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Jersey County Page Schools Page
Bott School
Undated article.
BOTT SCHOOL CHILDREN ARE SERVED HOT LUNCH
PIASA TOWNSHIP BOASTS ONLY SCHOOL IN COUNTY THAT IS DOING SO.
Jersey county has one rural school that is a great credit to the county. Miss Aulda MacLean, the county nurse, is responsible for the report which she gave to the Republican Wednesday regarding the school in question, following a two day trip into Quarry and Piasa townships.
The first day Miss McLean visited the Hartford and Independence schools in Quarry where she examined the children and made reports and recommendations. The second day she spent in Piasa township visiting the schools at Eldredge and Bott or as it is familiarly call in the district “The Bud.”
It was at the last mentioned school that Miss McLean found a standard school which is doing things. The teacher is Miss Ophelia Kuhlenkamp and every noon in the winter she has been serving hot lunches to the children.
“Everything was in perfect condition when I visited the school,” stated Miss McLean. “The day I was there Miss Kuhlenkamp was preparing soup for her scholars. Some days she prepares hot chocolate and every day she has something warm for the children to add to their lunches. I never saw a cleaner bunch of youngsters than those at the Bott school.
“It was one of the few schools in the county where strict attention is given to ventilation and proper temperature in the room. The schoolhouse was as clean and tidy as any I have ever visited and the outbuildings were similar regarding cleanliness. The schoolyard was as tidy as the rest of the premises. The one thing that attracted my attention was the perfect order in the school so vividly in contrast with many of the schools I have visited. It is the only school in the county where a hot lunch is served.”
The board of directors of Bott furnish the money necessary for providing the money necessary for providing the warm school lunch for the children. Their example is indeed a timely and far seeing one. Better food for the children means better nutrition and better nourished children means children of greater intelligence.
The amount expended in the preparation of hot lunches is trifling and much of the material is donated. The beef stock for the soup basis is often furnished by parties in the neighborhood who have butchered a beef. Milk is also donated for cocoa and the same is true of other foods.
The hats are off to the Bott district. They have a standard school there and the action of the entire community backing the board of directors demonstrates that there is more interest taken in the children than in the development of better grades of hogs and cattle alone.
Of course they have another important adjunct in carrying out the plan and that is a teacher who is interested in something other than the monthly pay check, capable and willing.
Transcribed by Carol S. VanValkenburgh
From Marty Crull.
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