Many arm hugs, school jokes and fond memories were exchanged during the Selz School auction Saturday, Oct. 22. The atmosphere seemed more like a family reunion than a school auction as a large number of former Selz students, young and old, traveled from near and far to take home a piece of their schooldays.
Classes were held for grades one through eight for the last time in May 1988 at the Selz School. Educating students for 53 years, the Selz school district served the small town and farm families in the rural area north of Harvey.
"This (Selz) has become more of a middle-aged to older community. The large families that had seven, eight or more children are gone," says Magdalena Hoffart, Selz School principal and teacher from 1956 to 1987. "When I started teaching here I had something like 25 to 27 students in my room. Last year we had a total of seven students in the school."
The teacher, who lives on a farm near Selz, recalls a few times when she was stormed in with students at the school or when parents of students welcomed her into their homes during bad weather. Watching school books go up for the bidding, Hoffart says she doesn't feel sad. "I left the school with good relationships with all of the parents and students. It's fun to see a lot of the students here (at the auction). Some are from way back. They come and tell me about things they remember about being in my classs," she says with a smile.
Jim Ziegler of Minot attended school at Selz, along with his seven brothers and sisters. "I have mostly good memories of school here. All of us kids were real close, and I feel our quality of education was better at the time when we were there because there was more interaction with the teacher on a one-to-one basis than in larger schools," says Ziegler. "Our teachers really stressed reading, and I think that has influenced me today as I'm studying for my master's degree through a program at the University of North Dakota," he adds.
Some of Jim Ziegler's brothers and sisters traveled from Colorado, Minnesota and other parts of North Dakota to visit their brother who had just returned from serving in the Persian Gulf and also to attend the Selz school auction. "We came up here last night and walked through the school," says Jim Ziegler, a member of one of the last classes to participate in the two year high school program at Selz. "I wasn't to buy one of the rulers the teachers used to smack my fingers with," laughs Ziegler, watching the auctioneer. "I have gotten a couple of pictures from the school that I really cherish." He adds. Another Ziegler family member was buying books at the auction, planning to ship them home to Colorado.
Jim's parents, Tony and Pauline Ziegler, both served the Selz school system by not only supplying a large number of students but by getting involved in the program.
"My husband was school clerk for some years, and I was a substitute teacher at the rural schools," recalls Pauline Ziegler.
"It's hard to see it (Selz school) close, but I feel my children were taught well. I think if they get a good education in the basics they will do good in whatever they choose for their future. They don't need to have all those other classes people keep saying are available in bigger schools; the basics are the most important, she stresses
Many people braved the bitter cold winds of winter blowing in the area on Saturday to look over and bit on a variety of school items, ranging from boxes of school books to a nearly new Apple computer.
Looking over the large numbers of school desks ranging in size to fit the smallest to the biggest students. The Strand brothers search for their name or a mark they might have carved into a desk way back when. "We went to school in this building when it was out in the country," remembers Bill Strand, now living in Harvey. "There were four in my eighth grade graduating class, two girls and two boys." Bill and his brother, Walt, recall walking to school, across fields in all kinds of weather.
Another Selz rural school student. Rochus Selensky of Selz, aso recalls, "I had to start out pretty early some mornings to get to school because I had to walk a couple of miles." The country school building was moved into town in the early 1960s and used for students in the first three grades when Selz school enrollment topped 130 students. Selensky and the Strand brothers talked about school days at the auction, remembering a few times when they caused trouble by hiding the teacher's school bell or putting an unwelcome guest into the teacher's desk.
Some bids climbed high during the auction and surprised a few people. "I thought it (auction) went pretty well; better than what some board members thought it would," reports Jerry Axtman, president of Selz School District. "The main reason it went so well is because some of the students wanted a remembrance so the prices went pretty good. We had some books in boxes we thought would go for about fifty cents a box, but they went up to nine, ten, 12 dollars!"
Some of the textbooks had copyright dates of 1890-1900. A few of the books were even printed in Norwegian with no English interpretation. "Money from the auction will be used to operate the school district until we dissolve," says Axtman. Since closing the school building last spring the Selz school now runs as a closed district. The slez district tuitions the students to Harvey and operates one bus to transport the students to school there, according to Axtman.
The school district will operate until it annexes to another district or dissolves, which must be done with 18 months of closing the school building, according to state school regulations.
"It was hard to close, but we held on as long as we could. You can't do much with only six or seven students, and it didn't look like we were going to get any new students," says Axtman.
His wife, Darlene, recalls the day the school doors closed as a sad one but noted spirits were high among former students at the auction.
"It's been fun seeing other students and walking through the school. I noticed most of the rooms that had seemed so big when I was going to school here now seem a lot smaller," says Sandie Lucas of Harvey.
Another Selz student, Nancy Frey, now living in Harvey, adds, "It's been interesting going through books and finding out names on library cards. I was happy to buy some school pictures, even one picture that my class made."
The auctioneer's truck has become a familiar site in our rural areas during the past few years. But the Selz school auction proved not to be a day of sadness, only of joy, as students renewed friendships and took home a very special part of their lives.
