News & Notes

The Michigan One-room School Association will be holding its annual conference on Saturday, May 16, at Liberty School and the  Weber-Blaess One-Room School in Saline, MI.  The featured speaker will be Janice Stein, author of a book on the one-room schools of Huron Co. Local author Janis Stein pays tribute to Huron County, Michigan’s one-room schoolhouses in her new book, Schools of Yesteryear, Volume I, featuring the country schools of Sand Beach & Sherman Townships in Huron County, Michigan.  In the early 1900s, over 100 country schoolhouses dotted the landscape in Huron County, Michigan. Schools of Yesteryear delves into the histories of 15 one-room schoolhouses in Sand Beach and Sherman Townships in Huron County. Through ancient school board minutes and ledger books, along with the input and photographs from over 150 former schoolhouse students, teachers and school board members, these one-room schoolhouses once again come alive.

The highlight of the conference will be a session on the history and renovation the  Weber-Blaess School which is an integral part of the Saline Area Schools. The Weber-Blaess One-Room School is supported by the efforts of the Saline Area Schools Historical Preservation Committee (SASHPF).  They moved the school from Lodi Township, Washtenaw County to 520 Woodland Drive in the City of Saline on June 19, 2002.  After extensive renovations it was dedicated on September 26, 2004.  Over 1350 students visited the school during the 2007-8 school year and re-create the experience of attending a one-room country school.   They dress the part of children at the turn of the  century, bring lunches like the students would have carried and play the games inside and out that they would have enjoyed.  The building is also available for meetings and other functions.

The Michigan One-Room School Association holds an annual conference where people from all over Michigan come to learn how to research and restore one-room school buildings. Many attendees also come to trade their stories and reminiscences of experiences in one-room schools. Past conferences have been held in Ionia, Portage, Marshall, Corunna, Livonia, Dearborn and Ypsilanti.  Further information can be obtained by contacting Sue Daniel at Greenmead Historic Village, 20501 Newburgh Rd.,  Livonia, MI 48152,   (248) 477-3335,  or visit the MORSA web site at one-roomschool.org Registration is at 8:30 a.m. with a full program, luncheon and tour of the one-room school. Conference registration fee is $35.

Local contact is Jim & Cheryl Hoeft at 734-429-5922.