Arena Tracks by Penny Schlagel: Hereford

Traveling north out of New Underwood, South Dakota, the black top shifts to gravel and the dust billows in the wake of a vehicle as it climbs up through the Belle Fourche River breaks to a flat piece referred to as the Alkali Flats. This area of fields, surrounded by pastures, is home to Hereford, South Dakota.  Hereford isn’t a town; there isn’t a Post Office or a church or… hell, even a town bar.  All that makes up the heart of Hereford is a Town Hall and, a mile down the road, a cobbled together group of buildings that serves as the Hereford Rural School.  

I throw no shade when I say the buildings are cobbled together. They are solid, sturdy, well-cared for structures that look like a couple ranch style homes without the stainless steel appliances and 50″ big screen tv. The single feature identifying the structures as a school is the large metal school bell standing tall just to the south of the front door. While so many schools are passing bond issues and opt outs to fund oversized buildings with lots of chrome and glass, Hereford and her rural sister schools in the Meade County School district – Atall, Elm Springs, Union Center and Opal aren’t so much focused on the shininess of their atrium; they are focused on the quality of their curriculum and the students they produce.

Hereford Elementary enrolled 11 students in 2023: 4 First Graders, 2 Second Graders, 1 4th Grader, 1 Sixth Grader, 2 Seventh Graders and 1 Eighth Grader.  Those 11 pupils were split into two sections, the “little kids” in K – 4th Grade and the “big kids” in 5th – 8th Grade.  Each section has a teacher, making the student to teacher ratio 5.5:1.  Even the most hoity toity private schools can’t offer that level of individualized attention and here it is in little old, “not a town”, Hereford, SD. The State’s standardized tests prove the success of this small school strategy with 20% more Hereford students deemed proficient in reading and math than the average South Dakota school. Seriously.  Hereford is onto something.

There isn’t a gym in Hereford nor is there one in Atall, Elm Springs or Opal. Extracurriculars are limited as well, though the families do meet a couple times a month to have basketball games in Union Center at the Central Meade County Community building, a true multi purpose shed with ball courts, voting booths and room enough for a good sized funeral or wedding dance. Of course, the most popular sport in Hereford, SD isn’t basketball, though I’m betting they play to win. No, the most popular sport is rodeo and more specifically, saddle bronc riding.

Last year, when putting together a story on Eastan West’s waltz through the Invitational Rookie Bronc Riding at the Calgary Stampede, I stumbled upon a fun fact. In the 1st go round of the Saddle Broncs at the College National Finals Rodeo, there were 3 Hereford graduates in the Top 6 – Talon and Thayne Elshere and Eastan West. That equates to almost 30 percent of the Hereford Elementary enrollment at the top of the national collegiate ranks on that given day. Pretty impressive statistics that the whip smart students of Hereford could probably calculate faster than I did. Making the feat that much sweeter is the fact that Talon and Thayne’s dad, JJ Elshere and Eastan West’s dad Zach West, had both been Philip Scotties and rodeod together throughout their youth.  Heck, Lindsey Elshere and Amber West were even pregnant at the same time.  Talon and the West’s daughter, Jaycie, are only 9 days apart in age.  Jaycie too qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo as did Kash Krogman, a Hereford native though he didn’t attend Hereford school.  One year, at the National High School Rodeo, the community of Hereford was represented by 6 cowboys and cowgirls: Jaycie and Eastan West, Talon and Thayne Elshere, Cade Hammerstrom and Kash Krogman.  Hereford doesn’t need a basketball team.  They have a RODEO team.

Part of what makes the Hereford School special are the people and the traditions.  Terri Barry was the heart of the Hereford school for 42 years. Mrs. Barry was a little bit of everything to her students. She taught, helped with lunch and even performed some light bus driving, picking up Jaycie and Eastan West on her morning commute to work. Of course that was every day other than the first day of school.

While Hereford, SD isn’t considered a town per se, it IS a community and one with deep roots and wonderful traditions. Nineteen years ago, Shelane Graham and Roxy Thompson wanted to ride horses to school on the first day with their Kindergarteners, Jade and Rowdy. And so was born one of the great Hereford traditions. Yearly, on the first day of school, the students along with their younger and older siblings, parents and even grandparents saddle up and head to school.  The teachers take part as well, to prove their worth to their ranchy little pupils. It’s a great way to send the kids back to school with the knowledge they have the support of all the adults in the community. Afterwards, the parents make the bittersweet trip home, ponying tired horses with empty saddles while the kids settle in to be a part of something very special and rare in today’s fast paced world: a small group of children led by committed adults who know them, their parents, probably their grandparents and for sure their siblings.  That kind of connectedness can only lead to great things.