Bluebirds flock home for Goessel school’s centennial
Staff writer
Some students drove Model A Fords to Goessel High School in the 1950s. Others boarded with families in town to attend classes, Ted and Joan Nikkel recalled.
Transportation has changed, but the school’s place in the community has endured. Goessel High School will celebrate its 100th anniversary Oct. 16 and 17 with alumni gatherings, school tours, music and a look back at its history.
About 375 people are expected, including alumni traveling from California, alumni coordinator Ilona Abrahams said.
The anniversary will mark the school’s transition from private education to a public rural high school in 1926.
An earlier preparatory school, established in 1906, charged tuition that some families could not afford. Community members recognized a need to make schooling available to more students, Abrahams said.
Goessel Rural High School opened with 29 students. Classes remained in the former private school’s facilities until a brick building opened in 1935. That building remains part of the school today, Abrahams said.
The Nikkels, former Goessel students who later worked in the district, remember an education shaped by music and opportunities to participate in several activities.
Ted taught junior high and coached. Joan was elementary school librarian for 25 years.
Coaches drove their teams to games, Ted recalled. Some practices took place during the school day.
“We stopped at noon on Friday, ate lunch, and went and played ball,” he said.
Music was another constant, with a rich profile at Goessel High.
“Music was always held high,” Ted said.
That tradition stretched back to her parents’ school years, Joan said.
The ability to participate in both music and sports remains a strength of the small school.
“Here, you can do music, you can do sports, you can do the whole nine yards because we’re small enough,” she said.
Abrahams, a 1972 graduate and former elementary teacher, also identified music as something returning graduates would recognize.
“So, I think people coming back would still see that the music program is a great program as it was when they started,” she said.
She has interviewed former students for a presentation, collecting memories that include pranks from the school’s early years.
The weekend will include opportunities to share and preserve more of those stories.
A museum exhibit, “Built to Last: Woodworking at the Prep School,” will display student projects made from 1929 to 1969. It will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days in the 1906 Preparatory School building at Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum.
A sausage sandwich meal benefiting the alumni association will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 16 before Goessel’s 7 p.m. football game against Cunningham.
Saturday’s activities will include an FFA pancake breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m., a 5K run, a golf tournament, school tours, a car gathering, and conversations with retired teachers. An oral-history activity will collect school memories.
A bierock dinner will be served at the high school from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 17. The adult meal will cost $17, with registration and payment due Oct. 5. Children younger than 5 eat free.
A program at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 in the high school auditorium will feature music, an alumni choir, and Abrahams’ presentation.
The alumni association also is accepting photographs and documents for its archival room. Information about contributing materials, registering for dinner, or attending the celebration is available from Abrahams at alumni@usd411.org.