One Room Country School

I started kindergarten in 1946;   Eddy Elementary
School on Ninth St. in St.Clair, Michigan.  I learned to color with fat crayons on Newsprint,
sing and act out Nursery Rhymes.   Mrs. Gliem was my teacher, and  Alma Yost
was her assistant.  Ms Yost had long hair and long red finger-nail polish and was very nice.


The summer of my 6th year we moved to the Layle Farm on St.Clair Hwy,  The 2-Story Brick
Georgian Colonial  was built in  1869 by my Great Uncle  Frank and Aunt  Annie Layle.

The School I went to was the Carlton School at the SE  corner of St.Clair Hwy.  and Indian Trail.
Miss Foley was my teacher.  She was mean....according to everyone that had her for a teacher.  (Her boyfriend had been killed in WWI.)
I got licked a lot on my hands with a wooden ruler,  My crime was talking.

Miss Foley was paid a poverty wage.  She came early to build the coal fire in the basement.
Bill Beier and Pat Burroughs would help her with the fire, bring the water in from the pump -
out back,   for the chemical toilets and sweep out on Friday night.

Bill and Pat had gone to kindergarten  at the Carlton School.  They had learned the alphabet,
the sounds of the letters, sight words and were reading.  I hadn't been taught these things.  I
was  ridiculed for being behind in my studies.

The older kids would take the younger kids in coat room and study with  them using flash
cards,--for sight words, times table, etc.

The main sport was base-ball.  We would go to other one-room schools to play ball...Fridays.
We would all pile into Miss Foley's car, Nancy in the front, most everyone piled deep into
the back seat, and the boys,(Bill, Pat, Alex, Bruce) in the trunk. This was long before
anyone thought of seat belts.

One year it was decided that we needed a back-stop and bases.  The men got together to
talk about it.  Someone said they could get Diamond Crystal salt bags for bases  and their wife
could sew the sand in.  Someone else said they could get the 2x4s for the back-stop,
and some else said the could get the chicken wire, nails and brads.  They decided to meet
again on Saturday to build the back-stop.  I don't know if any money changed hands.


St.Clair and Marine City Schools were combined.

This year the prediction is that there will be approximately 30% fewer students.

The  (St. Clair- Marine City )- East China Schools  have  over-built school buildings but want
to build another building , with a more central location.

Bill and Pat both became attorneys;  Got there early education in a old one -room house,
without running water or flush toilets, without a janitor, or hot lunch program.  Physical
Education was walking to school, and doing farm work.

I was eight years old, My Brother, Joe was 4 years old.  I taught Joe how to read before he started  Carlton School.   When Joe was 5 yrs old and I was  9yrs old --Joe could beat me at Canasta,  He could read the rules, and remember and apply the rules.                                                                                     After he graduated  from St.Clair High School with honors,
Married his best friend from 4-H --  Chickie/ Linda , then spent 3 years in the Peace Corp.  -
in Peru, Worked for the Ag. Dep't. while studying Law at George Washington University, Ran 3 Miles a day, Graduated with honors, was a major player on the Law  Firm  that brought down Enron.


If you want to save money why don't you cut out the foot-ball program.  Foot-ball
is a brutal game were kids knees are destroyed for life.