Coyle High School - Bluejacket Yearbook (Coyle, OK)

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The school had no automatic bell system as we have today. A push button lust inside the office door was used each hour. Someone watched the big clock that hung in the hall and rang the bell for each class change. The clock had a long pendulum. It was necessary to wind the clock with a key about once a week. Our first yearbook was made in 1948. It has changed drastically over the years — from a mimeographed book to one done very professionally. The first two yearbooks had soft covers. Most of the work was done here at school. The 1950 yearbook was the first yearbook to be published by a publisher. Coyle School's first local stock show was held in 1949, on the south side of the gym, In 1949 the school purchased a barracks from Tinker Field. It was moved to the school property and became the first Vocational Agriculture building In 1980. our new Vocational Agriculture building was built on the same site. By 1983 the stock shows outgrew the bus oam, so through a community effort the Agriculture Science building was built. The Board of Education felt strongly that the Supenntendent should live in the community. The Board of Education decided in 1965 to build a house for the Superintendent. Later the Principal's house was constructed in 1969. The original Coyle School District was not very large, but over the years as the rural, one-room school closed, it grew Oak Dale, Paradise. Pro- gress. Pleasant Valley, Victory and Vassar were some of the schools that arc now included in the Coyle School District. These rural schools had classes from first through eighth grades. High School students were transported by bus to Coyle. In the late '50 s, after the loss of Langston High School, most Langston students came to CToyle. In 1969, the Meridian School District was annexed to the Coyle School District. This nearly doubled the school population. With a much larger student population, the school was quickly outgrowing the old buildings There was not enough classroom space. Classes had to double up, two grades in one room. So in 1970, a Bond was voted and the Elementary Building was constructed for the first through fourth erades. Another Bond was voted in 1973 for the new Junior High and Cafeteria Enrollment continued to increase, causing a need for a new High School. A Bond was voted, and the new High School was built in the summer of 1977. The Principal's office was moved to the new building The enrollment kept increasing in the grade school. In 1983, two portable buildings were purchased and located south of the cafeteria. We have an excellent baseball park that has gone from a grassy field to a very professional park. In the early '70's, the field was fenced and a few years later the lights were added. A debt of gratitude is owed to Pat Smalley for getting the baseball program started at Coyle. The baseball park is named in his honor. From the very beginning of Coyle School, it has grown and expanded into a very functional campus. Much is owed to the administrators and Boards of Education, who over the years have had the foresight to build and expand so that our young people might have the very best facilities and educational opportunities available for them.

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Wc would like to dedicate the 1988 Yearbook to Coyle High School and to the people who made these memories possible. As part of our dedication we would like to include this segment of the History of Coyle School. History of Coyle School The first school in Coyle was erected around 1901, just east of the Baptist Church M E. Trapp was hired as the first Superintendent. Grades one through eight were taught and two years of high school. Students that wanted to finish high school had to go to either Stillwater or Guthrie. Over the years the building was enlarged, more classrooms were added and a second floor. As the town grew, more space was needed for the school. The lots for the present school were bought from Bryon and Jennie Galuesha and M E. and Nona Fruin on June 3, 1924, for $700.00. The new building was built and the move was made the same year. The original building con- sisted of the north and south wings and the gym. At that time, the basketball court ran north and south. The first Superintendent in the new building was Bruce Currie, with D.B. Horton as Principal. John Eckman, Frank Martin, and Claude Mur- phy were on the Board of Education when the new school was erected. The first graduating class was in May, 1928. In 1939 the school was remodeled by the WPA. An addition was made on the cast side of the gym. The gym floor was turned east and west as it has remained until the present. There have been many improvements made over the years, such as new floor, ceiling, score boards, etc. The first school buses were pulled by horses and mules. Clifford Cundiff had the route east of town, and Arthur Arnett had the route west of town. The horse drawn buses were covered. They had seats along each side and one down the middle. The seats were constructed like benches along the sides of the buses, unlike the ones in our modem buses. The school was heated by steam, with radiators in each room. There was a boiler heated with coal in the basement, (Better known as the “Pit. ) Over the years, as renovations were made, heaters were put in every room, and the old bnck chimney on the south side of the gym was tom down. In 1946 the first hot lunches were served. The first lunch room was located in the back of the school building that is now the boys dressing rooms. The kitchen and dining hall were all in one room. The tables and benches were made in the wood shop. Originally, this part of the school was used as the bus bam. After it was converted to the lunch room, the buses were driven home by the bus drivers and kept there until the next morning. In the early '50’s the building down town was purchased and made into the bus bam The first Home Economics Department in Coyle School was 1946, but a Home Economics Cottage was built in the early 50's on the north end of the school building. It had two rooms, one as the kitchen area and the other to be used as a sewing area. The quonset hut that had been used originally for the wood shop was converted to the cafeteria in 1952. A few years later an additon was made on the north for the kitchen area. This building was later sold and moved in 1973 when the new Junior High was built. The Superintendent and Principal both used the same ofTice. They were seldom in the office at the same time as they both taught classes. The Superintendent and Principal’s office was changed to the present location in 1971. Each administrator now has his own office.

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James Freudenberger Roy Starks Fred Schnieder Tom Bentley Linden Maker Larry Northcutt School Board and Administration 4