Pioneer today, brings to mind
several things: blue people on the walls, the bear on the
point sheet
with the pig nose, the wonderful teachers, assemblies both boring and
fun, after school activities, and being with friends. The people who
attended Pioneer in the 50's and 60's have some similar memories, but
many of them are very different, just as
the future generations'
memories will vary.
The school year of 1957-1958 was
the first one ever at Pioneer Junior High, now called Pioneer Middle
School or PMS. Pioneer was started because H.B. Ellison which was a
wing on the Senior High School could no longer hold everyone. Some of
the teachers
at
Ellison transferred to Pioneer, including Mr. Wile,
Ellison's principal who became the first principal at Pioneer. Mr.
Hayes, the boys' counselor also transferred. In an interview,
he said
that he really liked teaching and working at Pioneer.
After researching student life,
students back then were a lot more involved in school, mainly because
of all the clubs. In 1958 the club opportunities included Girls'
Club, Pep Club, Library Club, Annual Staff, Store Workers, and
Cafeteria Workers. Now in
1998 the only clubs available are Builders
Club,
Bilingual Migrant Program, Yearbook Staff, and Peer Mediation.
Another club
added in 1960 was the "Bear Facts" Staff so Pioneer
could have a school newspaper.
One memory that remains the same
is the Outstanding Boy & Girl Award. It started
with the school.
This award is special as the students
are chosen by the staff. In
1958 it was Jim Mirabell
and Judy Ayres. In 1959
the students were
Lee Oatey and Jan Battan. In 1960
the award went to Richard Black and
Ardis Haring. In 1961 the winners were Charles Shank and Linda Hall.
In 1962
the two students were Robert DaBell and Kathleen Stockstill,
and in
1963 Lyle Bland and Sherry Zier won the award.
Music is one thing today's
students are
still as involved in as the students of the
50's and
60's. Between the time span from
1958 to 1963, 1961 was the year when
Pioneer
offered the greatest variety of music
groups. Students could
participate
in Chorus,
Nonettes which was all girls, Girls'
Ensemble
and Boys' Ensemble, Band, Orchestra,
and The Apple Corps Band made up
of all boys. Now
at Pioneer the music program consists of Band,
Orchestra, Choir and Mariachi.
Sports were VERY different back
then from how they
are now, especially for girls. At Pioneer from
1958 to 1963 the variety of sports played changed a bit from
year to
year. In 1961 the sports offered for boys
were Football, Basketball,
Baseball, Track,
and Tennis. Songleaders, Cheerleaders, Flag
Twirlers, Drill Team, Majorettes, and Track were offered for
girls.
Girls could not
compete in track until 1961. However, girls could do
co-ed Tennis in 1959 and 1960. In 1958 only girls could play Tennis.
Now
in 1998 the sports offered for girls are Softball, Tennis, Track,
Volleyball,
Basketball, Soccer, and Swimming.
While the sports
offered for boys are
Baseball, Basketball, Football, Track,
Tennis,
Wrestling, Swimming, and Soccer.
The Pioneer Junior High School of
the
past had many fun events and activities,
just like we do today.
In the past, the
U.S. Air Force Band came and played
for the
students. There was a chess meet at Pioneer, Pioneer vs. Ellison, as
well as the yearly spelling bee.
The 8th grade shop
class made toys
for the needy. The Apple
Blossom Royalty came to Pioneer and
Pioneer
had its own royalty for Apple
Blossom. There was a Library Club play,
a
Departments of Government assembly and also a Christmas play. Today
at Pioneer
after school activities, assembles, Make
Your Day rewards,
spelling bees, geography
bees, and the read in are options to be
enjoyed by students.
One memory everyone may enjoy are
Pioneer's school colors... Brown and Gold.
The first students at
Pioneer got to vote on
the colors and the mascot. The color
alternatives originally offered to the
students, for their vote, were
not that
great. Reportedly, brown and gold was thought to
be the best
of a bad set of
choices. The name Pioneer lead to the bear and
the
bear lead to the colors brown and gold. Hardly
any of the students
were
pleased with the colors or the mascot. But, over the
years the
brown and gold Bears
have come to stand for Pioneer, giving all
the
years a tie to hold students of the past
and persent together.
While many memories may be different, depending on when the student was at Pioneer, all students have one thing in common, the same heart, because all are PIONEER BEARS!!!!!
Bromiley, Kirk. Pioneer History Interview. 2/26/98
Hayes, C. Pioneer History
Interview.
2/19/98
Hedges, H. Pioneer Log.1959
Hedges, H. Pioneer Log. 1960
Hedges, H. Pioneer Log. 1961
Hedges, H. Pioneer Log. 1962
Hedges, H. Pioneer Log. 1963
Kuest, Karen and Linda Montgomery.
Pioneer Log.1958
Sterling, Carolyn. History of
Wenatchee
Public Schools.
Wenatchee World: Wenatchee, Washington, 1973.
The American Legion Outstanding Student Award. Pioneer
Junior High School: 1985-1963.
the 50's and 60's I interviewed a teacher
and a student.
I came here in 1948 as a teacher and a
coach at Ellison Junior High. Do you
know where that was? It is on
Idaho Street where those apartments are now. It was connected to the
old high school, the old high school was there. And then in 1957,
they built Pioneer and I went up there &endash; they took part of the
staff and moved them up to Pioneer and the rest of them stayed. And I
went out there
as counselor. The first year I was there I taught two
classes of eighth grade U.S. History. And the next year I was
full-time counselor. At Ellison, when I worked there, the last year I
worked there we had about 1,200 students in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades
and so a little less than 600 went to Pioneer and the rest stayed at
Ellison. Then in 1969, I went down to Whitman School and was there
until they closed it up in 1974.
For three or four years, I spent half the
day at Whitman and half the day at
Mission View. And I was there,
well in 1974 they closed Whitman and I stayed
at Mission View until
1979.
Did you have a certain type of counseling that you did?
No. At that time when I went to Pioneer
-- there was Pioneer and Ellison in operation &endash; neither one of
those buildings had an assistant principal
or vice principal as they
are called. So that kind of fell to the counselor and
there was a
girls counselor and a boys counselor.
Why was there boys and girls, because now we just have one counselor? Just because they had different problems?
No, that was the way they did things at
that time. And in fact, when I came here
in 1948, the boys and the
girls were in separate classes for some of the subjects and I taught
social studies and that was divided. I taught all boys and a lady
taught the girls.
That's neat.
Well, when you separate, you create a false situation.
Did you like being a counselor better
than teaching in a classroom
or which
one did you enjoy
more?
Well, I guess I got better acquainted
with a fewer number of students as a
teacher. As a counselor I had
time for a wide range of students. Unfortunately,
a lot of the
students that I had contact with at that time were in trouble before
they ever came to see me with the teachers, or for some other reason
they were
in trouble. I just like to be in education and I was
involved at all three levels. I
was involved at the high school
level. Then I worked at a junior high and
thought that was very nice.
Then I went to the elementary level and so I
like being in education.
It seems to me the farther up you go, like a teacher,
coach or
counselor, principal, you get one step farther away from the students
and that is why I went into teaching for in the first place.
How old were you when you taught at Pioneer?
I was 31 and I spent well I spent 9 years
as a teacher and a coach and I spent
11 years as a counselor and 10
years as a principal.
Which job did you like the best?
Depended on what job I was working on at the time, I liked them all. I liked them all.
How did you teach. What kind of media did
you use. Videos? Lectures? Because
we use videos now sometimes? I
know you didn't use videos, but what did you
do.
No, in fact, there weren't any videos at
that time. We used films. We had a large selection of films for
history, both Washington and U.S., and small projects and
that sort
of thing.
Bromiley
What was the favorite thing about school?
Are you talking about Pioneer Junior High?
Yes.
Um, my favorite thing is probably some of the teachers I had. I had some really good teacher there that I like a lot. I think they were very instrumental in my educational process and teaching me how to study and how to learn.
Who was your favorite teacher.
My favorite teacher was Mr. Walt Begleau. I think he taught history and political science and those kinds of classes.
Did you do sports?
I played basketball and did track. In junior high.
Were you involved in music?
Yes, I played in the band. The band
instructors name I think was Hugh
Evans. I played first chair
clarinet in 8th and 9th grade.
What was your favorite subject?
That one is kind of hard. I like a lot of
different subject. Probably English
and history were my favorites.
We didn't have very many elective in junior
high.
It was 7th, 8th,
and 9th grades.
Were there any dances?
I don't really remember if there were any
dances or not. I only remember
dances in high school.
Do you know of anyone that graduated to do anything great, famous.
Not that I know of.
Did you enjoy school.
I really liked school.
Below are lists of activities that
were
included in Pioneer's yearbooks for the
years 1958~1963.
1958~ Spelling Bee Apple Blossom Royalty Selection Pioneer Royalty Christmas Play
1959~ Spelling Bee Apple Blossom Royalty Selection Pioneer Royalty Christmas Play
1960~ Spelling Bee Apple Blossom Royalty Selection Pioneer Royalty Christmas Play
1961~ Spelling Bee Apple Blossom Royalty Selection Pioneer Royalty Christmas Play Departments of Government Assembly
1962~ Spelling Bee Apple Blossom Royalty Selection Pioneer Royalty Christmas Play U.S. Air Force Band Chess Meet Pioneer vs. Ellison 8th Grade Shop Class Made Toys for the Needy
1963~ Spelling Bee Apple Blossom Royalty Selection Pioneer Royalty Christmas Play Library Club Play
|
1958~ Girls' Club Pep Club Cafeteria Workers Store Workers Library Club Annual Staff
1959~ Girls' Club Pep Club Cafeteria Workers Store Workers Library Club "Pioneer Log" Staff
1960~ Girls' Club Pep Club Cafeteria Workers Store Workers Library Club "Pioneer Log" Staff "Bear Facts" Staff
|
1961~ Girls' Club Pep Club Cafeteria Workers Store Workers Library Club "Pioneer Log" Staff "Bear Facts" Staff
1962~ Girls' Club Pep Club Cafeteria Workers Store Workers Library Club "Pioneer Log" Staff "Bear Facts" Staff
1963~ Girls' Club Pep Club Cafeteria Workers Store Workers Library Club "Pioneer Log" Staff "Bear Facts" Staff
|
1958~ Band Chorus Orchestra Sextette(all girls) Thespian(drama)
1959~ Band Chorus Orchestra Nonettes(all girls)
1960~ Band Chorus Orchestra Nonettes(all girls) String Quartet
|
1961~ Band Chorus Orchestra Nonettes(all girls) String Quartet Ensemble(all girls) Apple Corps Band(all boys)
1962~ Band Chorus Orchestra Ensemble(all girls)
1963~ Band Chorus Orchestra Ensemble(all girls)
|
1958~ BOY: Jim Mirabell GIRL: Judy Ayres 1959~ BOY: Lee Oatey GIRL: Jan Battan 1960~ BOY: Richard Black GIRL: Ardis Haring 1961~ BOY: Charles Shank GIRL: Linda Hall 1962~ BOY: Robert DaBell GIRL: Kathleen Stockstill 1963~ BOY: Lyle Bland GIRL: Sherry Zier |
1958~ Basketball Football Baseball Track
1959~ Basketball Football Baseball Track co-ed Tennis
1960~ Basketball Football Tumbling Team Baseball Track co-ed Tennis
|
1961~ Basketball Football Baseball Track Tennis
1962~ Basketball Football Baseball Track Tennis
1963~ Basketball Football Baseball Track
|
1958~ Songleaders Cheerleaders Majorettes Drill Team Flag Twirlers Tennis
1959~ Songleaders Cheerleaders Majorettes Drill Team Flag Twirlers co-ed Tennis
1960~ Songleaders Cheerleaders Majorettes Drill Team Flag Twirlers co-ed Tennis
|
1961~ Songleaders Cheerleaders Majorettes Drill Team Flag Twirlers Track
1962~ Songleaders Cheerleaders Majorettes Drill Team Flag Twirlers Track
1963~ Songleaders Cheerleaders Majorettes Drill Team Flag Twirlers Track
|
In this school there were older, wiser
apples who taught the younger ones.(Pioneer Log 1958). These apples
were members of the FIRST
staff ever
at Pioneer Junior High. Among
these apples there were:
Mr. Wile-Principal Mrs. Bushnell-Girls' Counselor Mr. Hayes-Boys' Counselor, Football Coach Mrs. Reitz-Office Secretary Mrs. Amen-Homeroom Teacher Mrs. S. Hedges-Homeroom Teacher Miss Feaster-Homeroom Teacher Mrs. Ramsey-Homeroom Teacher Mrs. Kane-Librarian Mr. Suave-Homeroom Teacher, Track & Baseball Coach Mr. Scates-homeroom Teacher Mr. McPhee-Homeroom Teacher Mr. Pilcher-Homeroom Teacher Mr. Comstock-Homeroom Teacher Mr. Taylor-Basketball Coach Mr. Procter-Homeroom Teacher Mr. Travis-Homeroom Teacher Mr. Evans-Homeroom Teacher, Orchestra Miss McKay Mrs. Scates Miss Wagner Mr. Bushnell Mr. Freeburg Mr. Goodwin
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Created by Anne Spadoni, February, 1998.
Copyright Brock Hurt & WSD 2005, please see disclaimer
