Owen Their Schoolin': The men got together after being elected. H.M.G. Skiles, Sam Owens, Tom Cochran, Bill Bovard, Johnny Chambers, and John Smith were all the usual suspects in 1850s Apollo. That is, among them were the usual group of outstanding civic leaders who had their hands in everything in 19th century Apollo, PA. There'd been a school just east of Apollo, and another in the hollow between the borough and North Apollo during the 1830s. Then later in the early days when Apollo changed its name from Warren, a schoolhouse was built on the corner of Church Street (probably on lots donated for that purpose by the original owners of the land.) It was decided that Samuel Owens would teach there first. Then a new school building was built in 1863 near Mill and Wood Streets as Apollo and Kiskiminetas Township expanded its educational system to TWO departments covering several grades. Later, by 1876, that building had expanded to six classrooms, and four other buildings had been built. The kids in Apollo-Ridge today would find the school year then was short: only around five months long. One man and four women taught an average of 211 students who each cost the new school district 86 cents per month, according to the 1883 Robert Walker Smith book, History of Armstrong County. The low (by today's standards) cost might explain why the four women schoolteachers were only paid $42.50 a month. The unnamed man teacher, possibly first teacher Sam Owens, was paid $60 per month.

Fulla' Schools: There were four one-room schoolhouses in Upper Burrell at its birth in 1879. The original schools were called Milligantown, Walnut Hill, Crawford-Whitten, and Chestnut Hill. The schoolhouses were at least 20 years old then, according to maps of that day. Other schools, Menk, Joint, Merwin and Oakwood were added to handle the increased population of children in Upper Burrell. Not all schools in Upper Burrell were open every year, as the number of children in different areas varied from year to year. Teachers taught in one school one year and were transferred to another in other years as population density changed. In 1939, when old one-room schoolhouses in Upper Burrell were closed, the land went back to original landowners, as the land had been leased. The buildings themselves were for the most part sold for one to two hundred dollars at auction and torn apart. Here is a little more detail about some of those schools: ALCOA SCHOOL: One of Upper Burrell's earliest schools was the Chestnut Hill one-room schoolhouse. It was located on the west side of Markle Rd. on the top of a hill on property now belonging to Alcoa. BELL IN THE YARD: The Milligantown one-room schoolhouse in Upper Burrell was named for the owner of a gristmill found near the school. Sitting on a bank of Little Puckety Creek at the bottom of Rich Hill Rd., the schoolhouse was dismantled in 1939; the lumber was used to build a Camp Jo Ann house, while the steeple bell was put on a post in the house's front yard. MENK 'N WALNUT: Upper Burrell's Walnut Hill Schoolhouse, a one-roomer torn down in the 1930s used to be situated near where Penn State New Kensington is today. The Menk Schoolhouse was not far, found on Upper Drennen Rd. a mile from Rt. 780. SMART KIDS: Students at Upper Burrell's one-room Crawford School in 1905 included: Charles Walp; Ida Barkley; Clinton, Nelson, Cargil, and Florence Swank; Carl and Helen McWilliams; Clyde Thompson; Clara Beighley; Bertha, Mabel, and Jennie Barkley; Cora McCutcheon; Sarah Crooks; Homer Young; Beckie Baxter; Cora Hall; George and Sloan Stewart; and William McCutcheon. But only Blanche Beighley, Elizabeth Stewart, and George, Archie, and Hunter Crooks were there every day that year. They were taught by Harry Eyler.

Teaching In The Combat Zone: You might have been laughed at in Freeport during its first 20 years if you talked about starting a school. It wasn't that Freeport residents didn't think education was important – rather, the town was often filled with and catered to rowdy rivermen when it first began in the very late 1700s. Robert Walker Smith in his History of Armstrong County points out the townspeople were decent people but depended on the flatboats and keelboats coming down the Allegheny for their livelihood. The rough rivermen were more likely to be found in the bar than looking for learning. Education just wasn't a necessity at first. If you wanted to get some learnin', you went to the Hall School, which was about a half-mile out of town. By the late 1820s, things had changed in Freeport. The region was now beginning to become settled and populated. Two different people, P. R. Bohlen and a man named Woodford, both apparently ran pay-schools, where basic English skills were taught for a fee (they probably may have been closer to a tutoring-type of service.) Bohlen's was in a log cabin on Water Street. Woodford's school was in a residence located past Fifth on Market Street. By the early 1830s, education became more formal, in the academy style of learning. It occurred when Samuel Wallace and Reverend Hugh Kirkland began an academy on the corner of Fourth and High Streets and taught classical education. At about the same time, records indicate that James Pneuman also taught a pay-school on High Street on the block between Fourth and Fifth Streets. Education in Freeport at this time may have been getting a little crowded, but at this point it was all still private education. Public education took its place in Freeport around 1840, with Dr. Thomas Galbraith the first public school teacher. The first public school house (a one-roomer) was built in Freeport at – you guessed it – the corner of Fourth and High Street, likely the result of a transformation of Kirkland's academy. Seventeen years later, the school had been split into two different departments with two teachers in the same room, teaching at the same time and having students recite at the same time. Talk about teaching in combat conditions! Robert Smith recalls observing students playing and goofing off while the teachers were trying to teach. He "called to him a few of the ringleaders in that vice [probably referring to the tightness or crampness --ed] of schoolrooms, whispering, loud talking and other mischief" and talked them into agreeing to keep from interrupting if their teachers gave them time to talk between school's start and recess, as well as between recess and the day's end. According to Smith, "they promised to do so." Wonder how long that lasted? Didn't matter, much. A two-story schoolhouse was built the next year nearby on Fourth for about $3000. By 1876, Freeport had six schools with a seven-month school year. That year, one man made $80 monthly while five women made $40 monthly to teach about 322 students on the average. It cost about 35 cents per month for each student.

Lookie, Lookie, Here Comes Cookie: It could be today's news: NFL Breaks Rules, Signs High School Player; Big Commotion Ensues. But it wasn't today's news; it was yesterday's – 1954’s news, as a matter of fact. And it happened right here in the Alle-Kiski region. It all started at Highlands High School's predecessor, the immortal Har-Brack High School, with Cookie Gilchrist. Not graduated yet, Gilchrist's awesome speed at running back grabbed the attention of NFL scouts. The Cleveland Browns recruited him with a $5500 contract – big money in those days and more than his parents made. Cookie signed. Even though NFL rules prevented anyone from playing who was not at college graduation age, according to a Milan Simonich article from the January 19, 2003 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the NFL Commissioner supported and cheered on the move. Less than three months later, Cleveland changed the offer, reducing it to $100 a game. Gilchrist left Cleveland in the dust. But he made a big splash in Canada with the CFL at the age of 19, eventually leading his team to a Grey Cup championship. At 25, he signed with the then-AFL's Buffalo Bills. The first year with the Bills he kicked eight field goals and ran for over 1000 yards, becoming the AFL's first 1000-yarder. He later led the Bills to an AFL Championship. He wound up with a stellar pro-football career, playing for the Bills, the Broncos, and the Dolphins. He played along side former vice-presidential candidate, Jack Kemp. His speed and size rivaled that of Jim Brown, and set a new gold-standard for NFL running backs. He went to the Pro-Bowl four times. Cookie Gilchrist also was a business entrepreneur, always promoting some new venture. One promotion saw his corporation selling Cookie Gilchrist ear muffs at a football game – when it was 69 degrees. Another business involved Cookie jumping out of an airplane to stake a Canadian mining claim. Still another used a series of delivery trucks with a slogan – “Lookie, lookie, here comes Cookie" – that became the trademark chant his fans shouted at games. Gilchrist played a significant role as well in the 1960s desegregation of New Orleans when he and several other African-American players refused to play in an East-West AFL All-Star game because of racism. Their boycott got the game moved to another location, and soon New Orleans was desegregated. Gaining a reputation for speaking his mind in the 1960s, Gilchrist became the prototype for many NFL stars today and would be right at home in the League of 2004 as a superstar, celebrity, promoter, businessman, team leader, and franchise player.

Oh Chute:For students then, the excitement of education in Vandergrift 50 years ago was THE CHUTE. THE CHUTE was a large cylindrical metal tube that extended from the second floor of the building to the playground area of the school. It was the fire escape for the students on the second floor. Ken Blose tells you more:

THE CHUTE

Things were done a little bit differently 50 years ago. But even as today, safety was a big concern. Ken Blose, a local Historian and writer, takes a look at the fun he and his classmates had with some of the safety measures then in place in Vandergrift: One of the few exciting things we had to look forward to in our early school years was Junior High School. Now, back in the early ‘40s, the Junior High was in the Lincoln Building where Keddie’s Chevrolet is now located (the old building was torn down several years ago.) THE CHUTE was the key to all the excitement of advancing to Junior High. The chute was a large cylindrical metal tube that extended from the second floor of the building to the playground area of the school. It was the fire escape for the students on the second floor. There was great excitement when a fire drill was called and we would all line up in the hallway waiting our turn to enter that dark tunnel to safety. After the first bend, we could see the reassuring “light at the end of the tunnel” below. It was still in the days of chivalry as the girls went down the chute first, after two boys were selected to be the first ones down. It was their job to catch or help the girls when they arrived at the end of the chute. The boys suspected that it was also to clean the dust out of the fire escape. Many of today's Vandergrift parents and grandparents risked capture by the police and/or punishment by their parents for sneaking down to the school when it was closed just to ride the chute. It was especially exciting if you managed to sneak some waxed paper from home. We would climb up the chute and sitting on waxed paper we would come zooming down at what seemed lightening speed. Now, I am not sure if it was the fast descent, or the fear of being caught, that caused the pounding heart and exhilaration. I sincerely feel that those really were the “good old days” and our days of innocence.

Grades In Gilpin: The Leechburg-Gilpin area saw its first schoolhouse around 1812, near a branch of Elder's Run somewhere west of Rt. 66. It is believed that James Stitt was most likely the first teacher there, according to Robert Walker Smith in his History of Armstrong County. Another schoolhouse was two miles north of Bagdad, near where a stream there branches off and flows into the Allegheny River. Both schools were likely in the academy tradition of education as both were before the 1830s when public education was developed in the area. Nearly 100 years later, in 1913, education in Gilpin Township had greatly advanced. Eleven schools there taught a seven month curricula. Somehow they did it with one man teacher and 10 women teachers. The male teacher received $50 a month and the women were a little more close to the man with a $44 monthly wage for teaching. Together they all taught about 318 students everyday at a cost of just over $2 per student.

Valley Victor: He finally topped out at 5 foot 11 inches, around 180 pounds – not very big for a football player these days. Didn't matter. He'd already proved himself by quarterbacking his Ken High, Von Fletcher-coached, football team to two WPIAL football championships. The young man had been a standout on the field at the school's Memorial Stadium, where Valley High School still plays today, 50 years later. He would go on to play at Michigan State. He even became the first African-American quarterback in the entire Big Ten Conference, in 1950. Who knew that he'd become the first African-American quarterback to play in the NFL? Who knew that one day, this young man would have a copy of his hand in Ripley's Believe It or Not? Who would have thought his entrance into a seemingly-innocent pro football game would be the first of many other African-Americans to venture into the pilot's chair of NFL quarterback.? Who would have guessed that this man's achievement would be honored in the NFL Hall of Fame? It all began when he earned a spot on the Chicago Bears football team, one of two African-Americans on its team that year in 1953, just six years after the NFL opened up its doors to admit African-American players. Later that Fall, in a gridiron match up against San Francisco, Bear Coach George Halas ran a play with the New Ken/Arnold native at the helm. The young quarterback took the reins and passed for 27 yards right up to the 49er’s back door at their five yard-line, before being pulled so the veteran quarterback starter could take over. It was the first time an African-American had played quarterback in the NFL. Fifty-one years later, a blue/gold historical marker, placed by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission at Valley's football field, marks the place he played. A beautiful showcase at the entrance of the High School commemorates this predecessor of Doug Williams, Kordell Stewart, Michael Vick, and other African-American quarterbacks, by featuring a life-size cut-out of the man himself: Willie Thrower.

Plum Education Evolution: Imagine going to school in one of Plum's first schools in 1806. You'd probably have to walk a mile at least to get to the log cabin school, located near today's Plum Creek Church. It was just about the only school in what is today's Plum Borough. Your great-great grandkids wouldn't have it much better, for by 1889, there were nine schools in the area, but it still wasn't comfortable by today's standards. Your great-great grandkids – the boys – would carry a bucket of water every day from the nearest spring and set it on a bench in the back of class, where students could all drink fresh water – from the same dipper. Later, due to the miracles of modern technology, they would only have to carry the bucket from outside the school; a drilled well saved them the trip to the spring but they still got to enjoy using the same dipper. Your great-great grandkids – the boys again – also got to have the great fun of carrying in a bucket of coal each day during the winter to keep the pot-bellied stove going. Your great-great grandkids – including the girls this time – also got to use that modern convenience of the day, the outhouse. At least there was one for boys and one for girls. But things would get better for your descendants. < The one-room schoolhouses were combined with other schools to create bigger school facilities, and by 1939 the new Plum High School was opened. Its first class of 75 graduating seniors in June 1941 wore plum and gold caps and gowns. The facility was replaced by a new senior high building on 42 acres in 1961.

Thank The Academy: People knew it by the name, "Male and Female Academy." Boys took classes on the first floor, while girls took classes on the second floor. It was a private school that probably, like other academy-style schools of the day, focused on subjects of grammar, math, literature, composition, speaking, and foreign language, as well as practical areas such as bookkeeping, carpentry, printing, painting, cabin making, and farming.< Saltsburg Academy – its formal name – was located at the corner of High St. and Point St. in Saltsburg. According to Stephanie Busi in an article for the Saltsburg Area Historical Society's newsletter, Canal Chronicle, the Academy was built in 1851and constructed at a cost of $3300. For nearly 40 years, it remained in use as a private school, situating itself as a permanent part of Saltsburg's community life. In the 1870s the local Presbyterian Church also used it for its activities. But the Academy itself came to an end in 1890 when it was transformed into something more. The old Saltsburg Academy building became a home during the day to several more generations of children in 1890 when the public school system in Saltsburg absorbed it for class space for several grades. But by 1912, its 60-year history of educating the people of Saltsburg came to a close. It continued providing a space for building, just not for constructing people's education. Instead, a carpenter used it as a carpentry shop until the 1920s. Around that time a boat-builder bought it and put his family on the second floor where the girls of Saltsburg had originally done their readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmetic 70 years before. The now-retired Saltsburg Academy building is still around today and in the good hands of Jack Maguire, a Saltsburg historian who has been involved in many area civil and historical projects. Who knows? The building may again find a use serving the good people of Saltsburg. In the meantime, if you find yourself marveling at the wisdom of your Saltsburg-area grandparents and great-grandparents, remember: you just may have the Academy to thank.