We have been learning about Charlie Hettling, the firstborn of five children born to Agnes (Jacobson) and Floyd Hettling, and, most recently, his introduction to country school at District 79. He attended District 70 for first through fifth grade and enjoyed how his teacher, Mrs. Kosmalski organized the school and their learning.

“She had a little motivator to get us there early. She bought her son comic books, but he only read them once. When she got enough so there’d be one or two apiece for us, she’d have them sitting on the front desk with a note on there: “One apiece” or “Two apiece.” The first one to get there got their choice of what they wanted. You never knew when they’d be out, but they’d usually be there every week or two. So, you’d always come early so you’d get your pick. You didn’t want to be the last one because then you got the ones that nobody else wanted.”

Charlie described Mrs. Kosmalski’s Friday morning spelling reviews.

“You’d line up for your spelling and the first one at the head of the line to get all their spelling words right got a full-sized candy bar. If you missed a word, you had to go to the end of the line. So, if you got to the head of the line on a Friday, boy you didn’t want to miss a word because then you had to go to the end of the line. You could be third from the front and still get your candy bar if the first ones missed their word. You always hoped you wouldn’t get a word like ‘squirrel.’ You always wanted a word like ‘rat’ or something else easy to spell. You always dreaded when you got a big word, “Oh, God, no!” If you got it, you felt good. But if you missed it, you went to the end of the line and waited until all the others missed their word. Once the student at the front of the line got a candy bar, then that student had to go to the end of the line the next week.”

Charlie explained how Mrs. Kosmalski’s Friday spelling program motivated them.

“You had to spell them right all the time. That was a way to make you study harder and that was a real treat because you seldom got full-sized candy bars.”

His country school experience left a strong, positive impression him.

“I really have good memories. You knew everybody. You never went to town, so you were kind of scared of town because you didn’t know it. I liked my country school. It was fun playing with my friends because when you were at home, you didn’t get the chance unless my neighbor came over and we played. But there, at noon hour, you could play with all the kids in one through eight.”

Charlie remembered a recess activity that he and two friends enjoyed.

“Sometimes we built a little hut there out of straw. The neighbor would be combining flax or something and we’d bring some flax and sticks up and make a little cave we could go in along the fence. The fence would be part of the back and we’d hang the flax straw there and on some sticks we’d tie together. We made a little hole and we’d sit in there like we had a little hideout. The three of us built it and nobody else was allowed in there. It was ours. It didn’t last very long because it was flimsy.”

He always looked forward to the end of the school year picnic at District 79.

“She did that every year when I was there. We walked up to the same place for the fishing and the hot dogs, ice cream, and pop. I always thought that was a highlight.”

But Charlie’s country school education ended earlier than he would have liked.

“I attended grades one through five and for sixth I had to go to town school because they had to close District 79. There weren’t enough kids and they couldn’t keep it open. I was upset when they closed because I wanted to stay there.”

He remembered his transition to the Minneota Public School was not smooth.

“There was no discipline. I thought that when the teacher said something, that was law. But when we went to town school and the teacher left the room, the whole class was in chaos. Erasers were flying and books were flying. The teacher would come back and everybody would be sitting like they were angels again. We were sitting there the whole time and weren’t doing anything. Pretty soon some of them were saying, ‘Look at those country hicks. They’re too chicken to do anything.’ So, they started picking on us because they thought we were too chicken to cause trouble for the teacher. But where I was, the teacher taught us, ‘Your head stays in that book. If I go out to the bathroom, it had better be in that book when I come back in.’ Boy, you didn’t dare look out that window. When you were in school, you were there to learn. But this was something new. I couldn’t believe it! Holy smokes! What’s going on here?

Charlie’s friend and neighbor, Wayne Tollefson had also transitioned from District 79 to town school. So, the two continued their close friendship, both in and out of school and, increasingly, around town in Minneota.

©2026 William D. Palmer.