One-Room Schoolhouse Standing Apache Strong

00:00 Hi, my name is Kelly Brown. I'm with Western New Mexico University. I'm a student at the intro to writing course for Professor Christine Steele. I'm here with Loy Guzman of Apache Elementary School. She's going to tell us a little bit about the Apache standing strong here in the middle of the desert. Loy you want to introduce yourself to the audience?

00:21 My name is Loy Guzman and I actually had gone to school at Western. I started teaching here in 2017 when our county superintendent, Mrs. Jackie Clay, she is now called Dr. Jackie Clay, she had closed the school and we had a meeting and she reopened it.

00:47 So what to your knowledge, can you tell the audience about the history of Apache elementary school since what, 1910 now?

00:56 Yeah, it was founded in 1904. The property was sold to the county from Mrs. Wheeler for $25. It was established in 1910. The first building that was here on the property was a wooden one room schoolhouse. And it was there for quite a while and then they moved it over and made a rock school house. And the wooden previous schoolhouse became the quarters for the bus driver. In somewhere in the 60s. The current building that's standing right now was built, and it was built around the bathrooms that were like the boys and girls bathrooms was like a standalone because it was away from the rock schoolhouse. So they built this one around those bathrooms and the school still standing today.

02:01 What was it like when you started here at Apache?

02:07 When I first started here, it was a tough job because the school had been, like I said, it was shut down May of 2017. And Ms. Clay reopened it in July of 2017 after a meeting that a group of people had.

02:26 And who was involved in that meeting?

02:29 Oh, the communities of Apache. They had gone up and they were talking to Ms. Clay in her office. And I had looked Ms. Clay in the eyes and I mean, I wasn't even hired yet. And I. And I asked her, I said, if I give the school one year to bring the school back to way it's supposed to with she. And she says, loy, I don't know that just, you know, the past, the conflicts and everything. So I left and I was shopping in Safeway and lo and behold, she.

03:03 Called while you were shopping.

03:06 Yeah, I was shopping. And she says, nobody has ever looked me in the eye and never blinked when you asked me that question. And she said, I know in my heart you can turn the school around. You can bring the community back as a whole.

03:19 Do you think it was politics or personality that may have caused it to shut down briefly.

03:24 Personality. Yes. It was a lot of Hatfields and McCoy's, as in the situation Ms. Clay would call it. And so that first year I had to look for an aide and that was a very tough job. But I did find him, lives in Douglas, went to his house, gave him the papers and said, I need. I want you here to work with me. And I didn't even know the man.

03:47 And did. Does. Does. What's his name and does he have a connection?

03:51 His. His name is Jose Cepeda, but he goes by the name of Frank. And he actually went to school here in the 60s.

03:59 Wow.

04:00 Yes. Yep. And he. He played on that playground that was out there too. Yes.

04:07 Well, that actually brings me to my next question. What's been done under your watch?

04:13 Under my watch. Well, when we took it over, the school needed a huge uplift. So we came in and we painted the inside of the school. And this was the second year that we came in and we did all this stuff.

04:28 2018.

04:29 2018 because we couldn't do it. 2017 because school's starting, so there was nothing that I could do. But we came in, painted the inside of the school, we painted all the buildings that are outside, we painted the water tower that's out there. And then.

04:47 Is there an interesting story? Because that's painted pretty uniquely.

04:51 Yes. The bus driver at the time, Anna Guzman and Frank Cepeda they got on ladders and everything and they went up there and they were designing it and everything, putting the coyote and stuff on it because we are the Halloween coyotes. And they painted it.

05:14 Wow. And did they have a design in mind or did they just sort of swing it?

05:18 They started swinging it and I had a broken leg, so I couldn't help them. So they were, you know, they. By my direction, they did what I wanted to be done and that's what happened.

05:28 Well, way to break a leg.

05:30 Yes.

05:31 What does the future hold for Apache or what does it look like in your mind?

05:36 In my mind. Well, we got security down pat for the school. We have a solar click gate that's outside. We have six high powered bank cameras surrounding the school. And it's a 24,7 feed. So we can go back and we can.

05:55 It's a live feed.

05:56 Live feed, yes. Cochise county and Border patrol can log in if they need to look at anything. So it's pretty safe because we're very rural out here. It's like Little House on the Prairie.

06:10 And sort of circling back a little bit. The previous article that was done for this school, it mentioned that you had needed a playground equipment and as of last year, or was it this year? Last year you had the kids involved in picking out a new playground?

06:29 Yes.

06:30 What can you say about that process?

06:32 We got the playground under the Esther 2 grant and the kids wanted it. So I told them they were going to have to pick it, design it, what colors they wanted and everything, and they did. They picked out one. It was really nice. But it was over $200,000. That was way too. So we had to scale back and they picked. They had three designs, the colors, everything. They picked what they wanted and then they voted on it. And so what's out there is what the kids design and what they wanted on that playground.

07:04 What a great process for them. Do you think that when you leave, you'd like. Do you have any set goals as to when you pass the torch, so to speak?

07:15 Right here. I.

07:20 Like, I guess what are the current needs of the school and how can people help?

07:26 I want to. Because I want this. I want this to remain a one room schoolhouse, but I would like to have a multimedia room, which education don't take place in there. It can be held. The board meetings could be held in there, conferences and you know, per se. But I don't want to change the looks of the one room schoolhouse.

07:52 Are there any current needs that are pressing?

07:56 You mean like the. Well, we got a group coming in and they. What they do is they come, they check our school if there's any needs or wants that we want. And one of them was, if I was given the magic torch, what would I want? Well, one was the building. But we do need security on our doors that we have. We have three doors. They're very heavy doors, which is good, but I want more of a heavy security door where the inside they actually lock down and I don't have to worry about putting a chair inside the doorknob to secure it. So that one there I want. We already have a security film on our big, old, big windows that we have here. We did that in 2020 when Covid hit. We came in and put a brand new floor down in the school in 2020 because it had the old. I don't know if you remember when you went to school, they had the old 12 by 12 square block, you know, tile on the floor. Do you see it in hospitals and stuff? Yes. Okay.

09:21 Yes.

09:21 That's what was on the floor.

09:23 Wow.

09:24 Yes. In different colors and they had cracks.

09:28 So it needed something.

09:30 Yeah, it needs something new and improved.

09:33 Let's jump to 2020. Did you have to shut down like most of the world? And if so, were you able to take advantage of any grants or anything to improve the school at that time? Was that where maybe some of the help for the windows came from?

09:45 Nope. The windows actually came out of our capital money. No. Wow. We that came out our capital money. We paid for the flooring to be put in here. We tried to take advantage. When 2020 was shut down, the kids, they did remote learning.

10:04 Okay, and how long did that last for this school?

10:07 It got shut down of our spring and March and school resumed back in August, but they still had to wear a mask and all the safety stuff had to be.

10:19 Okay, okay, excellent, excellent. Is there anything else that people listening should be aware of? Because the last article I had an unanswered question. She mentioned that you were one of four one room schoolhouses and audience, me and Loy have been digging and it seems to us that she might well be the last remaining one room schoolhouse K through 8. What are your thoughts on our country and how maybe we can start to bring this back?

10:53 When was. Well, right now here in Apache, it's the ranchers that want the school open. They do not want this school closed. They want the one on one these kids get. Even though we're a K through eighth school, the big kids help the little kids. And yes, we're all in one room. But you'd be amazed at the learning that does take place inside that classroom. And that's what this community likes. That's what they love to see is the closeness that they have, the closeness that we have with the community, the people that can come in and do science or reading with the kids.

11:34 So you encourage a transparent sort of an open door policy. If someone in the community has something to offer, they can share it with the kids.

11:43 Yes.

11:44 That's amazing. Is there a preferred method for people to offer donations or mail in anything that could help Apache keep their doors open for another hundred plus years?

11:56 We do take donations, check donations that can be written out to Apache Elementary School and that money can be used for inside the classroom. They can designate what they want it for. We do have the Arizona tax credit and that money there goes for educational field trips like the one we're going to go on next week.

12:20 How many field trips do you average per year?

12:23 We try to do one, two, at least three field trips, educational field trips, and then we take six field trips up into the Chiricahua, into our canyon here. And the friends of Cape Creek, we work with their educational thing and then they do certain different projects with the kids up there.

12:47 So this community is quite involved with the Apache school. So hopefully they'll keep it going in another hundred years. What is the best address or is there a website that listeners can use?

13:01 There's apachelementary.org is our website. Our address is Apache Elementary School, P.O. box 16405, Portal, AZ 85632.

13:17 And just as a last note, what brought you out here to this area? Do you want to talk a little bit about your background?

13:24 I was. Well, okay. Like I said, I went to school at Western. I got my bachelor's at Western University. I love the school. I turned around and got my master's at Western too.

13:38 What was the master's in?

13:41 Special education? Pre K through 12th grade.

13:44 So you're the superintendent, you're the principal, you're the lead teacher, and you're a special ed teacher.

13:50 Yes.

13:51 I would say these kids got really lucky.

13:53 They did, they did. And I wasn't even looking for this job. I was not even looking at this job because what I previously was going to do when I left San Simone school was I wanted to do like an outreach program with small animals, with special needs kids. Where. Because it helps rehabilitate kids and stuff.

14:17 Oh, with the animals. Okay.

14:19 Yeah. But I was approached to the school that the school was in need and I was told I'd be the perfect fit for the school.

14:29 Had you known about it being sort of a local for a long time?

14:32 Yeah, I knew it was here, but I, you know, I really didn't know the ins and outs of the school till I took the job and they gave me the keys. Then I knew what I was in for. Yes. But I mean, I love it. I love working with the kids, the parents, the community. We like. I always said it takes a village.

14:56 It sure does.

14:57 To educate your. Educate a child. And it really does because I can't do it by myself. I have to have the whole network team. I have Cochise County SAT team that comes in once a week, checks on the kids, make sure they're okay, they have any questions. So we have a very knit thing and then we also have an open house. We normally hold it in October when the. That is cooler. And that's when a lot of people come see the school and they'll say, can I come and do this at the school?

15:32 So, listeners, if you have a special skill, hobby, interest that you can share with the community, children here at Apache Elementary, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Guzman and all she does for the community and for Apache. She comes from a long line of community service that's local. And I just wanted to spotlight her because she deserves all the recognition. So I just want to say thank you.

15:56 Well, you're welcome. Oh, I like to mention that we do have the greenhouse in the back.

16:02 Oh, very good.

16:02 In the back. And the kids are growing herbs and stuff. And they. They want to go to the farmers market and give it to the community. They don't want to sell it. They want to give it to the community so the community knows what. What they're doing in the greenhouse. We do have a weather station out here that was donated by the Malpai group so that we can regulate, you know, the weather, the wind and the rain levels and stuff out here.

16:30 The weather monitoring equipment. How about anything else that has been donated of significance? How about the solar panels?

16:39 No, the solar. We got a grant for the solar panels.

16:41 Awesome.

16:42 That was before my time.

16:44 Oh, wow. Wow.

16:46 That's a long time. That is.

16:47 That's a long time. Yeah.

16:48 This is my 8th year at Apache Elementary School.

16:51 Well, congratulations.

16:52 Thank you.

16:53 On a personal note, my two kids go here, so they are one third of the school this year.

16:57 That's right.

16:58 So we encourage anyone in the area to bring their kids here to the little one room schoolhouse in the middle of the desert, standing Apache strong.

17:06 Thank you.

17:07 Thank you, Ms. Guzman. Take care.