MILLERSBURG, Ohio -- To many people, the one-room country schoolhouse brings to mind stories of pioneer days that children learn about in history class or by reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books.
In rural parts of Wayne and Holmes counties, however, these schools still exist -- mostly in Amish communities.
Not all Amish schools consist of just one room or even look that different from A public school classroom. Some defining differences that preserve this older method of teaching, however, filter through strong beliefs of the community.
Becoming a teacher in an Amish school doesn't require the same rigorous testing and extensive college preparation required in traditional public schools. Most of the Amish teachers interviewed for this story never intended to become teachers but came to the occupation from wanting to serve others.
"Looking back, it was God calling me to [teach] because I was a bank teller when they asked me, and I had no clue why I said 'yes,'" Mary Yoder said.
Yoder said she liked her job as a bank teller and never thought she'd be teaching. But once she knew she was going teach, she wanted to be as prepared as possible and took classes.
Now, she teaches grades five through eight while another teacher oversees the younger children in a separate classroom at a school in Berlin. Between the two teachers, there are 40 students coming from no farther than two miles away.
The school looks like a clean two-room public school with hard tile floors, individual desks and chairs, a blackboard, books, and various Dr. Seuss welcome signs. Outhouses -- one with a large "G" and the other with a large, black-painted "B," look just like wooden copies of the painted cinderblock entrances of many public school bathrooms.
Yoder attended both public and parochial schools. When she graduated from eighth grade, she took a class from East Holmes for Amish children so she could get her GED and some courses in accounting because she thought she wanted to work in a bank. She said experiencing both kinds of education has made her more aware of the benefits and drawbacks of the Amish education system.
"If I have children," she said, "I'm not sure I'd send them to an Amish school. ... I'm not knocking these schools, though. In Amish schools, there's an atmosphere keeping them away from the influences we wouldn't want. But in education, they don't always get it ... both systems have their pros and cons."
Darren Blochlinger, principal at Berlin Elementary School, said that occasionally Amish students transfer into his school. Some cannot continue at their grade level.
"Some of their programs don't appear to be as rigorous as the ones we would have and, occasionally, some of the students will have to repeat a grade," Blochlinger said. "But then some students are just fine."
Tom Beechy, another Amish schoolteacher from the area, said he sees the benefits of the atmosphere and focus on the individual student.
"[Our system] provides an environment that supports our standards and faith," he said.
Beechy studied in the public school system, never intending to become a teacher either. He worked in a sewing machine shop until he realized there was an opening at a neighboring school and decided the job might mesh with his interests better. Beechy had tutored people in Pennsylvania Dutch, but he said all his teaching preparation was on-the-job training.
Because he'd always loved to read, Beechy didn't find the material as difficult as the classroom management after his first year.
"There are some people that can manage up to eight grades and 30 students," he said. "I'm not sure I'll ever be one of those people."
Last year, he taught grades four, five and seven while his niece from Montana taught the others. Beechy said it helped tremendously to teach alongside someone who had attended Amish schools. This fall, he transferred to another school where he teaches special education to three students. For an Amish school, it is large, with four classrooms and 88 students.
"There will be all kinds of support and help if I need it," he said.
Beechy said he always has professional help nearby because he knows several teachers of whom he can ask questions. He also said he looks up to Mark Oliver, another teacher in the area.
Oliver, a teacher from the Walnut Creek area, grew up in an English home and attended a private school in Canada. Shortly after he left home and began living with an Amish family at 16, he was asked to substitute teach for two weeks until the teacher from the United States could finalize a passport. Two weeks turned into nearly six months.
"It certainly wasn't an ideal way to begin teaching," Oliver said.
Despite the hardships of his first year, he has continued teaching for almost 20 years, only stopping twice for financial reasons.
"It would be good to see an apprentice program," Oliver said. "We get teachers with very little training going into the classroom."
Oliver suggests that anyone considering teaching should visit a classroom several days in a row to witness the natural "ups and downs" of teaching. After observing, they should try teaching with the teacher's permission and guidance.
"That would have helped me a lot," Oliver said. "I've talked to some teachers who have done that and have found it very, very worthwhile."
Levi Troyer, who teaches at Honeyridge School in the Winesburg area, said he tries to remember what it was like when he was going through school. Troyer attended parochial school through eighth grade and began teaching in his late twenties, which is actually on the late side for people to begin teaching.
According to Beechy and Troyer, people can begin teaching soon after graduating the eighth grade, at 15 or 16.
Beechy said he thinks it's easier for the teachers who grew up used to the environment and the methods.
"One of the big things is remembering the same situation," Troyer said. "If you've been there, you know what's supposed to be going on ... but you also get a lot of things that you missed. I hope my students don't miss what I did in school, but no one can absorb everything either."
Troyer said that with juggling so many students in different areas, he tries to make sure that not every grade is learning something brand new on the same day. That way, he can spend more time with the groups that are trying to master a new concept.
The makeup of each school and volunteer-like approach these teachers take puts them in a position where they hold multiple responsibilities. All of the teachers said many Mennonite groups hold seminars for further education and guidance for how to be a more effective instructor.
"I don't think people understand how much time teachers spend for their school," Yoder said. "We're janitors, coaches ... we clean and we make sure there's art material and devotions. We do a whole lot of things."