All those who remember, as does your editor, those early years of attending the one room school, TAKE NOTE! All those who missed such a formative experience, we'll forgive you, yet HARKEN! EMU's long-standing goal to set up a one room school on the campus is about to become a reality. In fact, it will be Eastern's contribution to Michigan's Sesquicentennial Celebration.
In fact, the University has committed itself to the relocating of the old Geddes School on Morgan Road to somewhere on the central campus, site yet to be decided. Dean Rockwell chairs the project. It has been his dream for a long while and is now doing his best to make it a reality. He has the support of the President, Mrs. Porter as Vice- Chair, along with Rich Baird. The project, however, once established, must survive on its own, supported by outside funding.
Dr. Scott Westerman, Dean of the College of Education, is also a member of the working committee. He sees it as an important adjunct to the teaching of the history of education and an important visual symbol of Eastern's tradition for excellence in that field. Dr. Judy Williston, our Foundation Refreshments Chair and Director of Child Development at Eastern, is also an enthusiastic member, working out practical uses of it. Nat Edmunds, Jack Harris, Scott Diels, and Dan Klen-czar of Eastern's Planning and Development office, all serve on the Restoration Sub-committee, set up to protect the fabric of the building.
The structure represents a perfect example of the one room school in Michigan: clapboard with cut-stone foundation; three windows evenly spaced, on either side; centered front porch with turned posts and brackets with one simple star cut into each; a corbeled brick chimney near the back of the gable; a belfry (delapidated but restorable); and a wooden flag pole at the front edge of the gable - the flag obviously let up and down each day from a pulley attached to the front porch. Lest we forget - the school will be an immediate, daily reminder to students and staff alike of our proud history in the field of education. It should prove a forceful tool in creating awareness of time and place, and a living teaching aid for students who will use it.
Fundraising and community support are a major concern and will continue to be until the project is fully established. Anyone who finds that this project strikes a chord of sympathy, anyone who feels that it will contribute to Ypsilanti's long- established reputation as a center for quality education, as the place which for decades sent out well-qualified young people to teach in the one room school houses of Michigan and elsewhere, should think seriously about supporting THIS PROJECT. Funding drives will soon be underway. Anyone wishing to contribute can address checks to the Development Office at Eastern, specifying that the money is for the One Room School house Restoration Project. Also, anyone interested is welcome to attend the next committee meeting, Saturday, March 21, at 9:00 am, McKenny Union.