family vegetable stands, we rounded a bend and came to something significant: an old-fashioned, one-room school- house. Its foundation was of rocks, the rest of it built with small red bricks.
Nelson pulled over so we could take a closer look. A plaque verified its name (Spring Creek School), age (1886), district (No. 3), and current owner (Three Oaks Township Parks and Recreation).
We tried to imagine what students were like as they attended this school 127 years ago, wondering how many studied at once. Though the door was locked, through a window we saw a giant pot-bellied stove and later learned it was original to the school, along with the thick plank flooring and wood-paneled walls.
Immediately I thought of the “Little House on the Prairie” books, much-loved and often- read in our home. Laura Ingalls was a school girl in the 1880’s too, so the children who attended Spring Creek School probably lived lives very similar to hers. Later we learned the “modern” brick school had replaced a cherry-wood, one-room log school built in 1844 on that spot.
Far more important than how the little red schoolhouse came into being, though, or even how well it’s held up through the decades, were the connections made between those who passed through its door. Childhood friendships, student-teacher relationships, mentoring situations, and student-to-student tutoring all probably mattered longer than just school hours. When people left for the day, for the year, or even permanently, what remained?
We learn in Scripture that relationships are really all that matter: (1) God, Jesus, and the Spirit to each other; (2) members of that Trinity to us; and (3) people to people. How we relate is critical (both for now and for eternity) and the Lord steadily supplies opportunities for us to practice making wise choices on both counts. If and when we fail, he doesn’t give up on us but soon provides another go-round at exactly what we messed up the first time.
Children and adults alike can be kind to each other or act badly, choosing to either inspire or discourage others. But in wondering about the children and teachers who used the little Spring Creek School, I like to think that solid friendships were made during the 1880’s and beyond, positive influences that lasted through future generations, all the way till today.
Wanting to find out, Nelson walked to a nearby farm to ask a few questions. Approaching the stand of fresh strawberries out in front, he asked the woman there if she knew anything about the school. “Oh yes,” she said, handing him a pint of berries. “My grandfather was a student there, and our farm here was his farm.”
And she still lives there, just across the road from Spring Creek School.
“Live in harmony with one another…. Never be wise in your own sight.” (Romans 12:16)
Today’s devotional brought back some great memories, for I attended a one-room rural school until consolidation sent us by bus to a neighboring town as I entered eighth grade. The small group of students were like a family; our teacher brought homemade soup for everyone on cold winter days and we celebrated each other’s birthdays. And we learned from each other as the younger students heard the recitations of the more advanced grades, enabling those basic educational elements to be deeply ingrained in our thinking. It was a wonderful experience that I’ll always cherish as we learned to work together and learn about a wider world from some of our classmates who were children of immigrants.
Although I am not from the era discussed here, I have great memories of a one-room school as well. Mine was in Wisconsin, had neither telephone nor running water, and only a single teacher for never more than 20 students in all eight grades. We received a solid education, though, and did quite well. My sister won the Wisconsin state spelling bee and I ended up attending Harvard on a scholarship. Many others went on to college and successful careers, perhaps due to the personalized education we received. Thanks for bringing back the memories.