A stunned Isable commnity watched helplessly as the new school building
  was destroyed by fire in 1920. My brother, Vernon Dye, was a first grader
  and for some time he was taught in makeshift classrooms.
     Three years later I began school in the spacious new building. Mrs.
  Carlton was the first grade teacher. The large class was made up of town
  children and rural children who came by bus. None of us had the advantage
  of having attended kindergarten.
     The school yard was large but the playground equipment consisted of 
  only four swings and three teeter=totters. We devised our own games or
  played the old favorites such as baseball, last couple out or New Orleans.
  The grounds were roughly divided into areas for each grade. If a fight
  developed among the boys, the girls watched tearfully, hoping a nose
  wouldn't get bloody or that a teacher might find out about it.
     Light corporal punishment was a fact of school discipline and not a
  subject of debate as it is today. The teacher could use a ruler or a
  paddle and the principal could administer more severe punishment and
  even expell the student. When I was in the third and fourth grades, I 
  was sent to the corner a few times. In the fifth grade I was made to draw
  a circle on the blackboard, put my nose in it and stand there for twenty
  minutes. This was sufficient time to decide to give up my favorite past-
  time of passing notes!
     The community and school spirit was intense and not without a trace of
  prejudice. The co-operation of residents, school board, students and
  faculty maintained our excellent school rating and brought honors in
  athletics and fine arts.
     Basketball was the favorite sport which culminated in the tournaments.
  The court was small and a seating very limited but the fans managed to 
  find, at least, a place to stand. The girls had a team also. Do you 
  remember the middy blouses and full black bloomers?
     We observed a very special day - the May Day festival. Two tall poles
  were set up in the gym and for days we practiced intricate windings of
  the poles. What a grand night it was when beautifully dressed children
  wound the brightly decorated poles before an appreciative audience.
     The annual grade school operetta was especially thrilling to present.
  Not only was I a participant but I watched as my mother (Mrs. Minnie
  Hakanson) made countless costumes for the fairies, elves or whatever.
     What a privilege to attend grade school in the same building with the
  high school students! They seemed not to resent us and they often served
  as substitute teachers. One time when Jessie Appling filled in for our
  teacher, she explained so clearly how to determine when to use "I" or
  "me" that we never again had difficulty with them. Having older students
  to look up to was good for us.
     The fitting end is a remembrance of a fabulous last day of school
  community dinner!
                   
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 24  
     Submitted by: Velma (Dye) Dauner