Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Podcast
  • Home
  • schools

Tag: schools

The Teacherage

Posted on March 22, 2011 By Tom No Comments on The Teacherage
History and Genealogy

Rules for Teachers €” 1915

1. You will not marry during the term of your contract.
2. You are not to keep company with men.
3. You must be home between the hours of 8 PM and 6 AM
unless at a school function.
4. You may not loiter downtown in any of the ice cream
stores.
5. You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you
have permission of the chairman of the chairman of the
school board.
6. You may not ride in carriages or automobiles with any
man except your father or brother.
7. You may not smoke cigarettes.
8. You may not dress in bright colors.
9. You may under no circumstances dye your hair.
10. You must wear at least 2 petticoats.
11. Your dresses may not be any shorter than 2 inches above
the ankles.
12. To keep the classroom neat and clean you must sweep the
floor once a day, scrub the floor with hot soapy water
once a week, clean the blackboards once a day and start
the fire at 7 AM to have the school warm by 8 AM when
the scholars arrive.

This list of rules for teachers has long since been proved apocryphal by Snopes.com.  It’s one of those things of dubious veracity which get passed around via e-mail, or printed on pseudo-parchment paper and sold at Cracker Barrel for an exorbitant amount.  It’s always pulled out to illustrate how you-may-think-it’s-bad-now-but-look-how-bad-it-was-back-then. (Although, it seems some politicians would have public teachers go back to those days.)

Even though the list is fake, there is more than a grain of truth to it, and I’ve even found some photographic evidence.  I was browsing through the South Carolina Online Archives, specifically, through the old school insurance photographs, and I came upon a term I’d not heard before – teacherage.  Similar to the word “parsonage”, it was a house or lodgings provided for teachers, most often unmarried females.

Read More “The Teacherage” »

Old School Charm

Posted on July 18, 2010 By Tom 9 Comments on Old School Charm
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Local

Old Shiloh School Textured

Perhaps it’s that I’m the son of a school principal, and had run of the various schools that I attended growing up. Perhaps it was the many reunions and covered dish suppers our family attended in various country community centers. Perhaps it was even because I spent college summers working maintenance – painting and waxing all of the schools in our district. It might, in some small part, have something to do with my own long career as an educator. Whatever the reason, I’ve always had a fascination with school architecture. Just about any school can be interesting, but what catches my attention most are the old wooden framed country schools.

Driving through the country these are easy to spot. The architecture is distinctive. The buildings tend to be squarish with hipped roofs. If it’s got an old bell tower, all the better.

Wheeland SchoolFish SchoolGowensville School HDR

Well, OK, they don’t all have to be white frame. There are some cool old brick schools, too.

Recently I was doing some research on the South Carolina State Archives website. There is a marvelous collection of photographs of old schools taken between 1935-1950 for insurance purposes.

Browsing this collection got me thinking about these old schools. They are great subjects for photography, and an excellent symbol of a bygone time. I wanted to see if I could find more of these old schools, and that meant making a list of potential targets using Google Earth.

Read More “Old School Charm” »

Director or Coordinator?

Posted on September 11, 2008 By Tom 1 Comment on Director or Coordinator?
EdTech

Yesterday the central office staff met to go over our goals for the upcoming school year. Our superintendent talked with us about our roles as directors of our various departments. The emphasis this year is on “customer service” and on how we can play a supporting role for principals and teachers – those on the … Read More “Director or Coordinator?” »

School Enrollment Increases

Posted on August 21, 2008 By Tom No Comments on School Enrollment Increases
EdTech

Each year we take student counts on days 1, 2, 3, and 10 of the school year. We always compare these to previous years’ counts to see how our district is growing. Typically, we gain anywhere from 200-250 students each year. In three years time, thats a new school’s worth of increase. No wonder we … Read More “School Enrollment Increases” »

Salary Revelations

Posted on April 15, 2008 By Tom 1 Comment on Salary Revelations
Local, Rants

Back in March my brother Stephen wrote about one Methodist Church publicizing the pastor’s and assistant pastor’s salaries in its 2008 Budget Report. Steve wasn’t too please with this, stating that “…a pastor’s salary is a covenant matter between the pastor, the church and the Conference…” When I first read that I wasn’t sure how … Read More “Salary Revelations” »

Categories

  • EdTech (197)
  • Entertainment (201)
  • Family (123)
  • Gear (114)
  • General Technology (98)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (275)
  • Internet (141)
  • Local (458)
  • Miscellaneous (557)
  • Music (202)
  • Paddling (265)
  • Photography (781)
  • Podcast (16)
  • Rambling (233)
  • Rants (161)
  • Recipes (36)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (413)
  • Uncategorized (143)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (59)

Recent Posts

  • Carolina Ghost Towns – Paper Towns
  • Kayaking on Wolf Creek Lake
  • Carolina Ghost Towns – Colonial Dorchester
  • Six Layer Bourbon Grits Bowl
  • How’s the House? Part 2

Recent Comments

  • Eric Kincaid on Kayaking and Coffee
  • Daniel S Mawn on Remembering the Walke
  • Judy Hall on The Clock on Wade Hampton
  • Charles Johnson on In Search of the Road Builder
  • Anthony h hannig on From Kingsbury to Stoneboro – Rambling in Lancaster County

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
June 2025
S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« May    

Copyright © 2025 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown