Editor’s note: Northampton Area School District Board of Education Director Robert Mentzell delivered the following speech at the April 29 groundbreaking ceremony for the Lehigh Elementary School project.

Today’s ceremony is but a continuation of education in Lehigh Township. The new Lehigh Township school, which will open here in two years, is just the latest chapter in the long story of schooling in Lehigh Township and the NASD.

Some of you are witnesses to this transition, from an independent Lehigh Township School District to the NASD. Some graduates of this school are here today. David Gogel and John Becker are NASD board members. I would like to acknowledge other Lehigh Township grads and teachers, both past and present, here today.

As most of you know, education was strictly the business of the Lehigh Township School District, established in 1905. Indeed, every township had its own school district. Yes, even [Chapman Borough] had its own school, housed in a fortresslike schoolhouse made entirely of slate.

This was the era of the one- and two-room schoolhouse that lasted up to 1956 that some of you remember but all of us have heard about.

So, let’s get it out of our system: Our ancestors walked to school, 5 miles, uphill, both ways, through 4 feet of snow with no shoes!

It wasn’t that rough, but let’s review the facts. In 1863, there were 12 one-room schools in Lehigh Township. The earliest was Huth’s, near Pennsville, circa 1840. There were as many as 15 schools by 1916.

If you were lucky, your school had two outhouses. Electricity came slowly to schools. The two-room schools got it first, and then maybe you got indoor plumbing. As late as 1947, some schools had no electric. A coal stove was the sole heat source, and the teacher was in charge of keeping it going, even over the weekends.

The number of students varied. Around 1910, the student population ranged from six at Huth’s school to 59 at Lehigh Gap. As we all know, the older students helped the younger ones. Attendance was always good in Lehigh Township. Attendance rates were always 95 percent to 99 percent. Early in the century, a smallpox or diphtheria epidemic could close any school until the threat passed.

These one- and two-room schools were a focal point of a neighborhood that we can barely appreciate today. Schools served as community meeting places on special occasions. At Treichlers, Pennsville and Danielsville, they served as Sunday schools on the Sabbath. And here is one aspect we forget: In Lehigh Township, as well as nationwide, these schools served to register our men for the draft in both world wars. Also, in World War II, Lehigh Township schools were sites for scrap drives, food drives and the distribution of ration books in three of the four war years.

As for the teachers, up until the turn of the century, you could teach as soon as you graduated 12th grade. Then, two years of state normal school were required. For many decades, there were no substitute teachers. When your teacher was sick, there was no school.

Most teachers were female. Elementary got paid less than secondary, and, typical of the time, men got more than women. For example, in 1917, Lehigh Township male teachers got $57.64 per month while their female counterparts got $45.81 per month.

And in order to get paid, all Lehigh Township teachers had to attend the monthly school board meeting at the Berlinsville school, always held on a Friday evening. I can assure all teachers and administrators here today, this board is not contemplating returning to this cruel and unusual punishment.

Many Lehigh Township teachers were memorable. In researching the topic, I was struck by the dedication and service of these many teachers. A few examples:

Frank Benninger, who taught in the school of the same name, 42 years of teaching

Thomas Arndt, who started teaching at age 16, 45 years of service, mostly at Treichlers

Marion Burkhardt, 37 years

Pearl O. Bryan, also 37 years, where, upon her death in 1959, the flag at Lehigh Township was flown at half-staff for 30 days in her honor

And we have sisters Katie and Elda Bachman. Katie Bachman taught 45 years in one-roomers. Elda Bachman taught in Lehigh Township for an astounding 50 years. That has to be a record for being in the classroom.

After a half-century in the classroom, Elda Bachman retired in 1953 at age 71 but then continued to be a substitute until age 80.

But in some memories, Tessie Oplinger is a standout. She had 38 years of teaching in Lehigh Township. From 1950 to 1962, she was principal of Lehigh Township schools and during that time, from 1956 to 1962, was not only the first principal of Lehigh Township Elementary, but also the first female principal in the NASD. She is remembered as a kind but firm educator.

John Bensing was the second principal of Lehigh Township and remains the oldest living Lehigh Township principal. Those serving as principal since Bensing are Ed Corle, Craig Moyer, Bill Conner, Karen Fleming and Lori Kuhns. Our principal at Lehigh Elementary School is Cassie Herr.

Lehigh Township had its own high school housed in two rooms at the Berlinsville school from 1908 to 1948. Students who passed an entry exam could go to any high school they chose, so graduating classes at Lehigh Township High School ranged from two in 1908 to the low 30s by 1948. After that time, all students were bussed to Northampton High School.

To provide a better education for our students and also under pressure from the state to consolidate schools, the Lehigh Township School Board looked into jointure with either Slatington, Palmerton or Northampton Junior High, which allowed for more one-room schools to close.

By this time, there was a desire to phase out the two-room schools in favor of a modern consolidated elementary building. Credit for this effort belongs to the Lehigh Township Lions Club, which, along with the PTA in 1953, began to lobby the Lehigh Township School Board for such a new building. The school board agreed to build a new school near the geographic center of the township.

Ground was broken Feb. 12, 1955, and the doors opened for the students exactly 366 days later.

The Lehigh Township School District existed until Nov. 11, 1969, when it formally merged into the Northampton Area Joint School District.

In conclusion, the heritage of Lehigh Township education will be carried forth into this new building. When completed two years hence, all plaques will be reinstalled in the new building. All the cornerstones will be relocated to the lobby, and a new cornerstone with a time capsule will be laid.

And perhaps the most nostalgic element - the old schoolhouse bell - will find a new home by the door of the new Lehigh Elementary School.