Join me in the continuation as I share some of Cooper School students' Christmas memories along with describing Cooper's curriculum.

The Christmas programs were fun, and there was so much excitement every year. The teacher perused her books, traded with other teachers or bought a new book, searching for one and two-act plays and skits. The children enjoyed getting out of class and began practicing a little each day, memorizing their parts and remembering not to spill the beans about the whole show to their parents. The program had to be a surprise!

About December 1, the classroom underwent a transformation. The teacher's desk was moved off to the side, and the recitation bench was unfastened from the floor. In the early years, the planks used to build the stage were housed in the wood shed. In later years, saw horses and wooden planks, which had been stored at the home of one of the school board members, were transported to the school on a trailer or truck. The older boys helped unload and assemble the stage. Wires were attached to various hooks on the wall, and white curtains crafted from old bed sheets were hung to create a center stage and two off-stage areas. The Christmas tree arrived about one week before the Christmas program and was placed in the northwest corner by the piano. The teacher brought out the bag filled with costumes, so the students could have full dress rehearsals.

The Christmas program was always conducted on the night of the last day of school before Christmas vacation. All residents of the school district were invited to attend. The schoolhouse bulged with adults and children dressed in their "Sunday best" Christmas finery. Folding chairs were borrowed and filled every empty space in the schoolroom. The older school children huddled behind the scenes as the program unfolded, peeking out to see the adults' reactions to the show.

The youngest children performed first. They recited seasonal poems together or individually, depending upon their skill and level of shyness. All sang simple seasonal songs and Christmas carols from memory; the program always included singing with audience participation. All of the school children played a significant role in the program. At one time or another, everyone was an angel or an elf. Children sometimes had to have a specialized costume. If the teacher couldn't obtain or make a particular costume the students needed, their mothers were asked to put something together. All the children knew each other's parts and were willing to help and prompt when needed. As part of one skit in the early 1950s, two boys had to shave, and they really lathered each other up!

At the end of the evening, the school board members handed out to all the students a brown paper bag, lunch sack size, filled with hard candy. In the 1950s, the teacher flicked the lights, signaling Santa's timely arrival. The teacher always received gifts from the students. Gifts to the teacher might include a pin for her coat, a handkerchief, candy, fruit or a gift handmade by the student. Occasionally there were some small gift exchanges among the students: The girls usually exchanged handkerchiefs, hair barrettes or small bottles of "Evening in Paris" perfume.

Once Christmas vacation was over, the winter seemed to last forever. There was always plenty of snow and ice. In the early 1920s, 20 children piled into a horse-drawn sleigh. The team of two horses and the students were bound for Eccles School where they would test their wits in a spelling bee competition.

The students longed for spring way before March even arrived. As soon as they possibly could and before the last snow bank disappeared, the children began lugging their ball gloves and were out playing catch with the twelve-inch softball during recess and the lunch hour. Science projects were sprouting on top of the oil furnace, and the children waited with anticipation for the last day of school, shortly after mid-May. In celebration of the last school day, students and families in the district enjoyed a picnic.

Before the weather warmed and the mud disappeared, the ball playing began. During the 1940s and 50s, the teacher would often umpire from the window if the wind was bitterly cold. By the first of May, Cooper's ball players showed remarkable talent. The teacher would arrange with one of her teacher friends ahead of time to play ball on a given day; since there were no telephones, the visits were sometimes impromptu. Each school would host a visit, and the Cooper students played against the neighboring Ward, Kipper, Wade and Filmore Schools. In the 1950s, students also traveled to Eccles and Adams Schools. One lad in the 1950s didn't have a very good glove, but a certain girl always let him borrow hers so he could play first base. The games always took place in the afternoon after the kindergarten through third graders went home at 2:30 PM. In the mid-1940s, the older students biked or walked to the neighboring school, but as time went on and before anyone gave a second thought to wearing a seatbelt, quite often a dozen children piled into the teacher's green Pontiac. Those who didn't fit inside the car piled in the trunk, and away they would go!

Most of the ball games were played in the spring, unless the autumn weather proved unseasonably warm. Although the children always kept score, they were not so competitive that it mattered who won or lost the game. When the weather was particularly nice, the Cooper students would sometimes travel one mile west on M-142 to play ball. Many of the children's fathers played ball on the diamond there on the weekends. There was even a wire backstop and wonderful shade trees.

During the 1950s, students also met at a neighboring school for a square dance competition. The girls even made their own full skirt, using the skills they learned participating in 4-H.

In the late 1940s, the kindergarten reading book series began with Spot and Puff and Baby Sally, progressing to the Dick and Jane series. The teacher printed the words of the colors on corresponding construction paper (RED on red paper) and lined them up on the chalkboard tray until the younger students could recognize and spell the words from memory. The children memorized states and capitals, the continents, world countries and capitals and significant dates in United States history. Cooper scholars also memorized their "times tables", learned fractions and decimals and spent hours doing story problems. On rainy days, the students participated in math relay races and competitions.

On a certain occasion, the three students in one class thought their lesson was particularly difficult. Farm kids were always pretty resourceful, and so instead of each reading the whole homework assignment, the three children decided to split it in thirds. They had to be prepared to answer the teacher's questions the following day, so they each read their part and shared what they learned with each other. The next day, the trio answered their teacher's questions without hesitation, and she didn't suspect a thing!

In addition to their regular classes of reading, arithmetic, English, geography, civics and United States and Michigan history, they also had classes in hygiene and agriculture. Art and physical education classes were not an official part of the country school curriculum, although the children usually worked on a craft item just before the Christmas and Easter holidays, and playing ball during free time was simply a way of life. Students in the 1950s memorized the parts of a sentence and spent hours diagramming them. During this time period, the children learned to spell and write in cursive with a fountain pen, although they would later use a cartridge pen.

Be sure to look for the continuation of this article in next month's issue where I will describe the fashion trends of the 1950s as well as reflect upon the respect students gave to the American flag.

If you would like to see your schoolhouse featured in this series and are willing to share your experiences, please email Janis at janis@lakeshoreguardian.com or write to Janis at The Lakeshore Guardian, 9697 Purdy Rd., Harbor Beach, MI 48441.

Copyright © 2004 Janis Stein