Momence High School - Monesse Yearbook (Momence, IL)

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THE JUNIOR YEAR BOOK THE MOMENCE SCHOOLS. We go to school every day and think only of the present, at least most of us do, but behind the present ' there is the past, that, is always interesting to the in¬ quiring mind. Our up-to-date High School is not the outgrowth; of a moment, but the result of years of toil and sacrifice on the part of teachers and professors, and careful plans of our school directors and the Board of Education. In 1818 Illinois was admitted into the union as a state, and the same year the state legislature provided for two congressional townships to be set aside for the, founding of a seminary, and that each township six miles square should set aside one section of land, to be sold and the money used for school purposes. The first school in Kankakee county, was taught in a log cabin near the present site of Waldron, by a Miss Stella Johnson. She received the princely salary of $1.00 per week and “board around” among the families that had pupils in the school. The second school was taught near the present site of Momence, by Miss Lo- raine Beebe. Miss Johnson taught in 1836 and Miss Beebe in 1837. The Momence Union School district was organized as a separate district in 1848 In 1872 the present Central School building was erected, at at cost of $20,000. I has stood the test of time very well,. This building has eleven rooms, all of which are now used. The enrollment of the schools is now over five hundred including Loraine pupils, who go to the South Side. The South Side building was built several years later and is a very substantial building. Between those vine-covered walls of .our dear old Central school building, men and women of ability have labored for the education of the youth of this commun¬ ity. We cannot recall many of them but the names of Prof. Little, Prof. White, Prof. Paddock, and on down Page Number 7 to our own Mr. Selby, will be recalled by the alumni and former students. Of the lady teachers, Miss Griffin and Miss Mabel Groves were with us the longest time. -O- THE TEACHER’S CREED. “I believe in boys, and girls, the men and women of a great tomorrow; that whatsoever a boy soweth the man shall reap. 1 believe in the curse of ignorance, in the efficacy of schools, in the dignity of teaching, and in the divine joy of serving another. I believe in wis¬ dom as revealed in human lives, as well as in the pages of printed book; in the lessons taught, not so much by precept as by example; in ability to work with the hands as well as to think with the head: and everything that makes life large and lovely. I believe in beauty in the school room, in the home, in daily life, and the out-of doors. 1 believe in laughter, in love, and in all ideals and distant hopes ' that lure us on. T believe that every hour of the day we receive a just reward for all we are and all we do. I believe in th e present and its oppor¬ tunities, in the future and its promises, and in the divine joy of living. Amen.”—Edwin Osgood Grover. -O- HAPPY SCHOOL DAYS. Tommy was about to leave school, where he had spent his first years. He went to the teacher to say good-bye and added: “I am awfully sorry to leave this school . I’ve had such a good time at recess.