Convoy Union High School - Bellerophon Yearbook (Convoy, OH)

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elleropfion Hlfsfory of the Talk-Convoy School ROM the days of its infancy the Convoy School has spelled growth- Although this growth has not been phenomenal, it has continued steadily and surely, until it has made the Convoy School the largest district and one of the best in the county. To understand this growth, let us look into the history of our school from the beginning. Previous to the advent of the graded school the means of securing an education in this part of the country were confined to a small log cabin school west of towng then to a frame building erected within the town. By 1874 the business of the town had been so enlarged by the advent of the railroad that the Convoy Village School was organ- ized as a special school district. To quote from a Yan XYert-Mercer County history, The same year, 1874, they built a tine two-story brick schoolhouse, forty-four feet square and containing three apartments, well-furnished. The lot and building cost S5,500.UO. The district has an enumeration of 145. Three teachers are employed. This is one of the best and finest schools and buildings in the county. It is interesting to know that at this time. 1874, the school bell which we still hear today was purchased through the presentation of several plays. Chief among these plays was Ten Nights in a Bar Room, with Elgin Pettit, VVilliam Hillerman, and William McCullough included in the cast. In 1884 A. B. Christy, then the superintendent, with the help of the Board of Education, graded the school, dividing it into four rooms of three grades each. Each of these ,grades was designated by A, B, or C- Mrs. Anna Christy taught the Gram- mar Schoolg Miss Mary XYebster, the Intermediate, and Miss Eva jones, the Primary. The last was succeeded by Miss Lizzie Taggart, who held this position for more than twenty years. The year 1887 marked the lirst graduation exercises of the Convoy Schools. The walls of the second school having cracked, the building was condemned and a new one erected in its place in 1896. During the construction of this, school was held in business houses and lodge rooms. The new building consisted of six rooms and properly served its purpose until, after twenty years, it too, was condemned. Again, eager students found themselves in a new structure which was well equipped and made to conform to all their needs. In 1921 a far-reaching and important event took place when the County Board of Education joined the Convoy School District and the Tully Township School District into one district to be known as the Tully-Convoy School District. Since the union of these two districts a comniodious addition was built in 1924. This addition contains three grade rooms, three high school recitation rooms, domestic science room and cafeteria. and combined gymnasium and auditorium with a seating capacity of six hundred. At this time a new and improved heating plant was installed in the entire building. On March the twenty-eighth of this year, the County Board of Education trans- ferred four Sub-Districts of Harrison Township, or in all sixteen square miles, to the Tully-Convoy District, making a total of fifty-two square miles in the district. This new addition of territory will necessitate some changes in the present build- ing to accommodate the increased enrollment in the grades. The school is now operated on the six-six plan, six years of grade school and six years of high school. By this plan Home Economics and Manual Training are taught in grades seven and eight in addition to the ninth year. The outlook for the future of the Tully-Convoy Schools is most promising- Puge Eighl

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