120 YEARS OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Oak Ridge High School seniors Jason Glueck and Mary McLance have been Oak Ridege students since the start of their school years. They are members of the school's 23 member class of 1995.

Sixth grade teacher Jo Ann Hahs is an alumna of Oak Ridge High School and has taught there for 29 years. One her desk is a doll representing Almarinda Minnie Steele, the first student to enroll at Oak ridge in 1874.

Oak Ridge superintendent Roger Tatum says the close-knit community support that paved the way for the opening of Oak Ridge High School 120 year ago remains as evident today as it was in the 1870s.

This year marks Oak Ridge High School's 120th year of existence as a continuously operating institution of secondary learning.

"From what I've seen in the seven years I've been here, the school is the focus of the community," said Tatum. "It makes it easier because parents are generally supportive of the school, the administration and the decisions of the board."

The school was opened in 1874 after Oak Ridge area citizens saw a need for an institution of higher learning and set to work to give students in the area's one room schoolhouses the opportunity to advance their education beyond the primary level, according to a short history prepared by Oak Ridge sixth grade teacher Jo Ann Hahs.

An alumna of Oak Ridge High School, Hahs has been teaching there for 29 years. She compiled much of her history from information inherited from her mother. Hahs' parents graduated from the school in 1931 while her grandfather was a member of the Oak Ridge class of 1900. She and her husband graduated from the school in 1958 and her two children graduated from Oak Ridge in 1980 and 1982.

Parts of the history were the result of interviews with former students and staff members associated with the school.

Hahs writes that the effort to start a secondary school at Oak Ridge began in the mid-1800s when Cape Girardeau County was home to nine public elementary schools. Five of those schools were in the Oak Ridge area.

"With the strong interest in education, it is not surprising that by the 1870s, the people of Oak Ridge and the surrounding area felt a strong need to continue their children's education," writes Hahs. "But to accomplish this, they were faced with the task of establishing an institution of secondary education themselves."

A group of 12 men, including landowners, local professionals, county officeholders and a newspaper editor took the lead and began laying the groundwork for the schools start.

Soon the men had a $600 tax on the ballot and the measure gained the approval of voters. An additional $2,000 was gained by "subscription," or contribution, from several local men. The money raised funded the construction of a two-story, four-roomed frame structure built on land donated by William Clippard.

Oak Ridge High School officially opened its doors on Nov. 4, 1874 with a total enrollment of 80 students, each of whom paid a daily tuition of 20 cents.

D.J. Stanly was hired at a salary of $100 a month to serve as the school's superintendent and, in addition to managing the school, Stanly taught 12 classes of 30 minutes each and tutored three students after school in the subjects of calculus and the writings of Virgil. He had one full-time assistant, a part-time assistant and four student helpers, all of whom taught classes.

By March of the following year, Oak Ridge's enrollment had risen 100 with all indications pointing to continued growth, according to Hahs' history.

During the 1921-22 school year, Oak Ridge High School became a four-year school. During previous years, only two years were offered but now the school offered 16 credits for graduation.

Steady and sustained growth at Oak Ridge prompted the school to construct a new building on the site of the older one in 1925. The school was funded in part by discounted labor provided by Oak Ridge area carpenters. The men constructed the building at an hourly rate of 30-cents, much less than their usual going rate of $1.25 per hour.

When that building burned in 1932, after being struck by lightning, members of the community again came to the district's aid and voted to approve a $15,000 bond issue to construct a new school building.

"This building, which used the same site as the previous buildings, was dedicated Sept. 5, 1932," writes Hahs. "In his dedicatory speech, Senator R.L. Dearmont credited the community's early citizens with being the instigators of the educational movement in Southeast Missouri.

In the ensuing years, the Oak Ridge district grew to include a number of primary schools through annexation and consolidation and eventually was reorganized in July of 1953.

Since that time, the school has undergone a number of changes, with many building additions. The first came in 1954, when the district constructed an additional classroom building and gymnasium. In 1959, a new elementary building was completed while a music room and industrial arts area were constructed in 1974. In 1985, Oak Ridge constructed a new cafeteria along with classroom space for math and social studies classrooms.

Community support, said Hahs, was the key to allowing the school to expand over the years.

"It's still true today," she said. "I think all you would have to do is go back and look at any school-related election we've had over the years -- with bond issues or other things -- and see that we've never had one defeated and, usually, they pass by wide margins.

"So the community support is still there," she added. "We couldn't have been a continuing school for 120 years had there not been community support."

Tatum agreed, citing area residents' sound defeat of the Hancock Amendment earlier this month. Many school administrators felt the measure would seriously affect the funding and level of service that school districts such as Oak Ridge could offer.

"On Amendment 7, of course, the schools wanted a 'no' vote on that," he said. "Statewide, Amendment 7 was defeated by a vote of 68 percent 'no' and 32 percent 'yes.' In the Oak Ridge area, Amendment 7 only got 27 percent 'yes' votes so we do get a lot of community support."

Just as the community is supportive, its high school is close-knit, say two members of Oak Ridge's 29-student senior class.

"It's a great experience to go to a school where your father, uncles and grandfather and cousins and both brothers went to school," said senior Mary McLain.

McLain said she never felt as though she missed out by going to a smaller school. In fact, she feels the Oak Ridge school gave her a better education and a closer relationship with her classmates and teachers.

"I think it's better because everyone has a better understanding of each other because the teachers know you and can help you one-on-one," said McLain, "and you get to know the students better because you grew up with them and I think you make better friends that way."

Senior Jason Glueck say that he, too, gained from the closer environment offered in a rural area.

"I think I gained from it," he said. "I learned a lot of discipline from playing sports that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to play at a bigger school.

"I also got some better friendships with people," he said, noting that about 18 of the 23 members of the current senior class have been students in the Oak Ridge district since kindergarten.

"That helps because everybody can talk to each other pretty easily and we have a lot of friendships and they have lasted a long time."

Tatum feels that he has gained as much as his students from the rural school setting.

"It's been good from a superintendent's standpoint because in a small school you get to know all of the children, the parents and the grandparents," said Tatum. "It makes your job easier because the parents are generally supportive of the school, the administration and the decisions of the board."