Other County Histories | Civil War | 1886 | 1913 Vol. 2 | 1916 | Depression |
Past and Present of Livingston County
Volume 1. History

by Major A. J. Roof. 1913

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CHILLICOTHE HIGH SCHOOL

Page 194

The Chillicothe high-school building was erected in the year 1900 at a cost of $25,000. It has an auditorium on the first floor with a seating capacity of three hundred. In addition to this there are thirteen recitation rooms. The members of the board of education having charge of the erection of the building were L. A. Chapman, J. A Dunn, Wm. McIlwrath Dr. David Gordon, J. B. Ostrander, and S. England. A. H Huggett was the contractor. During the present year the building will be enlarged by the addition of six rooms. This is made necessary on account of the rapidly increasing enrollment in the school. On the first floor is the library in which there are 8100 volumes and is the largest and best in the state. In the line of general reference for every phase of school there is found the very best books that it is possible to secure, The books are also used largely by the public, generally, especially by the women who are connected with the several literary clubs of the city.

The laboratories are found on the north side of the second floor, where a full and complete equipment is provided for work in chemistry, physics, agriculture, botany, zoology, and physical geography. The school also offers the very best work in manual training, domestic science, art and music. A strong course is also offered in the commercial department, including bookkeeping, shorthand, typewriting, etc. An additional department will be added to the work the coming year, the training of teachers. In fact, Superintendent Coburn and Principal McIntire have begun the work. State aid is offered high schools doing this work and it is edifying to know that Chillicothe is one of the first to begin.

During the present school year the high school enrollment is 292, with sixty-one in the graduating class. This is the largest graduating class in the history of the school, the class last year numbering but fifty-one. Few, if any high schools in the state have as large graduating classes.

This school is on the articulated list of schools of the state university and the various colleges and universities of the state. Its graduates can enter any of these institutions of learning without examination. In the ranking of high schools by the state superintendent of public schools, Chillicothe stands at the bead of the list. It is also on the list of approved high schools of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. This high standing gives the graduates the privilege of entering any college or university in the United States without examination. Outside of the three large cities in Missouri only two other high schools in the state are on the list of affiliated schools with the University of Chicago. In addition to the scholarship which the Chicago University offers each year to a graduate of the high school, it also provides that all teachers in this school are permitted to attend there with a remission of one-half of the tuition.

The present efficient school board is John H. Taylor, president; W. G. Keath, secretary; J. D. Brookshier, treasurer; J. C. Shelton, John Burch and H. B. Hogan. Following is the high school faculty:

A. R. Coburn, superintendent; H. M. McIntire, principal and instructor of mathematics; Josephine Norville, English; Bena Brandenburger, German and history; Zelma Gurley, history; Imogene Dennis, Latin; Gladys Grouse, English; Laura Schmitz, mathematics; D. C. Clarke, science; Goldie Lutes, commercial; Belle Lowe, manual training and domestic science; Estelle Webb, art; Pearl Peterson, music; and Lulu Blanchard, librarian.

A. R. Coburn, the present superintendent of the Chillicothe schools, has been in charge since 1908. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, from which institution he holds the degree of Master of Arts. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which is the highest scholarship recognition that one can receive as a graduate of an American college. For twenty years he has been actively connected with school work in Missouri and during the past year has been first vice-president of the Missouri State Teachers' Association.

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