The best-remembered Vanceboro School was built in 1925 at a cost of $30,000 ($543,724.86 in today’s currency). The town population at that time was about 600, with more than 180 students in attendance.
A two-story Greek-revival style building, the school included all then-modern, improvements such as steam heat, electric lights, running water, and electric ventilating system. The rooms were large, well-lit, finished in varnished dark wood with walls of light and dark green.
The first story was one large room separated by folding doors separating 1st & 2nd grade at the front from 3rd-6th to the rear. The doors, when opened, became a large auditorium for school entertainments. Grades 7-8 occupied the 2nd story front, with one large and one smaller room to the rear for the High School. The sidewalls in each room were configured as a cloakroom for winter coats and boots.
The toilets, lavatory, boiler room, and chemistry lab were in the basement. Entry/exit was restricted to boys on the left and girls on the right. The playground at the rear, not shown, contained a merry-go-round, slide, swings, and gym rings. Basketball was played in the Knights of Pythias Hall across the street.
The back of the Vanceboro school. The Knights of Pythias Hall is to the left, across Third Street. The hall was used for community events as well as graduation exercises, school dances and basketball games.
The daily schedule in later years had classes starting at 8:30 a.m.; two 15-minute recesses (upper & lower schools) between 10:00-10:30; a 30-minute lunch period whereupon students walked home (uphill in the snow both ways); ending at 3:00 p.m. From 2:30 p.m., high school students were expected to study and prepare for the next day’s classes.
Of note is the seven on five high school class schedule used, at least the last many years. In order to offer enough credits so students could earn sufficient for graduation, seven class period subjects (times two for the two teachers) were planned. However, there were only five actual periods in the school day, so the schedule looked like this:
1st Day: 1,2,3,4,5
2nd Day: 6,7,1,2,3
3rd Day: 4,5,6,7,1
4th Day: 2,3,4,5,6
5th Day: 7,1,2,3,4
6th Day: 5,6,7,1,2
7th Day: 3,4,5,6,7
REPEAT
The last graduating high school class was 1967 with, thereafter, grade 9-12 students attending Lee Academy or East Grand High School. The elementary school was moved to an all-new facility on High Street in 1993 (closed permanently in 2016 and is now a town community center and home to the Vanceboro Historical Museum). The hall and school were subsequently demolished, and the town fire station occupies the school grounds. All that remains of the school are the granite steps that once led to the girls’ and boys’ entrances.
A VENERATED, ICONIC EDUCATOR
It should be no surprise that one truly special teacher taught there for its entire existence. Madeline Hazel Field.
Born in Vanceboro on August 11, 1901, to Lewis A. & Mary C. (Sullivan) Field, she attended the local schools, graduating in 1919. She then passed two years at the University of Maine and began a teaching career at high schools in Columbia Falls, Jonesport, Harrington, and Caribou.
Continuing her education with summer classes, she began what became a life’s work as a high school assistant principal in the new Vanceboro High School when it opened in 1925, ending when it closed in 1967. She was awarded her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine in 1933. She also became a full member of the American Association of French Teachers.
Teaching English, Latin, and French, her faithful and efficient work earned her the esteem of parents and students during her entire tenure. Her no-nonsense demeanor and instructional delivery gave her students a solid linguistic foundation. She passed away May 3rd, 1973, an exemplary personification of “Teacher.”
Miss Field was also a gifted writer of short stories. We have, in our archives, her original piece, “All Quiet on Porcupine Ridge,” written while she lived and taught in Harrington, most likely between 1921, when she graduated from UM, and 1925, when she returned to Vanceboro. A story of poaching and back woods play, her opening lines reveal her great talent and humor:
“For the first time within the memory of man, Joe Casey had been sick. His usually reliable interior had been acting up all that spring. No amount of Dr. Hemingway’s Perfect Panacea had the slightest effect upon Joe’s personal civil war….”
We don’t know if Miss Field submitted this wonderful tale for publication, but since it is so fine and fully finished and because “Coleboro” carries the spirit of her hometown (after all the hospital in “Steventon” is 30 miles away), we suspect she would love her story to be read and appreciated by VHS followers. You can download “All Quiet on Porcupine Ridge” here.
Miss Madeline Field, a daughter of Vanceboro and truly a gifted teacher and author.
