Education was important to early settlers, so they sent their children to school for six to eight months of the year, working around the planting and harvesting seasons. Students attended classes from first grade (sometimes kindergarten) through eighth grade and received a quality education in these one-room schools.
“Everyone learned because you heard all the students recite their lessons. After a few years, you heard the information so many times that you had to work so hard NOT to learn,” said Lila Menz, who attended Alton School.
This was fortunate for the students who wanted to go to high school after eighth grade, because they had to take an exam to pass it. The exam was tough, and the students studied all year to pass it. The test was usually administered in Adel by the county school superintendent. It lasted a full day, sometimes two, and included reading, orthography (spelling), arithmetic, grammar, geography, physiology, American history, handwriting, music, and Iowa state government. Boys were needed on the farm and often did not get past eighth grade. Interestingly, students in city schools did not have to take this exam to enter high school.
Hazel Pierson Hawbaker taught at one of the nine schools in Walnut Township. “I had two students in the eighth grade that first year I taught – the girl was a good student, but the boy couldn’t spell CAT,” she said. “He failed the spelling test the first time he took it. His parents gave him permission and he stayed after school many nights so I could help him. He passed the second time and he barely missed! He scored 74% and 70% or lower was a fail. He went on to become a professor of meteorology at Columbia, Missouri.”
Gloria Shirley Renshaw was the only one in her class at Sugar Grove #4. Her aunt taught at Minburn and urged her to stay with her for her eighth grade to get to know the students she would be joining in high school. As a result, she never had to take the dreaded eighth grade exam.
Once students passed this test, they could enter the nearest high school, where the choices for juniors and seniors were college preparatory, business/office, or Normal Training. During those years in Normal Training, students learned what to teach in rural schools, along with assisting with elementary school classes—the precursor to student teaching. If they were 18 upon graduation and passed the State Normal Training tests, they were certified to teach in a rural school. They could also enter a Normal School if they wanted to teach in a city school. In Dallas County, there were Normal Schools in Adel, Dexter, and Perry.
In the early years of Dallas County, Colfax Township was united with Adel Township until January 4, 1869, when the present boundaries were drawn. By 1879, Colfax had nine one-room schools, one of which was in the town called Panther Creek. Students attending the rural schools in Colfax Township had similar experiences with eighth-grade examinations. Unfortunately, other than the school locations noted in the 1875 and 1916 atlases, we have not discovered any histories of the schools located there.
In an ongoing effort to preserve the history of the township schools in Dallas County, we are seeking details about the names and locations of the schools in Colfax Township. If you have any information about these schools, such as their location or stories of students who attended them, our group would like to hear from you. Please contact Myrna Griffith at wpldirector@minburncomm.net, Deanette Snyder at deanettesnyder@gmail.com, or Sue Leslie at densueles@aol.com.
This article originally appeared on the Des Moines Register: A look at Colfax Township’s one-room schools and eighth-grade testing
