The last time the San de Fuca schoolhouse had students go through its doors was more than 70 years ago.
That changed Wednesday as fourth graders from Coupeville Elementary School had a day of instruction in the two-room school house. They donned clothing that students in the 19030s would have worn and headed to the school that had last hosted students in 1933.
Students arrived at the school house at 10 a.m. and said the Pledge of Allegiance. Several noticed the phrase “under God†absent from the Pledge. That’s because it was added in the 1950s.
Throughout the day, students performed assignments common for the era including art and writing with a quill and ink well using the Palmer Handwriting Method. They had to write the poem, “Birds of a feather.†Haley Lindsay pointed out the writing left them with ink on their hands.
“I thought it was kind of cool to write with that kind of pen,†said fourth grader Anna Bailey.
Classmate Katie Kiel said she enjoyed the longer recess the students had at the schoolhouse.
At recess, some of the students went out to and adjacent hay field to play baseball. They used a wooden bat and the ball was a marble with twine wrapped around it. Because of the drizzly day, others remained in the school house. Some played the piano while others drew on the black board and practiced writing.
Students brought their own lunches. Instead of a lunchbox, students placed their food in a lard bucket; sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper. Students of the era often brought their lunch in such a container.
As they enjoyed their lunch, Coupeville High School junior Amanda Sterling, who was the teacher, “Mrs. Brown,†read aloud a chapter from “The Cat who Went to Heaven.†The students then sang songs before continuing with a science lesson, spelling bee and math activity before finishing the school day.
“The kids had a great time,†said teacher Deb Sherman, explaining that the day tied in to their studies on Washington state history.
Along with the fourth graders from Deb Sherman’s class, five students from Coupeville High School participated in the class. They created their own characters and they taught the lessons for the eager elementary school students.
“It was really fun and interesting to learn about the history of our community,†said junior Rebecca Olson. She is one of five students in Mark Gale and Ken Stange’s American Studies class. In addition to Sterling and Olson, Jessica Sele, Beth Mouw and Danika Dizon also participated in the project.
For Sterling it was also a chance to remember her friend Sally Hayton-Keeva, who was one of the first people she met when she moved to Coupeville in the third grade. Hayton-Keeva and husband Joe Keeva restored the historic schoolhouse in 2003.
Students started last October preparing for the day. High school and elementary school students alike spent time researching so their experience would be authentic. They spent time researching on the Internet and interviewed people who attended school at the San de Fuca school house, which was built in 1902.
The American Studies class is a combination English and history class. Students go out into the community and work on projects that wouldn’t get done without their help, said teacher Mark Gale. In addition to the schoolhouse project, students worked at Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve and the Island County museum.
In addition to the research the schoolhouse girls conducted, they developed a schedule for the day’s activities, wrote scripts for their characters and taught the students throughout the day.
They did get some help in developing the project. Coupeville resident Martha Rose served as mentor on the project. In addition to helping students research the project, she made clothes and hats for each student. The lard buckets were purchased from the Internet and the writing instruments were purchased from a local art store.
Sherman said the outfits were saved to be used in similar projects in the future.
The project was funded by grants from CivicConnections and the Coupeville Festival Association.
