Edison Institute High School - Yearbook (Dearborn, MI)

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HISTORY OF THE CHOOL SYSTE . . ,A WIP, . 4 - ,t N- -- THE OPENING DAY OF SCHOOL N the morning of September 16, 1929, thirty- two eager boys and girls boarded the three busses waiting for them at Southwestern School. They were setting out on a new adven- ture, they were going to school in anew way. This day marked the opening of the Scotch Settlement School in Greenfield Village. School was to be a place of mixed activities, a place where practical training and technical knowledge were to be blended in the hope of developing well-rounded men and women, ready to face life in all its reality. Education was to be given to these people in the midst of such historic surroundings the Lincoln Court House, Menlo Park, and other sacred relics of history in the actual making. It was to be ex- pected that these pupils should absorb from these buildings respect for the past that could not other- wise be acquired. School was called i11 the same building where years before Mr. Henry Ford had received his 17 early training. This was an inspiring thought to all. The students were divided into their respec- tive classes, which meant there would be four grades in the school, first through fourth. Mr. Earl Nelson conducted the classes. If one had peeked into the windows on a Friday after- noon he would have witnessed traditional spell- downs which have been continued through all the grades since. The boys and girls still cherish the dol- lar and half-dollar medals awarded at the end of each year for proficiency. The onlooker would also have been entertained by watching these first classes step out to perform the steps in their first quadrille or varsovienne. Mr. Benjamin ll. Lovett was the dance master. Mr. Lovett was also the director of the school system. Wednesday dancing classes are a vital part of the student's school life. After a very successful first year, the school con- tinued its growth. Miss Mildred Mason became instructor of the school on November 8, 1929, to

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4' .-7.- SCIENCE LABORATORY

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replace Mr. Nelson. In 1930 the Town Hall School was opened with Miss Marguerite Greene as teacher. Eventually the classes were so divided that each school included the first six classes. In the same year, 1930, the Martha-Mary Chapel was opened to the students. A devotional service began each school day, and these services were conducted by the student body. This chapel was dedicated by Bishop Page, Bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Michigan. In 1934 the chapel services were broadcast over Station WJR, Detroit, and beginning October 24, 1935, the services were broadcast each Thursday morning over a nation- wide hook-up through the facilities of WJR over the Columbia Broadcasting System. With the close of school in 1931, Miss Mason and Miss Greene left the system and were replaced by Miss E. Lucile Webster at the Scotch Settle- ment School and Miss Ruby Mason at the Town Hall School. The fourth class of 1929 was now the sixth and oldest class in the system. However, this situation was changed in 1932 when an eighth class was added. These people are now seniors and the first class to be graduated from The Edison Institute. The year 1933 marked expansion in many ways. A new school was established to care for the ele- mentary classes, one, two, and three. This school first met in October, 1933, at Clinton Inn under the supervision of Mrs. Bernadine Cadaret. It re- mained at the Inn until Monday, November 12, 1934, when, the little children were transferred to the quaint McGuffey School which is a part of the historic group of buildings erected in the Village in honor of that great educator and author ofthe Eclectic Readers. This year also found the stu- dents busy practicing for the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Pinafore under the direction of Mr. Robert Taylor. A course in sewing was begun in 1933 under Miss Loraine Bunge. This course has progressed rapidly under the supervision of first Miss Bunge, then Mrs. Chalmers, and at present Miss Edith Meyer. The Secretary House was converted into a girls' clubhouse in September, 1934. Miss Mar- garet Mackinnon was selected as the hostess and began the courses in homemaking. On January 1, 1935, Mrs. Agnes Elliott assumed the care of the house. Progress was evident in every move of the school system and by 1934 the various schools were offer- ing well-rounded courses in academic subjects, and, besides, the students were obtaining first-hand knowledge of how to do things by actual practice. Recreation in the form of horseback riding was added. -Captain Armstrong was brought in as riding master and has helped students to become good riders. On February 26, 1934, Edison Institute High School was opened and the eighth and ninth classes were moved up to Independence Hall. Mr. Herman Grophear was placed in charge of this group of twenty-one, teaching them all academic subjects. Shortly before the high school was estab- lished, on February 11 to be exact, publication of the school paper called the Herald was made. This paper is published every second Friday. In the fall of 1934 Miss Dorothy Trebilcock, now Mrs. Joseph Iseman, joined the high school teaching staff, taking over English and the social sciences. Mr. Robert Teeple, instructor at the Henry Ford Trade School, spent a half of each day at the high school giving instruction in mechanical drawing and drafting. The same year found the develop- ment of the music department with Mr. Harold Koch as supervisor and Mr. Robert Zahnow as assistant. Sports were also organized and Mr. Dall Hutchinson became the director. A new rec- reation building is the pride of all the Village stu- dents. When it is completed it will be one of the finest in the country. The Henry Ford Trade School offered possibili- ties of gaining industrial experience by teaching how to operate the various machines such as lathes, mills, shapers, drill presses, and by doing bench work. At first only the ninth and tenth classes were given this experience one day each Week, but later it was extended to other classes. In 1935, however, the boys were transferred from the Trade School and placed in the Engineering Laboratory, at Dearborn. Mr. Marvin Pushman was placed in charge of this industrial training in 1936, and Miss Irene Welsh took over the super- vision of the girls' practice in commercial office work at the same time. The high school has grown rapidly since its be- ginning in 1934. In 1935 Miss Betty Wallace was added to the faculty to teach biology and begin- ning commercial courses and Mr. Max Irland took charge of mathematical subjects and general sci- ence. In 1936 the faculty was further increased by the addition of Mr. William Russell, teaching junior high school social science and English. Mr. Mark Stroebel succeeded Mr. Teeple in the draft- ing department and also taught junior high school mathematics. Miss Margaret Schrubbe was hired to head the English department and Mrs. Helen Pletcher to teach advanced commercial work. With this large faculty many new subjects could be oHered the students. Radio work has always been a very interesting subject for students of the Edison Institute. This instruction is given by Mr. William Gassett of the Ford Motor Company. And so from the small group assembled in 1929, the school system has grown to include 189 pupils with a faculty of 18. It has thus been in existence eight years and has held to the early aim of giving boys and girls education through experience. 18