East Grand Rapids High School - Interlochen Yearbook (East Grand Rapids, MI)

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OUR CENTENNIAL This is our Centennial Year. All of us have heard this statement many times during the past few months. ln order to realize fully what the Centennial Year means to East Grand Rapids schools, we must think of what the conditions here actually were a hundred years ago. We must remember that within a mile of East High School a few children were receiving meager educa- tions in a rude log cabin similar to the one which the Student Council has placed as a memorial upon our own school grounds. Can you imagine yourself struggling under the conditions which those few children were obliged to meet? There were no laboratories, no auditorium, no gymnasium, no swimming pool for those boys and girls. East Grand Rapids claims the distinction of having had the first school for white children in Grand River Valley. Near the shores of Reeds Lake Euphemia Davis and Sophia Reed, daughter of Porter Reed, conducted this school during the winter of 1834, in the second story of Mr. Reed's cabin. The next autumn 08353 the first real school building was erected near what is now the corner of East Paris Road and Lake Drive, with Francis Prescott assuming the responsibilities of teacher. As the population increased, a larger building was erected at the intersection of Wealthy St. and Norwood Ave., the present site of the old street-car barns. This structure soon became inadequate, so it was torn down and a larger one built in the same location. During the construction of the new building the children were obliged to go to school in an old home on Norwood Ave., near Sherman St. ln lgsl a still larger building was erected across the street from the site of the old school and was in use until about two years ago. However, a few years after this brick school was built, the territory on which it stood was annexed to the City of Grand Rapids. With the establishment of a new boundary between Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids, the pupils of the smaller community were forced to pay tuition. This problem soon resulted in the erection of a school in East Grand Rapids, on the corner of Wealthy St. and Greenwood Ave. The building was a square wooden structure, divided into four rooms by black- boards that could be removed for assemblies. Later, changes were made, but finally the community outgrew this structure, and the kindergarten children were forced to move to the upper story of Brackett's store, which was located on Wealthy St. near Lovett Ave. By 1917 the Wealthy-Greenwood school had proved inadequate, so the present Wealthy Street school was erected. The wings, however, did not follow until a later date. The old wooden structure was sold, moved to Greenwood Ave., and remodeled into two houses. Rapid increase in population in East Grand Rapids after the World War forced the Board of Education to relieve the congestion in the Wealthy building by leasing the old Phoenix Building, once Kahler's Palm Gardens, to use as an elementary school unit. The Lovett-Barnard property also was acquired and the building used in the overflow emergency. By this time a full four year high school had been added to the elementary grades. In February 1928 our present beautiful high school building was completed. Indeed, its facilities would have held our pioneer ancestors spellbound. lt surely is fitting that East Grand Rapids should celebrate its Centennial Year, for the progress of education in our city never has stopped, never even has hesitated. The climax of the celebration was reached on Thursday, April 1 r, when the school and community joined to participate in a day of commemoration for the pioneers who had laid the foundations of educa- tion in East Grand Rapids. In the afternoon the school held open house and reproduced as nearly as possible the school of a hundred years ago. The grade children presented a typical one-room rural school, while the high school was organized in the form of an early academy. With its interesting display the muse um was a decided attraction. ln the evening the cafeteria was filled to capacity by an enthusiastic group who enjoyed a roast-beef dinner--a dinner in true pioneer style. After the heaps of food had diminished until all must have been satisfied, a few pioneer members of the community were introduced. Following the dinner, a program was given in the auditorium. Here the Lumber jack orchestra played, and a group of students gave a style show, in which they appeared in dresses and suits which their great grandparents might have worn. Truly this has been a Centennial Year for East Grand Rapids and has made the students aware of the years of thought and progress which have combined to make their schools into a fine educational system. 4

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faculty