Part IV - Education, a supplement to the Big Rapids Pioneer Newspaper. Used with permission.
THE STANWOOD AMISH SETTLEMENT - 1982-2005
By Richard Santer - Special to the Pioneer
The Norwest Ordinance of 1787, which guided the creation of Michigan, cities, "Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Adhering to this American foundation, today, eight Amish School Districts provide a culturally relevant basic education to all the settlement's children between first and eighth grades.
Similar to the county's pioneers when the first make-shift log school was quickly established in Green Township in 1859, the first temporary Amish school (1892) was set up in an existing concrete block garage. Today about 15-25 scholars (pupils) attend each of the newly built one-room schools which dot the landscape on about one acre sites which includde a well, outdoor toilets for boys and girls, a horse sheltered-woodshed and play yard. Most children walk about 1/2 to 1-1/2 miles in small groups to their classes held Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The schools are in session Labor Day to May and meet the state's attendance standard. Each school has two recesses and a lunch period of a half-hour. Most schools have a pastoral name (See table).
THE STANWOOD AMISH SCHOOLS
Name -- Date Opened -- Township
Temporary 1982 Austin
Apple Grove 1984 Austin
Maple Lane 1986 Mecosta
Jersey Acres 1990 Mecosta
Ribble 1993 Deerfield
Miller 1996 Deerfield
Meadow Lane 2000 Austin
Rolling Acres 2000-01 Deerfield
"Skid School" 2001 Hinton
"Temporary-relocatable-reuse building; two new schools under construction currently
Schools are closed for Thanksgiving, two days at Christman, Epiphany (Jan. 6), Good Friday, Easter Monday and one week in the fall for corn husking.
Lessons are taught in English with Pennsylvania Dutch-German, the household language, spoken on Fridays. Thus, all children are bilingual and competent to communicale in the main-stream economic society. Basic subjects taught are mathmatics, history, geography reading-writing-spelling, using phonics, and a firm grounding in money management. Children do not go to high school or college, but go directly to work on the farm or family secondary business.
Richard A. Santer, Phd, is an emeritus professor of geography who has interacted with the Stanwood Amish neighbors since 1982.
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