The Story of My Life - Page 7
(by Loma (Groom) Harrison)

The young people of each community gave a play, first in their community and then in neighboring communities. I had the lead in the one given by Hill City that year. I don't remember even the name of the play, but I do remember that the young man who had the male lead, proposed to me.  He thought that since we were such good actors, we really should get married.

There were church services in the community only once a month, if that often. After we young people went to Sunday School, we had "Singings" on Sunday afternoon in the school houses in each community.  On Saturday afternoons, we all congregated at the community store, not to spend money which none of us had, but just to get together and visit.

The second year I taught school, I was Principal of a two-teacher rural school in Hill Community, near Coleman, Texas, teaching all subjects in Junior High School and two years of High School.  This year the school term was eight months and I made $80.00 per month for eight months.  My room mate and I walked one mile to school every day, except when it rained, the people we stayed with, took us in their spring wagon.

After school started, I found out that the year before, the students had literally run the teacher off.  They locked her in her room and all of the students went home.  A member of the school board had to  rescue her and she left the community  for good........No more school that year!  Not knowing all this, I came into the community with stars in my eyes.  This was to be the best school year that Hill School had ever had, and I was going to help the community to be the best yet, also.  Things started off with a        "bang" and I was really pleased.  All of the young boys in the community who had dropped out of school, came back ....for the "Kill".  Unaware of the reason they had all returned, I thought that things were going fine, but pretty soon discipline problems began to happen.  Each time, I talked to each offender "Man to Man".  "At Hill we are proud that we always do what is right".  The boys really liked all this, but I soon saw that something drastic had to be done.  I knew that I must resort to physical punishment or I would go the same way that the other teacher had gone.  I thought that my brother, Jim, who was in high school a few miles away, could help me;  I did not know how to begin to paddle anyone.  His advice to me was, to paddle each person three times, very slowly, letting the sting last, and he said I'd better make it hurt.  I dismissed all the pupils who, it was agreed, had not been guilty of misconduct, and the other teacher came to be my witness.  I told each boy (they were all boys) to one by one , come up before the group and admit what he had done, bend over and take hold of the bottom rung of the chair, and take his punishment.  All of them did, except two boys who refused.  I told them to get their books and leave.  "We want only men here at Hill".

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