Growing pains in the schools

by June Anderson

June 12 the city of Coon Rapids celebrated its 50th birthday. In anticipation of this event, the Coon Rapids Historical Commission asked old-time residents to contribute stories to their project, “50 Stories for the 50th.” With their permission I will be sharing excerpts from some of their stories in the history column of this paper during the months October, February and again in June 2010.

Today’s stories are recollections of Sharon Clark Marsolais, Grace Hawkins, and Arlene Cook Now that we’re a month into the new school year, I thought it would be timely to share some of the “50 Stories for the 50th” accounts of the early Coon Rapids schools. See if you can find the common thread weaving through them. “We moved into our new home in Coon Rapids in December of 1952 and I began attending afternoon kindergarten at Coon Rapids Elementary (L.O. Jacob).

By 1959, the school was so crowded that all of the sixth-graders were moved to the old Washington Elementary in Anoka. So, at the ripe old age of almost 10 I became a school patrol. “Since what is now Coon Rapids Boulevard was then U.S. Highway 10, the first rule as a school patrol was “try not to stop a semi-truck as they might not actually be able to stop.” I was in the second class to attend CRJHS. My parents wondered why a flashlight was a requirement for attending summer band lessons. “The secret was that under the part of the school that did not have a full basement there were maintenance tunnels and with the flashlight, one could play follow the leader down there and bang on the pipes.” – Sharon Clark Marsolais

“Mr. Morris Bye, the superintendent of ISD 11, called me on a Friday night (Feb. 1960). He said he needed me to go over to Morris Bye School on Monday morning to take two overflow kindergarten classes. “My immediate response was that I really was not planning to teach full time. He pleaded with me to go out and take a look at the situation, so I did. “When I entered the two existing kindergartens, I was appalled. There were two circles of 45 children in each room with one teacher for each of the rooms. I felt compelled to stay. “Orin Thompson was building houses all around the school and as people purchased them, they would move in on the weekends. “Every Monday morning would find a large number of students enrolling.

Soon class sizes became so large that split sessions became a necessity. “Wally Johnson was the principal and he had a very challenging job because the school grew so rapidly.” – Grace Hawkins “When our oldest daughter was ready for kindergarten, off to L.O. Jacob Elementary she went where there were three sessions a day. Coon Rapids was growing by leaps and bounds. “Mississippi Elementary was under construction. It wasn’t ready on the first of September and school started two weeks late. “Being halfway between the two schools, our kids went to the new one, ready or not. Carpenters were still working there every day. “Our girls attended Mississippi until suddenly, there was Hamilton Elementary and again we were halfway between, so the kids went to Hamilton. “Every school our kids attended was immediately overcrowded.

Finally, when our youngest was in her last year of elementary, Hoover School was built right at the end of our street. “We finally had a “walker.” Alas, she only got one year and it was back on the bus for junior high. “Needless to say, the population of Coon Rapids was growing very swiftly in those days.” – Arlene Cook

Editor’s note: An Andover resident, June Anderson serves on the Coon Rapids 50th Anniversary Committee and is a member/volunteer of the Anoka County Historical Society This month you can join her for one of the ACHS Ghost Tours of Anoka.