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ERIC Number: EJ878907
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0037-7724
EISSN: N/A
The Pleasant Valley School: A Living History Project
Buckner, David L.; Brown, Pamela U.; Curry, John
Social Education, v74 n2 p65-66 Mar-Apr 2010
This article discusses the Pleasant Valley School, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is now a living history project where contemporary 4th grade students throughout Oklahoma have the opportunity to spend a day as students did in a turn of the century one-room schoolhouse, complete with coal heating, ink wells, and "McGuffey Readers." It is here, in this one-room school that students say a Pledge of Allegiance to start the day that differs from the one with which they are familiar. Established in 1899 and open until 1941, the Pleasant Valley School was typical of most one-room schools where the teacher arrived early, started a fire in the coal stove, and provided sound educational principles and subjects for grades 1-8. This one-room school was built with wooden floors stained brown, and plaster walls painted green. Furnishings included a teacher's desk, benches for instruction and recitation, double desks, and a single bookcase containing the entire school library. The number of students ranged from a handful up to 50--age 5 through 20. State accredited, the Pleasant Valley School was open for nine months of the year, and teachers were usually high school graduates whose monthly salaries varied from less than $50 in 1899 to $100 in the 1940s. During the school's early years, teachers often lived with one of the families in the school district, and either rode a horse or drove a buggy to the school each day. Slated for relocation or destruction in the 1980s, the one-room school was saved by concerned citizens, including former students who initiated a restoration project and ultimately restored the school as close to its original form as possible. In 1991, Pleasant Valley School received both state and national recognition when it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and received the State Historic Preservation Officer's Citation of Merit. The Pleasant Valley School living history project stands as a historical marker for past, present, and future students within the state of Oklahoma. It provides 4th grade students with a face-to-face representation of school life during Oklahoma's territorial and early state history, and will continue to do so for years to come. (Contains 4 notes.)
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 4
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Oklahoma
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A