Celebrating 175 years! s First school board meeting April 10, 1837. This was the official start of the 175 years of success of St. Joseph Public Schools. This is when the State Charter sites the beginning of the District. s There is record of a log schoolhouse on Church Street between Pearl and Market, sometime before 1832. s Then in 1835 the Village Council voted to build an “Old White Schoolhouse”, as it became known, on the corner of Ship and Main. Many of your grandparents may remember that building. s That first school board reported that there were 107 students and the school year would be 5 months 2 weeks long. There were two teachers for the entire district. By 1879 the District included over 800 students with 13 teachers. Today we have 2840 students and almost 150 teachers.
The Fighting Seagulls? A contest was held during the 1933/34 school year to decide on a school mascot. The vote was between the Vikings, Seagulls or Bears. Which would you vote for?
Colors Inspired by U of M Maize and blue became the school colors in 1913. There was a contest held each year as to who could decorate the best table for the annual Crescent Society banquet. Mrs. Edna Aber Domes, local attorney Bob Ehrenberg’s great aunt, was inspired by the University of Michigan (sorry State fans) and won the contest that year. It was then decided by the school to use these colors as the official school colors… and the rest is history.
Did You Know? In 1944 the Music War Council of America awarded the SJHS Band with a plaque for their distinguished service to our country through patriotic and inspiring use of music to aid in the national effort.
Did You Know? The current fight song was written in 1940 by then band director, Franklin “Red” Wilste. There were two other fights songs before that. One was written in 1915 by Oscar Hawley called “The Yellow and the Blue.” The other fights song, “For Old St. Joe,” was written and composed by William R. Kent, class of 1917.
Did You Know? In 1963 the High School band was about the size it is today, but there were no flags, only one drum major and three baton twirlers. Back in 1917 there were only 25 band members and girls were not allowed to join. The orchestra was started in 1915, girls were allowed to join, but there were few.
Did You Know? In 1958, the students got creative advertising the variety show. Moonflower, a deodorized skunk inspected a pretend rocket used at a pep rally to publicize the 9th Annual Variety Show themed “A Rocket to the Moon.” According to the article from the Herald-‐Press (now the Herald Palladium) the skunk and the variety show had very little in common accept Bill Walsh, the co-‐publicity chair for the show. Tickets were 50 cents. There are no records about what happened to Moonflower.
Did You Know? In 1972, 6 foot 9 basketball star, Tom Scheffler left a successful season at SJHS to play for Purdue. Scheffler averaged 22.7 points and 16 rebounds a game in his senior year, leading St. Joe to a 17-‐4 record, the school’s best in 13 years. I wonder if he was the tallest “Bear” ever?
Did You Know? In 1959 the 162 graduating seniors shared the front page of the Herald Press with a story about Jimmy Hoffa and his faltering leadership of the union, A racially charged trial, a story of “Star Crossed Lovers Separated by Death” and the announcement that the new high school campus would be ready in the fall. I wonder what will be on the front page of the news for the Class of 2013?
Did You Know? In 1951 the SJ Bears men’s basketball team won the Class B State Championship. They beat the River Rouge Panthers 39 to 33 at the MSU Jenison Field House. This was the first season for head coach Ray Haack, who took over mid-‐season when then head coach Leon Burgoyne resigned. Coach Haack went on to have an outstanding coaching career with SJ. You may even still see him around town.
Did You Know? The first high school class to graduate was in 1873 and consisted of three students. Lila Edwards-‐Depue, Hattie Reder-‐Ockford and Mary Whittlesey-‐ Kotz. 1972 was the 100th class to graduate from St. Joe. (Counselor Mitzi Tompkins and Clarke Secretary Andrea Johns were part of this class) 2022 will be the 150th. These students are currently 3rd graders.
Originally when the school was founded in 1837 students only went to the 8th grade, which is why we are not graduating the 175th class of seniors this year.
Did You Know? In 1917 the Crescent (yearbook) reported that the football team did not have a permanent practice field and only had 14 members. They played one game against South Bend High and lost. 1917 was also the first year tennis was played at St. Joseph. This is also one of the first sports that girls were allowed to play. Girls basketball began around 1910 (as far as our records can tell).
Did You Know? Military training was made a part of the High School curriculum in September of 1916. At first it was only for the freshmen and sophomore boys, but when war was declared it was expanded to include all male students, 9-‐12th grade. This “class” had access to the rifle range. What war was this?
Did You Know? Lincoln school was first built in 1889 for $7500. It has been rebuilt and updated several times since then. Brown School was actually part of a different school district when first built in 1898. At that time it was considered rather far out in the country. In 1956, just a few years after the current building was constructed, this district combined with the City of St. Joseph’s schools. E.P. Clarke is the “youngest” of the elementary schools. It was built in 1958 and named after longtime Superintendent E.P. Clarke. The fall enrollment that year K-‐12 was 3860. Currently we have 2840 students District wide. Ernest P. Clarke became superintendent in 1899 and served in that capacity until 1935. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest contributors, although there have been many, because of the growth that occurred under his leadership. Mr. Clarke died in 1941 at his home on Niles Avenue in St. Joseph. Many of your grandparents may remember him.
Did You Know? Mr. George Jaeger from the Class of 1934, is one of our oldest living local alums and can often be seen at the SJHS football games. Say hello to him this fall if you see him at the field. He was not on the basketball team, but here is a photo of some of his classmates.
Conclusion s As you may have noticed many of these “Did you knows” have been about the High School. That is because those are the best records that we have. The very first yearbook was published in 1910 and was called the Crescent. It is our goal to put this and other annuals on-‐ line for anyone to look at. For more information visit www.sjschools.org/history s We will be adding more about St. Joseph Public Schools on-‐line, as we are able.
Happy Birthday St. Joseph!
Here’s to another 175 years of excellence and outstanding accomplishments. GO BEARS!