Schoolmarm

She was a mere eighteen when she began her teaching career, Never dreaming that a teacher's life could be so austere. The challenges she met weren't mentioned at "Normal School". She coped, teaching readin', ritin', 'rithmatic and the Golden Rule. A one-room school in Indiana was where she began her profession. Cultivating young minds was to become her lifetime obsession. Day began with prayer and the kids singing, "Good Morning To You!" Patriotism was stressed so the "Pledge of Allegiance" was said too. Among her duties was stoking the fire in the pot-belly stove, And clearing a path in the snow to the "facilities" in the grove. On wintry days the room was filled with the aroma of savory soup, Simmering on the stove, that she had prepared for her little group. There were six classes in the schoolroom where she taught. As she dealt with one class, the others were easily distraught! In her desk a frog, mouse or garter snake she might find. If the culprit was found, her ruler would warm his behind! At the end of the day when the children were at last released, She sometimes felt she had been training a horde of wild beasts! But she loved the challenge and the kids and she persevered. There was no one in that prairie farmland so loved and revered! Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired (© All Rights Reserved)