The Pauline School student body is pictured in April of 1922. From left are, front row, seated: Leo Wardlow, Gale Brown, Neil McDonald, Walter Reiber, John Bostock, Jack Brenneman, Walter Leigh, Darrel Bauder, Carl Peterson, Everett Moss; second row, Nellie Moss, Pauline Reiber, Lena Krull, Wilhelmina Hibbeler, Sophia Hibbeler, Elmer Reiber, John Krull, LaVane Fisk, Ward Bauder, Carl Evans, Dick McDonald, Leonard Plummer, Gardener Fisk, Mary Parker, Iva Parker, Martha Hibbeler, Margaret Hibbeler, RoseAnn Chenoweth, Alma Chenoweth, Violet Moore; back row: Lawrence Kalvoda, Louis Reiber, Delmar Brown, Ollie Bostock, Roy Anderson, Lillian Muir, Esther Kanyon, Josephine Kalvoda, Alma Gartner, Sarah Goding, Sarah Anderson, Lillian Kalvoda, Clara Leigh, Clara Evans. Photo is courtesy of Marlyce Brown and the late Glen Parker. Photo identification by Parker.

Before the Brick: Recollections of the Wood Frame Building and its Teachers 

"I came on the scene in August of 1921, so I attended the old wood frame school house for three semesters. Then came the new brick house with full basement and two stories high. The old wood frame school had three rooms. TheA February, 1998 drawing of the interior of Pauline's wood frame schoolhouse, by alumnus Glen Parker. Along with the drawing, Parker added, "The hallway was lined with rails and hooks for coat hangars. I no longer remember where the big, pot-bellied stoves were located.” north room was the primary with Miss Anna Keebler the teacher. The southeast room was elementary with Miss Lillian Muir as teacher. Miss Keebler was an older lady who lived in the house owned by Jerome Fouts located across the street from Donny and Lois Mohlman (2210 E. Mulberry Street). Her ancient mother lived with her and was in very poor health. She lived but a couple years after I came to Pauline, after which Anna packed her things and went back to Pennsylvania from where she came. Miss Muir – I never got to know her for she was but a short time too. The southwest room was the high school – 9th and 10th grades. Miss Esther Kanyon was teacher and principal, a stately little lady who later became Mrs. Archie Murrish. Their life together was cut short by an accident on the Pauline road and the Union Pacific railroad tracks. I never knew what happened to her after that." – Glen Parker, Febr. 4, 1998 letter to Carla Post

Changing Times and the Need for a New Building

Teachers' year-end reports from the early part of the 20th century frequently list the condition of repair of the frame school building as poor. Records from the early 1920s show some activity toward making repairs on the frame building as well. Annual meeting minutes from June 14, 1920 state, "Moved & seconded that the board have school house repaired where needed . . ." Five hundred dollars was dedicated for this purpose. Activity toward building improvements is subsequently reflected in the treasurer's record: Pauline School's wood frame building, as it looked when Sarah Goding Post attended, 1916-1920. The photo is courtesy of Mrs. Post's daughter, Kathryn Post Seeman. Will Weilen was paid $46.10 for carpenter work and locks; $6.54 was paid in freight to CB&Q railroad for school seats; D. Hutch was paid $6.00 for "Labor plastering" and Chicago Lumber Co. was paid $48.90 for "stove repair, coal and windows storm shades." School board members' salaries at the end of the 1920-21 school year covered labor for putting in seats, and, apparently, installing storm windows and shades. The year-end director's report shows that $222.50 was paid for repairs. At the following year's annual district meeting on June 13, 1921, a motion was made that "We put down a well on school ground." The treasurer's record shows a payment of $50.00 on Sept. 30, 1921 to Chas C. Peterson for well work. Later that fall, Peterson was paid $4.50 for repair work on the school house.

Despite the board's efforts to repair the building, times were changing; the concept of a high school education was catching on, even in rural Nebraska, as alumnus Parker went on to detail in a letter:

"Dear Carla: Don't think your questions are annoying me in the least – really, this is fun. I believe the first question was 'Why did they need to build the new brick school house?'. Because there was getting to be too many students for the old wood frame to hold effectively. The primary room seemed to get on with it pretty well, but the elementary and the two grades of high school were being bunched up.

"They knew the need for a new schoolhouse, so 'If we do it,' they reasoned, 'why not build one large enough to cover a complete high school?' Therefore the four large rooms."

- Glen Parker, February 1998 letter.

The two grades of high school were in a room much smaller than the other two, and some children had to sit two to a desk. More children were coming in from other districts like Union, Antioch and District #26, and in my time, clear over in Clay County, Harris Knoll. The need for better education was catching on. When the old wood frame house was brought in (See editor's note below.) the people had only the children of District #8 to educate, and they at the first schoolhouse by the ice pond had only up to the eighth grade. Then in Pauline they added the ninth and 10th grades. Other districts wanted their children to have that too, and suddenly the room was too full." Parker noted that in the photo at the top of this page, nine of the 18 high schoolers are from districts numbers 20 (Antioch), 7 (Union) and 26 (Little Blue).

"They knew the need for a new schoolhouse, so 'If we do it,' they reasoned, 'why not build one large enough to cover a complete high school?'. Therefore the four large rooms. However, we didn't accumulate enough students from outside our district until about 1929 or 1930. Until then the north room to the upper story was vacant, and they had it for manual training for the boys, and classes for girls of cooking and sewing (home economics). –Glen Parker, February 18, 1998 letter

*Editor's note: The first school was originally located one-half mile west of Pauline; it was relocated to the town site, the building being moved around 1900. See the Early History section of this website for more details.

Parliamentary ProceedingsA page from the School District Director's Record dating to May of 1923 details the proceedings that gave birth to Pauline's new brick schoolhouse.

How the Brick Schoolhouse Came To Be

District meeting minutes show that on May 9, 1923 a special meeting was held. A motion by board member John Krull "to take vote on new school building or remodel old building" passed, with 34 votes in favor and five against. 

A motion, again by Krull, to appoint a committee "to look into financing a new building size kind of building" was seconded by Ross Fisk; the motion carried. Community members John Reiber, William Moss and Avery Quigg were appointed "to look into building affairs." Other board members at the time were Clarence Bauder and Otto McDonald.

Three weeks later another special meeting was held, with a committee report made by Moss "in regard to building & financing."  No other details are recorded about the report. A motion by board member Otto McDonald to build "either 3 or 4 room school house either frame or stucco with full basement" failed to carry and was tabled. Next, a motion was made by T.W. Jones "for prices of building 30 x 60 frame or brick full basement"; this motion carried. Finally, there was a motion by John Brenneman "to get price on stucco 30 x 60 full basement". Seconded by John Krull, this motion passed.

The School District Treasurer's Record reflects that the cost of the building was $10,110.78, with Hutchins and Johnson serving as building contractor. The contractor's name eventually was inscribed in cement at the top of the staircase leading into the front of the building.

Pauline School students are shown outside the brick building during the 1927-28 school year. From left, are, Top Row: Iva Parker, Rosa Chenoweth, Alice Smith, Lena Krull, Margaret Osgood, Margaret Swigart, teacher Marie Gartner, Martha Hibbeler, teacher M.J. Embry, teacher Lucille Richmond, Carl Evans, Lloyd Brown, Kermit Gunderson, Berwyn Palmer, Raymond Valentine, Chester Woods, Floyd Brown, Elmer Reiber, Ward Bauder. Second Row: Ruth Quig, Thelma Chenoweth, Florence Evans, Art Krull, Marion Peterson, Cecil Woods, Gerald Cover, Johnny Krull, Ray Quig, Glen Parker, Ethel Swigart, Caroline Pavelka, Zona Cover, Ruth Bauder, Eunice Moss, Wilda Moss, Eleanor Smith, Dale May. Bottom Row: Edwin Smidt, Harlan Peterson, Virgil Smith, James Harris, Darrell Cain, Flora Grogan, Mildred Bauder, Grace Swigart, Jennie Krull, Doris Jones, Mary Harris, Eileen Grogan, Howard Cover, Keith Pine, Teddy Emil, Allen Cover, Glen Sherman, William Smidt. Photo is courtesy of Kathy Post Seeman and Pauline Methodist Church.

Building Detail

The treasurer's record reflects direct involvement of school board members in the building process as well. On Jan. 16 of 1924, C.W. Bauder was paid $29.25 for "scraper, grading and overseeing building moving"; John Krull was paid $7.25 for "moving and grading"; and Otto McDonald was paid $8.00 for "seeling building putting basement screens & curtains.

"After graduating from Union School, my first semester in high school was spent in the old building while the new two-story was being built. I worked for the contractor after school and on weekends, sifting sand, wheeling brick to the masons, etc. We did everything the hard way in those days."

– William Claude Stethem, "Pauline and Community, 1887-1987, 'A Trail in Time' ".

"The first and second floors featured an identical layout with two large rooms, one on the north and one on the south. The main entrance to the school building was a wide cement staircase consisting of eight steps on the center east side of the building. Once in the building, scholars came into a commons area directly facing a staircase leading to the second floor. Banister posts on either side were 64 inches tall. The staircase, consisting of 18 steps, was flanked on either side by a hallway featuring coathooks. Coathooks in the south first-floor hallway were placed at a lower level for the younger scholars in primary room. A shelf running the length of the hallway just above the coathooks was likely intended for lunch pails. A commons area at the west end of the two halls featured a doorway to a basement staircase that ran back to the east, as well as an exit at the west side of the building.

This west-door exit on was located just north of the building's center. It opened outside onto a slanted, low, tarredA coal chute on the west side of the new building reads: Queen City Coal Coal Chute, Pollenske Bros Shellak & Co., Hastings Neb., MF by the Western Land Roller Co., Hastings Neb. roof that covered a small wooden structure which was the coal bin. The coal bin featured a door into the basement of the west wall of the school. A chute on the outside of the building made for handy coal delivery.

The two large school rooms on each floor had doors near the east and west ends, opening into the adjoining hallways and commons areas. These doors were 7 feet from the floor to the top of the woodwork door frame. From north to south, the width of the area encompassing two halls and stairway measured 13 feet 2½ inches wide. The ceilings were approximately 10 feet high. The north room was 21½ feet from north to south; From east to west the room measured 27 feet 7 inches. The wall width, including the baseboard and woodwork, was 9 inches. Windows were 65 inches tall - 38 ¾ inches wide at the interior and 44" wide at the exterior.

The south room of the second floor included access to a tubular metal fire escape that carried students to ground level at the southwest corner of the building.

The new school's full basement featured a cement floor and no partitions; the wooden stairs were centrally located, beneath the second-floor staircase. To the north and west of the staircase was a large coal furnace that provided heat for the entire building. Basement access from the inside was located at the west end of the hallway commons area. The foot of the stairs leading into the basement could be hoisted and hooked onto ceiling joists to create added seating space for audiences, as PTA and school programs generally took place in the basement. In time, a stage with walkways around three sides was built at the south end of the basement. Also featured were a large, upright piano and a side area for waiting and costume changes. A basketball hoop provided recess fun during inclement weather. Later on hot lunches were cooked and served in the school basement. Lest any 21st-century readers click their tongues about a lack of fire exits, the basement featured an access from the outside of the building via a ground-level cement staircase on the east, just north of the main entrance. The small cement staircase led to a set of double wooden doors that were locked from inside the building by a sliding wooden deadbolt. This staircase featured a slanted wooden covering on the outside.

Alumni Reminisce About New Building

In letters to the web editor in February and March of 1998, alumnus Glen Parker further elaborated on School District 8's new building: "The new brick school was built not more than 10 or 12 feet south of the old school. . . . The new one offered much more in space, for two rooms alone were equal to more than all the square footage of the old school."

"For the new brick schoolhouse they used all they had in the old one, but many new desks for students were bought. Most were the movable type, and you had a drawer under the seat for books."

Pauline High School students are pictured in the 1924-25 school year. From left, are: Back Row, John Brenneman, Gale Brown, Jim Overy, Everett Moss, Art Post, Teacher Vern Arnold, Neil McDonald, Max McCleery, Durward Quig, Claude Stethem, George Hesman; Front Row: Anna Van Langen, Wilhelmina Hibbeler, Clara Evans, Sarah Goding and Edna Osgood. Photo is courtesy of the late Edna Reiber and Kathy Post Seeman (Sarah Goding Post collection). "I can't remember much about the effects the new structure made on the students, except some boys thought it fun to slide down the railings of the stairway. All expressed delight over having a basement to play in when snow was deep outside."

 Writing for "Pauline and Community, 1887-1987, 'A Trail in Time,' " alumnus Sarah Goding Post recalled, "The present school building was started the fall of 1923 when Art and I were freshmen. We remember moving into the new building in 1924. The students, along with our teachers, Vern Arnold and Harold Heeren, put on a carnival that spring. A large crowd attended, to tour the new school and enjoy the carnival."

When asked about the fate of the old wooden schoolhouse, Parker recalled, "It got dismantled within a year after the new one was finished. I don't recall who took it apart, but I remember the front steps, the south steps and the old Arm Strong pump were there for many moons after the new school was occupied. Asked to elaborate about the "Arm Strong" pump, Parker replied, "The Armstrong pump was any brand of pump. I hung Armstrong on there because it took strong arms to operate one. (Reference Parker's drawing, near the top of this page. -Editor)In the new schoolhouse, it seems to me there was a pump on the first floor, west end of the hall before you go down the stairs into the basement. Was there or wasn't there. Wasn't there one in the basement?"

-Editor's note: In later years there was an electric pump in the basement, and, true to Parker's recollection, a sink with a drinking fountain and cold-water faucet on the first floor, west end of the building. For all the years of it's existence, there was no hot water at the school.

The Way We Were - High School in the '20s 

"In those days many children even in Pauline district never got to attend school further than the eighth grade. After that their parents put them on a hoe handle or behind a team of mules and they stayed there the rest of their lives. To so many of the farm folks, higher education wasn't important. As my father used to put it, 'You can read, write and figure, and that's more than I can do. You should do real well out in the world somewhere.' My father never got above the fourth grade, and not being one to be eager for learning, by the time he was 50 years old he couldn't even read.

"I told him I would go to Chicago and walk down their main street bearing a plaque saying I could read, write and figure, 'and I'm sure all the big corporations would be there to fight over me to see who would pick me up and make me the vice-president of their establishment.'

"Surprise, surprise, I didn't even get a good horse-whipping for my smart-mouth remark. My mother saw it quite the opposite. Therefore I did graduate from the 12th in Pauline High."

–Glen Parker, February 18, 1998 letter

For the Record

"School started off with a rush Monday. A number of students from other districts are coming in for the high school grades." 'Pauline', Adams County Democrat, Sept. 9, 1921

This flurry of activity came on the heels of a June 13, 1921 annual meeting where minutes show that a motion was made for a ballot vote "for high school 9 & 10 grades. Nine votes cast; nine for & none against." Accordingly, the year's receipts includedA page dating to 1921 from the school district director's record, showing steps taken toward the establishment of a two-year high school. $55.50 in tuition from District No. 9, $88.80 from District No. 4 and $87.90 from "Opal Jones Dist. No. 77 Webster Co."

The annual meeting minutes offer no clue as to the change of course from the previous year. In contrast, the minutes from the June 14, 1920 annual meeting state that a vote was taken in regard to hiring a high school teacher, with "10 against and none for." Only two teachers were on the payroll for the 1920-21 school year, pointing to the absence of a high school teacher. The treasurer's record and the annual report of the district show no record of tuition being received from other districts for the 1920-21 school year. The board contracted with other districts when students wanted to attend high school. At that same meeting, another motion was made and seconded "that we vote $162.00 for free high school purposes" (tuition); this motion carried.

"Miss Della Lofquist will resume her studies at Fairfield again this year," stated the "Pauline News" section of the Adams County Democrat on Sept. 9, 1921.  Accordingly, the minutes of the June 13, 1921 annual meeting show that a motion carried to pay high school tuition for Miss Lofquist.  The treasurer's record reflects that $108.00 was paid for her tuition.

Teachers' salaries for the 1921-22 school year, with the addition of a high school teacher, came to $3,375.00, whereas in the previous year, the board had spent $1,935.00 on teachers' salaries.

By the middle of the decade, progressive-minded community members were looking toward the formation of a four-year high school. "The majority of school meeting was in favor of the School Board to sign application for approval of H.S.," stated the June 8, 1925 annual meeting minutes. The following year, June 14, 1926, a three-man committee was appointed "to look into matters in regard to outside Dists helping support 11 and 12th grade." As stated in the minutes, committee members were Rev. Lewis, Chas Peterson and John Reiber.A June, 1929 page from the district director's record showing the establishment of a four-year high school.

As the decade came to a close, the June 10, 1929 annual meeting held a "motion by Mr. McKenzie to put two teachers in lower rooms and 4 year H.S. Second by Mrs. Harvey Jones.  Motion carried 39 in favor."  The issue was obviously of keen interest to the patrons of District 8. Proceedings for the meeting show there were over 50 people voting at the meeting. While District 8 encompassed a fair amount of geographic area beyond the village of Pauline itself, an Adams County business directory, circa. 1925, shows a population of 87 for the village of Pauline itself, of which 33 were children.

     First-semester tuition received Dec. 26, 1929 amounted to $936.00, with a year's tuition for one student costing approximately $108.00.

Advocate of Higher Education: Mrs. Jones

Roseanne Jones supported a motion to expand Pauline School to 12 grades. Photo is courtesy of Doris Jones Spain. Roseanne (Mrs. Harvey) Lofquist Jones, who at the 1929 annual meeting seconded the motion for a four-year high school, was herself a Pauline High graduate, completing the 10th grade in 1915. This likely was Pauline's first high school graduation. She went on to attend business college in Fairfield, NE and eventually married Pauline classmate Harvey Jones. He was three years her senior, yet she consistently outscored him academically when the two were in school together.

While the couple lived in the humblest of circumstances, Roseanne exuded high society, recalled area residents. A stylish dresser, she worked outside the home, driving a Model T "here and there" in an age when many women didn't drive.

Ironically, Roseanne and Harvey Jones' only child had Down Syndrome, but she refused to keep him hidden away at home as was sometimes the practice in those years. In an era when there were no accommodations for children with special needs, Bobby Jones was unable to attend school beyond the early grades. Nonetheless Mrs. Jones remained active in scholastic life. She served as PTA president in 1930; in 1938 she was accompanist for high school graduation ceremonies. As writer of the "Pauline Items" column for The Hastings Democrat newspaper, she reported extensively on school happenings. While her penchant for keeping track of people exasperated at least one young niece, her diligence in reporting local news in the ensuing decades creates a fuller, richer picture than any record book can tell - of Pauline School and the community at large.

Program of Recitation and Study

Throughout the 1920s English and mathematics – algebra and geometry – were staples of the Pauline High School curriculum. Course offerings varied somewhat from year to year, with four to five subjects per grade typically being offered. A 1923-24 class schedule shows an average school day somewhat similar to today's. Class periods were 40A class schedule from the 1923-24 school year offers a glimpse into academic life at Pauline High School nearly a century ago. minutes long, and the academic day began at 9 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m. In addition to math and English, the 1921-22 school year offered Latin, general science, agriculture and an hour of supervised study. By the end of the decade, course offerings had been expanded to botany, sociology, physics, economics and modern history. In the intervening years other subjects offered included general science, civics, physical and economical geography, spelling, grammar and penmanship.

Treasurer's records and alumni recollections also shed light on the subject of Pauline High academics. During the 1924-25 school year French dictionaries were purchased, with payments of $3.62 and $.90, respectively, made to DC Heath & Co. and instructor V.B. Arnold. The late Edna Osgood Reiber was among the students in Arnold's French classes. However, agriculture studies proved to be one of her favorites, as she found she was able to outpace even the boys. Curriculum included identification of dairy animals, she recalled 70 years later.

Likewise, alumnus Glen Parker remembered manual training (practical skills) classes being conducted in the second-story north room. However, they do not appear to have been graded subjects, as they are not mentioned in class schedules or practical records.

"The manual training for boys was, as I recall, in carpenter, cabinet and various woodwork. I had always wanted them to teach auto mechanics or leather work so we could build and repair harness and saddles and shoes and boots . . . There were some carpenter tools there for manual training, but no power tools, for we had no electricity."

–Glen Parker, March 25, 1998 letter

Indeed, the 1924-25 treasurer's record shows Chicago Lumber Co. was paid $42.35 for "lumber for benches, etc. for the manual training dept."  Additionally, Instructor Arnold was paid ninety cents for needles and thread and $3.07 for mending tape. Possibly these items were used in girls' manual training; Parker recalled they were taught sewing, cooking and baking. The 1926-27 treasurer's record reflects a payment of $1.75 to C.E. Coblentz for filing saws and plane bits; likely, this also would have been for the manual training classes. Rippetare Paper & Paint Co. was paid $1.75 for manual training supplies.

McConnell Map Co. of Chicago received a rather large payment of $38.00 during the 1922-23 school year. During 1924-25, the treasurer's record shows a payment of $12.57 to Ginn & Co. for "Bookeeping books for H.S." The Chicago Apparatus Co. was paid $64.10 for "high school equipment," The treasurer's record from the 1925-26 school year reflects purchases made for high school curriculum. The last entry shows payment to Jim Parker, father of Pauline High alumnus Glen Parker. which may have been relative to chemistry studies. Later in the decade the treasurer's record shows $5.87 and $33.77 being paid out respectively to Stein & Co. and Schaar & Co. "for books for HS" during the 1927-28 year. In the following year of 1928-29, William Grogan, local agent of Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad, was paid "freight and express" for school supplies a number of times, the amount ranging from $.67 to $4.02. In addition, unspecified school supplies were frequently purchased from Pauline's Deines Drug Co.

During the 1921-22 school year, records show 70 volumes in the high school library, valued at $60.00. In a yearend report for the 1923-24 school year, instructor V.B. Arnold lists the general condition of library books as poor.

The wood frame building included five square yards of blackboard, while the new building provided 40 square yards of blackboard to aid in the learning process, according to yearend teacher reports.

Lest one conclude that learning was entirely of a serious nature, the 1924-25 record also shows payment of $.23 for victrola needles and $2.00 for "one Hotshot bat for high school".

Still, lamented the late Glen Parker in a 1998 letter, "District #8 never really flourished as a full-blooded high school, and never really graduated very many classes . . . The saddest thing of all was – anyone graduating from PHS could not go to college unless they went to another high school one semester. Pauline was never a fully accredited high school. Many of the students in my time came to Pauline High . . . then went to Hastings or Glenvil for the 11th and 12th."

 

The Principal . . . Not Always Your Pal

"I remember a beating I got with a broomstick in the hands of Prof. Wagner for kicking one of my enemies down the basement steps and jumping up and down on him at the bottom. Surprised I still don't have the bruises from that punishment. The boy I jumped on died only a few months ago, but not from my jumping up and down on him." –Glen Parker, February 18, 1998 letter

Glen Parker as a young man. Photo is courtesy of Mr. Parker's niece, the late Louise Kelso Schwartz."The school principle (sic) was usually the high school teacher – usually a man but not always, as I recall Esther Kanyon was the first one in my time, then Vernon Arnold (The House of Hohenzollern)*, then Mr. Martin, then and last for me was Mr. Hogaboom. The last one I can remember was Orin Finch. I believe his wife was one of the teachers . . .
"Oh yes – I forgot one of the principles(sic) of the school. He fit into place between Vernon Arnold and Mr. Martin. He was Mr. Wagoner. Referred to by many of the students as Ichabod Crane because of his dome top, large Roman nose and Andy Gump chin. How I could have ever forgot him is a mystery, after the beating he gave me at the head of the basement steps with the broomstick. I hurt for days, but lived in fear of my parents finding out, and I would get a worse horsewhipping from my dad. I'm glad this all seems funny to me now."

–Glen Parker, March 25, 1998 letter

*Editor's note: The House of Hohenzollern was Mr. Arnold's favorite subject, according to Glen Parker.

Extracurricular

Sports

"Sports in the '20s and '30s weren't as impressive as they are in the schools today. We had basketball and baseball. Every game was played in the open. Basketball was from September until snow time. Baseball came on from spring thaw until school
was out in May. I hadn't at that time even heard of football. We played other schools – Ayr, Roseland, Holstein and Spring Ranch. By the time we played each one and a return game, the season was over. I never heard of such a thing as 'Championship' at that time. They cut the girls short, too, for all they could do was be cheerleader.

– Glen Parker, February 1998 letter

The treasurer's record reflects a sports-related expense of $3.50 - the purchase of a basketball goal for teacher Marie Gartner's room. Note also the purchase of a pint of paste for 75 cents; and corn cobs, which would be used to fire the coal-powered furnace. Indeed, the treasurer's record supports Mr. Parker's recollection, with basketball seemingly a priority at Pauline School. In March of 1924, McGrath Hardware Co. of Pauline was paid $8.90 for "B.B supplies". The following year teacher Harold Heeren was paid $9.45 for "basket ball and manual training."  In March of 1926, J.H. McGrath & Co. was paid $2.75 for "Ball Bat & Ball." Later that year teacher Marie Gartner was paid $7.50 for "Basket Ball"; on Jan. 22, 1927, local blacksmith William Pavelka was paid $3.50 for a basketball goal for teacher Marie Gartner's room; and on Jan. 29, 1927, McGrath Hardware Co. was paid $10.50 "for basketball H.S."

Music

Although no other information is known about the school having an organ, records show that in March of 1921, a Henry Eihusen was paid "$10.00 for organ". Teacher V.B. Arnold was reimbursed $2.95 for victrola repair in 1923; and in the 1924-25 school year he was paid $.23 for victrola needles. June 11, 1925, Gaston Music Co. of Hastings was paid $60.00 for "First payment for piano," and again on December 16, 1925, for "last payment on piano." For most of the decades of operation the school had two upright pianos, one on the first floor of the north room and a second in the basement near the northwest corner of the stage, where plays and programs were held. However, the basement piano was not playable by the 1960s.

Music contests and girls' chorus were important traditions during the 1930s and '40s. Record books do not disclose other musical activity during the 1920s. This remains an item of interest to be discovered by delving into old newspapers.  Drama also played a role, as evidenced by news items of yesteryear:

"High school pupils are practicing on a play which will be given at a contest in Juniata the latter part of this month." -"PAULINE," The Hastings Democrat, March 1928

"The High school pupils enjoyed a holiday Friday and attended the dramatic contest held in Juniata Friday." -"PAULINE," The Hastings Democrat, March 1928

School Programs

School programs – both PTA and student-led, were important sources of community entertainment during those pre-television days. Most were held in the basement of the new school, which featured a stage with walkways around three sides of the perimeter. Plays, speeches and musical numbers were presented to an appreciate community audience. On Jan. 2, 1926, the treasurer's record shows a $28.00 receipt for "school entertainment program." Later that same year, on June 12, the treasurer's record shows a receipt of $32.05, "money from Oct. entertainment." A luncheon, furnished by the mothers, typically followed the program.

This outline of flag protocol, contained in a treasurer's record book dating to the 1920s, came also with the suggestion that, "As far as practicable, the above named days shall be observed in the respective schools of the state by appropriate exercises and instruction of the character especially suitable for the respective occasions."

Pauline High Enrollment Facts and Figures

Records point to the likelihood of there being no high school grades at Pauline during the 1920-21 academic year, with tuition payments made to Ayr and Fairfield districts. But the coming year of 1921-22 had a high school enrollment of 14 – seven male and seven female students. This included one sophomore and 13 freshmen. Alumnus Glen Parker's earlier observations about secondary education not always being a priority ("The Way We Were – High School in the '20s") are borne out in the heavy absences which were recorded. While enrollment was Shown is a term summary for the 1922-23 school year. 14, average daily attendance was between six and seven students. An interesting backdrop to these numbers is a statement in the director's record of July 1921, noting that the census of children in the district between 5 and 21 years of age was 54. No graduates were listed for the year.

Thirteen students were enrolled for the 1922-23 school year, including seven girls and six boys ranging from 14 to 17 years of age; a term summary shows there were seven freshmen and six sophomores. However, the year ended with an enrollment of five boys and five girls. While a high school education was not always considered a priority in those years, the concept, as Parker had noted, was certainly catching on. The 1922-23 director's record shows that $498.00 in tuition payments was received from several neighboring districts: numbers 4 (Kingston), 7 (Union), 20 (Antioch), 26 (Little Blue), and 77 (Roseland Township). No graduates were listed for the year.

Thirteen students were enrolled for the 1923-24 school year, including 8 males and 5 females.  These included 10 ninth-graders and three 10th-graders. There were no graduates. The 1923 director's record shows that high school tuition was approved for Bessie Smagard, Walter Reiber, Louie Reiber, Delmar Brown and James McCleery.

The director's record further shows that free high school tuition in the amount of $216.00 was approved for two unnamed students at the June 9, 1924 meeting.

Missing Records

A portion of the Pauline School treasurer's record from the 1924-25 school year is shown. Near the bottom are entries for high school tuition payments received from several area rural districts. Included in the named students are Sarah Goding, Edna Osgood and Art Post. Sarah Goding and Art Post would eventually marry. Edna Osgood and Sarah Goding were close friends who would later return to the school as teachers. There is a gap in high school enrollment records from this point until the 1929-30 school year.  However, we know that high school continued during these "missing years", as the treasurer's record reflects purchases made for manual training, French and "Bookeeping(sic) books for H.S." (1925-26). The presence of three teachers on the payroll throughout the 1920s points to a high school teacher being on staff. A practical high school record for District 8 on file at the Adams County Historical Society indicates students in the ninth and 10th grades during the latter half of the 1920s.  In addition, Mrs. Harvey Jones, reporting on the May, 1930 graduation class in the "Pauline Items" of the Hastings Democrat newspaper, made note of the fact that graduate Lena Krull had attended all 12 grades at Pauline, which would mean there would have been high school coursework offered through the latter half of the 1920s.

At the district's June, 1929 annual meeting a proposal to add grades 11 and 12 to the high school passed with 39 votes. As the decade came to a close the school boasted 31 high schoolers between the ages of 13 and 18. This included 18 boys and 13 girls - 10 freshmen, six sophomores, 12 juniors and three seniors, according to The Combination and Daily Classification Record at the Adams County Historical Society.

While District 8 was not destined for longevity as a full-fledged high school, the upcoming decade witnessed a rush of activity, as evidenced by a number of newspaper articles and memorabilia surviving from the 1930s. Certainly, valiant efforts were made to get the fledgling four-year high school off the ground and to offer students a variety of extracurricular experiences. One can only stand in admiration of those long-ago educators and community members who gave their utmost toward this end.

Teachers, Janitors and Their Monthly Salaries

1920-21: Anna Keebler, $115.00; Lillian Muir, $100.00; Mrs. Moore, $20.00 for janitorial services; During October, Anna Keebler was paid $20.00 for janitorial services, rather than Mrs. Moore.

1921-22: Lillian Muir, $105.00; Anna Keebler, $120.00; Martha Kenyon (high school), $150.00. Mrs. Moore was paid $15.00 for janitorial work.A contract for teacher Lillian Muir, dating to the 1921-22 school year.

1922-23: Anna M. Keebler, $120.00; Lillian Muir, $110.00; Martha (Mrs. Archie) Murrish, $150.00. In January of 1923, Vern Rauch (high school) apparently replaced Mrs. Murrish. His monthly salary was $130.00. 

1923-24: V.B. Arnold (high school), $130.00; Anna M. Keebler, $105.00; Mrs. Beitler, $95.00. Mrs. Moore, janitor, $15.00.

1924-25: V.B. Arnold, $135.00; Herald Heeren, $95.00; Anna M. Keebler, $105.00; Mrs. Moore, janitor, $15.00.

1925-26 - Harold Heeren, $95.00; Lucille Richmond, $85.00 Catherine Bossard, $115.00; Jim Parker, janitor, $13.65.

1926-27 - Catherine Bossard Woods, $125.00; Marie Gartner, $95.00; Lucille Richmond, $95.00.

1927-28 – Marie Gartner, $100.00; Lucille Richmond, $100.00; M.J. Emry, $125.00.

1928-29 – W.A. Wagner, $135.00 for teaching and $15.00 for janitorial services; Helen Van Gilder, $100.00, Velma Ford, $80.00

1929-30 – A.L. Martin, $135.00; Wilma Rutherford, $90.00, Leona Holcomb, $90.00; M. Farrell, $90.00; C.L. Swigart was paid $17.50 a month for janitorial services.

Testing the Teachers

"County teachers' examinations will be conducted by the county superintendent, Mrs. Martha Schultz, Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26. Fridays' examinations will be in the office of the superintendent in the court house and Saturday's at the Senior High. The following subjects will be given on Friday forenoon: Algebra, civics, arithmetic, penmanship; afternoon, botany, agriculture, orthography, drawing, reading. Saturday forenoon, geometry, theory and art, grammar, physiology, English composition; Saturday afternoon, music, geography, mental arithmetic, history and bookkeeping." – "News in Brief", Hastings Daily Tribune, May 22, 1923

School Board Members And Their Annual Salaries

1920-21 – The June 14, 1920 annual meeting minutes of show that William Moss was elected director; John Krull, moderator. However, the treasurer's record at the end of the fiscal year shows a salary of $15.00 paid to John K. Evans, which included labor; William Moss's name does not appear in the record. Otto McDonald, was treasurer, $20.00, which included "labor putting seats"; John Krull, moderator, $25.00, which included "cleaning up boards putting stove sash".

1921-22 – John Krull, director, $20.00; John K. Evans, moderator, $10.00; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00.

1922-23 – Clarence Bauder, moderator, $10.00; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00; John Krull, director, $20.00.

1923-24 – C. W. Bauder, moderator, $10.00; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00; John Krull, director, $20.00.

1924-25 – John Krull, director, $20.00; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00; C.W. Bauder, moderator, $10.00.

1925-26 – John Krull, director, $20.00; C.W. Bauder, moderator, $10.00; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00.

1926-27 – C.W. Bauder, moderator, $10.00; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00; Arthur Simes, director, $20.00.

1927-28 – C.W. Bauder, moderator; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00; William Moss, director, $20.00;

1928-29 - William Moss, director, $20.00; Otto McDonald, treasurer, $15.00; CW Bauder, moderator, $10.00. McDonald's resignation was read and accepted at the June 10, 1929 annual meeting.

1929-30 – C. Bauder, moderator, $10.00; C.L. Swigart, treasurer, $15.00; W.H. Moss, director, $25.00.