Amherst Steele High School - Amherstonian Yearbook (Amherst, OH)

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. Grafton ggmgmqggg, H' if isgj H2 il: ,I .5 n . 4 1 i 5 Grafton Township, of which Grafton is the only town, was incor- Ilfgz porated by the 'Commissioners of Medina County on July 25, 1818. The Hrst school was taught in this same year by Miss Mary Sibley in a log 1' li' school house. The first school house was a frame building which now L serves as a residence. The first brick school building consisted of two ,L ' it rooms, four other rooms were added in 1892 and this, with a frame annex, l' A 1 constitutes the buildings which house our present school system. One -,ff member of the board of education has served for 20 years. We have an H5 efficient student council, complete class organizations, orchestra and three tj 1' honor societies. The student council was one of the first organized in the T ,' county and it backsi the staff of the school paper-The Purple and Gold. 51, The orchestra has a student leader and is always ready to respond when W 33 called upon. 5 The churches, business people, parent-teacher association and the en- If L tire community are the real backers of all school activities and always U respond whenever given an opportunity. The Pillar, representing strength is emblematic of our school. 'I' fx ii 1 1 LaGrange ' l -1 iz Great changes have taken place in the organization of the LaGrange '9 if schools since their beginning approximately 100 years ago. Within the nr memory of living graduates there were two small buildings, one of which J 2225 was located on the present site, the other near the site of the Adventist Church. The first class to be graduated from the high school consisted of ia Messrs. W. H. Hubbard, Porter Lincoln, Avery Wilcox and H. A. Lazelle. 1 1 3 They received their diplomas in 1881. The first superintendent of schools 3 f was Geo. Ryan. A remarkable example of devotion to the service of the il is schools was that of Miss Ida Hubbard who taught in LaGrange Township i for a period of 40 years. T The first part of the resent structure was built in 1891. This satis- M fied the demands of the cclfmmunity until 1915 when centralization of all 1 gill the schools of the township required larger accomodation. Ohio's high 'Q it standard of compulsory school attendance, a slight increase in population fl, and a broadening of the school curriculum again called for an addition to xg M , the sclfool plant. Consequently in 1924 a splendid addition consisting of a T' 55, combination auditorium and gym, an office and two large class rooms were ,ij W added. The school plant today is one which the citizens of the community TJ are justly proud to own. p The LaGrange schools are largely indebted to the loyal and enterpris- ,iii ing members of the boards of education who have been leaders in the pro- Q up gress -which has helped to bring the school to the splendid position it now p liz! occupies. p iii!---I'-2r1-n-v -1-Ili, my 3:1-- ,il-4-sag.-ig Fifteen

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1IE.15ire55 re Columbia 'l'he rather recent date 09225 of centralization of our township might lead one at a superficial glance to suppose that there was a failure - to appreciate the value of education. This, however, is not true. In fact, - in 1914 the township approved bonds to building an adequate home for our schools. Through the advent of the World War the project was dropped . , and not resumed until 1921. Due to the increased cost of labor and ma- , terial, building plans had to be modified and additional bonds issued. The building as you can see, is a one-story edifice. It has four recitation rooms, if an office, a rest room, a gymnasium, lavatories and two store rooms. The ll class rooms are extremely pleasant and very adequately furnished. The 1 capacity of the building is about 180 and it was designed for the grades. 1 Realizing the crying need for a high school in our community the for- ward looking board of education redecorated and rearranged the old building for high school use. With the change to a first grade school and on increase in high school enrollment the board was confronted with the problem of adequately housing it. To take care of this, two commodius recitation rooms were added to the grade building. - Miss Martin, teacher of Latin in the high school informs us that she 'gl began teaching in Columbia Township in 1890 and received the remark- .5 able remuneration of S22 a month, adding however that she had to pay only S2 for board and room. V Henrietta V This is the home of the Henrietta Centralized School. It is a one- story structure and houses the elementary grades and junior and senior I gi high school. It was erected at a cost of 365,000 and occupied in 1923 for Q ill the first time. A beautiful, Wide lawn already surrounds the building. A IH, barberry hedge fringes the lawn. Extensive plans for planting will further I beautify the grounds. 5 gill. The high school received its first grade charter in 1923 and grad- i Ill uated its first class of six members May 27, 1924. Three out of the six E !3 graduates are attending institutions of higher learning. 5 ig, A list of Henrietta boys and girls who have attained eminence since 5 fl leavingtheir old home would necessarily include Hubert Dutch Leonard, 1 'gi world-famed baseball pitcher. An aunt, Miss Jessie Leonard, is often W spoken of as the teacher beloved by all, commanding obedience with a y I single glance . Ruth Haynes Cook of Oberlin is perhaps the Henrietta ' teacher oldest in years. Ezra and Ernest Baumann are missionaries in y South America. Albert Bauman is a prominent Chicago minister. Ella 5 Dudley spent several years of her life as a teacher in South Africa. Sarah 1 Bell Saunders, a former teacher, has labored as a missionary in the Congo Free State for the past 25 years. Dr. Stowell Dudley took part in the 3 relief work among the refugees in Turkey during the late war. I Miss Eliza Thomas, sister of Mrs. H. A. Coates, taught the Hill school 1n a red frame school in 1885 and in deference to her experience her salary was raised to 32.50 a week. - 5 , -, m...,-..-- W, 1 1 Q , 5, 5 gg'-'I-11ill'll' 'Il!g Im 21'-.Q-' N ?,5ll.l.E?,',,5g1 Seventeen