Antwerp Local High School - Archer Yearbook (Antwerp, OH)

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Administration 1. Dr. Charles Taylor — Superintendent 2. Mr. Jim Rosendahl — High School Principal 3. Mr. David Bagley — Elementary Principal 4. Antwerp Local School Board — Dr. Charles Taylor, Mr. Robert Kammeyer — President, Mrs. Jane Langham — Treasurer, Mr. Steve Winner, Mrs. Ber- nadyne Rogers, Mr. Steve Derek and Mr. David Grimes — Vice President Administration • 17

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Centennial Reflections On May 27, 1984, with the graduation of 66 seniors, Antwerp Local School celebrated a centennial year. This marked the 100th class to graduate from Antwerp High School. Although John Snook, the first graduate, received his diploma over a hundred years ago in 1881, there were no graduates in 1884, 1888, and 1911, making this year the centen- nial year. Educating the children of the community has always been a priority in Antwerp. The first schoolhouse was built of logs in 1833. It was located two miles northeast of Antwerp on the farm of Isaac Woodcox. William Roberts taught the enrollment of fifteen students. With the platting of the Antwerp Village, a log schoolhouse was built on the corner of Main and Franklin Streets where the Bee Argus is presently located. Later, a frame school building was erected on the lot presently occupied by H W Automotive Parts. This building was moved and rebuilt into a residence. The next school building was another frame building erected on River Street on the lot west of the Methodist Church. In 1876, a six room, two story brick school building was constructed just west of the present building. The cost of this building was $17,000. Looking ahead at the possibility of expansion, the Antwerp Village School District purchased two lots, lying east of and adjoining the school property. In 1890, the school board hired a practical mechanic and builder to ex- amine the school in regard to its safety. Upon receiving this report, the necessary repairs were made to the building — and an addition to this brick structure was also built. The building was completed when the fall school term started. In April of 1911, the Antwerp Village School was closed and vacated in order to be torn down to make room for a new, larger structure. The new building was constructed just east of the vacated building. Although the building was not completed in September at the beginning of the school term, school was held in the portion of the building that was finished. In 1915, the Antwerp Village School District voted to dissolve the district and it was transferred to the Carryall Rural Board of Education to be maintained in the same manner as it had been in the past. In 1916, whereas the Carryall Rural School District was maintaining a four year high school of the first grade and the local board felt the need of more supervision for the welfare of the schools, the Carryall Rural School Board petitioned the Paulding County School Board to be set off as a separate district under the school laws of Ohio. In March, 1918, the Paulding County Board of Education, in accordance with the provisions of the General Code of Ohio, dissolved the Carryall Township Rural School District of Paulding County and created there, together with certain territory from Harrison Township Rural School District, a new district to be known as Antwerp Rural School District. In 1919, there were at least twelve schools operating in the network of the Antwerp Rural School District. One of the schools in this network, the Erter School, was closed in 191 7 due to the fact that there were only eight prospective students for this school year. It was reopened in 1919, since the enrollment was then large enough to hire a qualified teacher. On April 11, 1920, the Murphy School, situated one and a half miles east of Antwerp on the old canal, burned down during a wind storm. The remains were sold at public auction to the highest bidders. In this same year, the Armstrong School was closed since there was not a suffi- cient number of students to lawfully carry on a public school. The Clay School was also closed and sold. Also, in 1920, the school board established an official transportation policy. The only students to be transported would be those living more than two miles from the school buildings. These students would be transported to and from the public schools only, either in the Antwerp Rural School District or other public school district where it became necessary for transportation in accordance with the school laws of the state of Ohio. In 1922, there were nine locations, other than the school on Franklin Street, making up the network of the Antwerp Rural School District. Those schools included Erter, Clark, Overmeyer, Elm Tree, Wilson, Champion, Doering, Link, and Stinger. In the fall of 1922, the Elm Tree School was closed. The Doering School was sold in 1923. In 1924, the Link School was suspended because it was cheaper to transport the students than to operate the school. In 1925, the Champion School was sold at public auction, as were the Doering and Wilson Schools. Although the dates are not certain, the other buildings were eventually closed and all students were transported to the Antwerp Rural School located on Franklin Street. In 1926, the need for a new high school was evident and a levy, valued at $95,000, was presented to the voters. This was to have purchased a site, built a new building and furnished it. The issue was defeated by a vote of 406 to 196. In 1929, a bond issue for $112,875 to build a new high school was again presented and went down in defeat by a vote of 387 to 337. In 1932, the school was experiencing a very congested condition with the enrollment in the grades at 416 and the high school enrollment at 175, for a total enrollment of 591 students. Grade attendance was reported to be as high as 60 in one room. The 1933 graduating class reflected this increased enrollment; the class of 36 seniors was the largest to that date. In November of 1934, a levy was again presented to the voters only to go down in defeat once more. It wasn ' t until August of 1935, when a special election was held, that a building levy for $73,000 passed by a vote of 456 to 222. This amount, along with the approval of federal funds for 45% of the cost of the building, allowed the project to begin. The P.W.A. grant from the federal government amounted to nearly $56,000 making the tool cost of the project over $128,000. This building housed all of the high school classrooms and a gymnasium. Mr. Guy Deemer was the superintendent at this time. In 1956, the voters approved an eight classroom addition to be con- structed on the west side of the elementary building. This project also included offices, a school cafeteria, and multipurpose room for a total cost of $380,000. The building was dedicated at a special ceremony on February 24, 1957. Mr. Ollie Zedaker was superintendent during this period. The 1956-57 school year was also the first year kindergarten was offered at the local school. Mrs. Stiver was the teacher and there were approx- imately 64 students that participated in a kindergarten graduation ceremony held in May of 1957. In 1958 a bus garage was built on the east side of the high school. The next building project took place in 1965 when an elementary addi- tion of seven classrooms was erected and attached to the west side of the elementary building. The cost of this project was $135,000 and it was completed for use in the fall of 1966. Superintendent at this time was Mr. Dale Adams. In the fall of 1966, a new dual routing schedule of busses was started. Students in grades seven through twelve were picked up and transported to school which was in session at 8:00 A.M. The same busses then transported the elementary students to school which was in ses- sion at 9:00 A.M. The same routing was used in the afternoon with the upper grades dismissing one hour earlier than the elementary grades. Antwerp is still on this schedule. During the same school year two new programs were added to the high school curriculum. The Business and Office Education Program and the Diversified Cooperatine Training Program were both new. Later a similar program was named the O.W.A. Program. These were forerun- ners to the present vocational education programs. In 1968, the voters favored a $480,000 building project which included 15 classrooms, a library with shelving for 12,000 volumes and a seating capacity of 75, and a room for audio visual equipment. An elevator was also installed for handicapped use. Dale Adams was serving as superintendent. In 1972, the original building that was constructed in 1911 was torn down to be replaced by a new 1,500 seat gymnasium, an enclosed 75 ' x37 ' pool, an exercise room, a vocal music room, a boys ' shower room, a girls ' shower room, and several storage areas. A four classroom addition with movable doors was attached to the south side of the elementary building. An elementary library was included in this project. This was constructed at a cost of $825,000 with Dale Adams serving as superintendent. The school board was notified that the state would no longer be funding the Occupational Work Program for the 1976-77 year. This was a voca- tional skills program. In the fall of 1976 Vantage Vocational School, located in Van Wert, opened its doors to students in Paulding, Van ' Wert, Putnam, and Mercer Counties. Vantage presently serves these counties and offers many vocational programs. The graduation of the 100th class marked a milestone in the history oj The Antwerp Local School. Looking forward to the next graduating class marks the continuance of the tradition of providing the best possi ble education to the students of the Antwerp community. 16

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Mr. Allen — Art Mr. Brown — Social Studies Mrs. Buchhop — English-Spanish Mrs. Detmon — English Mr. Donley — Guidance Mr. Foster — Social Studies Mr. Grabianowski — Librarian Mr. Hartman — English Mr. Hohenbrink — Math Mr. Jones — Instrumental Music Mr. Kemerer — Industrial Arts Mr. Limber — Athletic Director Mr. Mastin — Science Miss Mundt — Physical Education Mrs. Oberlin — Home Economics Mrs. Pier — English-French Mrs. Rumage — Resource Teacher Mr. Schilb — Science Miss Simcox — Vocal Music Mr. Simmons — Math Mrs. Slade — Resource Teacher Mr. Smith — Business Mr. Stoll — Math Mr. Thompson — Physical Education Mr. Trzynka — Social Studies Teachers Touch High School Faculty 18 • High School Faculty