Wants Children's Playgrounds.

DESCRIPTION OF MEDFORD'S NEW HIGH SCHOOL
By E. H. Hedrick, Supt. of Schools

JUNIOR HIGH IS ENTIRELY A NEW TYPE OF SCHOOL

ENROLLMENT AT HIGH SCHOOL IS RECORD MAKER
With 580 Students Now, the New Year Will Find 650 Total Reached--150 Greater than Ever Before--Honor System Is Adopted.

SCHOOL CAFETERIA SUCCESSFUL AND SELF-SUSTAINING

    After an expenditure of $10,000 in addition and improvements, the Howard School in Berrydale will be an up-to-date educational institution. The present space is being doubled, and some conveniences are being installed that will be welcomed by instructors and students.
    The new addition is 66x37 feet in size and has been divided into two classrooms opening out into a long corridor on the west. Other innovations and additions are making the Howard School an attractive and commodious seat of learning.
    The brick portion will be kalsomined. New entrances are being made and the entire building is being completed with an artistic design to the end that the the $10,000 is being wisely spent. Gus Guddatt is the contractor in charge.
Medford Daily News, June 26, 1927, page 1


    On the highway adjoining Hollywood Orchard stands Oak Grove School, or District 69. This fine building is the pride of the district, as it is one of the most modern district school buildings in the county. It is an attractive structure finished in stucco, one story and full high basement (half above the ground), in which are an assembly hall and a kitchen. Improvements were recently completed on the school building involving an expenditure of $14,000. The officers for the past year, I was informed, [are] Mrs. George Andrews, Alva Brockway and Dr. G. B. Dean, C. A. Hiles, clerk. Mrs. Ruth Hood was principal, assisted by Mrs. Mabel Thornton and Miss Murl Coffeen. The Parent-Teachers' Association furnished a model kitchen in the basement, buying utensils, electric range, silverware and banquet tables, which were presented to the school. It is a grade school, graduating the pupils from the eighth grade. It is thought that another teacher may be needed next year and the rooms increased to four.
"Prosperous Ranches, Nice Homes Along the Jacksonville Highway," Medford Mail Tribune, July 9, 1927, page 3

Medford Mail Tribune, September 12, 1930, page 5

Medford Mail Tribune, November 13, 1930, page 9

Medford Mail Tribune, December 3, 1930, page 3

    Brick by brick the Washington School is disappearing under the hands of hurrying wreckers, whose work is only halted by rainstorms which howl about its lowering shell. Walls which cast a proud shadow over fields of foxtail and chaparral back in '96 are giving way to civilization. Jarred by the vibration of heavy traffic down Main and Oakdale, they take their place upon the ground, soon to be occupied by a new courthouse.
    On one jagged side the lower half of a group of letters remains to spell for a few more hours the title of the building to the public.
    The belfry is completely gone, and with it the echoes of "noise" Leon Haskins brought from his old bass horn. And the boards on which Wilson Wait sat to sound his trumpet as Medford's best-known citizens marched into school with pockets loaded with paper wads and nails.
    "There weren't any dirty cords [chords? words?] in school then," the former students stated this morning, "but there was some band."
    Wm. F. Isaacs played the baritone horn, and Wm. Warner played the snare drum. Saxophones had not invaded the student ranks, and there were no "Piccolo Petes" in the gang.
    The school building housed all grades from the first through high school, and the principal ruled all.
    The shoes of N. L. Narregan, one of the most frequently mentioned masters of the early days, will never be forgotten, especially by Clarence Meeker, he admitted yesterday.
    A short time before Mr. Narregan joined the staff a principal had been thrown from the windows of the building which preceded the Washington School, by student force. Mr. Narregan took the new job prepared to meet the offenders and continued to command their respect.
    He traveled from room to room for inspections, and all the "timid" boys feared the approach of his squeaky shoes, which sounded a warning. Then one day Mr. Narregan joined the rubber-heel fad, and his approach was not announced. That day holds a prominent place in Mr. Meeker's memory.
    Several similar events are recalled by Frank Isaacs, who says he got a licking every day and had it coming. He helped transport more than one cow to the belfry on Hallowe'en nights and contributed his share of paper wads to decorate the ceiling.
    Several worn spots in the official "blacksnake" of the school are also accredited to Shorty Miles.
    The jackrabbits which inhabited the neighboring chaparral bushes furnished the boys and girls much fun until the lot was cleared for a baseball diamond, several report. The wooden water tower, which stood where the city library is now located, also distracted many eyes from readin', writin' and 'rithmetic.
    Several teachers share first honors in memory with Professor Narregan, according to interviews with local business men. They are Della Pickel, Alba Galloway, Professor Gregory and Grace Hall, who is now superintendent of schools in Lake County.
    The list of fellow pupils, whose names are woven into various stories of the old days in the rapidly disappearing building, reads like a social and business directory of the city.
    Among those who watch the razing of the structure, crowded from its location by the progress of the business district, and recall first struggles with the multiplication tables, are John Wilkinson, James Stewart, Clara Wood, Ralph Woodford, Fred Strang, Virgil Strang, Mrs. J. H. Cochran, Miss Mae Phipps, Mrs. "Doc" Butler, Mrs. Volney Dixon, Mrs. Dade Terrett, Mrs. Hal Platt, Treve Lumsden, Vernon Vawter, Mrs. E. C. Gaddis, William Vawter, Mrs. Leon Haskins, Scott Davis, John Johnson, Mrs. Leon Howard, Mrs. C. A. Meeker, Mrs. George Kunzman, and hosts of other well-known people.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 17, 1931, page 3

    School days will soon be here again--Tuesday, September 8, elementary, junior high and senior high will open in Medford. And with the opening two new buildings will be occupied for the first time, the high school on South Oakdale and the new Washington School on South Peach. Two new classes rooms and an auditorium added to the Roosevelt building will also add interest to the new school setting.
    Tuesday morning pupils in grades one to six will register at 9 o'clock when they arrive at their respective buildings. Most of the incoming junior high school pupils are registered. Pupils who are new to the system or for some other reason not registered are asked to present themselves at the school Friday between the hours of 9 and 4. Tuesday morning they will receive assignment to classes, roll rooms, lockers and the like, when they meet with their counselors.
    Thursday and Friday have been named as registration days for high school pupils who have not already registered. They will be assigned to classes and full periods beginning Tuesday morning, September 8.
    A general teachers meeting for all Medford teachers will be held Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Following this teachers will meet with their respective principals in planning the year's work..
    Pupils who will be six years of age before six weeks after the opening of school, or before October 10, are accepted without question; younger pupils who will be six during the first semester may be accepted provided they show by test a mental age development of 6½ years. Parents of such children who desire to enter them should call Mrs. George B. Canode, phone 1573-L, who has charge of testing such pupils, between now and September 5th.
    The boundary lines of the wards served by the four elementary schools are as follows:
    The high school and junior high school each serves the whole city for the grades each represents.
    The four elementary schools house grades one to six. Roosevelt School serves all the territory on the east of the Pacific Highway. The Lincoln School serves that portion of the city west of the Pacific Highway and east of the S.P.R.R. tracks. The Jackson School serves the west and northwest part of the city lying west of the S.P.R.R. tracks and north of Main Street or Jacksonville Highway. The Washington School serves the southwest part of the city, or that territory lying west of the railroad tracks and south of Main Street.
    All pupils from the given districts are expected to report to their own respective schools for the opening day. Following registration, where it can be shown that individual parents or pupils will be better accommodated by attendance at some other school, a request for transfer may be filed with the school superintendent, but until a transfer can be, or is, effected a pupil must attend the school to which he is assigned.
    According to the board's order tuition for non-resident children is fixed the same as last year at $6.00 per month for elementary and junior high school pupils, payable in advance. For high school pupils, it is $10.00 per month. High school pupils living in a school district which does not support a high school have
their tuition paid by the county. Non-resident parents who are in arrears on tuition from last year must square the account before their children will be accepted into the Medford schools for this year. Non-resident parents who pay taxes in the Medford School District No. 49 will receive credit on their tuition bill to the amount of the school tax they pay.
    Some change is being planned in handling the education of crippled children. Heretofore teachers have gone to the homes, giving each child private instruction, which has enabled a teacher to meet only about four pupils a day. This means that two or three teachers have been required on either full or part-time basis. This year a room is being fitted up in the new Washington School to take care of these children, and parents of most of them have signified a willingness to transport them.
    According to Superintendent Hedrick there will be several advantages in this new plan, provided it can be carried out. In the first place it will be cheaper for the district. In the second place it will enable these children to have the companionship of other children. In the third place it will relieve mothers who have been tied down with the care of these children for two or three hours each day.
    Children who are not able to be transported will be taught in the homes just as before.
    The atypical and special children will be handled at the Washington School the same as last year.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 30, 1931, page 8

    Although a number of teachers in the Medford public schools are returning, several new names have been placed on the list, announced by Superintendent E. H. Hedrick. The following have been named for the various city schools:
    C. G. Smith, Ralph Bailey, Myrna Barrett, Eula Benson, Wilma Manley, D. K. Burgher, Maurine Carroll, Harriet Baldwin, H. F. Cope, Carin Degermark, Doris Baier, Geraldine Bliss, Fern Hartsook, Maurine Burgher, Glennie Early, E. M. Hussong, Elizabeth Jerome, Ruth Swanson, Josephine Kirtley, La Vera Moe, Leland Mentzer, Lora Mitchell, Gertrude Gates, Louise Hollenbeck, Marie Riddings, Josephine Smith, C. D. Thompson, Clita Walden, Arthur Schoeni, Wilson Wait, Wendell S. Stout, A. J. Hanby, E. M. Kirtley.
    B. R. Finch, principal, Gladys Benge, Luola Bengeton, Annette Gray, Virginia Wait, Ruth MacCollister, Gertrude Parker, Zoe Hubbs, Carol Ramsey, Walter Nitzel, Delie Whisenant, Marjorie Kelly, Marvel Bliss, Marguerite Hammond, H. W. Keesee, L. W. Marshall, Grace Sinema, Lillian Wise, Ruth Dickerson, Helen Winters, Winifred Andrews, Maybelle Church, Albert Fitch, Ray Henderson, Earle Brown, Ethel Scott, Margaret Arnold, Margaret Schuler, Grace Colborn.
    H. W. Gustin, principal, Marian Briggs, Carla Nerisen, Mildred Henderson, Ruth Stewart, Ivan Murray, Grace Reid, Yvonne Smith, Theone Taylor, Jeanne Laidley.
    Ora Cox, principal, Gladys Bond, Ora Tucker, Margaret Russell, Lucile Abbott, Aletha Gray, Leona Crane, Clare Gumelius, Freda Schneider, Ethel Chastain, Priscilla Webb.
    Sara Van Meter, principal, Anna B. Carter, Myra Russell, Ethel Willits, Mildred Aspinwall, Eleanor Curry, Flora Childers, Eldora Terwillegar, Nina Carlon, Aileen Maxwell, Ruth Shangle.
    J. C. Tucker, principal, Ruth Bolton, Helen Noyes, Lura Lynch, Louise Basford, Avis Anscheutz, Blanche Canode, Lysle Gregory, Beulah O'Neal, Annie M. Watkins (crippled children), Marian Beeson, Alice Cromar, Amy Harding, Gertrude Watzling.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 30, 1931, page 8

    It looks like ordinary Southern Oregon mud, but Miss Louise Hollenbeck, art instructor at Medford High School, says someday it will be the nose or the ear on a miniature head. The modeling of busts out of clay is one of the new features which will be taught to art students at the new high school this year because of the added facilities available.
    Included in the variety of things which the embryo artists will make will be wood blocks, linoleum cuts, lamp shades, book binding, and card and poster making.
    Besides the 20 new adjustable drawing desks with birdseye maple board on them, the art room in the new school has two copper-lined bins to mix up the clay for modeling, ample storage space for students' equipment, and wall boards for art displays as improvements over the equipment afforded in the old building.
    Art courses are taught with the idea of giving the student something he can use after he graduates. Beginning students start in with freehand lettering and work up to making signs and posters for school, community and commercial use downtown. At Christmas time they work out block prints for their own Yuletide cards and put in the winter months working out perspectives on still objects. Spring sees them out of doors sketching scenes. The class this year will finish up by studying color harmonies and may have training in bookbinding.
    Advanced art classes start in with creating their own designs in tiles, to be made later out of clay. Linoleum cuts, using buildings as their motifs, will be made during the year and printing of colors on cloths for hangings and pillow covers also introduced. Wood-block prints in two colors and making and painting parchment shades round out the work.
    The art department takes on a colorful air with its displays of student work and the young artists moving about the light, cheerful room in their artists' smocks. Miss Hollenbeck devotes her mornings to the art work at the high school and supervises art in other city schools in the afternoons. About 40 students are handled in the two art classes.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 6, 1931, page 3

    The days when girls' cooking classes in high school learned to fry an egg and turn out a pan of biscuits and call themselves finished cooks passed out of style along with the horse and buggy.
    A visitor who looks into the kitchens and cooking room of the new high school will find there a neat and orderly array of ovens, electric and gas stoves and mixing boards that would do justice to any college domestic science laboratory.
    When the new school was built, school officials demanded and got an equipment different from any other school in the state. It was built especially for use in the Medford school, and gives it one of the finest workrooms for cooking instruction in the state.
    Twelve individual electric plates, with 12 electric ovens to match, and gas stoves and refrigeration in the kitchen from the major equipment where the girls learn the tricks of getting up a meal.
    Punch and cookies made by the girls in the foods classes will be served all visitors at open house Friday.
    Girls taking the first year course in foods start in learning about table service and the food value of various foods. Cleanliness, sanitation and orderliness are stressed from the beginning. They learn to cook foods for breakfasts and serve them to each other in class. Following this, they are taught how to prepare lunches and suppers, the year being closed by a brief study of the girl's responsibility in the home and something on laundering.
    Mrs. Gertrude Gates, instructor, begins the second year foods class with canning fruits. Food so preserved is served to the high school students, who eat daily at the cafeteria operated in connection with the school kitchens. Several women of Medford have had special orders of canning put up by the girls in the classes.
    The next step is cooking a seven-course dinner and learning to prepare meats and vegetables. The girls get actual experience serving family style or formal dinners by acting as waitresses at banquets about the city. Budgeting the food expense and the study of balanced menus, hospitality and social etiquette conclude the second year work.
    Third year cooks prepare the foods for the cafeteria and practice cooking in large quantities.
    Besides cooking, Mrs. Gates also teaches a new course in practical house management this year. Students study the home and its development, budgeting expenses, correct clothing, foods, problems of education, travel, and savings. They also plan and furnish a model home. Child care and guidance, home care of the sick and how to feed invalids and children are other things which are presented the girls in the class.
    All foods courses are elective and the girls who enroll in them do so because they are interested in the work. All work is planned from the standpoint of practicability, and only things that will be useful to them in their after life are taught to them.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 7, 1931, page 4

    Any casual visitor walking down the corridors of Medford High School some morning or afternoon would imagine himself approaching a concert by Sousa's military band if he believed his ears.
    Martial airs, such as the Marseillaise or Yankee Doodle, float through the halls at all hours of the day as the students in the commercial department learn to typewrite. Mrs. E. C. Jerome, typing instructor, for years has taught rhythm to beginners on the keyboard by having them time their strokes in unison with the beats of the music.
    Slow pieces are used first and the tempo gradually stepped up as the typists improve. Visitors at open house this Friday will be treated to an exhibition of typing to music as one of the features of the entertainment for the evening, which lasts from 7 to 10 o'clock.
    Enrollment in the typewriting classes this year is the largest in the history of the school. Forty-one typewriters are kept busy from 8 o'clock in the morning until late after school has dismissed. More than 200 students are taking the beginning or advanced work. One special class of beginners, under Miss LaVere Moe, starts to work an hour before school takes up.
    Students in the second year group take up typing of business letters, carbon copies, envelope addressing, tabulating, stencil-cutting, billing and preparing legal papers, all practical work which will be of use to them if they enter the stenographic field. Each student is given the amount of work he is to cover each six weeks' period and is allowed to progress at his own rate under the "contract plan." Thus speedier students are not held back to the level with slower ones.
    Exhibits of typing, shorthand, and bookkeeping work done by the students will be on display Friday. Miss Lora Mitchell and Miss Moe, together with Mrs. Jerome, form the commercial department faculty.
    Students in the high school Commercial Club are planning to earn enough money this year so that they can rent calculating and bookkeeping machines for use in the bookkeeping classes. The school does not own any as yet. Members of the school chamber of commerce, which is being reorganized this year by Miss Moe, are planning to do mimeographing work for downtown business men, making a charge only large enough to meet the expense of doing the work.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 8, 1931, page 8


    The year 1931 witnessed the greatest school building program in the history of the city. A new high school, and new Washington grade school and an addition to the Roosevelt School were constructed. The city's population had doubled between 1920 and 1930. The existing schools were overflowing, and the school board was finding it necessary to rent outside rooms in two of the churches and in the armory. It was not merely a question of one school being overcrowded, as it had been on previous occasions in the city's history, but the schools were overflowing in all divisions, elementary, junior high and high school.
    In January, 1931 by a vote of about 12 to 1 the people passed a $265,000 bond issue and approved a building program of $325,000 by a vote, the balance to come from the sale of sites and the salvage of old buildings. Actual construction was begun about the first of March, and the buildings were completed and ready for occupancy by September first.
    Superintendent E. H. Hedrick recently stated, "The building program went through in record time and without a hitch. There is no doubt but that we were fortunate in getting caught with it just when we were during the depression. We not only got our buildings for at least $40,000 less than they could have been built three years ago, but a big sum of money was turned loose in the community just when it was needed. From 50 to 250 men were employed continuously from March 1st to September 1st. About 94 percent of all that was paid out for labor went to people living within the school district. All the materials used were purchased locally, insofar as possible, and all building contracts, with the exception of one--the electrical contract on the high school--were let to local contractors and tradesmen.
    "It is true it will raise taxes some, there is no way to avoid it, but by practicing the strictest economy possible the next few years they can be kept down considerably and that is just what the school board is determined to do. People should understand too, that no tax as a result of this building program will be paid by anyone until a year from next spring--1933. We believe that the depression will be a thing of the past before that time."
    The new high school is a two-story, reinforced concrete building of 30 rooms situated on South Oakdale. Exclusive of equipment, the building cost $191,207.74. The building is U-shaped and divides itself into three sections, auditorium, classroom and gymnasium. Provision has been made for cutting off each section from the others for purposes of convenience and economy of use.
    In the way of special features there are two large double laboratories for science work, with specially designed lecture, work and stock rooms. There are also a splendidly equipped cooking laboratory, a sewing laboratory, specially built music and art rooms, public speaking and journalism rooms, boys' gymnasium and girls' gymnasium. each with shower rooms and locker facilities.
    The building is steam heated by two large boilers, equipped with sawdust burners. Many of the more important rooms are equipped with Sturtevant unit heaters which provide both heating and forced ventilation. The other rooms and halls are equipped with radiators, most of which are thermal controlled.
    The entire building is connected up with the Graybar telephone system. It is also equipped with the International system of clocks, gongs, and bells controlled from a central master clock. Provisions have been made for the future installation of sight and sound equipment should it be desired, and loud speaker outlets are provided in every room.
    Study halls, library, laboratories, gymnasium and auditorium were built extra large with an eye to the future. This means that when Medford takes on another burst of growth as she did in the last 10 years that more classrooms can be added to the building as needed and without having to undergo another bond Issue.
    The Washington School, located on South Peach and Dakota streets, is a 15-room, two story, reinforced concrete building of the same general type as the high school, with a combined gymnasium, auditorium, library, office and other special room. It was erected at a cost of $64,568.67 and houses grades one to six of the southwest portion of the city. It, too, is designed so that additional classrooms can be added in the future, when needed.
    Both buildings are situated far enough from the business district and upon sites of sufficient size that they cannot be antiquated and crowded out in a few years' time as often happens with school buildings.
    An addition to the Roosevelt School was another part of the building program. It consists of a combined gymnasium-auditorium and two additional classrooms. Materials for this addition were very largely salvage from the old Washington School, which was wrecked by the district and used in the new construction.
    Frank C. Clark of Medford, associated with Knighten and Howell, Portland, was the architect who handled the plans for all buildings.
    On the high school the general contractor was R. I. Stuart and Sons, plumbing, Coffen Bros.; heating, A. Schmedli; sheet metal, Modern Plumbing and Sheet Metal Co.; electrical, Dimitrie Electrical Co.: hardware, Lamport's; mill work, Trowbridge Cabinet Works; building inspector, Harry D. Turner.
    On the Washington School the general contractor was Sig Ash; plumbing, heating and sheet metal, Modern Plumbing and Sheet Metal Co.; hardware, mill work, Trowbridge Cabinet Works; building inspector, W. H. Merritt.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 1, 1932, page 9


    The Medford Public School System consists of a high school (grades 10, 11, 12), of 29 teachers and 660 pupils under Principal C. G. Smith; a junior high school (grades 7, 8, 9), with 30 teachers and 700 pupils headed by Principal B. B. Finch. There are four elementary schools, each housing grades 1-6. The Jackson School under Principal H. W. Gustin and nine teachers has an enrollment of 310. The Lincoln School, Miss Ora Cox, principal, enrolls 300 with ten teachers. The Roosevelt School with Miss Sara Van Meter, principal, has 10 teachers and 342 pupils, while the Washington School in charge of Principal J. Clifton Tucker and 12 teachers enrolls 426 children. This school houses also the room for special children and the room for crippled children.
    Until the present year all crippled children have been taught in the homes by special teachers sent out by the school office as the law requires. This over a period of several years proved costly and none too satisfactory. As a result of an investigation conducted by the city school office, it was found that nearly all of the crippled children could be transported to a center and not only be given much better instructional advantage, but at less cost to the district. This is being done and with splendid results.
    A distinctive feature of Medford school organization is the plan of flexible homogeneous grouping of pupils in each subject of each grade, to the end that the work of the schools can be better fitted to individual needs and capacities of pupils. The scheme provides a three-track organization in each subject and grade with pupils traveling at three different rates and doing three different types and amounts of work. The plan was first introduced in the junior high school several years ago. Since that time most of the subjects in high school have been organized upon that basis, and the same is true of the elementary grades. The plan has operated to cut down failure in the schools by allowing pupils more time with a variation of the work in some subject or subjects they may find difficult. It also allows pupils to speed up in subjects they find easy for them.
    Another feature of the Medford school organization is the heavy emphasis put upon course of study construction. "A course of study for a subject," according to Supt. E. H. Hedrick, "is a teaching outline which makes clear the objectives to be attained, the things to be taught, and how and when, together with methods suggested for adapting the teaching to individual differences and a provision for measuring the results of the teaching. The course of study is simply the blueprints and specifications for the teaching job. The old-timer used to erect his cabin without any plans or specifications. He simply had a general notion of what he wanted and went to work. Eventually he got through. It didn't matter particularly what the end product was. There wasn't much money invested in it and no building standards to measure up to. Just so it WAS (and shall I say, too often still is) with teaching.
    "The old-time teacher had a textbook, but no course of study. She had no definite plans worked out in advance of just what she was to accomplish in her teaching and how she was to do it and when. As a result much of her work was purposeless and much of her effort and that of the pupils was lost. She taught over a certain number of pages in a text, but too often [neither] she nor anyone else ever knew just what she had done or not done, to improve a given pupil's silent or oral reading ability, for example, or his mastery of certain arithmetic skills, or his ability in penmanship." This condition is being done away with in Medford. Teachers must know what they are doing.
    The older plans for making courses of study was to have it done by the superintendent, supervisors or a small committee of teachers, but the new plan used by Supt. Hedrick in Medford is to make every teacher a participant in the work. Teachers are organized into committees and work under the leadership of the superintendent or some of his assistants.
    Course of study work done by Medford teachers in the past few years has attracted wide attention throughout the country, and scores of requests for copies of various courses are received every year from other school systems scattered over the United States. The present course of study in arithmetic adopted for use in the state of Oregon was written by Medford teachers. The high school English course of study, rated by Columbia University, New York, as one of the ten best in the United States, has been in the greatest demand, however.
   The Medford schools are in charge of a board of five men who are elected for three-year terms. Three of the members of the board have served for seven years or longer and only two changes in its personnel have been made in that time. The city, it is felt, has been very fortunate in the type of men it has been able to attract and hold in these positions. The board has seemingly enjoyed the fullest confidence of the community and has had its thorough cooperation at all times. The present membership of the Board is C. C. Lemmon, chairman; H. V. Scheffel, vice-chairman; Dr. R. E. Green, N. H. Franklin and Marc Jarmin. Mrs. John Jensen is clerk and E. H. Hedrick superintendent.   
Medford Mail Tribune, January 1, 1932, page 9


    Startling figures regarding the cost of living in Medford revealed by questionnaires answered by instructors in the local school system, were released today by the city school superintendent's office. The figures show that the average teacher in the Medford schools is paying more for board and room this year than during either of the two preceding years. The average cost this year for all teachers who secure room and board together (at the same place) is $41.15. Last year the average was $37.50, while the year before it was $37.43. The cost to individual teachers this year ranges from $30 to $60.
    The average cost for room alone in 1929-30 was $17.43. In 1930-31 it was $18.25. this year it is $18.86. Board (three meals per day) cost $29.19 in 1929-30. It cost $27.77 in 1930-31, while this year the average cost is $30.13.
    Supt. E. H. Hedrick, when interviewed regarding the questionnaires, expressed great surprise at the condition they reveal, stating that while he was aware of no general reduction, he could not understand an increase, and is at a loss to explain it. The only possible explanation, he said, might be a movement on the part of the teachers into better living quarters. The returns do not indicate whether this has or has not been the case.
    A considerable number of the teachers do not pay board, but either own their own homes or rent houses and board themselves. In answering the questionnaires sent them by the school office, a large majority list a decided decrease in the price of groceries and a slight reduction in house rent. A great difference of opinion is expressed regarding the clothing situation, the consensus of opinion being that clothing of a certain standard is lower, but women's clothing of finer and higher quality practically unchanged in price.
    Most of the other living costs are listed as unchanged. Among the items where no reduction is noted are electric bills, water bills, medical and dental services, drugs, fuel, telephone, laundry, garbage disposal, newspapers, magazines, books, taxes and insurance.
   The amount teachers expended for charity, despite these figures, more than doubled between 1929-30 and 1930-31. This year the amount is approximately 40 percent more than in 1930-31.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 10, 1932, page 5


    At a meeting of the school board last evening it was decided to cut the operating costs of the schools by at least $50,000 under that for this year. This, according to Superintendent E. H. Hedrick, is made necessary because of the decreased revenue in sight.
    About $20,000 of the proposed saving will be affected by the elimination of not less than 14 instructors. Some $23,000 more will be saved by a cut of 12½ percent on all remaining salaries. Between $7000 and $8000 additional will be saved on supply and maintenance costs.
    "These heavy cuts are being made," according to Superintendent E. H. Hedrick, "first by the elimination of certain minor parts of the program not yet completely worked out, but mostly by crowding up classes all over the system and increasing the load of the remaining teachers. We are aided a little in doing this by the fact that our pupil attendance has slightly declined, especially in the elementary grades.
    "The teachers who are laid off will be placed upon a reserve list, and as vacancies develop through the spring and summer months they will be filled, insofar as possible, from this list.
    "The fact that a teacher is being taken off the active list and placed on a reserve list is nothing to his or her discredit. It simply means that his department is being reduced or eliminated. These reductions and eliminations are impersonal and are being made all over the system wherever they can be made."
    Elections will be held the next few days and the teachers notified. The reductions in teaching corps planned by schools and grades are as follows;
    Jackson--From grades 4-6, one teacher.
    Lincoln--From grades 1-3, one teacher; from grades 4-6, one teacher.
    Washington--From  4-6, one teacher; subnormal and atypicial, one teacher.
    Roosevelt--From grades 1-3, one teacher; from grades 4-6, one teacher.
    Junior high--From mathematics department, one teacher; from history department, one teacher; from English department, two teachers.
    Senior high--From departments not yet fully determined, three teachers.
    Another phase of school finance plans faced by the board last night was that of distributing the carrying load for next year with the idea of shifting parts of the financial burden to those times in the year when the district has money and is most able to bear them. As Supt. Hedrick explained, school districts receive their tax money mainly twice a year, May and November. Because of state law which does not permit the creation of a reserve fund for operating expenses, districts are most generally behind on receipts. Between these two months are stretches of time where the district's credit must often be used to carry the load awaiting tax returns. In normal times this is not difficult, but in times such as these, it puts an undue strain both upon the district and upon the banks.
    The proposition tentatively adopted by the school board last night is to write the teachers' contracts providing for the payment of two-thirds of the monthly salary upon the first day of each month, but to reserve the right to pay the remaining one-third of the teacher's salary at any time or times during the school year the school board may elect to do it. This would operate to have the teachers help bear the load through times of the year where the greatest stress now falls.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 5, 1932, page 1


    Miss Louise Basford of the local school system, who has carried on extensive research work to determine the needs of the underprivileged child, was main speaker at today's meeting of the Allied Welfare Association at the Hotel Medford.
    Her subject, "Special Educational Opportunities for the Handicapped Child in Medford," proved an exceptionally interesting one to the members of the association, who greeted her address with enthusiastic applause and much discussion.
    Medford has the only school system in the state which provides a special room for children who are mentally or physically handicapped or classed as atypicals, Miss Basford told her audience. The atypical children frequently make two or three grades a year in the subjects in which they have previously been deficient, after they are given the special attention provided in this room.
    All equipment, [as] Miss Basford described the room, has been constructed to fit the pupils' needs. Some come in wheelchairs, some on crutches, and all are given the instruction needed to provide them an equal educational chance with normal children.
    Plans for celebration of Boys Week here were outlined by Oscar E. Hoover, Boy Scout executive, at the luncheon session, and Dr. C. I. Drummond, recently appointed county physician, was introduced to the organization.
    Ensign J. R. Pack of the Salvation Army urged all members of the Community Chest to pay their pledges as soon as possible, as a great need for the money is realized.
    The next meeting of the organization will be held in May, and the program will include reports from service clubs and other organizations of Medford on the particular type of welfare work carried on by each group.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 22, 1932, page 5


    School bells will ring for pupils of the Valley School Tuesday, and extensive plans are being completed for the opening of the new term, for which a large enrollment is reported.
    Miss E. Marie Foss will continue as principal of the school and with the instruction of art in all grades. Miss Naomi Hohman will again be instructor of French and nature study and Miss Jane Dixon, graduate of the University of Washington, has accepted the position of instructor of the pre-primary pupils and of music and dramatics in all the grades.
    Miss Dixon, who is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Volney Dixon of this city, returns to Medford highly recommended. She spent the summer in Seattle, where she devoted her time to special training in kindergarten work under Flora McCanaughy of the Fisher Kindergarten and studied music in the Fisher Musical Academy in Seattle.
    Much special work is given the children at Valley School, which is conducive to the development of natural poise and abilities. French is taught children in all classes, even through the pre-primary work, where many four-year-olds are becoming polished linguists.
    The weekly assembly periods, provided to encourage the children in individual expression, have proved very beneficial and will be continued during the coming year. Each child receives much individual instruction and is given opportunities to advance along favored lines of education.
    The location of the school is also very much in its favor, being far removed from the business section, with a playground of four acres, where outdoor training is conducted each day.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 4, 1932, page 1


    A number of boys and girls attending the senior high school are anxious to obtain positions in Medford homes where they might work for their board and room, according to C. G. Smith, principal, and an effort is being made by the school deans to place them in local residences.
    About twelve girls are now working for their board and room, and several others have applied for such places. The arrangements for the girls are in charge of Miss Maurine Carroll, dean of girls, and her assistant, Miss Clita Walden.
    Mr. Smith said that several boys had applied at his office for a place to stay and work his way through school, but until Friday only one boy had been placed, he stated.
    Townspeople who are willing take in students to help with the work are asked to call Miss Maurine Carroll or Miss Walden for girls, and Mr. Smith for boys.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 12, 1932, page 6


    A questionnaire conducted at the senior high school concerning pupils' lunch habits shows 147 bring their lunch to school, 46 eat at the high school cafeteria, 4 bring part of their lunch and buy the rest at the cafeteria, 233 go home to lunch, 52 go to town, and 9 do not eat lunch.
    The blanks filled in by the pupils show that 69 pupils always ride home to lunch, 153 walk home, 11 sometimes walk and sometimes ride, 18 of those who walk go more than one mile, 52 eat lunch regularly downtown, 17 eating downtown ride, and 35 eating downtown walk.
    These figures have been compiled as a check for the cafeteria, according to C. G. Smith, principal. A number of the students indicated that they planned to eat at the cafeteria later in the season.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 25, 1932, page 3


    For the first time in the history of the school, the boys of Medford High School are making an organized effort to be placed on an equal basis with the girls. This year, under the leadership of Wildon Colbaugh, president, the Associated Boys have an extensive program outlined which, it is hoped, will mold the male students into one group.
    Under the program planned the boys will sponsor a number of assemblies, dances and will take part in all school affairs. Heretofore they have played no part in school administration and social affairs except as individuals, while the girls have had an active organization for years.
    The first step in this program is Boys' Week, October 10-12, in which the highlight will be the sophomore initiation, to be held Wednesday night, October 12.
    On Monday the boys will present a student body assembly. Nothing special is scheduled for Tuesday except that the boys will be allowed to strut safely. Wednesday, the final day, an assembly will be given in which the Associated Boys will sponsor a number of skits. That evening, following the initiation ceremonies, a student body dance will be held in the boys' gym.
    Those taking part in the assembly Wednesday are; Jack Wood, Phil Quisenberry, Bob Sherwood, George Andrews, Prentice Petty, Noel Benson, Claude Manke and Bill Cummings.
    The committees for the week's program are:
    Entertainment--Clyde Fichtner, Harold Grove, Jack Wood, Kenneth Moore, Robert Sherwood, Bernal Slead, Maurice Scheel.
    Program--Harold Barton, chairman.
    Sophomore emblem--Russell Jordan, chairman.
    Dance and orchestra--Bill Cummings, chairman; Max Rae, Winston Hotell, Dick Sleight, Conway Latham.
    Service committee--Claude Hoover, chairman, Bob Minear, Elwyn Krause, Don Turpin, Herbert Neilson, Adrian Fraley.
    Cleanup committee--Ed Bennett, chairman; Tyle Evans, Verne Campbell, Bob Young, George Hurd, Lewis Campbell, Lee Bullis.
Medford Mail Tribune, October 6, 1932, page 6


    The "yo-yo" top fad which swept over the rest of the country like a cyclone three years ago has reached the city and is evident on all sides. To date only the young have been the victims, but it is no telling when the craze will hit the old folks, as it has done in Salem, Portland and other upstate cities. The "yo-yo" top enthusiasm has put a damper on the annual mid-December marble playing of small boys in this city.
    The "yo-yo" top has invaded the schools, but Principal C. G. Smith said this morning that no regulations would be invoked against the toy, as the staid seniors and frivolous freshmen were confining their "yo-yo" feats to the halls and not the classrooms. Some of the Medford boys are becoming experts at yo-yoing. The pastime is reported to have been imported here by a recent arrival from Florida and a Portland salesman. A number of young men in the grammar schools have had their "yo-yos" confiscated by teacher, because they played with the tops when they should have been getting their arithmetic.
    The "yo-yo" is a grooved piece of round wood with a string attached, and according to Copco engineering experts is on the principle of the monorail and acts the way it does due to the "reflex action of gravity, coupled with centrifugal force, in a small degree." The inventor of the "yo-yo" top discovered it while working a perpetual motion theory.
    The common "yo-yo" tops costs a dime; the fancy ones a quarter.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 6, 1932, page 2


    Medford boys and girls still want an education, and are going to get it, depression or none. Their characteristic ambition to gain knowledge has not been seriously hampered by hard times, according to report from the city school offices, made today following a thorough survey of the 1932-33 census report.
    A larger percent of the Medford young people are attending school this year than were attending two years ago, or three years ago, the figures show.
    The school census, which is a thorough count of all persons between the ages of four and 20 years, includes the regular grades from four to 20, and allows for kindergarten in case such may be maintained.
    Of the total number of 3420 persons within these ages in Medford, 75.4 percent are attending school this year, as compared with 74.3 percent two years ago and 74.1 percent three years ago. Although the total enumeration for the district is about three percent less than last year, there are more pupils than ever before attending school.
   The census shows, however, a smaller number of pre-school children than there were three years ago. This year the percentage is 9.9 as compared with 11.0 for 1929-30. Of the total number of 3420 persons enumerated in the school census this year, 9.9 percent are pre-school children; 66.9 percent are in public schools outside of Medford; 3.7 percent are in private or parochial schools; 3.2 percent in colleges and technical schools; 1.5 percent are in public schools outside of the city, and 14.7 percent are out of school, having for the most part fulfilled the requirements by being graduated from the high school or the eighth grade.
    Of the total census, 36.4 percent are in the elementary grades, which is the same proportion as last year; 17.4 percent are in the junior high, about one percent more than last year; and 13.1 percent are in senior high, which is practically the same as last year. Fifteen more are attending colleges, normals, naval academies and technical courses this year than last year, a gain of almost one percent, in spite of economic conditions. One hundred ten are attending such institutions of higher education, 35 are away at universities or colleges, 44 are going to normal schools and 31 are attending technical schools and business colleges.
    All pupils must attend school until they have graduated from the eighth grade or until they reach the recognized age for dropping out. In Medford, of the 14.7 percent who are not in school, over 8 percent are graduates of the eighth grade and approximately 4 percent more have graduated from the high school. Only 2 percent have not graduated from the eighth grade at least, and are out of school, and only a third of these are under the age limit, most of them being transients living in camp grounds.
    There are more married young people than last year. In 1931-32 there were 65 married people on the census rolls. This year there are 71. Over half, 40, are 19 years of age; 47 are 18 years old and 14 are 17 years or younger. Of this married group, approximately 17 percent are high school graduates. Of those married, only five are boys.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 9, 1932, page 1


    Schoolhouses may be used for several months a year to teach little children readin', writin' and 'rithmetic, but a new utilization of the building for summer months was discovered in the Little Applegate region yesterday afternoon by state police.
    Checking licenses near the Buncom school, where a group of men were camped, all of the members silently disappeared according to officers, leaving the camp deserted. Becoming suspicious, they decided to do a little investigating.
    In their search they took in the school house and in the back part of the building discovered a six-gallon crock with the remains of some beer mash, they reported.
    Police did not know if the men of the camp have returned yet or not.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 26, 1933, page 8


Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1936-37, page 252


    James Mullins, former principal of the Grants Pass school, has been selected to replace Paul Menegat as principal of the junior high school here, it was announced today by City School Superintendent E. H. Hedrick. Menegat resigned to accept another position.
    A large number of new instructors will replace familiar faces on the city's school faculty, particularly in the high school. Resignations and leaves of absence will take many away.
    Miss Maurine Carroll, for many years dean of women at the senior high school, has been granted a year's leave of absence for graduate work at Columbia University. Also gaining a leave for study at Columbia is Carin Degermark, senior high school girls' athletic instructor.
    Miss Mary Brown, senior high school teacher, has a leave of absence to teach this year in the Salem city schools. Carl Boswell, last year teaching at the junior high school, has been assigned to the senior high speech department, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Kenneth Scott Wood, who has accepted a position at Pontiac, Mich.
    Miss Ursula Moshberger will be in charge of the girls' physical education department at the senior high school; Miss Catherine Campbell will handle the sewing department in Miss Carroll's absence; Miss Marion Luce replaces Mrs. Gertrude Gates, resigned, in the cooking and cafeteria department; Miss Madge Marean will be in the English department: and Mrs. Josephine Smith wtll replace Miss Mary Brown in the history department.
    Russell Acheson, who coached last year at the junior high school, has been assigned to the senior high teaching mathematics and assisting in the physical education department. George Harrington. graduates of Medford High School and Linfield College, replaces Acheson in the junior high school.
    Miss Plorence Mosthaf, last year in the Jackson elementary school, replaces Miss Lillian Wise in the writing department of the junior high. Miss Wise resigned to accept a position with the Rice Publishing Company. Mrs. Helen Everett succeeds Miss Winifred Andrews in charge of the junior high library. Miss Andrews is attending library school in Berkeley, Cal.
    A general teachers' mecting will be held in the junior high school bullding at 9 a.m. tomorrow at which general plans for the school year will be discussed. E. H. Hedrick will preside at the meeting. This will be followed by principals' meetings in several buildings.
    The following is a tentative list of teachers for city schools:
Medford Mail Tribune, September 3, 1937, page 13


    With all city schools, elementary, junior high and senior high, opening Tuesday, Sept. 6, for the 1938-39 school year, city school superintendent E. H. Hedrick announced today facts concerning the registration of all pupils and the tentative list of teachers.
    Although some 2600 students are expected to take up their books Tuesday following the three-month summer vacation period, Mr. Hedrick stated that he expected high school registration to be rather light for at least three more weeks, due to the fact that many boys are working in packing plants and orchards. He urged all high school students working in the fruit to remain on their jobs, pointing out that by doing so they could help the fruit industry here and make themselves some needed money. He explained that high school boys wouldn't have much trouble making up two or three weeks' school work.
    In announcing the tentative list of 104 teachers for the senior and junior highs and Washington, Lincoln, Jackson and Roosevelt grade schools, the superintendent stated that there had been fewer vacancies this year than in any of the past 13. There will be only three new teachers in the city this year, he said.
    Pauline Conrad of LaGrande, why taught last year in Alaska, will be art supervisor for the city school system and teach in the senior high school, Mr. Hedrick announced. She succeeds Elizabeth Crissel, who has obtained employment in the schools of Ventura, Cal.
    New librarian of the junior high school will be Faith Elm, a University of Washington graduate, who will take the place held last year by Mrs. Helen Everett, who is attending library school at the University of California.
    Cecilia McCorkle of Grants Pass, where she has held a similar position for many years, will be the new literature teacher at junior high school. She succeeds Mrs. Luola Bengtson, who resigned after several years excellent service.
    Following is the complete statement regarding the opening of schools, as released from the city superintendent's office:
    Friday, September 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is registration day for pupils new to the Medford school system. Pupils from Medford junior high school who registered for senior high school last spring are not to report until 8:15 a.m., Tuesday morning, at which time an individual class schedule will be given each pupil. Full-time regular class work begins Tuesday; all students are to report between 8:15 and 8:50 a.m. to obtain schedules and attend 9 o'clock classes. Pupils who attended Medford senior school last year will report directly to counselor rooms. Complete counselor lists for directing new pupils will be posted in the main entrance of the high school building.
    Pupils registered for senior high school last spring who wish to re-register or change subject schedules for any reason should report for re-registration between 1 and 2 p.m. Saturday, September 3, at which time all counselors will be on duty to handle cases of change and re-registration. It will be impossible to take care of new registrations or re-registrations Saturday morning. If for any reason a pupil finds it impossible to report at the times indicated, he should phone the high school office, 1204, and make an appointment for registration.
    The senior high school book exchange will be open for receiving books from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, September 2 and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, September 3. Second-hand books that are to be used for the ensuing year, if in good condition, may be left for sale at the book exchange. The book exchange will be open for selling and receiving books from 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock Tuesday, September 6 and will be open from 8:15 until 3:30 each day thereafter.
    Pupils from rural school districts within the county should secure from the county school superintendent's office the tuition information blank to present for either junior or senior high registration.
    All new seventh, eighth and ninth grade pupils who have never been registered in Medford junior high school are to report to the junior high school office Thursday and Friday between 8:30 a.m and 4:00 p.m.
    Students who attended Medford junior high last year and who have already registered for this year, and all students who finished the sixth grade in the Medford city schools last year, are not to report to school before 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 6.
    All pupils registering from outside of Medford schools should bring with them their report cards or transfer slips, also final writing certificates that have been earned.
    Students who missed the final examinations last spring and those who are otherwise incomplete in the work for last year are to report to the junior high school office Thursday and Friday.
    According to law, books are furnished free to seventh and eighth grade students, but ninth grade students must furnish their own books. Junior high school handbook exchange will be open Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    Elementary pupils for grades one to six will report for registration at 8:50 a.m. Tuesday at their respective schools.
    All pupils are eligible to enter school if they are six years of age on or before the 17th of October. Pupils who are younger but who will be six on or before January 20, 1939, may enter if they can pass a test showing them to have a mental age of six and a half years. Mental examinations for young pupils are being given this week, August 29 to September 3, at the junior high school in room 16 by Mrs. George B. Canode, phone 1573-L. The entering of under-age pupils is generally  discouraged by school authorities, as it has seldom proved the wise thing to do.
    Parents desiring special instruction for physically handicapped children or who wish other type of special instruction should make application for such service at the city school offices before the opening of school.
    The elementary schools open at 8:50 and dismiss at 3:45 for the grades four to six, at 3:30 for grades two and three, and at 3:15 for grade one.
    The following elementary schools of the city house grades one to six: Roosevelt, Lincoln, Jackson, and Washington. The Roosevelt School serves all territory east of the center line of the Pacific Highway. The Lincoln School serves that portion of the city west of the Pacific Highway and east of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. The Jackson School serves the northwest part of the city, being that portion which lies west of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks and north of the center line of West Main Street and the Jacksonville Highway. The Washington School serves the southwest part of the city or that territory lying west of the railroad tracks and south of the center line of West Main Street and Jacksonville Highway. The Washington and Roosevelt schools, especially the former, have been very crowded the past year or two, and it may be found necessary to transfer some pupils to the Jackson and Lincoln. No transfers will be made, however, until schools open and the exact conditions of enrollment are known.
    The junior high school serves the entire city for grades seven, eight and nine. The senior high school likewise serves the entire city for grades ten, eleven and twelve.
    All elementary textbooks are furnished, according to law, to pupils of the first eight grades. These will be distributed at the time of their registration in the several schools of the city.
    The general teachers meeting will be held by Superintendent Hedrick in the junior high school building at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, September 3, in which general plans for the school year will be discussed. This will be followed by principals' meetings in the several buildings.
    The following is a tentative list of teachers for the Medford schools for 1938-39, subject however to some change in assignment:
Medford Mail Tribune, August 30, 1938, page 10


    Tentative list of Medford senior high school and special teachers was issued today by E. H. Hedrick, superintendent. The senior high school will open September 15, the opening having been deferred a week to let students complete their work in orchards and packing plants.
    The tentative list of teachers follows:
    September 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and September 13 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. are registration days for senior high school students new in the Medford system. Counselors will be present to assist students register. Students who registered last spring for high school enrollment are not to report until 9 a.m. September 15, when they will report to the home room indicated on the bulletin board. Students who are not registered or whose names do not appear on the bulletin boards will report to the office.
    Full-time, regular classwork will begin at the high school September 15. The book exchange will be open September 11 and 12 for receiving books. Second-hand books to be used this year, if they are in good condition, may be left for sale at the exchange then. The exchange will be open for selling books September 15.
    There has been considerable repair and renovation of school buildings this year, Mr. Hedrick pointed out. Three new tennis courts have been completed at the high school and some minor repairs made on the building.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 5, 1941, page 11


    The list of teachers for senior and junior high schools and special teachers for the two schools were announced today by E. H. Hedrick, city school superintendent. The two schools open Monday, senior high school running a staggered session and junior high school beginning at 9 a.m. until 3:50 p.m., with lunch from 12 noon until 1 p.m.
    Classes at senior high school follow: Pupils who come at 8:15 a.m. are released at 2:30 p.m. Those who report for first classes at 9 a.m. are released at 3:19 [sic] p.m. Any classes that are scheduled for 8:15 a.m. are duplicated later in the day so that no pupil is required to report at 8:15 a.m. except as as matter of preference, and in some cases it is an outlet to relieve conflicts that may arise in students' schedules.
    Senior high school teachers follow: L. B. Mayfield, principal, Josephine Kirtley, Louise Basford, Lorne Arnold, Edna Breeding, Miriam Burton, Elsie Butler, H. F. Cope, Olive Curry, Juanita Demmer, Gladys Herron, E. M. Hussong, Elizabeth Jerome, Jacquoise Kirtley, E. M. Kirtley, Ocy James, Alberta Loiland, Alex McDonald, L. A. Mentzer, Marguerite Mills, Sue Moshberger, Betty Parrish, Laura Phillips, Mignon Phipps, Maxine Roberts, Joanne Reisch, Ruth Sether, Johnnie Smith, Josephine Smith, Carol H. Snyder, Alice Spurgin, DeVere Taylor, Wilson Wait and Delia Whisenant.
    Junior high school teachers include: Glenn L. Linn, principal, Ethel Scott, W. J. Cooney, Don Darneille, Agnes Deaver, Ruth Ella Dickerson, Grace Denman, Annette Gray, Phyllis Hawk, Margaret Huson, Elizabeth Hawkins, Ray Henderson, Gertrude Holmes, Zoe Hubbs, Maybelle Klemm, Ruth MacCollister, Cecelia McCorkle, Florence Mosthaf, Mabel Nitzel, Ursula Orgle, Edith Serier, Bob Stedman, Maude Coy Robinson, Virginia Wait, Ruth Woods, Norman Worthley, Marvel Yung, C. C. Chase.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 23, 1942, page 10


    Medford's four public elementary schools and the junior high school will open Monday, September 17. Opening of the senior high school has been postponed until October 1 on account of the labor situation. High school teachers will report for special assignment work beginning September 17. Pupils for grades one to six will report for registration at 8:50 a.m. Monday, September 17, at their respective schools.
    An urgent appeal for housing for Medford's school teachers was made today by E. H. Hedrick, city school superintendent. There is danger of losing three or four teachers, who have come to Medford from the Midwest and who feel they must leave because of the housing shortage, according to the superintendent.
    Needed immediately are an apartment, a house, and several rooms, or double apartments, which should be at least partly furnished, Hedrick said. Persons with available housing should call at the school office in the city hall.
    All pupils are eligible to enter school if they are six years of age on or before October 29, 1945. Pupils who are younger, but who will be six on or before January 26, 1946, may enter if they can pass a test showing them to have a mental age of six  and a half years. Mental age examinations for young pupils are being given on appointment during the week of September 10 to 14 at the junior high school by Mrs. Blanche Canode, phone 4616. Entering of under-age pupils is generally discouraged by school authorities, who say it has seldom proved the wise thing to do.
    The Medford City Schools provide several forms of special education to serve the needs of the handicapped pupils in the district. Parents having children who are physically handicapped, or who need any form of special education should get in touch with the city school offices (phone 2157), so that provision may be made for them before opening of school on September 17.
    The following elementary schools of the city house grades one to six: Roosevelt, Lincoln, Jackson, and Washington. Roosevelt School serves all territory east of the center line of  the Pacific Highway. Lincoln School serves that portion of the city west of the Pacific Highway and east of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. Jackson School serves the northwest part of the city, being that portion which lies west of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks and north of the center line of West Main Street and the Jacksonville Highway. Washington School serves the southwest part of the city, of that territory lying west of the railroad tracks and south of the center line of West Main Street and Jacksonville Highway. All pupils should report to their own schools Monday morning as determined by their residence. The junior high school serves the entire city for grades seven, eight and nine. The senior high school likewise serves the entire city for grades ten, eleven, and twelve.
    Five elementary school districts will transport their children to Medford. Districts 29 (Dewey) and 24 (North Phoenix) will deliver their elementary pupils to the Roosevelt School. Districts 15 (Independence), 16 (Agate), and 102 (Kenwood) will deliver to the Jackson School.
    All elementary textbooks are furnished, according to law, to pupils of the first eight grades. These will be distributed at the time of their registration in the several schools of the city.
    As already announced, the senior high school will not open until October 1. Superintendent E. H. Hedrick urged that all students from the high school who are employed in the fruit harvest, or in other work, stay on their jobs at least until that time. Students of the junior high school who desire to remain on their jobs a week of so after school opens will be encouraged to do so, and may enter late without any serious injury to their work.
    A general teachers meeting for all teachers, principals, and supervisors will be held in the junior high school, September 15, at 9 a.m., when general plans for the year will be discussed. This meeting will be followed by principals' meetings in the several buildings.
    A meeting of all elementary principals will be held in the superintendent's office at 2 p.m. Friday, September 14.
    Following is a list of the elementary teachers and principals by schools:
    Jackson School: H. W. Gustin, principal, Ruth Bolton, Nina Carlon, Eunice Gray, Anna Laura Honts, Precia Medley, Flora Merriken, Ivah D. Murray, Ruth Stewart, Louella Schneider, Della Weber.
    Roosevelt School: Sara Van Meter, principal, Anna B. Carter, Mary Coffin, Esther Fliegel, Eleanor Hamilton, Roberta Hill, Alliean Maxwell, Louise Mogle, Elizabeth Rice, Kathleen Silver, Frances Weaver.
    Lincoln School: Ora Cox, principal, Ethel Boggs, Margaret Ruth Bolton, Ethel Chastain, Ruby Clark, Norma Ebnother, Thelma Halverson, Mary Norvell, Loma S. Smedsrud.
    Washington School: Frank F. Honts, principal, Marian Beeson, Blanche Canode, Leona Crane, Georgia Davis, Lysle Gregory, Amy Harding, Kathryn Larison, Alice Lynch, Frances McNeil, Myrtle Patterson, Dora Mae Shepard, Eunice Smith, Gertrude Watzling, Laura York.
    Pupils who are new to the junior high school should register Friday, September 14, if possible. Announcements respecting senior high registration will be made later.
    Following is a list of the teachers of the senior high and junior high schools:
    Senior high school: Lester D. Harris, principal, Josephine Kirtley, vice principal, Louis Basford, George Barnum, Scott E. Brill, Mary Busch, Elsie Butler, Olivia Claypool, Barbara Compton, H. F. Cope, Joan Cunningham, Olive Curry, Margaret Fisher, Gertrude Fredrickson, Gladys Herron, Verna Johnson, E. M. Kirtley, Jacquoise Kirtley, Alberta Loiland, L. A. Mentzer, I. A. Mirick, Delphie Myers, Mabel Nansen, Laura Phillips, Constance B. Schauer, Ruth Sether, Elizabeth Settle, J. W. Shelton, Al. Simpson, Jo Anne Smith, Johnnie Smith, J. C. Tucker, Delie Whisenant, Dorothy Wilson, Mrs. Ryder Berg, Eva Aamodt.
    Junior high school: Glenn L. Linn, principal, Ethel Scott, vice principal, William Cooney, Marie Considine, Agnes Deaver, Ruth Ella Dickerson, Lois Dorland, Lavina Franck, Annette Gray, Virginia Hammond, Ray Henderson, Gertrude Holmes, Zoe Hubbs, Maybelle Klemm, Bernice Kunzman, Harriet Loomis, Ruth MacCollister, Jean McAllister, Cecelia McCorkle, Florence Mosthaf, Mabel Nitzel, Maude Coy Robinson, William Schaefer, Ethel Thompson, Marjorie Votaw, Virginia Wait, Ruth Woods, Marvel Yung.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 13, 1945, page 1


LINN, GLENN L.
Principal, Medford Junior High School.
b. Portland, Oregon April 5, 1906; son of William E. and Maud D. (Morton) Linn; educated public schools; Pacific University A.B. 1929; University of Wisconsin; Alpha Zeta, Phi Alpha Tau, Blue Key; m. Lucille Davis of Sherwood, Oregon Aug. 22, 1931; children Penny, Cheryl; began as science instructor Tigard (Oregon) Union High School 1929-37; superintendent of schools Umatilla 1937-40; principal Medford Junior High School 1940 to date; Lion (past secretary, president, director); past president Junior High School Principals Association; director YMCA; vice-president Jackson County Oregon Education Association; Mason; Republican; Episcopalian; home 119 Washington; office 2nd and Oakdale, Medford.
Capitol's Who's Who for Oregon 1948-49, page 346