Medina County High Schools - Mecoan Yearbook (Medina, OH)

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LeRoy Glen P. Tolson Ohio University Gladys Ferguson Wooster Eleanor Wright, 0. S. U. R. F. Howe, Supt. Oberlin College Margaret Safford De Pauw Ellis Jeffery, Ash. Col. Hilda Moseberger Oberlin Business College D. D. Leyda 0. S. U. Dorothy J. Horn, Wooster

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m The Mecoonri ffi History of Homer High School Homer Township is located in the southwestern corner of Medina County. The first schools in the township were the rural one room type which served the youth of the earlier days. But as time came throughout Ohio for centralized schools, the one room school could not meet the demand of modern educational facilities. And in 1906 the community voted for and established a fully central- ized school at the center of the township, where one of its noted one room buildings had been located. Homer Township being the first in Medina County to operate a fully centralized school. The High School established at this time received from the State Department of Education a Second Grade High School Charter. It was not long however before increased enrollment and the conse- quent lack of room made it necessary to enlarge the building. In 1911 the front of the building was built, making more room for high school purposes and an auditorium for school and community activ- ities. By 1922 the building was again found inadequate to meet the growing demands of school and community. Therefore a new building was built by the side of the old one. The a uditorium and gymnasium are now lo- cated in the new addition. At the same time the old building was remod- eled, taking out the old auditorium and building in laboratories, farm- shops, domestic science and agricultural rooms. At present the High School operates under a First Grade Charter granted in 1914. To the regular high school course has been added the Smith-Hughes Agricultural Department, Domestic Science, Farm Shop, and County Music. The school has always been active in the high school activities of the County, taking an interest in the County Debates, Athletics, and Orator- ical contests. Members of the Homer Township Board of Education F. L. Findley, President C. C. Fenstermaker Roy Repp S. B. Eshelman, Clerk George Hastings J. A. Lucas

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History of LeRoy High School True to the traditions of the hardy New England pioneers who settled the Western Reserve, the people of Westfield have always looked well to the education of their children. The first school in the township was built at Friendsville in the spring of 1818. The town of LeRoy was founded in 1826 and here the first school house was a log structure. A frame building was built in 1832 and did service for exactly forty years. In 1872 a new building, quite elaborate for those days, was erected and served its purpose well for fifty years. These early schools at the township center were abandoned by the small children who lived near and furnished more advanced training for the youth of the entire township. To care for the small children of the outlying districts there were the one-room schools, the “little red school houses” of by-gone days. Westfield was one of the first townships in Medina county to adopt centralization and the last of the one-room schools disappeared nearly a quarter of a century ago. In 1917 an auditorium wing was completed and in the fall of 1922 the people approved a bond issue for the building of a modern school plant adjoining it. The old frame building, which had stood for exactly a half century, was razed and the present structure took its place. Westfield is now able to offer its young people the most that is de- sirable in secondary education. A first grade high school is maintained, with membership in the North Central Association, and its graduates are prepared for college entrance. Equal emphasis is placed upon the prac- tical side of school work, in keeping with present day demands. Thorough courses in agriculture, commercial studies, manual and domestic arts may be elected in place of the more formal studies of the old time curriculum. Thus Westfield and LeRoy have moved on with with times, believing that educational progress must keep pace with that of other fields. To the progressive citizens of the community belong the honor and credit for this splendid achievement. Members of the LeRoy Village Board of Education W. E. Haines, President F. H. Hawley I. E. Simmons, Vice President B. G. Daniels, Clerk Fred Eastman