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!