After visiting the Bachelors’ Academy, read the description below, written in 1915 by the Superintendent of the Jackson County Schools.
BACHELOR’S. 28. Teacher: Miss Omie Dunagan.
Location: Two and one-half miles northeast to Arcade; 3 miles northwest to Potters.
Grounds: Area. 2 acres: titles in county board; unimproved grove; grounds neglected; no school garden; no toilers.
Building’s Value: $1,400.00; two class rooms, each 30x30x1-1;
cloak rooms: painted and well kept; insufficiently, but properly lighted.
Equipment: Double patent desks; cloth blackboard; one chart: one globe; no maps; no pictures; well on lot; common dippers.
Organization: One reader: 7 grades: 26 pupils; 23 recitation periods: no industrial or club work; school year. 24 weeks, divided into terms of 16 and S weeks.
Maintenance: From State fund…………………$190.00
From tuition fees (about)…………. 60.00
Ask Yourself
Do you know what a “cloak room” is? Do you know what a “common dipper” is? A “double patent desk”?
And what is a “recitation”? After your visit to the Bachelors’ Academy, write your definition of these new words.
One teacher taught 26 children from grades 1 to 7 here. How do you imagine a school day in 1915? How does what you imagine compare to what you learned on your visit? What surprised you?
How much did Jackson County spend on each pupil at Bachelors’ Academy in 1915?
Schoolhouse Bell
Something is missing from the schoolhouse today. After seeing the schoolhouse, do you know where the bell once hung? Do you know why there is no bell at the schoolhouse now?
Write a story about how the bell disappeared from the schoolhouse.
Potbellied Stove
The potbellied stove is also missing at the schoolhouse? It didn’t look exactly like the one below, but it was also made of cast iron and was fueled with wood. If the stove could talk, what stories would it tell? Write a “stove story.”