Former teacher relished returning school to glory

As a longtime educator in Holmes County, Shirley Croskey understands the value of everything a quality education provides for a community.

So when she and her husband Jim began the process of returning the Oak Grove Schoolhouse on their property to its former glory, it became a true labor of love.

The rebuilt schoolhouse is a shining example of a simpler life when kids walked to school, gathered around the black pipe stove in the winter to keep warm and every grade sat in the same room to learn.

“This has been my dream for a long time,” Shirley Croskey said. “As an educator, seeing this old schoolhouse come back to life has been inspiring and emotional because it’s part of our educational history. I’m so pleased with how it looks now that we’ve redone it.”

On Saturday, Aug. 31, the Croskeys invited family, friends and others to visit the newly renovated one-room schoolhouse.

The event was flush with visitors who wanted to experience the schoolhouse aura firsthand, but for many it was a type of homecoming because they had parents and grandparents who either taught at or attended the school back in the early 1900s through the late 1930s, at which point the school consolidated with many other such schools into what is now Waynedale School District.

For years the former schoolhouse served as a storage facility on the Croskey farm, where heavy equipment and hay were stored.

The schoolhouse is located next to the family farm of Dale and Margaret Schlegel, Shirley Croskey’s grandparents, who purchased the farm in April 1932.

It was known as the Lecky Schoolhouse because it was situated on the Lecky family farm next door. However, Croskey’s parents purchased that farmland and house in the early 1970s, thus bringing the schoolhouse into the Schlegel family name.

While refurbishing the schoolhouse was lengthy and expensive, the Croskeys were fortunate to stumble across some absolute gems during the process including the old sandstone steps in the front of the school that had been buried by time. In addition, the original bell is now hanging next to the school, and the original wainscoting and ceiling remain in pristine shape.

For Shirley Croskey, seeing the building return to its educational roots was an emotional experience, especially because it had so many familial ties.

Croskey began her teaching career at Clark Elementary, then taught at Killbuck Elementary before taking some time off to raise her son and becoming a tutor at Nashville Elementary, where she would later land a full-time teaching gig. From there it was off to Lakeville Elementary before settling back at Killbuck for her final five years.

“I’ve loved teaching,” Croskey said. “It has been a joy and a blessing over the years, and being able to promote a tiny piece of our educational system through this schoolhouse is inspiring to me.”

Because the school is now back to its former glory, many people are intrigued with exactly what the Croskeys’ plans are for the schoolhouse, which includes one of the original school desks, a refinished original shelf and some textbooks.

Croskey said people have suggested making it into a bed-and-breakfast, and while she said they might rent it out occasionally for bridal showers, baby showers or reunions, the most important thing to her is preserving a piece of history that hearkens back to olden days where kindergartners and high school students would come to school together in one room.

“We’ve done some school field trips and the 5th Grade Farm Tour last year, and the kids all love it,” Croskey said. “I want this building to serve as a historical schoolhouse that can teach kids about education in the past and our history here. I want it to be a learning tool.

“We knew a lot of people wanted to see the school, and we were honored to be able to open the doors and reintroduce the old school. It took a great amount of work, but it was so worth it.”

If a person were to walk into the schoolhouse today and close their eyes, they could almost picture the rows of wooden desks filled with all ages of children. They could almost hear the children’s chatter and the old school bell ringing and sense the history and learning that took place in Oak Grove Schoolhouse so many years ago.