Following is a short history of each school before the consolidation:

Gilman Mines School - 1953/1954

Grades 1 - 8

 Note: Highland Ridge School is not mentioned in the above articles.

I'm not sure how it was involved in the consolidations of the 1950's.

Could anyone share what you might know?

Note from Dean Blegen ('61) - 7-26-2011: "Ron Odalen jus told me that the El Paso school had 37 students in his 8th grade year, which was 1957. The teacher, Mrs. Neilson had health problems at the end of the school year. Ron and Mary Bjornson both said that that was the last year the El Paso school was open, yet the date of closing on the website says 1958. Maybe it was the same school year but just figured at the beginning or end of the same school year.  I think all of that would add up to splitting that school up between two new schools or at least spinning some students off to another school. That would likely be the Sunnyside School as that’s not too far from El Paso, but it belongs to the Ellsworth School System."

Note from Helen Holerud ('56) - 7-27-2011: "Highland Ridge School closed in 1951 and after that everyone was bused to Spring Valley for school. They didn't consolidate with any other school." Scroll down to read Helen's memories of Highland Ridge School.

If you have any additional information re the history of Highland School, please let me know by e-mailing me at klolson@warpdriveonline.com.

Thanks!

MEMORIES OF GOING TO A ONE ROOM SCHOOL

Following are some memories of SVHS graduates who had the unique experience of attending a one-room country school during their elementary school years. This is an era that ended in the Spring Valley area more than 50 years ago and these memories are worthy of preservation.

Please consider sharing what you remember if you, too, attended one of these country schools during our youth.

Karen (Traynor) Cole's (Class of '61) memories (with input from her sisters: Rita Lynum, Maureen Crossett, and Teresa Sopko):

COUNTRY KIDS AND COUNTRY SCHOOLS - Olivet School

   Approximately two-thirds of the students in the SVHS graduating class of 1961 received their early education in country schools. A few years after we left them, the schools were consolidated into larger centers, more like our town classmates experienced. But for so many of us, having one teacher dealing with eight grades in one room was all we knew.
   At times, I thought we country kids were deprived of good facilities, better books, more classmates. But there were many benefits to the country schools as well. Children ages six to fourteen (or more) played and worked together at recess, on Arbor Day – when we cleaned every inch of the school as well as the grounds – for Christmas programs, basket socials and so on. Those modest little schools were the heart of their farming communities. The local 4-H Club often hosted square dances. Hallowe’en parties gave us all a chance to dress up; as we got older, we were thrilled to be able to organize the Haunted House in the no-longer-used upstairs of Olivet School, where we terrorized the younger kids (In Grandma Traynor’s day, there were two teachers, one up, one down – she was one of them). On Valentine’s Day we gave cards to everyone and hoped we’d receive an equal number back. We built snow forts and waged war as a group for much of the winter.
    At recess in the fall and spring, we tore out of the building yelling which position we wanted to play for Workup or announcing we wanted to be the captain for Red Rover, which almost every child played. Occasionally, people picked on children who had some obvious flaw, at least in kids’ eye. I recall that we Catholics were called “Cat-lickers,” so we called the Protestants “Pot-lickers.” Not bad when we consider the epithets kids call each other today.
    Avid readers could consume the entire small library before moving on to Spring Valley, but those were great books. Aspiring teachers got an opportunity to teach the younger children and mark their papers while the teacher dealt with the older classes. Once a week the teacher would read a couple of chapters from a book to the whole school. I don’t recall people causing a disturbance during that time. We all sang together led by the teacher playing the piano. Sometimes we listened to “Let’s Sing” and other shows from “School of the Air” on the radio. Occasionally, we’d have a spelling bee or play “Clap in; Clap Out” as a group.
    Our teachers were amazing, and I must praise Isabelle O’Connell, Blanche Hogan, and Ellen Cooke who taught me everything I needed to go on and make a success of my life. They never even got a coffee break, except with lunch.
    Although we might not have had other classmates to share our new adventure in SVHS, most of us knew people from catechism, Bible school and other church events. And before long, we knew everyone. My little country school holds a fond place in my heart. It was heartbreaking to watch it become derelict and then disappear altogether. It took dynamite to bring that tough little school down.

Helen (Holerud) Lorentson's Memories (Class of 1956):

Highland Ridge School

    Two log schools were built on land near the Lousy Creek in 1876 and used until 1885 – the second one was built in 1885 and used until 1929. In 1929 a wood frame building was built by two men who lived in Cady Township, named Mark and Bill Tio. It was named Highland Ridge School and was used until 1951 when it closed and all the kids were bused to Spring Valley to school.
    It was a wood frame building that was long and narrow and had an upstairs and a full basement. It opened at Christmas time in 1929 – the school children got to pick the name for it. In the basement there was a big coal burning furnace that liked to fill the whole upstairs with smoke at times. There also was the neatest place for kids to hide behind it and get warm. Upstairs there was a long hallway that had hooks for our jackets and the stone water jug of which we drank out of the same dipper!!! Behind the school was 2 outhouses – one for boys and one for the girls. The kids that wanted to earn some money took turns carrying water to school on a stick with 2 nails in the middle of it so that the tall narrow pail wouldn’t slide from side to side. Water was usually carried from the Herman Holerud or Matt Hampton home. We got $2.00 a month a piece for doing that and I remember it was so nice to have some money to buy Mothers and Fathers day presents.

   At the end of the long hall there was what was called a reading room and we also put our lunch pails on the shelves in there. Most of the time our lunch was a sugar sandwich and a cookie! The main room was where the desks were all lined up in neat rows for all eight grades to sit. One teacher taught all eight grades. In the back of the school room up 3 steps was a little room called the teachers room. The school did have a telephone that the kids loved to take turns calling to get the time to set the wind up clock that hung on the south wall.. The school got electricity in 1947.

   We loved to put on big Christmas programs with plays and poems to recite and singing – the school would be packed with all the neighbors around coming to watch us. We would then get a bag with some peanuts and candy and an apple – which all the kids thought was the greatest
    All eight of us Holerud children went to school there, and then in 1951 when I was going into the 8th grade, the school closed and was sold to Marvin Anderson who tore it down and built his new house with the lumber. Pat and Bob Pinkston live in the house now and it just happens to be an 1/8 of a mile down the road from my home.

Rosalie (Holden) Meier's Memories (Class of '53):

GRADE SCHOOL DAYS AT OLIVET SCHOOL

I started to Olivet School in the Fall of 1941. I was very young, having just turned 5 in February. My parents wanted me to go that year as I had a sister in the 8th grade. We lived over 2 1⁄2 miles from school and so were transported Memories include the long brown stockings we wore in the winter-time. Since we had all 8 grades in the school, when it was time for our class to recite, our teacher would instruct us to “stand, pass, and be seated” in the front of the schoolroom. Sometimes we would have our recitation time around the big old wood stove. Olivet School was a two story building. In earlier times, as I understand it, there were classes upstairs as well as downstairs. During the time I went to school there we would play upstairs during the noon hours when the weather was too bad to play outside. We also had an old woodshed and I recall Joan Traynor and I playing with our dolls out there (guess we were allowed to bring them to school). We also had an old merry-go-round on the playground that always seemed to be broken down. The recess and noon-hour games we played outside were Red Rover, Tag, and of course softball. We used to have box lunch socials where the mothers and girls in the school would prepare a lunch and put it in a box decorated with crepe paper, etc. and the men and older boys would bid on the box. We then had to eat the lunch with whoever bought our box!! Of course the Christmas programs were always a special time with our recitations, plays, etc. We had one teacher, Gert Sweeney , who really promoted music in our school. We had an orchestra with all ages taking part, shaking bean cans (dry beans in a can) and also using oatmeal boxes with sticks as drums. She also provided a couple of guitars which we tried to play, and I learned to cord on the piano in time to the music - thus the beginning of my music interest!! A lot of times, the older children would help the younger children with their school work. I can remember sitting on the steps going upstairs helping first and second graders with reading, etc. To this day, when I smell pears I think of my lunches I would bring to school in the fall of the year when my mother would be canning pears. These are but a few of the memories. They were fun days and I am glad to have been a part of that era.

Helen Holerud Lorentson's Memories (Class of '56):

From Highland Ridge Elementary School To 8th Grade in Spring Valley Elementary School

Highland Ridge, my little one room school house closed when I was going into the 8th grade. I left a school that with all 8 grades didn't have near as many kids in it as my new 8th grade class did in Spring Valley. I went from Mrs. Wallesverd, whom I had had for a teacher ever since the second grade; a Lady that treated me as much like a daughter as a pupil. I remember loving it when she would French braid my hair, and when we had a snow storm so she couldn't get home she would stay over night at our house. I went from this to MISS HELEN CROWELY in Spring Valley, a lady that I had never laid eyes on before! Now to a timid, bashful country kid that I was, coming alone without any other classmates from my old school -- IT was very SCARY. I soon learned that Miss Crowley was a very nice lady and I grew to really like her and respect her. It helped to know a few of the kids from Sunday school and I had the advantage of knowing Bob Langer as my sister worked for his Mom keeping house.

I wish I could remember some of the things that happened in that classroom but kind of think I don't remember because I probably don't want to!! All the kids were great and we soon all got into our share of trouble together, Miss Crowley had to get out her ruler a few times. Of course even in those days everyone had their boy and girl crushes and I guess I did too. The biggest crush I had was on a boy named Jim Tabor whom only some of our graduating class will remember because he moved a way between 8th grade and our Freshman year. I only saw him once after that and was saddened and shocked to have Bob tell me at one of our class reunions that he had passed away.

I was quite a Tom Boy at that time (don't think I ever quit) and having to dress up for 8th grade graduation was quite a trying experience. I remember Rosemary being a great friend to me and invited me to her house when we had to get ready for something. My fondest memories of that year I guess was going to the movies and holding hands, going to Rosemary's house, getting to stay down for a game and going to Bob's house with Lucille and having supper - plus a lot of other fun things in and out of school. Pretty tame stuff from what I see the 7th and 8th graders doing now!
I think it has taken a lot of us to have gotten older to really appreciate all the memories of our school days and classmates.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!

Barb Blegen Litzell's Memories (Class of '56):

Memories of a One-Room Country School

How many of us attended one room schools???? It appears that at least 37 of us did attend a one room school sometime during our grade years. The one room schools in our area were closed starting in the 50's and all we closed by the early 60's.

The memories of one room schools are many. The long walk to school (sometimes up to 2 miles) started our days and then the walk home after school gave us rosy cheeks and runny noses! These walks were in any weather- rain, snow, sub zero temps – we did it all. Never knowing for sure if a snow storm was bad enough to close school we would make the long journey only to find NO teacher and NO school. Then it was back home playing in the snow all the way. Our snow pants and boots were not water proof so the wool snow pants and coats would be soaked and our feet were cold.

The lower grades had longer recess than the upper grades so the little kids were on their own for the first part of recess. A good time to get into mischief. When the weather was rainy or very cold we would have our recess inside the school. Sometimes we would play in the basement which was not much more than a furnace and wood or coal stored there for the fuel Other times we would play in the cloak rooms (in our case we had a center hall which was always cold – no heat). But we did have fun and the memories are many.

One room schools had lotza “programs”. Halloween was always special and often the parents (at least the moms) were invited for the “Halloween Party” which consisted of poems and songs and maybe a small skit or two.. This was followed by food, bobbing for apples and lots of fun.

We always looked forward to the Christmas Program. We started practicing for the program in early November. Sometime when it was getting close to “program time” we would get the stage down from its stored space and put it in the front of the room. The program consisted of plays, skits, recitations, and music. A tree was put up and decorated and gifts exchanged. This was looked forward to by all of us. The moms always brought and served food after all of these functions. We all received a bag of candy nuts and maybe an apple from Santa.

Valentines Day was special because of the Valentine exchange!

Once during each school year the Superintendent of Schools would visit the one room school. We were on our best behavior the days she/he showed up.

Another memory was the day the Coca Cola truck showed up and gave each of us a bottle of Coke and a ruler. What a treat!!! That would often be the only bottle of soda we would have until he showed up the next year.

At least 2 or 3 times during the spring our teacher and a couple of mom’s that drove would load up all the kids and we would go to a nearby one room school to challenge them in a game of soft ball. Other times we hosted the ball game.

The last day of school was celebrated by having a HUGE Picnic. Everybody in the school district came even those that did not have children in school. The highlight was having a 5 gallon can of ice cream from the dairy in SV and all getting ice cream cones for dessert along with all the other goodies.

Nancy Karnes' Memories (Class of '56): Nancy passed away in 2008.

ONE ROOM SCHOOL

I went to Reed School in the corner of Pierce County Grades 1 – 3. I went there because my older cousin, Carol, was in 8th grade and she helped me along being I was only five years old when I started. Orval Knegendorf, Wilbur Fuhrman, and Delores Freiberg were all in my class there. I can’t remember much except walking to school and home in the winter. The older boys – Freiberg boys – would pull me on their sleds. Sometimes my Dad picked me up with the horses and sleigh.

In third grade I went to Cady Lucas School when my sister Kathryn started school. It was in the corner of Dunn and St. Croix Counties. There were four kids in my class. My teacher, Mary Simon, was a very strict, old maid teacher. She would slap our fingers with a yardstick and sit you in the corner. We had a wood stove in the classroom and we all carried wood from a woodshed. It had pans of water on the top and kids would bring jars of food and heat them there for lunch. There was no well, so a farmer delivered the water in milk cans.

We played games outside like fox and goose, tag, softball, and sometimes we’d play other schools. The last day of school was always softball and good food for picnics. We had a real stage, with a curtain, for the Christmas programs and we would practice and practice. I had piano lessons so I would play for the programs and be scared and nervous!

After eighth grade graduation I went to SVHS, where I met up with Delores, Wilbur, and Orval. We all rode the Wilson bus to SVHS.

My sister and I joined other kids and walked home from school, biked when we were older, and sometimes skied in the winter cross country.