LeMars Sentinel, January 29, 1909

Prof. G. C. Countryman, county superintendent of schools, is holding
teachers' examinations this week. The examination began on Wednesday and
will finish this afternoon. Seventeen took the examination yesterday.

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LeMars Sentinel
Friday, Sept. 13, 1929

RURAL PUPILS ARE ENROLLED
Attendance Of Students From The County Is Increased This Year

Ninety-four tuition pupils have enrolled in the LeMars High School, grades 9
to 12 inclusive, it was revealed by a checkup recently completed in the
office of City Superintendent H. N. Kluckhohn. This is an increase of
twenty over the figure for a year ago. The addition to this number of some
twenty non-resident pupils in the grades brings the total tuition list well
up over the one hundred mark. The total number for the entire system last
year was ninety-nine.

Residences of this ninety-four high school tuition students are located in
sixteen different townships in Plymouth and Sioux counties as well as the
states of Nebraska and Minnesota. Post office addresses include twelve
different Iowa towns-LeMars, Struble, Seney, Maurice, Merrill, Remsen,
Oyens, Ireton, Orange City, Hinton, Marcus and Akron, besides three towns
out of state.

Elgin township leads out with twenty-nine, America and Marion are next with
ten each. Washington and Stanton townships each furnishes eight; Grant
furnishes six; Preston, four; Fredonia and Lincoln, three each; Johnson,
Meadow, and Plymouth, two each; Remsen, one; Sherman township, Sioux County,
one; Minnesota, two; and Nebraska, one.

Following is the list by townships of the non-resident students attending
the local high school above the eighth grade. The number following each
pupil's name indcates the grade in which he is enrolled.

ELGIN TOWNSHIP

Rural Districts: Warren Detloff, 11; Robert E. Detloff, 11; Robert M.
Detloff, 12; Margaret Werley, 9; Harm Kock, 9; Florence Penning, 11; Ray E.
Utech, 12; Vivien Schlesser, 10.

Seney Independent: Evan Anstine, 9; Myrtle Reeves, 11; Vera Reeves, 11;
Marjorie Riter, 10; Pauline Riter, 12; Jack Hinde, 10; Donald Reeves, 10;
Geraldine Lancaster, 11; Eva M. Rees, 11; Lois Lancaster, 9.

Struble Independent: Helen Moran, 10; Maxine Garding, 10; Irene Short, 10;
Lloyd Garding, 12; Dick Nicholson, 12; Evelyn Nicholson, 10; Regina Garding,
12; Dena Osborne, 9; Eva Osborne, 10; Iris Hatton, 9; Bob Moran, 11.

AMERICA TOWNSHIP

Alice Mallette, 9; Harley Hall, 10; Ross Mallette, 10; Kenneth Farmer, 10;
Agnes Pletschette, 9; Cornelius Grimes, 9; Charles Grimes, 12; Helen
Pletshette, 11; Cecilia Pletschette, 11; Frances Marx, 10.

MARION TOWNSHIP

Rural Districts: Donald Parry, 12; Marcella Tentinger, 10; Ruth Marx, 12;
Wilhelmina Marx, 10; Lenice Karley, 9; Helen Meyer, 9.

Oyens Independent: Robert Kass, 9; Edward Kass, 10; Ralph Doud, 10; Ruth
Kelley, 9.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP

Rural Districts: Darrell Luken, 11; Henry Ruble, 9; Robert Tindall, 11;
Bertha Harms, 12; Roy Brown, 9.

Dalton Independent: Lloyd Weidauer, 9; Mildred Tindall, 9.

Brunsville Independent: Mabel Bauerly, 11.

STANTON TOWNSHIP

Wilson Geary, 12; Orval R. Brandstetter, 12; Alvoid Kemnitz, 9; Kenneth
Walker, 10; Laurence Danne, 10; Myrtle Bunch, 11; Gladys Stoewer, 11; Elwood
Bowers, 11.

GRANT TOWNSHIP

Russell White, 12; Dale Noble, 9; Irene Noble, 11; Anna Heeren, 10; Adele
Hennigs, 11; Armin Hennigs, 10.

PRESTON TOWNSHIP

Hazel Van Buskirk, 11; Gene Gabel, 11; Cleo Colemann, 12.

FREDONIA TOWNSHIP

Evelyn Baldwin, 9; Leonard Weber, 9; Gladys Lundgren, 9.

JOHNSON TOWNSHIP

Cloyde Gabel, 10; Frances Gabel, 11.

MEADOW TOWNSHIP

Irma Witt, 11; Adeline Treinen, 12.

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP

Opal Fischer, 9; Violet Wecker, 9.

LINCOLN TOWNSHIP

Elsie Utecht, 11; Viola Schoenrock, 11; Louise Schoenrock, 12.

REMSEN TOWNSHIP

Dorothy Gaden, 10.

SHERMAN TOWNSHIP, SIOUX COUNTY

Jessie Osborne, 12; Evelyn Lehrman, 9.

READING TOWNSHIP, SIOUX COUNTY

Viola Woodall, 11.

TUITION STUDENTS FROM OTHER STATES

Billy Eyres, Nebraska, 10; Evelyn Wright, Minnesota, 10; Verbena Mielke.

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LeMars Sentinel
November 12, 1929

PUPILS MAKE GOOD RECORD
Several Schools in County Report a Perfect Attendance

NOTE EDUCATION WEEK
Study Center is Featured by Interesting Lectures

American Education Week is being observed in the Plymouth county schools
during the week of November 11 to 17, inclusive.

Ten hundred and seventy-five of the boys and girls enrolled in the Plymouth
county rural school were neither absent nor tardy during the month of
September. The following schools reported a perfect attendance for all
pupils: District No. 1, Liberty; District No. 7, Elkhorn; and Breezy Hill,
Portland. Schools reporting a perfect attendance for all pupils during the
month of October are: District No. 1, Plymouth; District No. 4, Hungerford;
District No. 3, Sioux; and Breezy Hill, Portland.

Forty-four teachers from the Plymouth country rural schools attended the
teacher's convention in Sioux City October 18.

School District No. 2, Marion township, gave a program and basket supper on
October 23. The proceeds amounted to $23.20. Miss Esther Wood is the
teacher.

OVER ONE HUNDRED ATTEND

One hundred and thirteen rural teachers attended the study center held in
LeMars on November 2. A good program was given by the instructors from the
Iowa State Teachers College and Dr. Gardner of the State Bureau of Dental
Hygiene. Professor Fullerton gave instructions in music and county choir
work. Miss Humiston instructed the teachers how to teach physical training,
and Dr. Gardner explained the Iowa Plan of Dental Hygiene.

County Superintendent Petersen called on fifty rural schools during the
month of October.

A Parent Teachers' Association was organized in District No. 5, Perry
township, on Wednesday evening, November 6. Mrs. Fred Hammond, County
P.T.A. Chairman, gave a splendid talk on the work and value of P.T.A.
organizations. Officers elected were Mrs. J. Piersol, president; Mrs. Joseph
Vondrak, vice-president; Miss Minnie Petersen, secretary; Edward Vondrak,
treasurer. The organization will be known as the Perry Center Parent
Teachers' Association and will meet on the third Friday of each month. This
is the second district to a organize a P.T.A. in Perry township.

Mrs. Clarence Hummel is teaching the school in District No. 6, Westfield
township, during the illness of the regular teacher, Miss Grace Briggs.

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YESTERYEAR
A Look Back From the Files of the Sentinel

April 7, 1931
AKRON YOUTH BEST SPELLER

Thirty-seven boys and girls participated in the annual Plymouth county spelling contest in LeMars last Thursday. The pupils represented rural, parochial, and public schools in the county. Professor R.W. Easton, of Omaha, who conducts the interstate contest, pronounced the words. Mrs. Gerald and Lucille Danne acted as judges. The contest consisted of both oral and written spelling. Raymond Trautt, of the St. Joseph’s school, Akron, was the winner of the oral contest with Harriet Harms, of the Brunsville public school, a close second.  Raymond Trautt will represent Plymouth county at the state contest in Des Moines on May 2. He and Harriet Koopman will represent Plymouth county at the Interstate contest in Omaha on April 24.

These Words Pitfalls

Words which proved too much for the young spellers were illiterate, discretion, hundredth, perceptible, deficiency, gaseous, verify, sovereign, pantomime, supersede, diphtheria, and chrysalis.

List Of Contestants

Pupils who participated in the contest were:
Ina Mary Nielsen, No. 3, Perry Township;
Harriet Koopman, St. Joseph, LeMars;
Lorna Fisher, Union Consolidated;
Marion Tonsfeldt, No. 2 Meadow;
Dorothy Martfield, Dalton Independent;
Helen Stabe, No. 4 Lincoln;
Harriet Harms, Brunsville Independent;
Helen Eufers, No. 3 Fredonia;
Norma Popken, No. 2 Grant;
Dorothy Woodward, No. 5 Garfield;
Lucille Baldwin, No. 2, Fredonia;
Florence Galles, St. Mary’s Remsen;
Selma Porsch, No. 5 Lincoln;
Lorena Koch, Akron Public;
Wayne Muth, No. 2 Preston;
Evalyn Petersen, No. 5 America;
Vincent Buss, Seney Public;
Margaret Hartman, Tucker Portland;
Robert Dell, No. 5 Lincoln;
Robert Kinsella, No. 4 Grant;
Alma Kluver, No. 4 Henry;
Pearl Hansen, No. 5 Henry;
Fern Nitzschke, No. 3 Remsen;
Herbert Johnson, No. 7 Grant;
Raymond Trautt, St. Joseph’s Akron;
Esther Cornish, Kingsley Public;
Donald Daniel, No. 7 Elkhorn;
Cynthia Steensma, No. 1 Fredonia;
Elizabeth Schlesser, No. 2 Elgin;
Helen Lubben, No. 8 Grant;
Ethel Van Scepen, No. 5 Grant;
Laurene Mansfield, Liberty Consolidated;
Dorothy Lucken, No. 3 Johnson;
Cerna Wulf, No. 7 Meadow;
Rosella Weiler, No. 3 Henry;
Julia Welch, Westfield Consolidated.

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The Alton Democrat, 09 Sep 1932

STRUBLE: (Special Correspondence)

A number of rural schools began their fall sessions the past week with the
following teachers:

Grant township No. 1, Miss Doris Deegan;

Grant township No. 2, Miss Bernice Winter;

Grant township No. 5, Mrs. Mildred Galland;

Grant township No. 6, Miss Dorothea Becker;

Grant township No. 7, Miss Mildred Winter;

Miss Ellen Alberts will teach the Ahlers school north of town;

Miss Vivian Schlesser west of town;

Edmund LuVelle, the Becker school;

Miss Mary Keough, the Schlesser school;

Miss Dunn of Marcus and Miss Marie McDermott will have charge of the Struble
Independent district.

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LeMars Sentinel, Friday, December 16, 1932, Page 1, Column 2:

WORK OF RURAL SCHOOL IS THEME
MUCH HAS BEEN ACHIEVED IN WORK DONE AIDED BY THE STATE

Miss Christine Petersen, superintendent of schools for Plymouth county,
addressed the assembly at Western Union college Tuesday morning. Her
subject was "What the Rural Schools Are Doing."

Miss Petersen spoke from a wide range of experience with rural schools and
the trends in rural education. During the course of her remarks she said:
"Iowa ranks lowest of all the states in illiteracy, yet the rural teachers
of Iowa do not rank highest in qualifications for teaching." The state of
Iowa has done much to encourage education in general and has made a special
effort to support rural education by giving state aid to rural schools which
come up to certain standards set by the state board. The standard schools
in Plymouth county have increased from four to fifty-three during the past
eight years. The financial aid given by the state is used only for
permanent equipment. This feature has not only helped the schools which
came up to standard but has given encouragement to nearby schools in the
district where standard schools are established.

There may be some injustice towards the schools in communities where the
people are poor, since they are unable to come up to the standard in order
to qualify for state aid.

Much has been achieved in making the schools more uniform in quality of work
done. A very helpful course of study has been issued in Iowa which gives
stability and efficiency to curricular aspects of rural schools.

County choir work has been inaugurated successfully and with the aid of
Victrola equipment, the county grade children usually sing at the eighth
grade graduation and last year they sang before the teachers meeting in
Sioux City. Over one-half of the rural schools now belong to the junior Red
Cross and health programs are featured in all the schools.

Many of the college students are expecting to enter the teaching profession
and, although they may not teach in rural schools as their chosen field,
with teacher competition as keen as it is, some may be glad to accept such
positions, since the rural school really is a worthwhile challenge to the
best teacher.

At the close of Miss Petersen's address a show of hands indicated that more
than half of the students at Western Union college had at some time attended
a rural school.

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LeMars Sentinel, Sept. 8, 1939

RURAL TEACHERS MEET IN LE MARS

The first meeting of the 1939-1940 school year for Plymouth county was held
at the courthouse in LeMars on Saturday and school supplies were
distributed.

Instructions were given out and plans for work outlined.

The rural teachers of the county assembled again Tuesday for a day's
instruction relative to the work in the primer, first, second and third
grades with Miss Olive Pearl Riter in charge.

A new third grade course of study and two study guides will be3 placed in
all the country rural schools. These materials are being paid for out of
funds allowed by local boards of education.

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LeMars Globe-Post
December 17, 1953

DO PATRONS VISIT RURAL SCHOOLS?

Read the following excerpts of letters written by rural school children to County Superintendent Petersen, relative to the rural schools observance of American Education Week:

“We had a play that Mary and I wrote.  We also had an arithmetic-down, with a race between the mothers and their children.  The children beat most of the time.  I think the mothers went home satisfied.”

“We thought you would like to know what we did on Visitor’s Day here at school.  The primary class demonstrated the story of the Three Bears.  Next, we did the action of ‘Paper of Pins’ and ‘Paw Paw Patch.’ ”

“We invited our parents and the boys and girls who are going to come to school next year.  All the mothers came and brought their babies; one father came, too.”

“My mother took some boys up to the church to get some folding chairs for our guests.  We all had so much fun. I think the mothers and fathers enjoyed Visitor’s Day.”

“When we had our Parent’s Day, we selected certain pupils to greet them at the door and other pupils to prepare the lunch.  We sixth grade pupils had a geography class in which we used the wall maps for a map study of the southern states.”

“Our school used the game ‘Paw Paw Patch’ for a physical education demonstration.”

“Our school collected two dollars in our plastic heart.  We are happy to give this to the tuberculosis and heart drive.”

“Our grade made boxes for Education Week.  They were pictures of a story we had read.  We then had to tell the story to our parents. It was fun.”

“We carried on our regular school program and showed our mothers how we used The Weekly Reader.”

“Part of our program was a play, The Dale Family, which is a story about pioneers and Indians.”

“After the program, the mothers and our teacher talked about having hot school lunches in winter time.”

“After our health lesson on the way we should eat a good breakfast, the mothers told us that they would now see to it that none of us would go to school without breakfast, because it would upset the whole day for us if we did.”

“Our mothers said they enjoyed visiting school.  We enjoyed having them and were proud to show them what we can do.”

“In our geography lesson, we dressed up to represent a different country and san a song or said a poem about the country we represented.”

“After lunch, our teacher and our mothers planned our Christmas party.”

“Our program gave our mothers a chance to see our work.  By coming to school the mothers showed us there were interested in our school.”

“After our regular school work, we had light refreshments for our guests, which they seemed to enjoy very much.”

“In Language Class, we talked about letters we had written to and received from Lois Lenski, the children’s author.” 

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LeMars Globe-Post
June 3, 1957

ATTEND CONFERENCE

Miss Christine L. Petersen, Superintendent of Plymouth County Schools is attending the County Superintendent Conference at Vacation Village, Spirit Lake.  This meeting, which is under the auspices of the State Department of Public Instruction, will open Monday morning, June 3, and will continue until Thursday noon, June 6.

Members of the State Department will serve as leaders of group sessions on the following school topics; School District Reorganization, Special Education, School Plant Facilities, Educational Programs, and School Visitations.

Miss Lois Clark, Assistant Executive Secretary, Department of Rural Education, National Education Association, Washington D.C., and Dr. Robert F. Ray, Director of Institute of Public Affairs, State University of Iowa, will be guest speakers at the sessions.

SPECIAL MEETING           

A special meeting of the Plymouth County Board of Education will be held in the County Superintendent’s Office at 8:00 p.m. Monday, June, 10.  The Board will devote its time to discussion of new school legislation recently enacted by the Legislature, and how same will effect school district reorganization in Plymouth County and other related problems.

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