LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 12 "One-Room" School: Heart of Inlet By Suzanne Schnittman "It was impossible not to daydream, and look out the window to Fifth Lake, a stone's throw away," one grad- uate of Inlet's Community School confessed. "I couldn't wait for lunch," another student said. "We ate cold sandwiches at our desks in a hurry, then rushed out the door and tore down the hill to play." "Each day a different teacher took their turn at recess," a retired teacher said. "The idea of having a coffee break in a faculty room was unimaginable." And so the stories unfold. Inlet Common School, founded in 1906, was not quite a one-room school, but it housed fewer than six rooms and relied on the natural surroundings to expand its square footage. Bright white siding, originally clapboard, crowned by a brilliant red metal roof, makes this charming building a fond landmark in the tiny town of Inlet, New York. A shrinking enrollment and exorbitant fuel costs forced it to close in 2019, after serving hundreds of families. Dozens of teachers created this school, but I highlight four here, all of whom served in the school's middle decades. I owe special thanks to the oldest of these, Letty Kirsch Haynes, whose book, Memories of Inlet Community School, reveals many of the stories I will share. Her colleagues – Sue Beck, Jean Bird, and Reggie Chambers – helped me illustrate them. Each came to her job in a quirky way, none replying to a formal advertisement for teachers or landing the position after a grueling interview. One school board member caught Sue Beck while she worked in her front lawn; another pursued Jean Bird in a golf cart as she prepared to tee off; another approached Letty Haynes in the laundromat; and a board member who could have been having his gas pumped by Reggie Chambers when he told her about a recent opening in late summer. All four women hesitated briefly, then took the bait. Jean and Letty had already raised their children, but Sue and Reggie each had two students at Inlet School, sons and daughters they would find at desks in front of them. Sue began as the Kindergarten teacher, then ad- vanced to reading specialist. Jean entered as head teacher, but taught mostly the fifth and sixth grades. "The teachers received no benefits or tenure, and their wages were terrible," she said. Letty and Reggie both started as Kindergarten teachers. Because Reg- gie only had three students, the Board agreed when she asked if they could have preschool one day a week. That swelled her group to ten, improving socialization. The teachers experienced challenges from the school board, mostly fathers of their students, who were reluctant to grant them raises. Arguing that teaching was "a cushy job," like babysitting, they re- sented almost any pay. Sue eventually left to teach in Old Forge, ten miles south, which paid better. In a few years Reggie also accepted a more lucrative position, forty-five minutes away, in South Lewis Central School in Turin, New York. Letty and Jean remained at the

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