Thomas Packard “School Days”
The following is an essay, written by Thomas Packard in 1973
West Hill School, where I started my education, stood on Summit Street, near the corner of Governor Hill Road, which led to my house about 60 rods westward. The schoolhouse stood about 50 feet back from the road on the west side. We had a fine grassy lawn from the building to the edge of the road. Across the road, eastward, was Mr. Loud’s pasture, now a blueberry and woodlot. The surroundings on the other side are much the same now as when I went to school, except the field is now unmowed for some years.
A path led across the lawn to the front door of the schoolhouse, which was on the front or east side, near the south corner. Left of the door was a flagpole where we boys ran up a flag each morning. Entering the door, you were in an entryway about 10 ft square, from the further side of which another door led to the wood room, which took up the rest of the south end of the building. At the left was a shelf for lunch pails and coats. Under the shelf was a row of hooks for coats, and rubbers and over shoes in a row on the floor underneath. Each hook oftentimes had a name under it.
A door in the right led to the school room, which was about 20 ft square, with two windows on each of the east, north, and west sides. These windows of large glass could be opened from the bottom or from the top giving good ventilation. The stove was near the center as we entered, and more to the left, the teacher’s desk. The scholars’ desks faced south, with the higher ones at the back side of the room. The pupils did not face the windows when studying. From the west windows was a fine view of Deer Hill and Rice Hill, beyond my father’s farm, which was in the foreground.
The room had white painted walls, and a varnished ceiling. The floor was beautiful wide spruce boards, oiled once a year. A very pleasant room on the whole. It had originally been lathe and plastered, but later this was covered with very wide thin boards, hand planed. This in turn had been spoiled with carvings and markings in the walls had been covered with 4-in sheathing and painted white. This made quite a snug room, and as I remember it, quite comfortably nearly all the time. I started in first grade but a week later was advanced to second with my cousin Marjorie. We had both learned a bit before starting to school from elder brothers and sisters.
Our teachers were all young girls, but most had had normal school training and did a good job training our minds. Most became married after a year or two in the town and so we are apt to have a new teacher each year.
The superintendent used to come once a week or so, at first by horse and buggy, but later in some of the early automobiles. Our music teacher, a Miss Julia Shaw, came in an early Stanley Steemer car, which was the best hill climber about at the time.
Here we were guided through eight grades and then most went to high school. My family was so near the school that we had to go home in time for chores and in summer we usually had an hour or two in the fields before chore time. Farmers needed all the help they could get from the family, especially in summer, and working with our parents was also a good education.
At noon, and at recess time of course, we had games outdoors if weather permitted. In winter we often were coasting in Father’s field. In summer we had to be out of the fields on account of the hay and other crops. “Hooray for the good old days!” Tom Packard 1973
