THROUGH THE YEARS AT SCHENCK

1942-1975

By Miss Margaret Gillis

     I first arrived at Garrett Schenck, Jr., High School in the fall of 1942. That building is now called the Opal Myrick Grammar School. At that time there were approximately 72 students and 9 teachers. The principal was Mr. H.R. Washburn. The courses offered were commercial, college and general. There was no home economics department although manual training was in the curriculum. I taught commercial subject's and I introduced office practice to the program that year. Mrs. Mary Hersom was school nurse and Dr. Rand Dunham was the school doctor. For sports we had boys' and girls' basketball coached by Mr. William Reagan and myself. Also, the first Winter Carnival was held that year under my direction.

     In 1943 Mr. Stanley Kitchin replaced Mr. Washburn as principal and Mr. Woodrow Mercier came in as submaster and coach of boys' athletics.  There were now 3 sports as baseball was revived that year by Coach Mercier.  In the year 1944-45 I chose 3 boys and 2 girls as cheerleaders.

     Mr. Durward S. Heal came in as principal in the fall of 1945 and his wife, Mrs. Beatrice Heal, also joined the staff to teach English, Latin and French. I was hired by Earl Wingate, Superintendent of Schools, in 1942, who was replaced by Mr. Everett Page, Jr., in 1944. The school union at that time consisted of Millinocket, East Millinocket and Medway. In 1945 Mr. William Hale became Superintendent of our school union until East Millinocket and Medway formed a separate unit in 1963 when Mr. Woodrow Mercier took over the reins. Home economics was introduced in the fall of 1945 under the direction of Mrs. Nellie Dore.  Miss Kathleen Mahany succeeded Mrs. Dore as home economics teacher. She later became Mrs. Maurice Nisbett and returned to the faculty in 1962.

     In 1946 an orchestra was started for the first time under the direction of Mr. Angelo Tsika.  In 1947 Mr. Salvatore Piccolo became music director.  In 1948 and 1949 I organized a jazz band with Mary Lyons, a senior, making all of the musical arrangements.  We played for many occasions and had great fun doing it.  Our Schenck boys won the Eastern Maine Class S title in basketball in 1949. We also took the State Championship title by downing Kingfield by 2 points. "Bill" Redmond was coach of this fine team.

     Coach William Lavin arrived in the early 5O's and Richard Bouchard picked up the J.V.’s as coach.  Mr. Ted Burgoyne was director of music.  In 1952, believe it or not, there were 33 boys in the boys glee club and only 24 girls in the girls' club.  The size of these glee clubs was quite unusual for a small school. Both were under the direction of Mrs. Samuel Harris.  Mr. Eugene Parker and Ms. Mary Severance arrived in September, 1953. In 1954 girls' basketball was discontinued and not taken up again until 1973 when Miss Randi Reed became coach.  Mr. Reginald Bonnin was music director in 1957.

     As I recall my former students in my early years of teaching, I remember them as willing learners, good sportsmen, neat in appearance and very respectful toward teachers and peers.

     We moved into the new school, Schenck High School, in the fall of 1957.  It was much larger and was considered to be as fine a plant of its type in the state.  The class of 1958 was the first to graduate from its doors.  To fill the need for physical education for girls, since there was none in the curriculum, I had a program 4 days a week after school. With the new school came a guidance department, a fully equipped industrial arts shop, a home economics lab, a gym with a seating capacity of one thousand, two locker rooms, much more storage space, and an auditorium that was separate from the gym.  The faculty was expanded and the high school students from Medway arrived in the fall of 1958, our second year of operation.  Also, a number of activities were added that had not been in the school before.  Mr. Darrell Fernald and Mr. Jack Groves were custodians.  Mr. Richard Groves replaced Mr. William Lavin at the new school as physical education instructor and coach.  Our first cross-country team ran in the fall of 1958 and Alan Stevens, the coach's son, was Class M State Cross-Country Champion.  However, the Schenck team finished in 7th position in the meet.

     By 1960 the faculty had increased to 19 members.  This year saw the beginning of the girls physical education program under my direction.  However, I continued to teach some commercial subjects along with phys. ed.  This was done through the recommendation of the State Department of Education so that the school could become accredited.  I only planned to do this for one year, but I have stayed with it from the start.  I gave up the yearbook at this time after having been its advisor since 1942.  That same year a drill team, consisting of all girls, was formed under my direction to present entertainment at games.  The team marched without music keeping time with their feet.  I recall that they put on an excellent performance at the tournament in Bangor.  The members wore Scottish kilts and knee-length stockings with white bucks.  This was continued for 3 years.

     In 1962 the faculty grew to 24 and the Senior Class enrollment was 57.  The first Senior Class to graduate in 1958 had had 22 students.  The class of 1959 increased to 45 students due to the arrival of the Medway students that year.  Last year's class, the class of 1974, had 103 members.  The present faculty numbers 39. This will give you an idea of how much Schenck has grown over the years.

     In the fall of 1963 Mr. Woodrow Mercier returned to East Millinocket as Superintendent of Schools and Mrs. Stella Thibodeau was hired as his secretary.  In 1964 Mr. George Himes, Jr., came to Schenck and we adopted a new school song that he composed.

     In 1965 the new wing was added and the new library was used for the first time.  Mrs. Heal became our first full-time librarian.  The Big Green Wolverine Band traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1966 to participate in the National Cherry Blossom Festival.  There were 137 who made the trip. In the fall of 1966 Mr. Durward Heal became ill and had to leave.  Mr. Diehl became acting principal until Mr. Kenneth Nelson, Jr., arrived in the spring of 1967.

     Mr. John Giffin took over the coaching reins in 1967 and stayed 2 years.  In 1968 his team won the Eastern Maine Class L Championship by defeating Orono 65-60.  However, Traip Academy beat our boys in the State Class L Championship that year.  Coach Ronald Marks came in the autumn of 1969 and again the boys were Eastern L Champions.  In 1971 and 1972 our boys, under Coach Marks, took the State Class L Basketball Championship 2 years in a row.

     In 1972 girls' softball started under the tutelage of Miss Randi Reed.  Also, soccer was added to our varsity sports in 1972 under Mr. Marks.  In 1974 we took second place in the State Championship being defeated by Greely.  Mr. James Willard introduced tennis as a new varsity sport for both boys and girls in the spring of 1973.

     In the years that I have been at Schenck High School, I have received tremendous satisfaction from my work both as a commercial teacher and as a physical education instructor.  I can accept the changes in society as a whole but do not approve of its new morality.  My advice to the students would be to live by the code of rules that was once held in high esteem by our society because, if they follow these rules, they will live much happier lives.

 “Gillie”