The Mail-Journal, Volume 6, Milford, Kosciusko County, 9 March 1969 — Page 29

Lakeland: A Growing Area

The area in northern Kosciusko county which comprises the Lakeland Community School Corporation is a growing area and we have the facts and figures to prove it. Interested? Read on! Back in 1963 Purdue university made a cooperative study of the school corporation. Many of these figures are already out dated because of the area’s continued fast growth. More and more people are becoming year-around lake residents, new factories are locating in the three Lakeland communities and existing factories and businesses are expanding. All bring more students to the Lakeland Community School Corporation and all help the economy of this area. Since the Lakeland Community School Corporation had its beginning in 1962, additions have been made to the North Webster school and to both the Milford and Syracuse elementary schools and Wawasee high school has been built. During the period 1930-60 the

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five townships then in the corporation (Plain, Tippecanoe, Turkey Creek, Van Buren and the east portion of Jefferson) had a 62.8 per cent growth in population while the county increase was 46.9 per cent and the increase in the state of Indiana was 44 per cent. These figures are from the Purdue report. At North Webster Enrollments in 1963 showed 610 students enrolled at North Webster in the first grade thru the senior class with 315 in grades one to six, 99 in junior high and 196 in high school. • Last fall 617 students enrolled at the school — 71 in kindergarten, 356 in the grades and 190 in junior high. This school is still filled to capacity or more even though the high school students are at Wawasee. In 1963 there were 610 students enrolled in grades 1-12 while this fall 617 students enrolled in grades K-8. Syracuse A total of 1,015 students were enrolled in the Syracuse schools

when the Purdue report was made with 603 in kindergarten through the sixth grade, 163 in junior high and 249 in high school. In the fall of 1968 there were 579 students enrolled at the elementary school which houses students from kindergarten thru sixth grade and the M-l class. Another 309 students are enrolled in the junior high which houses seventh and eighth grades plus the M-2 class. Milford When the Purdue report was filled 369 students were enrolled in the first five grades at Milford and 351 were enrolled in grades six through 12. Last fall 393 students enrolled in kindergarten through the fourth grades and 305 enrolled in the fifth through eighth grades. The above figures and Wawasee’s 766 students make a total enrollment this year of 2,977 students in grades K-12. In 1963 there were 2,345 students in the present Lakeland schools and a total enrollment of 2,808 with the Leesburg school. At the time the Purdue report

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was made projected enrollment figures were given. The figure for 1968-69 for Leesburg, Milford, North Webster and Syracuse was 3,200. This is only 223 more than the enrollment for the present corporation. An interesting projected figure is the one for the high school. Purdue’s figures show 850 students Tn the high school. Wawasee registered 766 last September. This would mean that if Leesburg were still in the corporation they could have only 74 students — 18.5 students per grade. In 1963 Leesburg had 131 students enrolled in high school. Lakeland’s People The Lakeland area is full of young people, people who are trying to improve their communities, people who are trying to work together for the best of the Lakeland area, people who want the best education possible for their children! The name of Wawasee high school was officially accepted by the Lakeland school board on January 9, 1968.

Future Teachers Club In an effort to encourage high school students to enter the teaching profession, Wawasee high school sponsors a Future Teachers club. This year the charter members have named the club, drawn up a constitution, and have therefore started a tradition which will hopefully be a successful one at WHS. The name, Phi Tau Alpha, is the Wawasee chapter name for the National Future Teachers club. This club must plan not only its own school program, but is also repsonsible to a national organization. Membership is open only to juniors and seniors who prove by their responsibility that they truly are considering the teaching field. Meetings are held twice monthly, during a school day homeroom period for primarily business purposes, and one night a month for informative and social purposes. This first year has been spent largely in organizing the club. Activities so far have included decorating the bulletin boards for open house, installation of officers, presentation of charter to school as accepted by Mr. Smith and a Christmas party. One of the most successful endeavors has been an “Elf” program, whereby a club member becomes the elf of a teacher or staff person and does favors or gives small tokens of appreciation, without revealing his identity. The teachers and staff have responded so heartily that a communication “Elf Shelf” has been established to return the thoughtfulness. Identity will be revealed at the end of the year. The future of this year’s club, and any other year, will depend primarily upon the interest and enthusiasm shown by the members. Phi Tau Alpha can be just another club after a senior’s name, or it can be worth the time and effort one must give to seriously look ahead to the future — and teaching. Skill Os Speech Most Important One of the most important and useful skills which a high school student can develop today is the skill of speech. The Drama club of Wawasee high school seeks to supply some of the answers to this need by offering opportunities for interested students to develop certain skills in the area of expression. As the name implies, the Drama club is concerned with drama. Part of its duties is to perform the plays which the school offers. Last November the “Night of January 16th” by Ayn Rand was one such production. This spring, on April 18 and 19 the Drama club will present Winifred Wolfe’s hilarious comedy, “If a Man Answers”. Membership in the club is offered to anyone interested in the theater, whether that interest is purely dramatic or technical. In the future the school hopes to broaden the interests of the club to include debate, contest and entertainment for organizations in the community. This would give the students a great deal of experience in the various areas of speech.