Pioneer Teacher

The teacher arose from her chair behind the desk. She had a ruler in hand as she walked toward the board and pointed to a specific location on the map. There were only two students sitting in their desks in the one-room schoolhouse. I watched from the back of the room. I was amazed at the transformation that came over this lady as she stood in front of the room. That lady was my mother, and the students were two of her great grandchildren. When we first stepped into the furnished old schoolhouse beside Garfield County Museum, I told the kids to sit in the desks, and Grandma Buck would be their teacher. 

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Years before, my mother taught in a one-room schoolhouse near Barber on the Montana prairie. She received her teaching certificate shortly out of high school. She had gained some experience teaching while still in high school when she substituted for a teacher, Leona Manning, who was on leave from the Grey Cliff School. Teaching was really nothing new to her. It was in her blood. When she was just a youngster in the first grade, she went home from school every day and taught her little sister everything she had learned that day. Her sister started school the next year but was automatically promoted to the next grade because she already knew everything the second-year students knew. 

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Teaching in a one-room schoolhouse was a bit different though. This pioneer teacher served as custodian, principal, counselor, nurse and athletic director. There were lesson plans to prepare for her 13 students in 7 grades. She was responsible to teach reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, history, geography, grammar and other academics. The fire had to be started in the stove every morning to have the school warm for the students. If weather permitted, they had recess outside. One piece of playground equipment still stands at the site where Cavill School once stood. I can almost see children laughing and playing around the Giant Stride, running so fast their feet would leave the ground. I remember visiting the Cavill family and Cavill School when I was small. Not long after, the school was torn down. Since then a plaque has been erected to commemorate the teachers and the students. The school was named in honor of the Cavill family who were the first settlers in the community. Fred Cavill was on the school board and was responsible for acquiring the teacher. Mama lived in the three-room teacherage beside the schoolhouse. On weekends she would stay with the Cavills or visit the Sherods.

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When my parents married, my mother had to give up her position at Cavill School. She continued her teaching profession even though it was just for one little girl who lived in the mountains. It wasn’t long before she taught her own children when they came of school age. She continued to receive pay as teacher of the mountain school.

Seeing my mother in front of the classroom was like stepping back in time. I saw my mother transform into a young schoolteacher. Her eyes lit up and twinkled as her countenance changed. It was evident that she had a love for teaching and learning. Sunlight fell on my mother’s face as the door of the little schoolhouse closed behind us. Was that a twinkle that lingered in her eyes? Though the encounter with the young schoolteacher had been brief, it seemed that my mother walked with a lighter step.