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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