| Moments in Time: Memories at Simms
High School by Michelle Eisenzimer It seems that most of my life has been spent in and around Simms High School in the Sun River Valley. Various uncles and sisters played all types of sports in the gym and on the fields. I learned to ride a two-wheeled bicycle without training wheels outside the doors to the main office, and I've been a student in this story-filled building for three years. Memories of the years gone by pulse through the hallways as fast as the blood of students who inhabit them day after day. Simms High was the first school in the state to have transportation to and from the school. The system was planned and started in 1928 under the direction of Herschel James, who, at the time was superintendent, and C. S. Hanna, chairman of the school board. State aid was not available for transportation, but because the enrollment was increasing the school was receiving enough money to finance the system. The first bus driver, Ed Wells of Sun River, used his own Model A Ford pickup to transport students. He built a wooden cover over the bed and lined the sides with benches. He even installed a pot-bellied stove to warm students on the cold days. The first students to ride the bus to Simms were from the Fort Shaw and Sun River areas, and an average of fifteen students rode the bus each day. The bus system has gone through some changes since the days of Well's cozy, old truck, and the school buildings have also adjusted to fit the needs of the school. Since 1930, when the brick part of the school was built in front of the original high school, there have been many changes in the school. The first faculty in the new building consisted of nine teachers, while the current total is seventeen. In the spring of 1963, when Truitt "Spud" Spangler was the superintendent, the original school building and all additions except the brick part were demolished, and the high school building was constructed as it is today. The north side of the school was once covered by large windows that in 1989 were covered by sheets of red board, as an energy conservation measure. What remain are small windows barely large enough to let light in. The first gym at Simms still stands, but has been converted into the shop and garage. The first graduating class at Simms High consisted of only two students, Pauline Marvin and Frank "Ervin" Sauke. There are now endless faces of past graduates in the photographs of graduating classes that line the school walls. A 1931 issue of the Sun River Valley Success, the first published school newspaper featured the annual ritual of freshman initiation. Sophomores had the chance to embarrass the newcomers. Shrieks of laughter greeted the freshmen as the boys, dressed in long dresses and pajamas, socks rolled to their ankles, and the girls, wearing short trousers and boys shirts, walked into the awaiting crowd of upperclassmen. An assembly, held in the new gym guaranteed each freshman a chance to show off his or her new look. Special assignments were given to hand-selected groups: Ray Hansen and June Parker sang a lovely duet; Jesse Jenkins showed off her youthful side sitting in a baby carriage, drinking from a bottle; Douglas Dear, using a six-inch ruler, measured around the stage; and the hectic ceremony ended with a fierce boxing match between Tom Evans and Loney Guill, which, of course, ended in a tie. The freshmen were reportedly good sports throughout their ordeal, and accepted all dares bravely. Traditions have changed through the years, but Simms High School is still an important part of town. Those who attend SHS leave their marks. We have always had people who worked to change Simms High for the better and also those who kept the great parts of the school the same year after year. I hope that one day, when yet others join the thirteen members of my family who have walked these halls, the school will still mean as much to them as it does to me.
A Pictorial History of the Sun River Valley. Shelby, MT: Promoter
Publishing, 1989.
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