Flathead High School - Flathead Yearbook (Kalispell, MT)

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f . -.Ls t ii' 7 Qi Q 11 if ' ' 'lf' Mlm K 'if 4 .1 ,J-.m 5 3 F, if-. 51 Y s fx, . 1, . 't 13 1' 1 1 t 1 .- v .E ' I , ' F ' S I 5: f .f T at x i T u I Y KW '74 t A iff H Nl pp, 3 1 A -47' 9 0 ' HISTORY COMF lFlLATlHIlEAlD Fifty years ago Kalispell did not have a high school building. All students from the first through the twelfth grade attended school in what is now Central lunior High. ln l899 state funds were made avail- able and a grant of Sl0,000 was secured for consrtucting the first Flathead County High School. This was a small frame build- ing which stood at the intersection of what is now Eighth Avenue and Seventh Street West. In later years the building was moved to Main Street and Sixth Street and became the main part of St. Matthew's grade school. Mr. E. A. Steere, the first principal, with the aid of another instructor, taught the forty students. Some ardent member of the student body rose early enough in the morning to stoke the stoves and stayed late enough at night to sweep the floors. There were probably several reasons which lead to the conclusion that a new building should be constructed. That the plaster on one side of the assembly room completely gave way, covering one row of seats and beautifully powdering the second must have had its influence on the decision. Another even more pressing rea- son was that enrollment had more than doubled in three short years. At any rate a new building, a part of the present one, was erected in the summer' of 1903. When the classes began in the new building, the number of teachers employed had risen to eight or ten. Mr. E. A. Steere was still acting as principal and lim Phil- lips, destined to become a familiar figure about the building, had taken his job as janitor. ' Elathead's first track and football teams were organized soon after the completion of the new building. Both boys and girls, believe it or not, enjoyed track, but foot- ball was a man's sport and a strange game it was. Many of the football rules differed greatly from those of our modern game. Imagine seeing a football game with no forward passing or one with only five yards to gain in three downs. Travel seemed to be the track team's main difficulty. Cars were of course not available, and if they had been, there would have been no roads, so on a trip to Missoula the team took a stage coach as far as Demersville. From there to Polson they traveled by boat. The remainder of the trip was divided between coach and train. Result: a team which should have placed first got only as far as fifth. By 1906 students were enthusiastic about the new game, basketball. This was an- Pcrge 2 other sport in which both boys and girls participated, in spite of strenuous objection from the faculty. The girls not only played against other girls, but they also tangled with the boys, and at that time there was no such thing as girls' rules. lncidentally the boys did not always win their games. Outside of athletics there were only two extra curricular activities, the Olympic and Athenian Literary Societies. Every student belonged to one or the other. The two so- cieties debated between themselves, gave plays and parties and in general carried on most of the students' social activities. Through the years new activities were added. lnterschool debate became popular. ln 1916 the first Arrow was published. After the first World War, enrollment gradually increased to such an extent that in 1935 the school had to be remodeled and enlarged. Through the efforts of Mr. Templeton, principal, at that time, and the school board, a WPA grant was secured for remodeling. The original building of 1908 now makes up the north wing of the school. The old shingle roof was removed and replaced by the flat modern roof. The entrance tower was greatly enlarged. The interior of the old building was completely refinished with new plaster, wiring, heating and plumbing. A partition dividing the assem- bly room, now study hall, was added. On the exterior the bricks were stained and stucco paint was applied to make the coloring harmonious with new parts of the school. The boiler room was expanded and a new boiler installed. ln later years this boiler was converted into an oil fired fur- nace. Altogether eight classrooms, a shop and the auditorium were added to the old building. ' The gym, then a shop, had too low a ceiling for use as a gymnasium so the roof trusses and tower were removed. Walls were heightened by new windows and the roof was replaced with steel trusses. The balconies, shower and locker rooms were added, and much of the floor was replaced. The brick work on the outside was, of course, stained to match the rest of the building. Extensive as the remodeling of l935 was, many classrooms and laboratories are again crowded as the enrollment increases each school year. So as the years have passed from 1898 to 1948, each graduating class carries with it into the future nostalgic memories of cherished days at Our Old High.

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lDlElDJllCA'lFllCO7N R. H. WOLLIN Principal Flathead County High School, Superintendent Kalispell Elementary Schools Mr. Wollin received his B. A. degree from Carleton College in l9l4p his M. A., from the University of Minnesota in l936. He has had twenty-tive years experience as a Montana Administrator. He was principal of Custer County High School, Miles City, Montana, tor nineteen years and for ten years of this time also Director of the Miles City summer Normal school. From 1938 to l942 he was Director of the Custer County Iunior Col- lege, the first public junior college created in Montana. Mr. Wollin is the author of the present Iunior College law. ln 1938, he was state president of M.E.A. He Was. director of the second largest pre-War vocational training program in Montana. For the past twenty years Mr. Wollin has been ,secre- tary of the State High School Association and Board ot Control. From 1942 to date he has been Superintendent of the Kalispell Schools and Principal of Flathead County High School.