The Ann Arbor sesquicentennial journal. [Vol. 1, no. 3]

Page 10
SCARLETT
IN RHYME
One hundred and fifty years ago
Ann Arbor moved quite slow
Without very many schools
We didn't need any car pools.
But Ann Arbor grew and grew,
Then along came Scarlett School.
In 1972 we waved goodbye,
As we sent the ninth graders to senior
high.
Now a middle school we are
People come from near and far.
At the school we're supposed to learn,
How to survive in this great churn
Of students racing down the hall.
Out goes a foot and away the fall.
It's rush to class in the nick of time
To hear teacher shouting, "What's the
square root of nine?"
Minutes pass and stomachs growl.
"Time for lunch," we all howl.
The buzzer rings at the end of the day.
The kids stand up and shout, "Hooray!"
The future holds problems for new
generations.
But Scarlett will stand strong in
determination.
If by '75 we run out of fuel,
Scarlett will still be the very best school.
We may have to wear gas masks because
of pollution
But Scarle~tt will be the school to find
the solution.
It's too bad that Scarlett can't run on
mouth power,
For then it'd keep running hour after
hour.
Though Scarlett's not perfect, we're
willing to say
It's one heck of a school in every way!
By Ann Cimoszko, Pennie Kurgin,
Danielle Steves, Johann a VanderHoeven, Lucy Visovatti, Beth Whelan,
and Beth Wood

Corrections from Feb. Issue:
US-12 instead of 1-94 was an Indian trail;
Dr. Alvin Chase (not Albert)
Identification of photos from the
February Journal Cover:
John Allen
Dr. Henry Tappan
Alfheus Felch

SCARLETT MIDDLE SCHOOL
Sixty-one students and teachers
were interviewed about what students
experience in school. The most common answer was that they liked the
Middle School system better than the
Junior High, and they also liked the
exploratory electives.
Here are some of the comments of
the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students
and teachers:
Mrs. Brown: The murals and ceiling tiles have cinderella-ized our
building. I love them. This is the
focal point of the Middle School.
Mrs. Moody: I believe that the
students should learn how to make
the world a better place.
Tanya James: It's a pretty hip
school.
Wade Taylor: Some teachers are
nice. Sixth graders drive everybody
crazy.
Cheryl Pinkorowski: You get to
know more people.
Ron Rankin: I think Scarlett is
better organized than my old school.
Melodic Arnett: There's a lot
better teachers here.
6th grader: We like the lockers
here a lot better than our old school.
Gary Milone: I like the gym
periods best.
In the future we hope that Scarlett is a good as it is now, or even
better. As Ron Rankin says, "Scarlett
is great!"
FORSYTHE
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The planning of Forsythe began in
1957. The bond issue was approved on
March 31, 1958, for the estimated cost
of $2,500,620. The building was completed on time for the first day of
school on Thursday, Septemlber 8,
1960. The actual cost was only
$2,360,239.63, making it the least
costly school in Ann Arbor.
To economize, the architects
designed the school to the site, resulting in a school with two buildings
connected by two ramps with a six

foot rise, eliminating the need for
moving thousands of tons of dirt.
The new school was dedicated on
Sunday, May 1, 1960, in honor of
Lewis L. Forsythe. Mr. Forsythe had
been the principal of Ann Arbor High
for twenty-nine years.
By Students Scott Hanley, Vicky Darr,
Tom Moehl, and Gall Sebold

Dr. Henry P. Tappan (1860)
TAPPAN
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

The present Tappan school building
in Ann Arbor is the third to be so
named. The first was an elementary
school on East University. It opened in
1883 and was named after Henry
Philip Tappan, former president of the
University of Michigan. It was sold to
the University of Michigan in the
1920's and was then renamed East
Hall.
A new elementary school was built
on South University in 1922 but it was
named Angell School rather than
Tappan. The name Tappan was given
instead to the new junior high school
-built on the Burns Park site in 1925.
Thus, for two and one-half years there
was no Tappan School.
In 1951 the present Tappan Junior
High School on East Stadium Boulevard opened and the old building
became Burns Park Elementary
School.
By Neil Mueller
SLAUSON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Slauson Junior High School was
built during the depression days and
completed in 1937. The school was
named after Herbert M. Slauson, a
former superintendent of schools.
Rolls B. Finley, the first principal,
brought students to the new school
from Mack School.
There was once a house and barn
on the grass plot between the drive
and the parking lot. Each homeroom
used ot have seventh, eighth and ninth
graders. There were also mid-year
promotions. Once upon a time there
was one noon hour of one and onehalf hours. Almost everyone went
home for lunch. During the war the
school was organized into teams to
collect scrap metal, etc.
The junior high school was changed
to Slauson Middle School in 1972.

JUNIOR
GREAT BOOKS
A new addition to the Tappan
Junior High School Enrichment Program has been the Junior Great
Books Program. Junior Great Books is
based on the idea that young people
can help one another to learn by reading and then discussing, in depth, some
of the best books that have been written during the past 2,000 years. Groups
of not more than 14 students have two
adult leaders whose role is to ask
questions which help them explore the
ideas in the selection.
Training classes are given when
enough potential leaders are found.
This program is approved by RSVP,
so that senior citizens who wish to
participate may have their transportation costs covered.
Next year, the Junior Great Books
Program may be moved into some elementary schools and other junior high
schools, wherever leaders are available.
If you can spare one hour per
week, and if you are looking for
ways to become constructively involved with your schools and your
community, here is an opportunity to
both give and receive, and have a
good time doing it. Call Tappan
Junior High School, 769-1800, for
information about the' next leadership
training course.
By Patricia Lawson
CLAGUE MIDDLE SCHOOL
During the 1971-72 school year a
committee of parents, students and
professional staff met weekly to plan
for the opening of the Clague Middle
School. This school was to be planned
on the small house concept with
students of all grades in each house.
Although a strong generalized
education was to be paramount, so
were there to be opportunities for
exploring interests and to discover
one's potential.
The committee saw this school as
the time for students to experience a
close working and living relationship
with students similar to as well as

different from themselves. Classes
were to be heterogeneous and
teachers were to be chosen who
could individualize much of the
instruction.
Clague Middle School became Ann
Arbor's eighth secondary school in
September, 1972.
By Jean Henne