Homework for art class was more fun. I did some nice things for that class. In speech we had much to prepare. Instead, I would stop by the library on the way to class for material or formulate an “off the wall” subject to speak extemporaneously about. It worked for me and I did well. When I had off-campus classes later, I did a lot of homework. I would formulate what I was going to do or write in my mind for days ahead of time. Then, late in the evenings when my family was tucked in for the night, I would write my papers. I was older with many experiences that helped so much in writing a good paper I often got A+. I never could figure that out. An A is supposed to be perfect. How can anything be better than that? (Pictured: Lois' yearbook photo for her second year at Moorhead State Teacher’s College.)
Call today for a tour and consultation at (320) 487-4398. LEARN MORE ›
The Story of Lois: Chapter Four
Chapter Four: School
Read Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1: The Beginning
Chapter 2: My House
Chapter 3:
Holidays
The Story of Lois Ann Meyer Bergeson
Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Aunt, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother …
By Lois Bergeson (Reprinted with Permission)
CHAPTER 4: SCHOOL
Where did you go to school?
We had no kindergarten, so our first taste of school was first grade. We went to a country school 2 ½ miles north of us. It was district #47 called Cheerful Nook. It was one large room with 2 skinny rooms as we came in the door. The first room held our water cooler. The water was carried from a well right next to the school. There were cupboards out there and I think mice! The second room was a coat hall, the end of which held shelves to hold our lunch boxes.
Before we could purchase tin boxes with pictures on them, we brought our lunch in a syrup pail. Sometimes the big boys had a fancy black box with a thermos bottle in the raised rounded cover. The big room had the desks hook onto others by wooden strips that slid on the floor. We had chalk boards, pull down maps, a globe, and pictures of Washington and Lincoln on the walls by our flag. There were wall hangers for lamps. We had a large heater with a metal jacket so kids would not get burned. The pupils close to the stove often were over heated and those farther away had cold feet.
In the room was a four-tier bookshelf with glass doors. This housed our meager library. My older brother’s favorite book was “Little Black Samba,” which is taboo now. My favorite book was “Farmer Boy’’ and another was “Caddie Woodlawn.” We had an organ with one good pedal for music. We loved singing, especially the patriotic songs. The rounds, such as ‘‘Three Blind Mice” and “Row, Row, Your Boat” made us laugh when we would get mixed up. The room had large oblong windows placed a little too high to be able to look out and daydream during class.
High school was Waubun High, home of the blue and white bombers. It was 8 ½ miles away. We were on a bus route. Our bus driver lived across the road from our farm, hence we were the first ones on the bus in the morning and last ones off at night. That got to be a 42-mile trip for us. Sometimes the bus driver would stop in Flom and do his grocery shopping before taking me home. It could be almost 6 PM before my ride was over. One winter it was so stormy that I stayed in town with another family. My younger brother stayed home and had to walk 2 ½ miles through the drifts to catch the bus. He would get up and see what direction the wind was from. He would either walk to Flom or catch the bus at a corner across the fields. There were no rotary snowplows then. Plowing snow consisted of plowing a track. The next time it blew, the road would fill up. The banks kept getting higher and higher.
College was Moorhead State Teacher’s College. I was the first in the family to go to college. My dad, who didn’t finish grade school because he had to work the farm, saw to it that we kids all got to attend college. That is, all except my older brother who had diabetes and died in his 30’s. My dad had tears in his eyes when my youngest brother graduated. Dad was a very smart man and he wanted his children to have what he couldn’t have. My older sister gave up a Concordia scholarship to go to Seattle to help in the war effort. Her college education came about when she was married and her Navy husband had been transferred to Jacksonville, FL. My sister went back to school and got her teaching degree. My college was a two-year degree. Those days were very fun. I practice-taught at Oakmound, a two roomed country school with living quarters and a live-in cook, janitor and 2 teachers. Four of us interning were in a large room with 4 beds and 4 desks We stayed there during the week and went back to the dorm on weekends. The other half of interning was at the campus school in kindergarten.
Were you given much homework?
In those days we were given time in school to finish all work. In country school, we did it while the other classes were meeting up front of the room. In high school we had study halls. Some of those were unsupervised. They became more like a chatting hour. College was where there was more homework. I don’t think I utilized my time well.
Did you ever play hooky from school?
When one rode a bus, it was pretty hard to do that. When I was a freshman, some of us found out we could get out of school if we went with Catholic friends to a funeral. We didn’t have a clue as to who the deceased was, but we would get excused to go. When I was a senior, a few of us rode with the school secretary to Mahnomen to buy a present for our English teacher who was retiring. We had fun then as we took as much time as we could and even had a treat at a café before we came back to school. The school secretary was very flexible and liked fun, too.
Did you like school?
Yes, I liked school, maybe not so much for the learning as for the social part. I know, if I had buckled down, I could have had a lot better marks. When I started high school, my baby brother was born. At that time my mother told me she didn’t expect me to do as well as my sister did, (valedictorian) as Mom was going to need me to help her. Then, of course, I didn’t. It wasn’t until my junior year that I realized I could have done as well as she, because I had all A’s then. In college I was a B student. I was way too busy with dates to study much.
What classes did you like? What classes did you hate?
Grade school, I liked reading and English, especially the prose part. In high school I still liked English, music and drama. In college my best class was speech. The actual practice teaching was my very favorite. I love the interaction with children. As for hating? I didn’t really hate the classes, but I didn’t get on well with my Home Economics teacher and typing was stressful. The typing teacher stood right behind me every time we had a speed test and it made me so nervous. In Algebra, my teacher teased me so much that I hated to go. Girls that blush always get teased the most. Believe it or not, I was shy, especially in my freshman year. Still my classmates saw me as a leader. They elected me to be president my senior year.
Stay tuned next week for Chapter 5: Recreation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lois grew up with three siblings and graduated from Wauben High School in Wauben, MN. She then attended and graduated from Moorhead Teacher’s College in Moorhead, MN. Lois taught in Redwood Falls, MN until she had kids of her own and her family moved to Ortonville, MN. Lois had three sons with her husband Ray, and she spent 15 years teaching Kindergarten in Ortonville. Lois now lives at Fairway View Senior Communities in a Catered Living apartment.
Throughout her life, Lois has enjoyed many pastimes including sketching and painting, hardanger embroidery, rosemaling, writing, lecturing at church, and singing. She recently sang a solo at the Christmas Cantata at the age of 91. Lois is known for her good humor and storytelling abilities. When asked the one thing she would like people to know about her, she replied, “Life is good.”
Fairway View Senior Communities
Contact Us
