The Last Word: Modern Day Students Visit One-Room Schoolhouse

School children are surrounded by all kinds of technology in the classroom. The kids work with computers, the internet, chromebooks, and smartboards. Today's students probably have no idea what school was like without those things. However, some are getting that chance.

I’m at the Hornby School Museum located in Greenfield Township in east Erie County. It was a one-room school house from 1875 to 1956. I can't imagine what it would be like to attend school here and I can't wait to talk to modern day school children about what they think about this place.

I’m joining some fourth grade classes from North East Elementary School for their field trip at the old schoolhouse. The kids are really excited for this trip back in time. They are dressed in their best Little House on the Prairie costumes and are definitely into the late 1800s mood. The students are learning quickly that school life was a lot different then compared to now.

"It would be a whole lot different from our school because this is just one room and our school has multiple rooms,” says 4^th Grader Hadley Smith.

Yes, Hornby School housed grades 1 through 8 all in one room. The school children who attended Hornby back then all came from the farm, but they also had chores to do when they arrived at school.

"Like chopping firewood. Heating up the classroom. Pumping the water,” says 4^th Grader Bryce Lawrence.

Bryce and his classmates are being told all about the wood and coal stove in the classroom. They also are examining the big water jug and the old desks with ink wells and feather pens on top. There was no cafeteria and no restrooms except for the outhouse. However, the thing that made these fourth graders shudder the most during their field trip was about old time school discipline. If a boy misbehaved in class in 1875, he would find himself the target of shame.

"There's a hat over there,” 4^th Grader Shailee Saber told me. “They have to put it on or they have to sit on the girls side of the room and wear a girl's bonnet."

A girl that misbehaved in 1875 felt more than shame. The teacher would grab her by the pigtails.

"For girls, your hair gets hung on a peg. Then you have to stand on a little block of wood on your tippy toes,” says 4^th grader Scarlett Anderson.

I ask Scarlett if she and her classmates have been subjected to that kind of discipline at North East Elementary.

“No. Not at all,” she replied with a laugh.

One of our tour guides is Carol Thompson. She attended Hornby School in the 1950s. This former teacher loves to host the young people of today.

"It's wonderful. I enjoy it very much,” she says..

The Hornby School was empty and vacant for almost 20 years. In 1975, a group of former students decided to restore it and open it for tours. The schoolhouse is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. A big celebration is planned next year for the school's 150th anniversary.