The Way It Was: Vignettes from My One-Room Schools



						The Way It Was: Vignettes from My One-Room Schools
						By Edith Van Kleek, Edited by Thelma Jo Dobson $24.95 December 2007 ISBN 978-155238-225-7 5" x 7.5" 200 p.p. B&W Photographs Legacies Shared Series No. 27 Education History, Memoir
				About the Book
				On the Monday morning that the school opened, it was anything but lonely! The schoolyard was full of children. I looked at the bell on my desk and thought “This bell is mine to ring! I am the teacher!” At nine o’clock I grasped the bell firmly by the handle, leaned out the door, and rang loud and clear. Twenty-seven children rushed in through the door… So began the teaching career of Edith Smith Van Kleek. The Way It Was chronicles Van Kleek’s experiences as a student and teacher in one-room schools in rural Alberta. From her first year attending school in the High Prairie country in 1916, to the closure of her last rural schoolhouse in 1961, Edith Van Kleek recalls a bygone era in educational history. Her personal recollections paint a vivid picture of the challenges she faced, from juggling students from grade one to grade nine in one small room, to extreme weather conditions and boarding with local families. Edith’s stories are told with charm and enthusiasm and chronicle her own growth as a teacher as she gained experience over the years.
				About the Author
				Edith Van Kleek was born in 1902 in South Dakota. She attended and taught in one-room schoolhouses in rural Alberta from 1916 to 1961. Thelma Dobson is Edith Van Kleek’s daughter. She painstakingly compiled and edited this volume from her mother’s notes and papers. She lives in Cold Lake, Alberta.
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