The Roberts School
From an interview by Wendy Dulaney, Senior at Haskell High School, Academic English IV, 30 May 1997Ninety-two years ago in 1905, Beullah Lewellen (Toliver) moved with her family to the Roberts community and began school there. The Roberts community was located several miles southeast of what is now Weinert. (see Maud & Cal Lewellen Bio Sketch)
The Roberts school was two years old when the Lewellens moved to Haskell County, with one room "about the size of a large living room" and about thirty-five students enrolled. Mrs. Toliver remembers that the school looked "more like a barn than a school" because it was never painted. But soon after Mrs. Toliver began school, a two-room building was constructed and then in 1912, Roberts school was at its largest when 82 students were enrolled.
It would be in 1936 when, with 47 students, the Roberts School District voted to consolidate with Vontress, Cottonwood and Pleasant Valley to form the Mattson High School at the common corner of the four school districts.
Mrs. Toliver remembers that school began in September, but was dismissed again for two months in October for cotton picking. Then, about Christmas, school would start again and be in session until summer. "Very few people ever finished school - there was too much work to be done at home", Mrs. Toliver said. "I stayed at home at least one day every week helping Mother do the washing on a rub board.
Four main subjects were taught: the three R's (reading, writing and arithmetic) and spelling. "We used to have spelling bees and arithmetic contests for entertainment" she said. "I was good at math but I never was much of a speller". Recess was a favorite time of day. Baseball was the most popular sport. "Wolf Over the River" and "Annie Over the Schoolhouse" were other recess games.
The attendance at school was very high even though students had to walk to get there - sometimes up to three miles each way. Mrs. Toliver remembers that everyone was happy to be there. Families were close and often ate together and the children were happy to be together at school.
Teachers were paid between $75 and $100 per month which was a low salary even for that time, Mrs. Toliver explained. "We made or grew most things and what we had to buy didn't cost much. It didn't take much money to get by". In the book "Cowpokes and Sodbusters" by R. S. Sanders, a list of teachers at the Roberts school shows that almost every teacher stayed only one year at the school ... the longest stay being only three years.
Students had a great respect for their teachers. "It was always very quiet and very orderly in the schoolhouse. There was never any racket or scuffling. We had to raise our hands and we would get into trouble if we snapped our fingers to get the teacher's attention" said Mrs. Toliver. A common punishment was to make a misbehaving student stand with his or her nose in the corner or on the wall. The only time Mrs. Toliver had to put her nose in the corner was because the picture man was due to come and an older girl told her to go look out the window to see if he was coming. She had to stand with her nose in the corner for that and was still there when he arrived. "Sometimes there would be four or five students up there at once" she said.
When asked what the most important thing she learned from school, Mrs. Toliver had to think a moment. "Everything was important to me then" she remembered. There were several close friends of hers and they were almost inseparable. She loved to read and that was her best subject. She said she also helped the teacher when she was older and that responsibility was very important to her.
Advice for kids today? Mrs. Toliver said "Be honest and pay attention to what your mother and daddy teach you".
Submitted by Dorothy Toliver Hartsfield