Jefferson High School - Alexian Yearbook (Alexandria, MN)

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The classes were conducted in recitation rooms or in the assembly. At the end of each school day the students marched out row by row accompanied by piano music. School salaries were very low. The superintendent received a salary of $1500 a year. A budget wasn’t even in existence; $1100 had to be borrowed from the Treasurer and the Clerk of the school board to pay for teacher wages. The first commencement exercises were held in 1887 in the Brown Opera House. There were seven members in the graduating class. Each graduate had to write an essay and deliver it at the exercises. The Baccelaureate service was conducted in the original Congregational church. The Jefferson building where approximately 975 stu- dents attend high school. Inside the main entrance are the ad- ministrative offices. Every school day Jefferson students fill the modern hallways. Superintendent A.D. Gaines coached the first football team. Practice was held on the west lawn of the school, and the games were played at the fair grounds. There were no interscholastic games, only intermural games. Neither basketball nor baseball were played. The orchestra consisted of five or six members. It played for school entertainments and ocmmen- cement exercises. Declam and debate were all-school contests, not inter-class. The class plays were not a part of the extra-curricular activities, but various en- tertainments were given to raise funds. Most of the entertainments were either dramatic skits or farces. All the students belonged to the Philomathean Society, a literary club. It's easy to forget our heritage, yet valu- able to reflect on the changes that have taken place in our school since its crude beginning. Perhaps looking back gives us a sense of perspective. Hopefully this per- spective helps each of us to face and shape the future. 3

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Alexandria High School’s First Graduation - 1887 The early history of Alexandria school district is fascinating. The first settlers in and about Alexandria came in 1856 or perhaps a little earlier. From then until 1861 there were too few children or the families were too widely scat- tered to think of maintaining a school After 1861 school was taught by Miss Janveer during the summer. The Sioux Indian “Outbreak” came in 1862 and until 1865 little thought was given to school because safety was uppermost in the minds of all. In the latter year, however, a second school was taught in the original building. During the next four or five years school was taught in the stockade and the old courthouse. In 1869 the purchase of a site for a new school building was recorded. Later, a school meeting was held and that sum- mer Alexandria’s first school building was erected - 44 X 24 feet and two stories high. In 1876 a twin building was erected. Four teachers were then employed. The three “FI's were taught successfully in addition to Unit- ed States history. What was it like? The high school around 1906. A new school building, which was later known as the Lincoln School, was erected in 1883. It was quite a building, with hanging gas lamps and a hot air heating system. There was no hockey, basketball, danceline, or band. Extra- curricular activities were intramural football, orchestra, and declam. There was definitely not the variety that the school offers now. Classes were taught by five teachers, which included the superintendent and the principal. Courses included four years of English, two years of foreign language and math, one year of chemistry physics, and one year of history and bookkeep- ing. The school day began with read- ing, prayers, hymns, and quotations. 2 After remodeling and landscaping, fhe school was looking better 1912.

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STUDENT LIFE 4