Greenville High School - Hi Life Yearbook (Greenville, MI)

Page 10 text:

IN APPRECIATION MR. CLAUDE V. COATS BEFORE reviewing the interesting events of the school year, 1938-1939, we, the Senior Class, would like to pause a moment to consider an event of highest importance to all of us. Just think—we have been in school twelve years and yet there has been one person who has given service for twice that long. In appreciation of this fact, the faculty and students wish to pay homage to Mr. Claude Coats, a man whose untiring efforts have been directed in the interests of the Greenville school system for nearly a quarter of a century. Mr. Coats is finishing this July his twenty-fourth year as a member of the School Board, serving as Secretary for fifteen years and as President for the past nine. Four superintendents have held office during this period—Messrs. Shigley, Booker. Holden, and Mabie. During his incumbency he has seen the dark, economic side, worked through the ups and downs, and yet Greenville's schools have remained open, their teachers paid, and numerous developments have taken place. In 1915—Mr. Coats' first year on the Board—the first showers were placed in the old gymnasium, the Manual Arts Department was begun, the Commercial Department had twelve typewriters. Among other changes which took place, of prime importance was the construction of the new addition to the high school building, for which the cornerstone was laid by Mr. Coats in the spring of 1936, and whose advantages we perhaps too little appreciate; Black Athletic Field transferred our football boys from a mud-puddle gridiron to a well-sodded stadium; Pearl Street School became twice its original size, and growth in space and equipment occurred in every department, particularly in agriculture, home economics, and in health education. His latest act has been to arrange for the purchase of the Mary E. Fish property for a future playground—a need long recognized and now to be fulfilled. Certain comparisons indicate most clearly to us the amount of change which has occurred since the installation of Mr. Coats. In 1915 the school budget was S35,289.38, in 1939, $105,000.00; the faculty then had twenty-six members in the system as compared to forty-two this year; and in 1916 thirty seniors received diplomas whereas this June will find eighty-four boys and girls marching out with the precious sheepskin —a total of 1,276 for the whole period. We are most fortunate to have had at the head for so long a time, a man whose chief concern has been for the youth of our city. Though we regret his retirement this July from active service— the longest in Greenville's school history—we are assured of his continued sincere interest in the educational affairs of the city. To Mr. Coats—our deepest appreciation and best wishes for the future! 6

Page 9 text:

THIS June and in the many Junes to come, millions of young people throughout this country will receive a diploma to signify their completion of high school and college work. As these young people pause on the threshold of a new life, they reluctantly leave behind them the pennant and polo coat, the book and the pencil —only to become memories, faded and worn. Over the threshold stretches a life, new and unknown to them, full of the good and the bad, the breaks and the bumps. Many heights are there to be scaled and from each summit can be seen on the dim horizon even greater goals to be attained. Dreams and ambitions are not easily realized and the hardest roads to travel are the ones that lead to the top. The world today presents an imperative challenge to these young people, a challenge to go forward to meet and overcome the obstacles of this modern twentieth century. So, to the youth who, as boys and girls, are about to leave these familiar corridors to become the men and women of tomorrow, who face and must meet this challenge, we, the Class of 1939, dedicate this Hi-Life.

Page 11 text:

Administration What tales of woe they hear! G. R. Smith V. E. Mabie A. J. Bower F. E. Tower R. A. Brown C. V. Coats 7