The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 33

The Sallna Journal Great Plains Sunday, September 10,1989 33 Dickinson County's historical high school Chapman High marks 100 years By SHARON MONTAGUE Staff Writer CHAPMAN Even as a student, former Astronaut Joe Engle was proud of his high school. "I was very proud of it then," he said, "and when I went off to college I wasn't afraid to brag about it. I still am proud of it today." His alma mater Chapman High School is celebrating 100 years of educating students throughout Dickinson County and the centennial of its establishment as the first countywide high school in the nation. Engle, probably the school's most famous graduate, was a member of the Class of 1950. He now is Air National Guard Assistant to the Commander of U.S.

Space Command and lives in Houston, Texas. i Engle said he was proud of the school and had a deep respect for the faculty. His father, the late Abner Engle, taught vocational agriculture at the school. "I remember being very proud of my dad as a teacher, because of the reputation of the school," he said. The faculty was known for trying to help students, he said, and had a good rapport with the students.

Chapman High School drew from a large area of Dickinson and Geary counties, with both city students and rural students coming together to learn, he said. 1 "Kids came from a long ways in all directions," Engle said, "and it made things interesting. There were different people from all walks of life." The Chapman School District now encompasses a 576-square-mile area which includes most of Dickinson County except Abilene and Herington and parts of Geary County. But in its beginnings, what was established in 1889 as Dickinson County High School drew students from the rural areas throughout Dickinson County, from Manchester on the north to Elmo on the south. The school was the first of its kind in the nation.

It was made possible by an 1886 act of the Kansas legislature that allowed counties with populations of or more to open county high schools. Forrest Flippo, a librarian at Chapman High School who researched the history of the school, said there were high schools in Abilene and other county towns at time, but the rural residents of the county were isolated and had no way to get to the city schools. "The town kids had an opportunity to go on to high school for the most part," Flippo said, "but in Dickinson County at least, the country kids didn't have that opportunity. They were too remote, and they were too far from the city schools." Most children, like Flippo's grandmother, attended the district schools through eighth grade, he said, then dropped out. And not having attended high school, they couldn't just leap into college, he said.

"This gave people like my grandmother a chance to go to college," Flippo said. Flippo himself graduated from the Chapman school in 1947. According to historical accounts, the county high school was located in Chapman instead of Abilene, the county seat, for political reasons. As the stories go, the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads were building near Dickinson County at the time, and Abilene was fighting to have the railroad cipme through town. Abilene officials said they'd support Chapman's bid to build a county high school if Chapman supported Abilene on the railroad issue.

county voters approved of the idea, about was spent to contract the two-story building in tihapman that housed the high school. It was finished in ujhie for 137 students to begin classes in September ite9. school had three terms each year at the begin-, njng, records show, and no tuition was charged to county residents. Book rental was less than $5 per term iij; the early years. i-Students at the high school chose from three courses of study: a general course for those not planning to attend college; a Normal course to prepare students to teach in the area's one-room school houses; and a college preparatory course.

course work originally consisted of only three Flippo said, but eventually was expanded to four Because the school drew its students from the far reaches of the county, rural students often had to board in the city during the week in order to attend school. June DeWeese, journalism teacher at Chapman who has compiled an account of the school's history, said students could find rooms in private homes for $1.50 to j.50 a week, with some of the homes providing meals and others not. Though busing began in 1933, many students to board in the city throughout the 1930s. Hassler, a 1939 Chapman graduate who served as a state representative for 10 years and now stjrves on the Dickinson County Commission, said she bbjarded in Chapman her last year in high school. fine lived about 25 miles from Chapman and rode the bijs one hour each way to school her first three years, she said, but decided to move to town becasue she was competing in music contests and was in training for her teaching certificate.

were a bunch of kids who as we cabled it," she said. "You were able to be much more a pajt of the social scene." ghe said students who lived in the rural areas had to rtye the bus home right after school and weren't able to gqt back to town for football games and other activities. As a boarder, Hassler said she lived on the second -y of a Chapman home. The family she lived with n't provide meals, so she snared a refrigerator with girl who lived in the home and cooked on a hot ftte. and pork and beans were quite popular," shf said.

"Once in a while, we threw a weenie in the pork and beans." Hassler said she got a good education from the high school. vi've always attributed my ability to think analytically to my high school geometry teacher," she said. Hassler said the school also offered a "marvelous" program. Music was emphasized from the school's beginnings, See Chapman, Page 34) Chapman High School's first graduating class consisted of 20 students. Photo by Harris Mary Ann Saulmon gives senior Kyle Kickhaefer a piano lesson.

The private lessons cost students $10 per semester. ilo courtny of Chopnwn High School This photo, taken in about 1962, shows the many buses it takes to Chapman's students. Today, 79 percent of the high school students ride buses. Chapman High School, established in 1889, was the nation's first countywide high school. The original limestone building has been replaced.

All-school production planned to celebrate 100th anniversary CHAPMAN A special all-school production has been planned for Nov. 17 and 18 at Chapman High School to commemorate the school's 100th anniversary. The- school, originally called Dickinson County High School, was established in 1889 as the first countywide high school in the United States. Though there were high schools in some towns in the county, the Chapman school drew students from all rural parts of the county and was supported by a countywide tax levy. Lisa Divel, speech and drama instructor, said students had been working for about 1V4 years to put together the production.

The program will depict events which occurred in the school, the county, the state and the nation during each of the decades of the school's existence. "We're doing each of the decades individually, emphasizing the most important thing that was going on in the decade," Divel said. Students will use 16mm movies, sUdes, drawings, music, dances and dialogue to 'depict everything from the founding of the school to the crop failures and dust bowl days of the 1930s to the eras of silent movies and radio shows. Divel said she surveyed students and found that about 100 had parents who had graduated from the high school, so as a finale, those parents will be invited on stage with their children. A birthday party will be held after each performance, and birthday cake will be served.

Members of the Chapman'High School journalism class have written a magazine detailing the history of the county high school, from what it was like for student boarders to what courses students took. Judy DeWeese, journalism instructor, said copies of the first edition, titled "Early Days," can be ordered by calling the high school. The second edition, which will feature personal accounts from graduates and former teachers and administrators, should be available in the spring of 1990. Kansas' first astronaut, Joe Engle, graduated from Chapman High School in 1950..