Ruth: Well, we had gone to school in Blanca. They um. . . discontinued the school when just a few students got there. I think my sister Dot, or Gertrude—the one —Don Hard's mother—was the last um. . . the last year we had school there—when she got home from Gunnison. She went to Gunnison, and went to what they called the Normal School, and got her teacher's degree, and she. . . her first year, she taught school down in the little schoolhouse. And we walked down the hill and back—up every day, to the school building from our place. And ah. . . then they discontinued the school because it was. . . just. . . just not enough students there to hire a teacher. So ah. . . my brother Harry had bought an old house in Blanca, and we moved. . . Mother moved the kids to Blanca in the wintertime, and we moved there, and go to school, after that first year. But I went to school in the first grade up there, and I was only five years old, but I just insisted that I needed to go to school, I guess, and went to school down. . . when Dot had school. But I would never call her "Ms. King." And I just couldn't remember to call her Miss King, so I spent most of my time. . . I didn't get to go out to recess for quite some time. And that was the last teacher that had the little schoolhouse.
BH: Um hum.
Ruth: And of course, the schoolhouse was built after my parents were there, you know. They . . they both went to school in the little schoolhouse. It has quite a history.
BH: Yeah. Do you. . . What kinds of things did you study? Do you think it was harder than it is today?
Ruth: No—it was very simple. We used phonics—because then, you know—they just did.
BH: Um hum.
Ruth: And everyone was very upset—people in the schools and everybody—when they changed that. And ah. . . now they're going back to it.
BH: They need to.
Ruth: Yes they do. And we had reading and writing and arithmetic—penmanship, and just the basics.
BH: History or science—did you have any?
Ruth: Well, we had history, of course we had history. Geography. . .
BH: Which is really low right now. Students today really have a hard time with that.
Ruth: Do they really?
BH: Um hum. Yeah. One of our weakest areas.
Ruth: Well, that's strange. You'd think with all of our modern, and people getting everywhere, and hearing from everywhere. . . that. . .