1st Graders Go Back In Time

Going to school in the early 1900’s was a lot different than it is today. That was the consensus among first graders from Indian Creek Elementary.

They took a field trip to Usher’s Ferry Historic Village in Cedar Rapids.  The students and chaperones toured two homes, the one-room school, the bank, the general store, and other buildings.

At the school, they learned that no matter what the weather, someone was responsible for going out to the well and filling a bucket for drinking water.  The school’s bathroom was an outhouse out back.

Back in the classroom, there was no exception to the rules. The youngest students would always sit up front. The 8th graders would sit in the back of the room.

The guide explained that the teacher would ring the school bell approximately a half hour before classes started to let the parents know that the teacher was there and they could send the children to class. The teacher would also ring the bell at the end of the school day to let parents know the students would soon be home. 

One-room schoolhouses were established in rural areas across our state so that every resident was within a two-mile radius of a primary school. 

Linn-Mar was established when 17 rural schools joined to create the Marion Rural Independent School District in 1949.