Ransom High School - Longhorn Yearbook (Ransom, KS)

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RHS HISTORY CONTINUED. - - High School built in 1915. edge of the present high school site. This building was composed of a study hall, an office, and two class rooms on the top floor; four class rooms on the main floor; and a gym, furnace room, one class room, and locker rooms for the girls and boys in the basement. As there were no res- troom facilities, everyone used the house out back when it was needed. In the fall of 1917, the grade school classes occupied the native stone structure witn the faculty as follows; Miss Jessie Morris of Salina, primary; Miss Rosa Vermillion of Ransom 3rd and 4th grades; Miss Mary Peters of Utica, 5tn and 6th grades and Frank Strickler, Principal and 7th and 8th grades. The high school faculty con- sisted of four teachers that year; L.W. Hampshire, Superintendent; Miss Dorothy Fitzpatrick, Latin and Math; Miss Mary E. Rubel, Normal Train- ing; and Miss Laura Mueller, Domes- tic Science and Art. The high school offered four courses; general, normal training, college preparatory, and do- mestic science and art. The following is an excerpt taken from the Ransom Record dated August 23, 1917: This is a better course of study than many of the larger schools offer. The par- ents have a right to be thankful that were; Peter Horchem, C.J. De Witt, and Dr. Grisell. Once again the students outgrew the school facility. In 1926 an addition was added onto the west side of the existing building. This addition con- sisted of a gym, stage, 2 dressing rooms and a boiler room on the ground floor; a balcony over the gym and one class room on the first floor; and five classrooms, offices, and a Li- brary study hall on the second floor. In later years, a kitchen was added to provide the students with hot meals. A hot lunch program was begun during the 1940’s and bus transporta- tion was added about 1958. In 1954 a modern brick school building with five classrooms, a gym, an office, and a kitchen was bunt to replace the native stone structure of 1902. This building is the present grade school building. Two class- rooms and a centralized library room were added in 1969 to serve the needs of the students in Kindergarten through grade six. An industrial arts building was built east of the high school in 1959. This replaced the basement room in the high school that was being used at that time for an industrial arts room. In the spring of 1960, the Arnold schools joined the Ransom district re- sulting in the high school attending at Ransom. The Brownell High School was also closed that summer with most of the High School students coming to Ransom and some going to McCracken. The following year the Brownell school joined the Ransom- Arnold district while maintaining an attendance center for grades one through eight in the former high school building. In 1961, the Ransom and Arnold Grade schools combined by having the students in grades 1-4 in the Ransom attendance center and the students in grades 5-8 in the Ar- nold attendance center. A Kindergar- ten class was added at the Ransom attendance center in 1962 for all of the Kindergarten students in the district. In 1966, a $700,000 bond issue was voted and passed for the construction of a new Ransom High School build- ing. And, later, a supplemental bond they can give their children a grade id high edu . The thing school successful is Everybody high education right here at home. The thing that makes every Boosting . Let’s be true to our best impulses and boost the Ransom schools. The members of the school board High School after 1926 addition.

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First School house, built in 1888 (Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society.) of the construction and the stone used in the building was taken from his farm, six miles southwest of town. The town was very proud of this building. It faced the east and its one entrance opened into a narrow hall that ran clear across the east side. At the south end of this hall was the stairway to the second floor. At the north end was a small square room partitioned off, this room was called the Library. The rest of the first floor was divided into two large classrooms. the partition running east and west. The first teacher in the north room of this new building was John Sunley. This building was at first too spacious for the student body so the second floor was used by the city council for their meetings and also used for enter- tainment purposes. The Ransom grade school had two teachers. In the south room, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades were seated at desks running in rows from east to west. Each class when called upon to 1902 Grammar Room, used until 1954. recite came up to a long bench or row of chairs in front of the teachers desk at the east end of the room near the door to the hall. The same pattern was followed in the other classroom where the four upper grades were seated. The teacher of the higher grades was also the principal of the school. In 1907, there was some talk about establishing a high school in Ransom. It was to be comparatively inexpen- sive since space for it was available on the upper floor of the school building. A new and large high school district could be formed to bring in extra tax money to finance the extra cost and all the country school graduates could come to high school without paying tuition. Some approved and some thought that a school that taught a child to read, write, and figure was sufficient. What more did a farmer need? There was much argument and dis- cussion. One of the advocates for a high school was Dr. W.S. Grisell, the Ransom doctor. Dr. Grisell had a spe- cial counter set up in the S-D Mercan- tile Co., where he dispensed his drugs. He saw all the farmers who came into the store, and talked with them about the high school. Another person to give credit to in establishing the high school was Mrs. Florence (LaPlante) Dubbs, a country school teacher who was very devoted to the establishing of the high school. By 1909 the opinion had solidified and at the school meeting in the spring of that year, it was voted to organize a high school, beginning that fall. A teacher was founa, that being Mr. C.M. Livengood, who agreed to teach the four necessary high school subjects along with the four upper grades of the grammar school. Twen- ty-nine students were enrolled under Mr. Livengood, six of them for the high school courses. The second floor of the grade school was used for the high school classes. The subjects taught were, Latin, English, Ancient History, and Algebra. The members of the Freshman class were; Georgia Blocksome, Gladys Carroll, and Ag- nes, Minnie, and Albert Dubbs. Geor- gia dropped out at the end of the year and the remaining four made up the first graduation class of Ransom High School in 1913. As indicated earlier the first high school in Ransom was begun on tne second floor of the grade school. The attendance continued to grow until there was not sufficient room to ac- commodate this school building. The majority of the people decided the pu- pils needed more room, and voted bonds for $13,000 and built the fine new high school in 1915. This two story building was built on the south

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RHS HISTORY CONTINUED. issue of $160,000 was passed to equip the building. This new building was designed so that the 7th ana 8th raaes could be included in the new igh school. It was the opinion of the Board of Education that the Junior High program should be initiated for the 1968-69 school year for the follow- ing reasons: 1. This program would allow the school to provide an expanded in- structional program for tne 7th and 8th grade students of the district. 2. It would allow the 7th and 8th grade students to utilize the laborato- ry facilities, gymnasium and library in the new building. 3. It would allow better utilization of faculty and would allow the school to use specialists in Mathematics, Sci- ence, English, Home Economics, In- dustrial Arts, Music, Art and Lan- Present Grade School, built in 1954. guage for Jr. High instruction. 4. This was in keeping with the Citizen Committee Recommendations made in 1964. In February of 1968 the Ransom High students moved into a new, modern high school building, which was built just to the north of the high school they had been using. The fol- lowing fall, 1969, the 7th and 8th rade students from the district also egan their classes in the new high school building. The school buildings in Arnold and Brownell were closed in the spring of 1969 and that fall, all elementary stu- dents in the district, Kindergarten through grade six, were taught at the Ransom Grade School. It was about this time that a name for the new school district of Arnold-Brownell- Ransom was being considered. Smo- key Hill Unified School District No. 302 was the name selected. A new industrial arts building was constructed just north of the new school building in 1976-77 and the first classes were taught in this build- ing in 1977. For 98 years, Ransom has pro- gressed well. In 1888 the Ransom community was proud to have a new school building with one teacher and an enrollment of 43 students. 98 years later, we are still proud of our school facilities. We have two very fine facili- ties, with 21 teachers and enrollment of as high as 297 students. The largest graduating class had 37 students in 1966. The present enrollment for the district is about 190 students in Kin- dergarten - grade 12.