Reliance school
1906-1995
Building torn down in 1985
Site rebuilt Feb. 2008
The
history of the Reliance school begins in 1906, a year after the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad reached Reliance from the east. School was held
in and a one-room schoolhouse was built.
School was continued in
this building until it was no longer big enough to give the students good
training and a new school became a must. A Miss O'Riley is recorded as the first
teacher in the Reliance School (1906-07). No record has been found to indicate
how many students attended that year.
By the fall of 1918, Reliance had four teachers and more pupils than the building could handle, so the grades 5-7 were taught in the rooms above the Farmers State Bank, rented by the school system. By January, 1919, a fourth teacher had been hired and the school building (by then) was now divided into three rooms for classes.
In June, temporary
officers were elected and two bond issues were voted on and carried. One was for
$15,000; the other for $25,000. Because of the governor's discouraging the
construction of any new building, the valuation of the property being too low
and the present war conditions, the construction was delayed for a month. The
contract was let for construction to begin July 1, 1919. The work started, then
the contractor fell down on the job and quit. The school board did the only
thing they could do...they took over the construction and with volunteers and
some hired men, the school was finished.
Miss L.O McDonald was
principal and Miss Pauline Entsminger, assistant. Mr. Stone was the janitor.
(How the students enjoyed sitting at the desks that had been polished with his
kerosene mop)
A petition was drawn up in April, 1919, for the construction of a new schoolhouse.
In the fall of 1919-20, an influenza epidemic went through the country and some school sessions were held at night to accommodate those who had missed schooling.
For the benefit of those who will, in years to come, read this history of the Reliance school system, it should be stated that the "new" two-story brick building in Reliance in 1920, came about because of the creation of an organization that worked diligently to see that Reliance had the "best high school in Lyman County". School board members were: A.B. Chattuck, president; W.V. Cullen, vice-president; H.O. Schoessler, clerk; Laurel Pease, treasurer; Fred Thietje, John DeGroot, and Frank Schindler.
Miss Louise O. McDonald spent two years working with the state to the get school certified an accredited four-year high school. The certificate was signed in June of 1921.
When the new school opened in 1920, it was with 31 students enrolled; three as seniors: Meta Kohler, Margaret Cullen and Hallis Alcott made up the first graduating class of Reliance High School (1921.)
Joann Byre, Dera and Delora Fields, Carol Lester, Helen Hamiel, Dorothy Reuer, Rita Hodgin, Rose Elaine Bukacek, Mary Bowar, Mary Lou Kistler and Peggy Murphy made up the girls basketball team in 1948; Dick Black and Florence Yarosh, coaches.
The
school's first year of football was during 1948-'49, with six games scheduled;
one was called due to the weather. Cheerleaders were: Dera Fields, Carol Lester,
Helen Hamiel, Mary Bowar and Delora Fields. Players were: Alan Hodgin, Earl
Christensen, Dave Mason, Ronald Neyt, Henry Schelle, Gene Mohr, Dick Black, Ed
Byre, Jim Jensen, Russell Black, Richard Graves, Donald Kistler and Roger
Fletcher. That year was also the year the RHS Student Board of Control was
formed.
Homecoming
royalty during the 1948-49 school year were Dick Black and Helen Hamiel, King
and Queen, and Helen Hamiel, Mary Bowar, Peggy Murphy and Delora Fields. Francis
Reuer and Mona Kay Murphy, crown bearers.
A large
gymnasium was built near the northeast corner of the school in 1949, where school
and community functions were held until the high school was closed. The Neugebauer family brought roller skating to the area to the delight of everyone
who dared to learn to skate. The American Legion now (1985) maintains the
building.
The
graduating class of 1954 consisted of Jean Byre, best athlete; Judy (Swanson)
Black, best posture; Keith Nissen, most likely to succeed; Gloria Tagtow,
cleverest; Vivien Hodgin, most flirtatious; Larry Schelle, most energetic;
Marlis Herron, healthiest, and Donald Wagaman. Russell Black and Judy Swanson
surprised everyone by eloping during the school year and this was also the year
the students learned that their noses were in the middle of the face because it
is the scenter.
Patty
Ann Recoy, Gloria, Corrine Cosgrove, Marlis, Jean, Judy, Vivien, Kathleen
Murphy, Frances Stallman, Joanne Erickson, Janice Monson, Helen Schelle, Donna
Hoffer and Marjo Fletcher made up the girls basketball team.
Players
on the boys basketball team in 1956 were: Francis Bukacek, James Murphy, Don
Schindler, Loren Schelle, Theron Hodgin and Ronald Frame, coached by Darrel
Cadwell.
New
additions to the Reliance Consolidated School in 1957 were: Randy Fletcher,
Russell Reed, Gerald Berg, Noel Hamiel, Jane Moulton, Dorothy White, Diane Berg,
John Murphy, Diane Bukacek, Kenneth Kercher, Stevie Fletcher, Avery Tagtow,
Edward Harvey, John Hansen, Joyce Hanig, Robert Muldoon, Charles Whitney, Judith
Kindopp, Judith Schelske, Susan Cullen and William Hunt; all first graders.
Louis
Cullen was the superintendent in 1957; Florence Anderson, principal, and Darrell
Cadwell, coach/teacher. Hank Sattler, Joe Muldoon, Roy Fletcher, Jim Bukacek and
Evert Fletcher made up the board of trustees. Marian Tagtow, Rosemary Card,
Curtis Berg, Ralph Schelske, Marilyn Wagaman and Darrell Herron sat on the
student council along with Supt. Cullen and council president, Larry Huntsman.
1959 found Alona Parkening, Barbara
Swanson, Karen Erickson, Jean Frame, Carol Whitney, Cassie Wagner, June
Cosgrove, Linda Cullen, Lorna Schelske, and Beth and Sharon DeWitt playing on
the girls basketball team.
We cannot
leave out Ancil Lester who served as the janitor and kept the old school bell
ringing at the Reliance school for 32 years. Mary Ann Rogers drove the school
bus 19 years. Nor should we omit Reliance's triplets: Sheila, Sharon and Ronnie
McManus who graduated with the class of 1963.
The staff
of RHS in 1969 consisted of Larry L. Winters, Supt., Don Faus, Principal and
teachers: Florence Anderson, Norman Olmstead, Keith McKay, Ralph Nauman, Dale
Price, Lois Warner, Music; Anna Mae Nissen, Grades 6,7,8; Evelyn Bingen, Grades
3,4,5; Bertha McManus, Reading; Neta Schelske, Grades 1 and 2. Sitting on the
school board were Supt. L. Winters, Dorothy Hall, Don Fletcher, Elmer Schelske,
Pete Erickson, Verle Peterson and R. Fletcher.
Reliance
High School classes were discontinued after the 1970-'71 school year. The
schools were consolidated and some of the high school students went to
Chamberlain, others to East Lyman and Kennebec. Grades 1 through 5 remained at
Reliance; attending school in the metal Industrial Arts Shop north of the
school.
Mike
Buffalo, Molly Butt, Peggy Cross, Nancy Fletcher, Anita Harvey, Tana Lucas,
Roger Michalek, K.C. Peters, Neil Peters, Wesley Schaefer, Nancy Schelske, Rick
Simpson, Leland Stewart and Barbara Wynia were the last graduating class from
Reliance (1971).
The
brick, two-story building was torn down in 1985. The school bell that Ancil
Lester rang so faithfully all his years at the school, was removed and can be
seen on top of the Reliance Fire Department building on Main Street. The long
fire escape that everyone who ever attended the school (and ran down during the
fire drills or just played on when they thought no one was looking) has been
moved to Chamberlain to the residence of Garry and Marlys (Cosgrove) Swanson,
graduates of RHS. Its usefulness goes on as it leads to the lower level of their
property.
Some of
the teachers at this school were Marla Patten, Bertha McManus, Lu Hammerbeck,
Jeff Tveit and Gladys Stewart. Assistants were Sonia Schelske, Connie Bukacek,
Mary Ann Rogers and RaeDean Hovey. Ever-present Loraine Suhl handled the
janitorial duties at the school until the school was closed for the first time
in its history, after the 1994-95 school term.
All
students, 1-12 now attend schools in Kennebec and Presho. The lot where the
school sat for 75 years remains vacant and the metal shop is silent. The
building is now being used for community events by the residents of Reliance.
The school (above) has been there as long as most of us can remember. Children running
outdoors at recess time; playing on the swings, teeter-totters and bars; all have
disappeared from the school grounds and a tennis court can be found on the east
half of the lot.
Article reprinted from Chamberlain-Oacoma Register, 1995