The time had come that Hill Valley was now entering the twentieth century. There was going to be a big celebration on the town commons and the Doc and Clara had joined the committee that had been selected to plan the festivities.
The Doc and Clara both knew what the new century would bring. After all it was the last century of this millennium and the committee wanted the celebration to be the biggest party that Hill Valley had ever seen. The town decided that there would be a parade with floats that were going to be made by the townspeople. Clara and Doc and their family would be riding in their new car . The parade was going to have both the military band that consisted of some civil war veterans and the school marching band.
Clara worked with many of the women of the town and did some planning of their own. They were going to have a pie baking contest at the event. They also had much to do with the decorations and other plans. Clara worked everyday to get ready for the party.
But the Hill Valley school teacher was moving out of town. Clara wanted the job so bad that she could taste it. Children went to school as early as three years old and Verne was now three. Jules was ready for school also and she knew it.
That was when the Doc and Clara appealed to the townspeople. Clara was a good teacher and she wanted to go ahead and teach them as she had planning to before she had met with the townspeople. They had made her give up her wants and wishes and had gone back to working on the farm side by side.
Clara and Emmett went to the town meeting where the people were going to discuss the prospect of getting another school teacher. Clara had stood right up and said "Why would you send to another town for a teacher? I am a teacher and a good one. My two boys are now school age and I am ready to teach now once again. There should not be such a rule that if a teacher gets married they can no longer teach. Towns lose many good teachers with that rule. Each teacher should have the right to remain at their post as long as possible." she had told them.
It was still a few years away before women would have the right to vote and many of the men at the town meeting did not appreciate the fact that Clara had gotten up and spoke. This was for the men to decide and many of them thought that she should have been home taking care of her two boys. But, they did need a school teacher and Clara had been the students favorite. She had taught their sons and daughters well. The vote was not unanimous, but the town voted to hire Clara once more as a school teacher.
As Clara prepared for the upcoming school year she went through each and everyone of her papers very carefully. School was going to be very different from the school that she had seen in the 1980's and 90's. School went from six in the morning until six at night six days a week. There were few holidays and even when the weather was bad the school was open. Many of the children in town had no heat but a fireplace and the school was always much warmer than their homes. The town had provided a large wood stove and the room was small. So when the weather was bad some people would come to the school house to spend the night.
The school was closed during April and September for harvesting and planting and then during the month of July for a summer vacation. There were no strict grades as each student moved at their own pace and could be at different levels in different subject. Clara could have up to thirty-five students in her class at once and they would range in age from three to sixteen.
Many of the students had no paper or books at home and brought with them their family bible. They used the bible to learn to read with. Some children had to share their books with up to four brothers and sisters. There was no free library in Hill Valley yet and that was the Doc and her next project.
Each morning at six Clara would ring the school bell. The students would then come in and say their prayers and the pledge of allegiance. The students would come in and out of school at different times throughout the day. Many of the older children would leave for a few hours and come back. They would go home and do their chores or take care of younger brothers and sisters. Clara never knew when one of her students would leave. Sometimes their father would just walk in and take their child. They would nod their head to Clara and leave.
Schooling was tough and almost everything had to be written on the giant blackboard on the wall. Each student would do their work up on the blackboard and other students would help them if they had a question. The process worked well and this year there was a young man who was going to be going on to a local high school. Clara was very proud of him. Most of her students would stop school before high school
High school was not like the high schools of the twentieth century. Parents had to pay for their children to attend the high school and the ride was a long once. The high school was almost ten miles away and a student would have to walk most of the way back and forth everyday. If someone in town was going in that direction they would give the student a ride, but that was the only time. Even in the winter he would be walking. If the weather was too bad the students would stay overnight at the high school.
Clara was very proud of this young man. He wanted to be a doctor and said he would come back to Hill Valley and open his practice here. Clara wondered if he would or not. She could look him up the next time that they went into the future, she thought. 'But no one should no too much about their own future' the Doc was always telling her.
Back at home the Doc had been working once more on perfecting the time machine. He had made some more adjustments and was now wondering where he and his family should go next.