In a year like no other, parents and the public are concerned for children returning to school. When the pandemic is finally over, everyone will be glad to get back to normalcy – perhaps no one more than teachers.
Teacher education and the requirements for professional certification have grown by leaps and bounds since the days when teacher candidates were shown in the photo.
New Millport, in Knox Township, like so many rural areas in Clearfield County, had a number of schools that educated students usually until the eighth grade. High School was still a luxury for many country-side students.
The high schools were located in the larger towns and students had to walk miles to attend classes. Many chose to leave school to work and help support their families.
Teachers, at the beginning of the last century, were young men and women who usually had a high school education or less. Some were fortunate enough to attend “normal schools” for teacher training.
Some who were assigned to teach upper grades were only a few years older than their students. The 11 young people shown in the 1910 photo are full of smiles and look eager to start their careers.
They would face overcrowded classrooms, few instructional materials students who came from poorer families. The job would try their patience but most did their best to instill learning. The young woman, on the right of the photo, looks to be little older than a middle school student of today.
These teacher candidates paid between $5 to $7 for an eight-week teacher training course! The course was probably held in the local school. The brochure photo touts New Millport as favorably situated with a pervading educational atmosphere. They were required to pass a competency exam at the end of the eight-week term.
Some of the teachers shown may have taught, likely in various schools, for decades. Others may have taught for only a few years before moving on to other avenues in their lives. Teachers then, and certainly in these times, are essential workers.
