Starting a Life in a Boarding School

Boarding School Seasons by Brenda J. Child offers a look into the boarding school experiences of many American Indian students. Child favors unpublished sources such as letters to give an uncensored inside look into boarding school experiences. However, she also includes other sources such as school newspapers, oral history collections, photographs, biographies, United States government publications, and annual reports. Government boarding schools were created to help the American government gain more control over Indians and to push the Natives to adopt the white ways of life such as language, skill, and education. While integration was the ultimate objective, Child sets out “to show that even with the challenges of cultural assimilation and a devastating land policy, American Indian people, even children, placed limits on assimilation and also defined and shaped the boarding school era.” (viii) The boarding schools designed to tear American Indian families apart did not succeed in isolating children from their tribes, but created bonds and

The first month of transitioning from a home to a school environment can be a monumental change for any child. It is a circumstance that is both scary and exciting for most. The short story, “Charles” by Shirley Jackson, occurred during the 1950’s, at a young boy’s home and in his new kindergarten class. Laurie is a young, impressionable student who was attending his first year of school. Students in school need to feel special, protected, and receive attention from the teacher, but Laurie’s teacher did not seem to give him the reassurance he needed. At home, Laurie’s infant sibling was getting all the attention. While at school, Laurie did not adjust well in his new kindergarten class. This proved to be the cause of his new search for identity.

At this time, school was only open during summer and winter. There was a morning session lasting from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the summer and from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the winter. From there, students and headmasters would get a two-hour break for lunch and play. The afternoon session would then begin at 1 p.m. and finish at 5 p.m. (“BLS History”). Contrary to this school’s set schedule, Thursdays were a bit different. The Thursday morning session ended at 10 a.m. for a church service. Afterwards, there would be an opportunity for lecture over English heritage (“BLS History”).

Sherman Institute opened its doors in 1902, a century and a half before the birth of Lorene Sisquoc. An off-reservation government boarding school for Indian children, Sherman Institute aimed to rid young American Indians of their languages and cultures. Following the lead of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Supervisor of Indian Schools Estelle Reel, founding Sherman Superintendent Harwood Hall and his staff crafted a curriculum rooted in low expectations for Indian students. Industrial, agricultural, and vocational classes prepared students for lives of domestic service and menial labor. The daily rhythms of non-reservation boarding schools proved to be a shock for many young Indians. Students lived according to a tightly regimented, military-like

RING! RING! It was a sunny and cloudy April morning good. I woke up with no idea what I had in store for that day. Like every morning I was a solider going through routine by dragging myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Then I would wash my face to get

“Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” That was the motto of government established boarding schools for Native Americans on the western frontier. These schools were a cruel and dehumanizing attempt at assimilating native culture with that of the European white man. By enrolling Native American children in these schools, they were susceptible to new diseases brought from Europe, such as tuberculosis and the flu, which the natives had never encountered and resulted fatal. Little Indian boys who prided themselves in their long hair were forced to cut it off and exchanged their given names for “white” names. Since Indian children were forced to speak only English, some schools went so far as to punish whomever spoke in their native language. These schools had good intentions, they offered nursing, education, and more opportunities to grow in the new society than the Indians would otherwise ever receive, yet that gift was not requested by the native peoples. By killing off Native Americans, making them resign aspects of their culture, and forcing them to switch to the European language, government boarding schools completely replaced the culture of Indians by means of cruel and dehumanizing procedures.

I wasn’t sure what would become of me. It was peculiar, really. What was I supposed to expect? I was beginning a new school for the first time, and no high school movie could have prepared me for the years ahead. Come June, however, I beyond a doubt realized what was to become of me.

A few months after Shayla was born my family decided to move to Canal Winchester. This was a big deal because moving means a new school. The next school year Desiree, James, and I were going to Tussing Elementary. We went there for a year and while I was there I was able to make dean’s list. The following year we were moved to Pickerington Elementary due to Tussing being overcrowded. After 4th grade I went to Diley Middle School, and while I was there I was able to have a spectacular time at Outdoor Edu. Before the school year was up my family moved to Reynoldsburg. When the school year was about to start I learned that I was going to be going to Lakeview Junior high instead of Ridgeview. The transition was much harder for me this time than

Fulfilling god’s plan, America forced Native Americans to attend boarding schools where the ideals of Christianity were implemented. In Abigail Graham’s article, “The Power of Boarding Schools,” a History of Education professor at Indiana University writes that boarding schools is a tool used to reinforce one’s ideas into individuals. Graham writes, “Boarding schools...significantly impact the social development of their students; for this reason...schools used [this] as tools for reinforcing power relationships and cultural identities.” America’s goal was to eliminate any existence of the Native’s culture by constantly embedding the values of being an American and being Christian inside the school. The boarding school is completely new to the Natives, and having someone tell them what to do was something unheard of. Within a school’s system—the students have the least authority, the teacher is second in line, and the principal is the highest. The students were of Native American descent, of course the teachers were white, and this demonstrates the power relationship with the Native Americans and the Whites; the whites had more power than the other race. Children were targets because if America were able to change the younger generation’s ideals, than as they get older their offsprings will be what America envisioned, a non-Native American who has no knowing of their culture. In Mary A. Stout book, Native American Boarding Schools, the author mentions that boarding schools

During the late 1870s, the construction of boarding schools for American Indians began. The purpose of these schools was to introduce the American Indians the skills necessary to function in the American society. In other words, the white American society forced the Indians to assimilate into the white culture and strip them of their Native American traditions. There has been a lot of controversy about whether or not the assimilation of the American Indians was to benefit them, or to get rid of the ethnicities the society disliked. So many people say it was imperative because that was a way to help Indians survive in the American society. However, other people object to this belief because they consider it racism. So what was the easiest way

When children dread going to school, do you ever question why the child has already lost their eagerness for learning? In Chicago, Illinois, and numerous other places in the US, you can come across kids walking with their heads down and hands behind their backs in a single file line as if they are inmates. You’ll also discover that the cafeteria is dead silent to avoid the “overwhelming noise” of children enjoying their food and friends. With all of this being said, these schools sound more like boot camps than a place of learning. In the article, “Why some schools feel like prisons?” the writer, Samina Hadi-Tabassum, begins with a brilliant introduction, provides outstanding personal stories, and detailed examples to support their claim. The

These experiences were not confined to the late 19th and early 20th centuries but reach well into the present. Nor has the theme of such occurrences changed much over the years. Each of these boarding schools and its students possessed unique qualities that were shaped by a multitude of conditions, including the cultures of the tribes represented, the location, the era, and the schools' directors. Yet each of these institutions also symbolized an education that removed the students from their homes, their families, and their indigenous communities. The curriculum and the physical work associated with the schools form one of the commonalities shared between schools regardless of the time period. Another trait among the schools is the students'

The Hockaday college is an unbiased, secular, university preparatory day and boarding faculty for girls located in Dallas, Texas, united states. The boarding college is for ladies in grades eight–12 and the day college is from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. The school turned into based in 1913 by using Ela Hockaday in reaction to the parental demand for a preparatory day school for girls. She added a junior college in 1931 which operated till 1951. The first class consisted of most effective ten college students. Sarah Trent becomes one of the first teachers at the faculty and was influential in its

When I think about an event that sticks out in my mind as one that was very important in my life, I think about changing schools in the seventh grade. About halfway through my middle school career, I became very unhappy at my school and with life in general. Upon discussing with my parents, we made the decision that I would switch schools and embark on a new journey in hopes to appease my unhappy soul. At first, I felt as if a new school would not help; little did I know what a profound change it would have on my life.

The first year, the time to prove myself had arrived. Classes, rooms, teachers, and some students were unfamiliar. Eventually, minutes melted into hours, hours to days, and days to weeks. It didn’t take long before my schedule was routine, something of second nature. Humor and happiness were found in the form of my advisory family, where school was transformed into something more than going through the same motions of day to day activity. By the closing point of sixth grade, I was having a hard time letting go of what I’d adapted to. “What’s wrong?” my dad asked when I was getting into the car after being picked up early on the last day. I explained how distressed I was that my first year of middle school exceeded my expectations, and that it had to come to an end. Although his outlook viewed my reason for sorrow as trivial, I didn’t.