Washington High School - Senatorian Yearbook (West Portsmouth, OH)

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DEDICATION We, the students of Washington High School, gratefully dedicate this 1954 edition of our Year Book, the Senatorian, to Mr. Edward O. McCowen, the late Superintendent of Scioto County Schools. This year marks the culmination of the plan which Mr. McCowen initiated in the consolidation of Nile and Washington Township Schools, making it possi- ble for all students to receive twelve years of instruction in modern, well equipped buildings. He was instrumental in redistricting and consolidating local school districts, thereby improving the facilities and raising the teaching stand- ards in Scioto County. The Normal School which he inaugurated at Wheelersburg prepared many of the teachers who have made up the excellent teaching staffs of the County Schools. Mr. McCowen was Superintendent of Scioto County Schools from 1914 to 1942, a trustee of Rio Grande College, and at the age of sixty- iive when most men retire from business and professional activities, he was elected to serve in the 78th, 79th, and 80th Congresses of the United States. ' Mr. McCowen was a man of strong character and great courage. As a lawmaker he cast his vote always for the greatest benefit to our country and to the people he represented. He was a patriotic individual, a man of great mental capacity and unusual ability. In a tribute paid him recently, a member of Congress said, The life and achievements of Edward O. McCowen are a shining example of the opportunities our Country offers to the young men and women who are willing to work and who have the ambition to secure an education and better their position in life. Senatorian 3

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,uni- riff DWARD O. MCCOWEN , Lawmaker and Patriot of Scioto County Senatorian 2

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l r l F 1 l l F I L 1 l 1 4 GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCHOOLS IN WASHINGTON LOCAL DISTRICT The present school year 11953-19545 marks the first time in the history of Washington District that all the students of Nile and Washington Townships are attending modern consolidated school buildings of brick construction contain- ing adequate equipment and excellent facilities. With the completion of additions to Friendship, Dry Run and Washington Schools, the one room schools .are now but a memory. The oldest school house in Washington Township of which we have any record was at Friendship. This building was torn down and moved across the Old State Road and made into a residence 118785. A new one room school was then erected across Turkey Creek. Rabbit Run Building was sold in 1894 and another room was added to Friendship. Among the very early teachers in the township we find such names as William Jones, Captain Samuel Green, Andrew McClaren, Samuel Williamson, Traverse Reed, Joshua Nurse and Abraham Barnes. Under the guidance and leadership of the late County Superintendent, Edward O. McCoWen, consolidation of schools in the district began in December, 1923. Buildings at that time included Odle Creek 118855, Upper Turkey Creek 118845, Middle Turkey Creek 118995, Pond Run 118855, Leatherwood 118795, Dry Run 118395, Hygean Run 118695, Lower Carey's Run 118345, Sugar Grove 118545, and Upper Carey's Run 118395. Throughout the years which have intervened, the the many problems of redistricting, organization and consolidation of our schools in Nile and Washington Townships have been solved by County and Local Boards of Education with the support of the vote of the people. In 1914 there were only seventy high school graduates in Scioto Countyg in 1953 there were four-hundred and thirty-four, eighty-one of which were from Washington Local District. In 1914 Washington Township had only seven frame school buildings and no high schoolg in 1954 it is possible for all boys and girls of Nile and Wash- ington Townships to obtain twelve years of in- struction in modern, well-built and well-equipped brick buildings including Washington High School, Class A. Well-deserved appreciation goes to Mr. Edward Warren and Mr. James W. Thatcher 1shown be- low5 who have so graciously given of their time and memories to bring us the foregoing facts relating to the development of the schools in Washington Local District. These men taught in this school system for almost one-half century and are living witnesses to the transition from the one room school house to the modern struc- tures of 1954. MR. JAMES W. THATCHER Teacher in Nile and Washington Townships forty-four years. MR. EDWARD WARREN Teacher in Nile and Washington Townships forty-eight years. Senatorian 4