The first day of school brings back memories for many people of their own school days: the promise of a new school year and time with friends, one-room school houses with pot-bellied stoves, strictly disciplined teachers, walking several miles to school (uphill both ways!), pigtails in inkwells, ringing the school bell, Friday night football games, long curvy bouncy bus rides, clouds of chalk dust, and the smell of new textbooks. For many in Giles County, the memory is of school buildings long gone or now being used for other things. Before the days of school consolidation, there were schools in each community.
In the early days, before buses and automobiles became the norm, most people walked to their local school, often several miles from their home. A single teacher in a one-room school house taught all grades, often in a building with a pot-bellied stove for heat and no indoor plumbing. Children wrote their lessons on slates and strict discipline was maintained.
The bigger towns like Pearisburg, Narrows, Pembroke, Eggleston, Newport, and Rich Creek had many small schools and later became the location of the larger elementary and high schools in the county. As transportation became easier, many of the one-room schools closed, but smaller, more remote, communities like Penvir, Kimballton, White Gate, and Bane still had their own schools. The schools often were one of the centers of their communities with residents cheering their hometown sports teams and attending pageants and graduations.
As people became more mobile and educational demands grew, the smaller schools were gradually closed and the children bussed to larger schools in larger towns. Today, Giles County has just 5 public schools creating memories for a new generation of students. Look closely though as you travel through the County and you will see that many of the old schools still exist and are being reused, often maintaining their status as a center of the community and keeping memories alive for former students.
In the early days, before buses and automobiles became the norm, most people walked to their local school, often several miles from their home. A single teacher in a one-room school house taught all grades, often in a building with a pot-bellied stove for heat and no indoor plumbing. Children wrote their lessons on slates and strict discipline was maintained. The bigger towns like Pearisburg, Narrows, Pembroke, Eggleston, Newport, and Rich Creek had many small schools and later became the location of the larger elementary and high schools in the county. As transportation became easier, many of the one-room schools closed, but smaller, more remote, communities like Penvir, Kimballton, White Gate, and Bane still had their own schools. The schools often were one of the centers of their communities with residents cheering their hometown sports teams and attending pageants and graduations.
As people became more mobile and educational demands grew, the smaller schools were gradually closed and the children bussed to larger schools in larger towns. Today, Giles County has just 5 public schools creating memories for a new generation of students. Look closely though as you travel through the County and you will see that many of the old schools still exist and are being reused, often maintaining their status as a center of the community and keeping memories alive for former students.
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