Clear Creek Township
Oak Hill Rural School House History
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Oak Hill # 3 School House
The
school-house of sub-district No. 3 was burned in 1882. The building was
rebuilt at a reduced scale in the summer of 1882 according to the
History of Johnson County. The building that burned had been built many
years previous on land near the residence of A. J. Bond but as it was
somewhat to one side of the sub-district that was the cause of sharp
discussion until it was relocated to the site where it burned,
thoroughly overhauled, and repaired, and was then considered the best
school-house in the township.
Source: History of Johnson County 1836-1882, pg 705
Clear
Creek No. 3 was a one-room country school located across from the
Tiffin Cemetery, just east of Greencastle Road. Following the 1960-61
school year, No. 3 was closed and made part of the new Clear Creek
school district that encompassed Tiffin, Oxford and Cosgrove. (Source: Excerpts from Iowa City Press-Citizen, Jul 22, 2000, pg. 3)
| Country School to have first reunion
By: Michael Knock, Iowa City Press Citizen
| TIFFIN - They
are coming from across Iowa and from across the country. They are
coming from Arizona, Kansas and Colorado, as well as from Tiffin, Iowa
City, Coralville and North Liberty.
The students and teachers of
Clear Creek No. 3, also known as Oak Hill School, will gather today at
F.W. Kent Park for their first-ever potluck dinner and reunion.
"It
was wonderful," said reunion organizer Cathy Colony Bunnell of her time
at Clear Creek. "We were like a family. A real community. It was a very
positive experience."
Clear Creek No. 3 was a one-room country school located across from the Tiffin Cemetery, just east of Greencastle Road.
At
one time, one-room schools were the center-piece of public education in
Johnson County. According to the records of the Johnson County
Historical Society, the county had 141 one-room school houses in 1917.
Johnson
County was not unusual. As late as 1932-33,9,279 of those schools still
operated in Iowa.. That number began to dwindle after World War II, as
farms grew in size and the rural population dropped.
Educational
standards also grew more stringent, and in 1955, legislation was passed
that called for the consolidation of all country schools by June 1966.
The
history of Clear Creek No. 3 followed that pattern closely. Following
the 1960-61 school year, No. 3 was closed and made part of the new
Clear Creek school district that encompassed Tiffin, Oxford and
Cosgrove.
But the little country school was not forgotten. Bunnell
said she decided a year ago to try to reunite anyone who had once had
anything to do with Clear Creek No. 3.
"It just popped into my mind
as I as reading a book about the old settlers," Bunnell said. "I talked
to a few other people about it, and they thought it was a good idea,
too."
Bunnell started trying to locate as many alumni as she could.
"It's been like networking in business," Bunnell said. "I've done a lot of talking to people."
One
of those people is Helen Bryant, who taught at Clear Creek No. 3 from
1941 to 1943 and again from 1959 until the school closed in 1961. She
remembers her time there well.
"Now it sounds primitive, but in that
old school, we would have to make our own fire, haul in the water, and
do our own janitorial work," Bryant remembered.
The salary also was
a reflection of the times. Bryant said that when she started at Clear
Creek No. 3 in 1941, she was paid $85 a month. By the time she returned
in 1959, her salary had increased to $350 a month.
Classes were
small. Though the school enrolled students in grades kindergarten
through 8, there rarely were students at each level. In 1956, for
example, Clear Creek No. 3 graduated three students into high school.
Not that Bunnell's family didn't do its best to keep the school-house filled.
"My
grandpa would try and hire men with big families and move them into one
of the houses on his land, just to keep the school open" Bunnell said
with a laugh.
Bunnell also said she thinks the hodgepodge of grades
helped students learn."When you sat in that classroom you just kind of
absorbed the work of the older kids," Bunnell said. "And when the
younger kids were reciting, it was like a review. It seemed like I was
always enjoying learning." (Source: Iowa City Press Citizen, 22 Jul 2000, pgs. 3-4) | Country School Students Gather
By: Kellee Miller, Iowa City Press Citizen | Former
teachers at the Clear Creek No. 3 grade school, a one-room country
schoolhouse, had more responsibilities than just teaching.
Before
the school closed in 1961, teachers were in charge of carrying coal for
the furnace, keeping the furnace burning on the weekend and sweeping
the class room each day.
"We did a day's work before we even started teaching," former teacher Helen Bryant said.
Bryant,
along with other teachers and students of the Clear Creek school, also
called Oak Hill School, gathered Saturday at F.W. Kent Park in their
firs ever reunion, which included a potluck dinner.
Thirty-eight people from Arizona, Kansas and all over Iowa attended the reunion.
"This is terrific," said Cathy Colony Bunnell, who organized the reunion.
Bunnell,
her father and her three sisters attended the one-room schoolhouse and
were made part of the new Clear Creek School District. The school
closed in 1961 after legislation in 1955 called for the consolidation
of all country schools by June 1966.l
The former school is across from the Tiffin Cemetery, just east of Greencastle Road and has been converted into a house.
Carl Colony, of Iowa City and Bunnell's father, is glad his daughters were able to attend the school before it closed.
"They learned a lot of basic values that kids today don't get to experience," he said.
He
and his daughters even had the same teacher. Bryant taught Colony when
she first worked at the school from 1941 to 1943 and then later taught
his daughters from 1959 to 1961.
Bryant was the last teacher at the school before it closed.
Colony's
father also donated a tenant house they owned to the school when it
burned in 1950. School was taught in that house for one semester before
moving back to the new schoolhouse at the original location.
Bryant
said the school was noisy. She said she usually had 15 to 16 students
at one time, but never all grades, kindergarten through eighth, at once.
Nancy
Campbell Litman, whose family owned the property the school was located
on, said the combined class setting was beneficial. "I learned
independence." she said. She said if students were either ahead
or behind in their skills, they could listen to the other lessons going
on around them. She said the school helped establish a strong sense of
community that is harder to build in schools today.
Bunnell remembers pulling taffy in the basement of the schoolhouse when it was too cold to play outside during recess.
End of the year picnics, baseball games and Christmas pageants also are favorite memories of the attendees.
"I just like the way everybody worked together," Bunnell said.
Attendees and Bunnell already have made plans for another reunion next year - hopefully on the third Saturday in July again. (Source: Iowa City Press Citizen, 23 Jul 2000, pgs. 3& 7) |
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