Teaching offers challenges, nostalgia
By Jack Dura
Farmer Staff Writer
Meadowlarks sang as the morning sun dappled the sides of Horse Creek School along a lonely highway.
A new American flag adorned the pole outside as McKenzie County’s bookmobile parked in the scoria lot out front while the school’s six students ran outside to greet it under a clear blue sky.
Kim Kranz will miss this place.
After a year teaching at Horse Creek, Kranz is moving on to teach language arts at Dickinson’s new middle school, taking with her the rare experiences of a North Dakota rural school.
“There’s something magical and romantic and nostalgic about this teaching environment because it is going by the wayside,” she said, “and I’m proud as can be to be a piece of this and a part of this but at the same time, it is the hardest I have ever worked in my entire life as an educator.”
Over 4,700 rural schools once taught North Dakota’s youth. Today, only four such schools remain in operation.
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