Historical Articles of Solano County

Friday, September 04, 1981

Remembering the Good Old School Days

John Rico

School days, good old golden rule days… An estimated 9,000 Vacaville area elementary and high school students will go back to their classes next Tuesday. No one is able to predict whether registrations will be up or down. With home building here at a near stagnant position, there actually could be a decline in registrations for the fall semesters.

There are always a minority of students who drag their feet on opening day, looking forward to their studies with remorse. But the vast majority of boys and girls are looking forward to again being able to mingle with classmates, and to participate in the many activities.

Parents, too, look forward to farming out their youngsters to teaching staffs in the many campuses spread throughout the community. To most parents, the opening of schools comes as a blessing; getting rid of mischievous children who have been underfoot for about three months. If there is the desire, most youngsters can do a bit of learning at the schools.

Students some day can look forward to closed-circuit television as teaching aids, along with mini-computers that will take away many of the students’ problems. The days of old when reading, writing, and arithmetic were the key subjects, have gone out the window.

With all the teaching aids now available, there is no question students are becoming more knowledgeable in a variety of subjects, despite the fact they continue to have problems in the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic.

Today the electronics field is so vast, that job openings are readily available.

Perhaps the days are in the offing when closed-circuit television in a large classroom, will be able to convey an abundance of information to classes ranging into the hundreds. On top of this, envision a computer in every classroom which can store millions of characters and problems at the flipping of a few buttons.

We continually hear disgruntling words about the caliber of education being dispensed in our schools today; about the inability of some teachers to perform to standard; and criticism of those men and women who volunteer their time to assist in the management of a multi-million dollar school industry.

Let’s turn the clock back to the days when receiving an education was a privilege. Perhaps the hardships endured within the home made schooling a thing of joy for the youngsters.

I can well recall going to a rural Vacaville school and when reading exercises were at hand, there was only one third grade reader, making it necessary for me and Catherine White to sit together and use the same book.

It was strange reading aloud about “Little Riding Hood,” and having some of the upper classmen chuckle at every word we attempted to pronounce.

That one-room school had toilet facilities made up of “his” and “her” outhouses back-to-back. We had running water, made possible by one of the students running across the road to fetch a pail of fresh water whenever needed. We had a spacious gymnasium; in fact it was larger than anything found today. Our gym consisted of the great outdoors, and “andy over” the school building roof provided ample exercise.

I can vouch for every student in Vacaville’s rural schools in our yesteryear when I say we envied those boys and girls who lived downtown and had access to the schools in the community. Just envision walking many miles to attend the Blue Mountain Joint school atop the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west of Vacaville. Lower down the mountain was Rhine which was also accessible to those children who wanted to walk a few miles.

There are local residents who were “eighth grade graduates back in 1926, but before they received a diploma were asked to pass a stringent test. Here is just one question on the long list:

“There is a garden with a concrete walk around it. Measured inside the walk, the garden is 36 feet wide and 60 feet long. If the walk is 3 feet wide, how many square feet are there in it?”

Today, with mini computers, students will find it much easier to come up with the correct answer.

Research into Vacaville’s early history reveals the first high school graduating class received diplomas on June 5, 1896. The classes were held in a converted house on Parker Street, and when time came for the graduation exercises, the Presbyterian Church was used. Receiving diplomas were gradutes Marion Brazelton, Pearl Brazelton, Gertrude Jewett and Frank Marshall. A few days earlier, the Elmira High School had its first graduating class consisted of seven students: Evangeline. Wilson, Maud Barnes, Lulu Dally, Ruby Cripps, Joseph Silva, Charles McDowell and H.R. Timm.

In the early days of dispensing education here, the classes were small enough for residents of the community to monitor the whereabouts of the graduates.  This would be impossible today, because of the size of the classes. The Vaca High 1981 class of seniors numbered 430.

Using the Class of 1931 as an example, which represents a time lapse of 50 years, there were 29 graduates. Seven of those grads have remained here throughout the half century. Classmates knew them as Lois Buck, Bernard Edwards, Margaret Edwards, Tsugiko Handa, Frank McKevitt, Jr., Olive Blair McMillan, Robert A. Rogers and Aleen Thorington.

The seven graduates who continued to reside here represent approximately one-fourth of the class. If this same percentage holds true for the 430 grads in the Class of 1981, it would mean about 108 would make Vacaville their home. Today with both men and women seeking employment, it can be realized that hundreds of new jobs must be found to accommodate the young men and women placed into the job market.

I am a firm believer that computers not only will play an important part in our educational system in the years ahead, but will make available to industry an avenue of technology which already is staggering the human mind.

Now let’s see, there’s a garden 36 feet wide and 60 feet long… and there’s a sidewalk around the garden… the square feet in that walk is about… figure it out your yourself.

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