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Minersville
Two reference sources agree that the first public schools in Minersville were taught "in or about 1837" by Chester Stratton and his sister Eunice in a building on South St., a building purchased some fiver years later by th English Baptist congregation. A Mr. Tomlins "is said to have taught" in a building on the northeast corner of Fifth adn Sunbury Sts. Another source says that the first school house erected after the division (from the two townships) was a four-room stone building but gives no location.
The Minersville Borough Schools became an independent district on March 7, 1843. Previously, the town schools had been part of the unit under the jurisdiction of Branch and Norwegian Townships. In September of that year the pupil enrollment in the new district was 119. According to one source, a high school was established "as a grade" in 1853-54 and by 1870 a total of 348 pupils (157 males - 191 females) had graduated. A study made at the time reported that 40 of these graduates had earned a State Teaching Certificate; 65 had become bookkeepers, storekeepers, and managers; adn 9 had become "professional men". Another source mentions that the first high school was established in 1882 and that the first class of graduates had 5 members. This 1882 institution was probably the first four-year, state-recognized high school in the Borough. The Middle Nineteenth Century high school curriculum as made up of "natural sciences, a full course in English, mathmematics including mental arithmetic, bookkeeping and German." Ability in mental arithmetic (or "Rapid Communication") was much admired. The first superintendent of Minersville Public Schools, Jonathan Krewson, who was appointed in September, 1853, is said to have made his rounds on horseback. A framed set of rules for teachers, almost monastic in tone, is still preserved. Under Mr. Krewson's direction, the borough's schools were graded for the first time. This first chief administrator went on to become County Superintendent of Schools and was succeeded by J.W. Dannehower, M.D. (Sept 1854). The Third St. Building, which still stands and which has been turned over to the Borough Council, now houses the Minersville Public Library, lately renovated and redecorated. The three-story brick building, erected in 1856, was first occupied in September of that year. It was widely regarded at the time as a model school house. The building still contains (but does not use!) the original cylindrical, jacketed, room-stoves. A "Special School" for working boys whose attendance was "necessarily short and irregular" was opened in 1857-58, and, it is recorded, "continued with great advantage especially during the winter season." This educational expirement was taught by Mr. Levi King and is mentioned as "an ungraded school" - an idea whose time has returned over a century later. When the Second St. Building, erected in 1868, was razed almost a century later the legendary "town clock" and its bell were rescued from the salvage company by being purchased by W. Pryce Parker, the then president of the School Board. The hand-made clock-works and the bell were stored in the basement of the Fouth St. Building. The bell's meltow, on-the-hour strokes had been familiar to generations of Minersvillians. "Institute", a term to become familiar to all teachers, pupils and parents was, to start with a purely district affair and was first held, locally, in September of 1869. It met, incredibly enough, on alternate Saturdays!. This frequency was later abridged and various townships and boroughs consolidated their meetings into a single two or three day County Institute which was finally held only once a year. In the 1960's the County Institute was discountinued and district organized in service days were substituted. Like many other educational ideas, the Institute had thus come full circle. Drawing was taught in all graded as early as 1880. As for music, teachers in the elementary and primary grades were expected to have musical abiilty, enough, at least, to play the organ. Horseback riding and carriage driving were skills not regarded as being in the school's province. According to blue prints, the oldest section of the Fourth Street Building was constructed in 1895, and for years a section of the building served as the high school. Graduation ceremonies, however, were usually held in Mountaineer Hall and were under the direction of the then superintendent, Mr. H. H. Spayd. Mr. Spayd was followed in office by Mr. Wilbur M. Yeingst who served the post until 1915. During his tenure the high school building on Fifth Street was constructed (1910). In the beginning years of the new building the principalship of the high school division was in the competent hands of Miss Kate Richards. The Grammar School chief was the devoted Mr. D. H. Chirst. The annex, the south half of the present building, was added during the term of Mr. Charles Roudabush, in the 1931-32 school year. It contained the first auditorium, gymnasium, home economics room, and science suite. At the beginning of this century, out of town pupils of the High School arrived by train! The 1915 Eleusinia, the first such annual, says that "football as a sport has been recognized in the High School only during the past three years". What is was before it was a sport is difficult to surmise. At the outset such teams were reputedly player coached and played opposing teams of much larger communities. Much later, after coaches had been on the scene for some time, one M.H.S. team played Atlantic CIty, and another still later, Allentown! Games were played in "The Park", the Minersville Ball Park, a facility which teams shared with the Pottsville Maroons, an NFL aggregation of some note. The park, after many vicissitudes, became a shopping center. Mr. Charles E. Roudabush, who became superintendent in 1915 and served until his deathin 1942 was interested in bringing cultural contributions such as Chautauqua, Lyceum series, plays, lectures, and concerts to the community as well as to the student body. Dr. Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University delivered his famous lecture, "Acres of Diamonds", in the old study hall. The composition and publication of the yearbook was directed by Miss Jean Wiest from 1944 to and including 1969. Eleusinia, as the name for the yearbook, was selected from a number of offerings in 1915 and was the entry submitted by Miss Matilda Maurer (later Mrs. W. Pryce Parker). The name derived from teh Eleusinian Mysteries, a festival held in Ancient Greece at the town of Eleusis. In 1922 the Minersville High School was granted a charter by the National Honor Society and thus became one of the early members of that organization. The official School Song, "The White and Blue", with words by Andrew Case ('18) and music by Harold Frantz ('17) and Verna Frantz ('23), appeared in the yearbook for the first time in 1925. The new high school also stands "on a hill 'neath azure mountain skies", the same hill, in fact, but at a considerably higher level. During the swollen enrollment period of the nineteen twenties, a wooden structure to be regarded as a "temporary building" was built (opposite the old high school on Fifth Street) in 1926. This "temporary" structure, with its eight large classrooms and athletic locker rooms in the cellar lasted until 1973 when it was demolished. The site became the location of the new Team Utilty Building in 1974. Although there were informal band groups (notably a comic band led by Clem Alexis) that played at early football games, the first organized school band was that led by Mr. Anthony Tremetiere in 1930. The Minersville Flag Salute Case, famous in educational and legal textbooks, was carried to the United States Supreme Court by Board Solicitor John B. McGurl, Esq,. in 1940, and a decision favorable to the District was rendered. Three years later, the Court, in a similar case, reversed its first decision. Dr. Thomas J. McGurf had a lengthy term as Board President (1938-1950), as did Mr. Clarence Ford (1950-59). The latter was the fist Joint Board President when the Minersville-Branch Jointure came into being in the summer of 1958. In 1960 Reilly Township became the third member of the Joint School District during the presidency of Dr. Joseph Paulosky. Mr. Paul Elberti became football coach in 1928 adn continued in the position for thirteen years. He subsequently became a school board member and had a lenghty term as secretary. Four members of the faculty served in the armed forces of World War II: Mr. James Boran, Mr. John Duffy, Mr. Jerome Purcell, Mr. Henry Zale. Three members of the Brady family have served with distinction in administrative posts in the District. Mr. Edward A. Brady was principal of the high school from 1929 to 1941 and was superintendent from 1941 to 1953. Through his leadership and enthusiasm, the first steps toward jointure were made junior high status was achieved for 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, and the District was firmly guided through the difficulties and shortages of the wartime years. Miss Gertrude Brady was the first and long time principal of the Junior High Building, and Mr. Michael Brady, who became principal of the Junior -Senior High School in 1962, was elected to the superintendency in 1974 and is the effective incumbent. Dr. Harry Weast was superintendent from 1953 to 1962. He instituted the first cafeteria service in the District, added a guidance director to the school staff, and administered and solidified the Jointure. He went on to become a professor of education at Cedar Crest College. Dr Weast was followed as superintendent by William J. Murphy in 1962. Mr. Harrison Kear led the Board as president during the 'teens and twenties and was succeeded in the 1923-24 term by Mr. George Oerther was was followed in the office by Mr. George Beatty. In 1931, Mr. David Jones became president and in 1937 he was succeeded by Dr. A.E. Valibus who served during that school year. Dr Valibus is fondly remembered as the decades long team physician. Among the numerous office personnel, two secretaries to the administration have had extended careers in the post: Mrs. Alma Brennan (nee Rizzardi) and Mrs. Alice Williams (nee Jack). The first secretary mentioned in the records is Mrs. Esther Fenstermacher (nee Geier) in 1922. Miss Mary Glenwright held two posts for many years, as High School Treasurer and as Dean of Girls. At Miss Glenwright's retirement, Miss Aleitha Lord took up the treasurer's post and Miss Mary Murphy became Dean of Girls. After a ruinous Saturday morning fire on December 14, 1963, which destroyed all of the Branch Township Building save the gymnasium and the auditorium, the pupils of the fire ravaged building were transferred to the Junior High Building on Fifth Street and to the elementary school at Fourth Street. The kindergarten was housed in the basement of the Llewellyn Methodist Church. Within two years an energetic Branch Board had provided an attractive new structure in place of the former classrooms. During the last year of Jointure, Fred J. Weist, Esq. held the board presidency. The election of the Board of the reorganized district was held at a dramatic open meeting in the high school auditorium. The 1930 football team was the first to play on the ground which, in 1935, became the stadium, and night football inagurated by Faculty Manager Thomas Condron, was first played in that year. Much of the work (including the picturesque stone walls around the old high school and the Third Street building) was done as a project of the Public Works Administration. A father and son have been Board presidents during crucial and time consuming periods of stress, Mr. W. Pryce Parker began his term in 1959-60 and served in the office until 1965. Mr. Frank Parker, his son, the current president, has served since the 1968-69 term. Athletics for girls, a program for enjoying a new season of emphasis in the last few years, was an accepted thing back in the teens and twenties when M.H.S. girls basketball teams played full seasons of intersholastic competition. Some of the early home games were held in Union Hall. The present Minersville Area School District is made up of Branch Township, Cass Township, Foster Township, Minersville Borough, and Reilly Township, and became a new district on July 1, 1966, as mandated by Act 299. Branch Township, Minersville Borough and Reilly Township had been in a jointure prior to that date. In the new district, Mr. William Murphy remained superintendent, Mr. Joseph Campion became an Administrative Assistant, Mr. Al Callaghan became the first Elementary Supervisor, and Mr. Michael J. Brady continued as the high school principal. The reorganized board's first officers were:
The wooden bleachers on the east side of the stadium, long a matter of discussion, were torn down in 1975. They had endured for close to four decades. They were replaced by new, open spaced, metal stands. The new high school was erected on its "Big Hill Site" under the aegis of the State Public School Building Authority at a cost of $3.6 million. Ground breaking occurred on February 2, 1970 and the facility was first occupied on April 17, 1972. Dedication took place on October 29, 1972. The following District Personnel were mentioned on the dedicatory plaque:
The present administrative staff (1976) was made up of Mr. Michael J. Brady as Superintendent, Mr. Durbin Wagner as High School Principal, Mr. Paul Lohin as intern Principal, and Jerome Purcell as Elementary Supervisor. The School Board was constituted as follows: Mr. Frank Parker, President; Mr. John Sorokach, Vice-President; Mr. Harold Campion, Secretary; and Mr. Robert Doyle, Treasurer; Mr David Bell, Mr. Edward Brennan, Mr. Vernon Brennan, Mr. Paul Direnzo, and Mrs. Claire Murphy. Among others, the following have also served (or are serving) as building principals:
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