The Little Red Schoolhouse

I was going to call it the Little Red Schoolhouse in my "Love Notes" column, which comes out in The River Journal today, but at the time, Stacy Wood Rief thought her husband Aaron might stick with natural wood siding. Of course, as I was wrapping up my column and checking a few facts with Stacy, she indicated that Aaron was wondering just how he was going to build the bell tower on top of the school. He was concerned about snow building up inside the tower.

"I think they're doing some engineering and trying to figure it out," Stacy told me. These guys must be engineering whizzes because by the time I hung up, Stacy said they were up there building the tower. A day or so later, the bell tower was up, and the schoolhouse was red.

It's located about two miles from our house on Selle Road, and Stacy's figuring on opening it Sept. 5 for childcare, pre-school and kindergarten. Stacy's all of 26 years old. She's a young mother, and she grew up in this neighborhood.

She's a Wood, and the Woods own a lot of land around here. They're respected ranchers who've diversified their family operation to include cattle, crushed rock, phenomenal German Sausages and smokies at Wood's Meats and country tourism at the Western Pleasure Guest Ranch.

And, now, a school. I wrote about Stacy's schoolhouse because I think it's pretty neat that a young lady such as she appreciates her wonderful ranch childhood enough to share it with other youngsters. Her school is not just any babysitting service, pre-school, kindergarten---her school will expose toddlers to 6-year-olds to the natural world outside the school.

The structure, located near Stacy's home, sits in a huge field bordered by a huge wooded pasture. There's a stream running through the pasture, and often baby calves race around the trees across the fence from the school. When the mother cows and their calves are in a pasture somewhere else, Stacy's school kids can race toward the woods and go catch frogs.

I also admire Stacy because she's got the vision to realize that people are getting fed up with impersonal, fall-through-the cracks education. It's not any one person's fault; it's just that with the growth in this area, schools are busting at their seams. The more you pack into them, the less positive stimulation each youngster receives. Stacy's school, called Selle Valley Bright Beginnings will remain small and manageable. She will strive to continually create a positive and warm environment where her students will spend several hours each day.

I think Stacy and other young people like Dr. Cherise Neu, a young mother who's all of 32, have caught on to a brilliant old idea: neighborhood. Cherise is establishing her veterinary hospital on her "Farm-to-Market Road" farm. She's using the family barn for her office.

If the community is growing too fast for its own good, then establish a community within the neighborhood. In addition, both young women can pursue their professional dreams while remaining close to their own children.

This seems like a win-win situation. The neighborhood approach seems to be the only ticket to preserving our sense of community. I have a feeling both of these young women are serving as role models for a trend toward the past which will serve us well in the future.

Hats off to Stacy and Cherise.

Note: Last I checked, Stacy's still looking for a school bell to put in that bell tower. If you know where one could be located, pass along the information.