use at recess. Others brought bags to slide on and old stalk skates. An outhouse supplied their needs. It would be filled with snow and the door would be jammed open. An old iron stove in the middle of the room, kept thos around it warm, while those who sat farther away were half frozen. The wood to keep the fires going were brought to school by one of the children, who would be assigned their week to light the fire, and have the room warm before the teacher or the other children arrived. Spring and autumn were vacation times back in those early years. Children were needed to help with the planting and harvesting of the crops. During the summer months of July and August with the growing of the crops, school would be held. It certainly was changed times for children from the schools of today. With computers now in every classroom. Keyboards are as familiar for children now as the slate was back in the 1880. I wonder how the teachers would have handled the children to learn all of those skills, in only four months of school. With large families back then and much poverty, it was not unusual for grandparents to help out, by taking one or two of the children, to clothe and feed and send off to school. Many of the children remained with the grandparents, helping them around the house and the farm until they grew to adulthood. The one room school poem I was fortunate to have received, gave me some idea of what school days were like back in those early years. I enjoyed reading it and been able to have it a part of school days of long ago. 153