Oak Ridge School District marks 150 years with festivities and a look back at its legacy

The Oak Ridge R-VI School District, recognized as one of the oldest continuously operating high school districts west of the Mississippi River, marked its 150th anniversary over the weekend.

Alumni and residents of the town gathered for a sesquicentennial celebration Saturday, Nov. 9. The all-day event featured a 5K race, cornhole tournament, school district tours, alumni dinner, live music, various raffles and an auction. Because of the threat of rain, the sesquicentennial parade was postponed until 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7.

First-year Oak Ridge superintendent Sonia Wood — a 26-year educator who was the principal at Oak Ridge Elementary School for four years before becoming superintendent — said she was "extremely impressed with the tight-knit community and how much they support their school" when she first became employed with the district.

"(The school) is the livelihood of the community, and I'm just extremely happy and proud to be part of the celebration," she said.

Wood served on the Oak Ridge sesquicentennial committee — along with Michael Cowan, Jessica Fronabarger, Anita Hahs, Jo Ann Hahs, Rick Laurentius, Kim Scheffer, Andrew Seyer III, Lisa Seyer, Mary Seyer and Dawnelle Zoellner — which was organized last spring and began planning the celebration in May of this year.

"Through teamwork and meeting regularly, we were able to put this together,” Wood said. “It's been a lot of work, but it's been good work.”

Wood expressed her gratitude for all who attended Saturday's event and those who assisted with it.

"I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our community, alumni, students and supporters, as well as past and present staff, for helping us celebrate our 150th anniversary," Wood said. "The sesquicentennial event held on Nov. 9 was a memorable day filled with joy, reflection and unity, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible.

"From sharing stories of our school's rich history to reconnecting with old friends and creating new memories, the event was a beautiful tribute to our past, present and future. It was an honor to see so many community members come together in celebration of the school's legacy and values."

Grand marshal

The oldest living Oak Ridge graduate, Helen Ford McFerron, served as the grand marshal of the sesquicentennial celebration.

McFerron was the valedictorian of the 1944 graduating class at Oak Ridge High School. After graduating, McFerron attended Cape Business School and later worked at Metropolitan Life Insurance in Cape Girardeau.

She married Harold McFerron in 1946, and the couple moved to Festus, where they lived for 51 years and raised three children. After retirement, they returned to Cape Girardeau where McFerron still lives.

According to the Oak Ridge Sesquicentennial Book, which was available for $10 at the celebration, McFerron attends First Baptist of Oak Ridge — her childhood church — and, despite being 97 years old, drives herself to Sunday service each week.

History of Oak Ridge Schools

In 1873, the Missouri Legislature voted to create a Normal School, the third of its kind in Missouri, in Southeast Missouri. A bidding process was held, and Oak Ridge attempted to secure the rights to the school. Instead, Cape Girardeau received the bid for the Normal School — now Southeast Missouri State University — in 1873. New teachers were trained and children were educated in the same building.

After Cape Girardeau received the bid for the Normal School, the need for a high school in the Oak Ridge area arose. In 1874, some of the town's more prominent residents, along with those in surrounding areas, joined together to create a private high school. Residents voted for a $600 tax and a small group raised $2,000 more by subscription to erect the building.

The original schoolhouse, a two-story, four-room frame building, began holding classes Nov. 2, 1874. At the end of the first year and a half, enrollment increased to 100 students — who paid 20 cents per day in tuition — from a 20-mile radius. The first class graduated in 1878.

As the district grew, a larger building was required. In 1924, the second schoolhouse was built. The new two-story brick building had ample space, including seven classrooms, administrative offices, a library and more. The basement held the building’s furnace room, as well as a recreation area and space for agriculture and biology classes. As the original schoolhouse was being torn down, it was decided that the lumber would be donated to help build a barn-shaped community hall and gymnasium.

The second schoolhouse only existed for eight years before it was destroyed by a fire caused by a lightning bolt strike March 17, 1932. In addition to the building being destroyed, records also were burned. Elementary students finished the school year at the Methodist Church, and high school students finished their term at the gym and the Baptist parsonage.

Residents quickly voted to pass a $15,000 proposal to build another new building, which was completed later that year. The third school was built in the same location as the original two and remained there until it was razed in 2008.

Because of a state reorganization plan in the late 1940s, three school districts were proposed in Cape Girardeau, Delta and Jackson. When it came to a vote, however, Oak Ridge and surrounding small schools unanimously voted against the proposal 186 to 0. Despite this, consolidation was inevitable, and the R-VI district was formed in July 1953, consisting of rural schools in Apple Creek Valley, Arnsberg, Buckeye, Critesville, Concord, Daisy, Fulbright, Goshen, Hildebrand, Horrell, Liberty and Old Appleton.

Construction of a new gym began Dec. 24, 1953, which was occupied the next fall. Although it was in use, the building wasn’t dedicated until February 1955 because the remaining finishing work needed to be completed. In 1958, district voters approved by a 614 to 298 count, a $110,000 bond issue to build a separate elementary building that was completed in 1959.

The district continued to change throughout the years, including the addition of a new music room and industrial arts area to the high school in 1974, the purchasing of land for a parking area in 1978, the acquisition of a mobile classroom in 1979, the purchasing of land for future development in 1980, the construction of another addition to the high school in 1984 that included a new cafeteria and the completion of the district administration building in 1985.

In April 1995, residents passed a $710,000 bond issue to construct the town’s fourth high school building, which was completed in 1996 and remains in use. Another bond issue for $1.95 million passed in 2001 to fund the construction of the district’s multipurpose and middle school buildings.

Despite many of the district’s early records being lost in 1932, the 1974 centennial committee put great effort into compiling the history of Oak Ridge Schools for the 100th-anniversary celebration, which has since been passed down to the subsequent 25th-anniversary committees for additions.