Charlie’s School Olivia Davis

Charlie sat on a stump, feeling sorry for herself. She had a lot to feel sorry about.

First, her grandma and grandpa had moved in. She enjoyed them plenty, but they were getting older, and it was harder for them to keep up a house all by themselves. Her grandmother could make the best tea in the town, and her grandfather was a fine fur trapper, but they had to make room for them in the tiny sifter household. Last night, Charlie’s mother told her and Ren, Charlie’s 5-year-old little brother, they would share a small loft room. Charlie was positive that whole people could go missing in Ren’s piles of things. Charlie was a very tidy person in general, so living with her brother would be torture. The only time she really enjoyed him was when he drew. The colors and shapes flew on to the pages. His bunnies looked real, his horses ready to leave behind the paper and run to the ends of the earth. He drew better than Charlie, who once drew a dolphin that looked like a deformed cat.

Second, it was about time for snow. It was just nature, Charlie knew. It snowed every winter and there was nothing she could do about it. But it got very cold in her little village, nestled into the mountains of Alaska. Many inhabitants of the remote little place had livestock. Charlie’s family had chickens, horses, goats, and pigs. Tromping down to the river many times a day for water felt ten times longer in the winter. One of the men would go out and cut a hole in the ice so water could be reached, and then everyone hustled to get it before the hole iced over again. And the snow! There was so much of it! It took 3 times as long to walk to the barn, plodding through several feet of snow. The year before, Charlie had dug out small tunnels under the snow to many

places-the barn, the river, town. But they had all collapsed by the next morning, for multiple reasons. First, no one knew where the tunnels were. Many got stepped on by very surprised villagers. Second, the next few days got warmer, because it was approaching spring. As the snow got warmer, it got weaker and slushier and broke. Charlie was very disappointed.

In the dead of winter, sometimes they could go weeks without any visitors.

Now, Charlie would have kept pouting if her best friend Hank Armenias hadn’t showed up. His crazy brown hair was flying every direction possible. His glasses were crooked, his face smudged with dirt, probably from climbing the steep cliff to get there, Charlie knew. She smiled. Good ol’ Hank. Personally, she’d been hoping he had some candy. The hardware store had excellent molasses.

“Hey, Charlie,” Hank said, catching his breath. “Wanna see who can milk goats faster?”

Charlie scoffed. “We did that yesterday, Hank.” (She still had a bit of her bad mood left.)

Hank looked hurt. “Oh, right. Wanna race horses?”

“Nah.”

“Hmm…” Hank pretended to be stumped. “Wanna practice our letters?”

Charlie lit up. “Sure! Let’s see if we have the entire alphabet yet. I got a couple more letters, they were...um...Oh yeah! W

and X. I’ll show you how to write them. Oh, and maybe we could save paper and we could shape them with leaves instead!”

Hank smiled, clearly pleased with himself. “I knew you’d do it,” he chimed.

Charlie’s mother had always told Charlie an education was important. “Learn, learn, learn, Charlie. It will make your life easier and better.” So, she did, her mother never lied. But there wasn’t a school. There weren’t enough kids for the government to care. That’s why a birth was so special. Everyone flocked to the house of the lucky couple who had the baby to congratulate them. But there were only 9, or maybe 10 kids. Yes, probably 10, thought Charlie, but what difference did it make? The government would only build a school if there were at least 15 children. Not there yet. Old man Jhon knew how to read and write. He would read the Sunday newspaper aloud in his shop for anyone who wanted to listen. Charlie was always there, just like Hank and many other people. Unfortunately, old man Jhon had passed away in his sleep the week before. He had been a very old man, Charlie reminded herself, almost 100 years old, and nobody lived forever. But she still missed going to his shop on Sundays to have the paper read aloud.

“Charlie! Chaaarrrlllieee? Hello?” Hank snapped her back to attention. “Hey, you drifted off for a minute there. One second you were fine, and the next you had a blank look on your face.” Hank grinned. “I thought I lost you.” Charlie shook her head and elbowed him gently. “You goofball!” She laughed.

That night, lying in her bed, Charlie was almost asleep. After a delicious meal of her mother’s warm soup, Charlie’s favorite by far, her eyes closed, her breathing close to the rhythm of her brother’s, and all was well. Grandma and grandpa were discussing recent events with Charlie’s parents — the mayor’s wife had twins, Meghan and Alfred, how it was becoming winter yet again, the faraway politics in Washington D.C., so many miles from Alaska. A warm glowing feeling filled the air, and Charlie too. Moments before she drifted off to sleep, an idea hit her, and there was no telling what she could dream up.

A few days later, Charlie confronted Hank about “the idea.” She had waited to tell even her best friend because she still only had a hazy idea of what she wanted, and as previously stated, Charlie was a very neat and tidy person in general. She wanted to have it all sorted out in her mind first, before telling someone else, who would most likely give suggestions and tell others and make it a bit confusing again. And anyway, that was just how she did things.

“Hey, um, Hank?” Charlie confronted him after lunch one day. “Don’t you wish we had a school?”

Hank shrugged casually. “Sure,” he said.

“Well,” Charlie continued, “I had an idea. What if, I’m not really sure how to say this, but what if we like, made our own school. For a little bit we could just catch everybody up to where we are, with letters, what sounds they make, and numbers, and how much they represent. And then, we could ask around the town and if anyone was willing to teach the next steps and if they wanted to teach other subjects. We

don’t need to wait for the government to build a school for us!”

Well, Hank had clearly not been expecting that. “Wha-I mean- I mean, how…” He trailed off for a moment, but then came back. “Well, sure! What the heck, I’m in! We could have Ren make some posters and then print them off, or run an ad in the newspaper…” As Hank went on with his ideas, Charlie felt grateful and relieved. Good ol’ Hank, she thought. Good ol’ Hank.

To be fair, it was a team effort. Charlie’s mother was especially enthusiastic about the whole idea. She even donated money to help pay for the books, paper, pencils, desks, and other supplies. “Use it wisely,” she said, winked, and handed it to Charlie. Hank’s parents also gave a bit of money.

The week after, Charlie brought it up with Hank and got everything planned out, Charlie and Ren bargained. Ren would make the posters, even a few different versions of it, as long as Charlie ate Ren’s vegetables at dinner. Once again, dinner was another way Charlie and Ren were different. While Charlie didn’t mind eating broccoli, carrots, spinach, green beans, stuff like that, Ren absolutely despised them. His idea of a perfect dinner was something like a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and to top it all off, many slices of their mother’s apple pie, which they really only had on Christmas day.

Mrs. Parka had gone to boarding school and knew everything from math to reading and writing to geography. And even though she was a busy woman, she had offered to stop by for even half an hour each day and give a lesson. Of

course, after being in boarding school, Mrs. Parka was a strict teacher, but also very smart and explained everything very nicely.

Charlie’s mother and father also wanted to help with teaching important things, so it was arranged that Charlie’s mother would show the girls to sew, cook, and do housework, which the women usually did. Meanwhile, Charlie’s father would take the boys outside and show them how to set traps, fish, and skin animals. The skins could be turned into clothes by the women, or they could be taken to the market and sold, for a good price, too.

And finally, old man Jhon’s house was donated to being the schoolhouse. After Old man Jhon died, his house was left to his children. But they all had homes of their own and didn’t really need an extra house to care for. Ned, Jhon’s eldest son, said the new school was the perfect use for the house, and it was a nice place.

After all this had happened, a few things about a month later changed.

First, it must be addressed that there never was a school in the first place, so very few adults knew how to read and write. Ones who did, though, were strongly encouraged to have a job that required reading and writing, to use their talent. But still, many adults didn’t have an education. So, gradually, the grown-ups would stay for school, too. No one minded. But they started to learn also, just a bit at a time, they would learn and practice, too. So it ended up that this school taught everyone, no matter what age.

Second, every year on December 31st an award was given to the person who helped the town the most during that year. If you were hoping to win, you could enter at the town hall. Then, on December 30th, the day before the winner was announced, an election was held and everyone was allowed to vote.

This year, there was Jeanne Marshome who raised money for the poor, and Auderey Platinum, whom Charlie didn’t really like all that much, had spent a good amount of time picking up litter. But there was also Charlie, who started an entire school, for the whole village to attend, and had brightened the futures of many people. So, when December 31st finally came, Charlie wasn’t expecting to win. Actually, she had come to congratulate the winner, who was awarded a trophy and some prize money, even though she had entered her own name, just for fun. It started out just as it had every year. A speech from the mayor, and food and drinks all around. Everyone was talking, especially about the fact that yet another baby had been born, and this time, to Charlie’s family. The little one was tiny, only 6.2 lbs., but just too adorable! She was named Kiana. She had been born a few weeks earlier, and Charlie just adored her!

Then it was time to announce the winner. Sandra Boppers climbed the stage. “Ladies and gentleman,” she started, “We’ve had a wonderful year, with many generous people spending their time making the world a better place. And what you’ve all been waiting for, our winner is Charlie Sifter!” As an applause broke out, Charlie couldn’t believe her ears. Her? The winner?

Sandra waved her onto the stage. Charlie was stunned.

“Thank you all, so much,” Charlie began, “You’ve all been so kind. But I didn’t do this alone. I have so many people to thank. First, my friend Hank Armineas. He helped to create the school. And my parents were so supportive and taught a few extra subjects. And Mrs. Parka, who also taught subjects and so many other people.” The crowd applauded once again. Charlie looked into the crowd. Then she saw Ren’s disapproving expression. “What about me?” He questioned Charlie. She sighed and then grinned while saying, “And my brother Ren Sifter for making the posters.” All of a sudden, Ren was on the stage next to Charlie. “I’m Ren!” He informed the crowd. “And I made the posters!” That got a big laugh.

The End.

Olivia Davis, Grade 5 Southview Elementary School, Waconia Teaching Artist, Stephen Peters