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Sutton, 96, recalls days of one-room schools
By Samantha Blanton
 Jimmie Sutton is one of Jackson County’s oldest living school teachers. At age 96, she still recalls her one-room schoolhouse days on Blanton Branch.
“I taught at a one-room schoolhouse for four years when I first started teaching. I doubt there were 20 students,” Sutton said.
Sutton was the last teacher at the small school, which closed once buses started taking students to school at Sylva Elementary.
Transportation was less available in those days, and Sutton boarded with someone in the community during the week to be sure she could get to school each day.
Jimmie Sutton, seen here at about age 20 when she began her career, is one of Jackson County’s oldest living school teachers. At age 96, she still recalls her days as head of a one-room schoolhouse on Blanton Branch.
“I stayed at Aunt Emaline Blanton’s house and on weekends I walked home by following Cane Creek over the mountain and coming out in Cullowhee,” Sutton said. “It was a long walk, but once I got over the mountain I could sometimes get a ride.”
Sutton attended Western Carolina Teacher’s College (now Western Carolina University) and graduated three times, earning two-year, four-year and master’s degrees.
“Not too many people can say that they’ve graduated from college three times,” she said.
It was after that first degree that “Miss Jimmie,” as she is most commonly known, worked in the little school on Blanton Branch.
“I had a table where my smaller kids would work. Some weren’t even old enough to come to school, but I let them come anyway,” Sutton said.
She remembers having about a dozen students in third and fourth grades.
“Then we had about 10 or 12 students who were in the third and fourth grades.
“Students In my third-grade class had some of the prettiest handwriting,” Sutton said. “I would send them to the board to practice and trace my letters. They had the best handwriting I had ever seen of my students.”
Sutton remembers paying extra attention to the sixth- and seventh-graders to prepare them for high school.
All in all, she looks back with fondness to her first classroom.
“I enjoyed my time at that school, even though it was hard to plan for so many groups,” she said recently “We could have spelling class together, but even that was hard, and we couldn’t have arithmetic or reading classes together.”
The school didn’t come equipped with a playground, so Sutton said she and her students created a ballfield the best way they could.
“We played with boys and girls on different sides,” she said. “We would bat a few balls, and some would go over the branch. No one sat around at recess. If you were big enough to play ball you played.”
Her students were generally well behaved, she said.
“I didn’t have any discipline trouble,” Sutton said. “Before my time, children would sneak up in the woods and not come back until it was time to leave to go home. One boy was known for chewing tobacco inside the school and would spit out the window. When I got there, I put a stop to that. I reckon news got out that I wouldn’t put up with it, so they didn’t try anything.”
The secret of her success, Sutton said, was not playing favorites.
“I always tried to treat every child as fair as I possibly could,” Sutton said. “I wouldn’t allow one to be king of the crop and others to get run over.”
According to Sutton, reading was the most important skill, and she made every effort to make sure each student learned how.
“I knew if they could read a little they could get along in life,” she said. “It was great to help them and give them a desire to read. There was no library access for kids like there is now. I should have gone to the superintendent, but I just got the books myself.”
Homework was less common in those days, she said, but if she assigned it, she made sure it was graded and returned to the students.
“I never was one to give a lot of homework, but if I did, I graded it and gave it back,” Sutton said. “I didn’t throw it away like other teachers – I encouraged them to take it home and show it to their mothers. I wouldn’t make them do something I wouldn’t do myself.”
Looking back, Sutton said she might have done a few things differently.
“If I had thought of it, I would have let the older kids help teach the younger ones,” she said, adding that it was hard work to keep so many different age groups occupied. She did it, however, because she knew how important it was to keep every child occupied and learning as much as possible.
“I couldn’t let them just sit there,” she said.
Sutton’s career started when she was just 20 and lasted for 37 years. After starting with a one-room schoolhouse, she moved on to the Willets School and Haywood Coutny. Through her long career, she also taught at schools in Franklin, Robbinsville and Highlands.
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