Page 16 - Flathead Beacon // 5.27.2015

16 | MAY 27, 2015 COVER
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
Richelle Sheets reads to Case Metzler at Pleasant Valley School.
one in each of its 56 counties, according to the National Trust for Historic Pres- ervation.
They’d once totaled 2,600 state- wide, but the migration away from ag- ricultural communities and into city centers has decreased the need for the small rural school.
“Montana families that farmed the land in the 19th and 20th centuries re- lied on these rural schools to educate their children, as the vast distances between towns made it impractical to travel to schools in populations centers,” according to the National Trust for His- toric Preservation.
But for young Case, one isn’t the loneliest number.
The mystique and romance associ- ated with one-room schoolhouses – a symbol of the pioneering and settlement of the West – might be lost on the preco- cious redhead, but the freedom and joy of attending school at Pleasant Valley isn’t.
Inside the schoolhouse, Case proud- ly displays the numerous projects he and Ms. Sheets have spearheaded this spring. There’s the hydroponic garden sprouting lettuce, and an outdoor gar- den with carrots, potatoes, sunflow- ers, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchi- ni and cucumbers.
“We’ve been growing a lot of food,” Case said, adding that although he’s only in kindergarten, he’s also “a farm- er and a cowboy.”
The shelves of the school library are brimming with books, and miniature terrariums contain caterpillars, which are about to enter their chrysalis phase. If the timing is right, Case will release the butterflies at his graduation ceremo- ny, a symbol of his own metamorphosis fromkindergartnertofirstgrade.
A notebook on his desk contains a wealth of information he gleaned from his class research project on bears, a species about which he has become a veritable fount of knowledge.
“Before hibernation, bears eat 20,000 calories a day, or about 42 ham- burgers and 38 banana splits,” is one of the factoids Case documents in his il- lustrated report.
Outside, the sprawling schoolyard features a jungle gym and baseball field, and in the winter a heated indoor gym- nasium is stocked with soccer goals, a volleyball net, basketball hoop, scooters, a bicycle, and just about any other sport- ing toy a boy could want to play with.
And while the little red schoolhouse stands in stark contrast against the mod- ern bustle of city schools, representing a
Pleasant Valley School.