School Days
by
Ellen Lyons
In 1898, all inhabitants between the ages of five and fourteen were numbered, and a one room school building was erected for their confinement five days out of every seven. The parents and civic leaders thought it best for them and the community.
The first school was located on the site of Stencil's Garage. It was equipped with seats and desks, blackboard, wood box, heating stove and kerosene lights. Each pupil furnished his own slate and slate pencil. Some of the slates, about nine by eleven inches, were framed in red felt bound with black cord. Some were plain. A slate pencil drawn a certain way across a slate could produce a screech of nerve wracking intensity.
The teachers were dedicated young women, some as young as sixteen. They taught their students. the three R's, spelling, history and geography. Writing was promoted with the use of copy books containing displays of penmanship which they were expected to equal. Sometimes it was uphill work.
In 1901, a new four department brick school building was erected on the east side of the village and the old school was abandoned. Four teachers conducted the eight grades. The eighth grade teacher was also principal.
Among the early teachers were Miss Jennie Cook, Herbert Grover, Miss Betty Dedolph and Mrs. Edith Hagen LaMont in the first school; Martha KeII, Myra Roberts, Myrtle Roberts Lelah Corning, John Giesel, who later became Marathon County Superintendent of Schools, and Mrs. Lynn Grill.
In about 1914, John Hoffman organized and coached a basketball team, the first and last one to fight and bleed for the old school. They played the neighboring schools one season. The cagers were Albert Wade, Phil Hoffman, Fred Stelter, William Sherlock, August Frank, Art Kohasky and Mervil Lamont. All are still living except Albert Wade, John Hoffman, August Frank and Mervil Lamont.
The Eland Grade School is one of the best in Shawano County. The children of the village receive their basic education there and go on to the Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School. Many of them attend the State Universities or Technical Institutes where they are well prepared for higher education. The pioneer settlers of Eland laid a foundation upon which the younger generation has built in the education field.
Eland teachers and students who advanced in the field of education are John Geisel, Marathon County Superintendent of Schools; William McLaughlin, first supervising teacher in Shawano County; Edith Hagen Lamont, supervising teacher in Forest County; Arlie Werth, Marathon County Superintendent of Schools, and Oliver Gilray, now curricular administrator for the D. C. Everest School system in Schofield.
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