by Jennifer Johnson • Daily News
Published/Last Modified on Monday, September 22, 2008 12:04 PM CDT
TRAVERSE COUNTY, MINN. — Students from Campbell-Tintah School stepped back in time Friday and got a taste of education inside a one-room school house.
Fifth and sixth graders from Campbell, Minn., were the first to visit the newly renovated school house in Traverse County, a historic building located 10 miles southwest of the town, since it shut down in 1954. The school was built in 1891.
"A day in a rural school is pretty different from what you people have experienced," said Marieta Maudal, the last instructor at the school before it closed.
Here, Campbell-Tintah students Emily Viger and Tristan Walter sit beside Marieta Maudal, who last taught at the school in 1954, and check out a few lessons from the old days. Students drew random numbers indicating a certain grade level so they could view that particular curriculum. Photo by Jennifer Johnson
Maudal gave a brief history on Country School District 44, a school house that had been moved around a few times before landing in its present spot. The number indicates the building order.
"This is District 44, so it was not built right away," she said. Five school houses in the county remain standing today.
Basic reading, arithmetic and cooperative planning might have started off the day at a rural school.
"There were also opening exercises in the morning that usually consisted of singing," said Maudal.
Each class had a president and secretary, who would get together and split the chores among students, such as cleaning blackboards and pounding erasers, Maudal said.
Bob Beyer and Dawayne Novak, former students of the school and friends, decided to revamp Country School District 44 after their school reunion two years ago.
"I've always loved old school houses, and Bob and I got to talking," said Novak, who lives in Plymouth, Minn. "The building was in really bad repair, and we wanted to save this for future generations."
Beyer, Novak and their spouses started renovating the structure a year ago, and put the final touches on it this summer. Beyer constructed the present bell tower from a photograph, and purchased the bell at an auction sale in North Dakota.
"I had to teach (Novak) how to be a carpenter," joked Beyer, who lives a mile away from the building.
Jacqueline Johns, former student of the school and Beyer's sister, traveled from Fresno, Calif., just for the school's opening day.
"We've got another one coming from New York City," she said.
Cambell-Tintah students participated in a few activities during their almost three hour "day" at school, including a fairy tale guessing game and a five-minute recess.
"They said they had a great time," said Superintendent Lee Kulland, after the trip. "They didn't return until 11:45 a.m., and they were reciting poetry and stories on the way back."
