Growing up in University School
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Growing Up In University School -i- Books By Robert Butche Rumbling of the Saints Newsroom The StarShip Trilogy Image of Excellence Straight Talk About Education -ii- Robert W. Butche Growing Up In University School An Autobiographical Look Inside America’s Most Experimental Laboratory School Second Printing, July 2005 Greenbrier House Publishing Columbus www.greenbrierhouse.com -iii- ISBN 0-9769076-0-7 ISBN 978-0-9769076-0-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2005927364 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council of Library Resources. © 2005 Robert W. Butche All Rights Reserved. Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited. Printed in the United States of America -iv- Dedicated to the Faculty of The Ohio State University School Who Provided Nearly Two Thousand Students An Unsurpassed Educational Experience. -v- -vi- Acknowledgments The Author 40 years after Graduating from The Ohio State University School y thanks to Paul Klohr, who, with Craig Kridel, encouraged me to write this book and who Mdrafted or suggested some of the comments about The Ohio State University School. It was Paul who insisted that the book ought to be a very personal autobiography on top of which could be overlaid my quarterly progress reports from OSU Archives. He also helped in editing the manuscript, and developing some of the endnotes and bibliographic information. I also appreciate the contributions of my cousin, Jay Hohenshil, of Plymouth, Michigan who assiduously provided names, places and events to help me piece together our childhood years in Canton, Ohio. Other family who contributed to this work include Debby Hohenshil Seaton, Jay’s eldest daughter, and our Donley family cousin, Kay Carter. -vii- My thanks to Tamar Chute, Raimund Goerler, Julie Petersen and Bertha Ihnat at the Ohio State University Archives for their help in locating and assembling materials for this book. My thanks to Susi Frederick Miller, MLIS, Medical Library Director at Riverside Methodist Hospital for historical information about White Cross hospital. Information on the career of Dr. Karl Klassen was researched by Mary Manning, OSU Medical Heritage Center at the John A. Prior Health Sciences Library, in the College of Medicine. The author gratefully ac- knowledges the assistance of Dr. Charles Meckstroth, Emeritus Professor in the College of Medicine, for his personal recollections about Dr. Klassen and 1940s era surgical methods and procedures. Much of what is known about the class of 1955 is due to the efforts of Millicent Ramey who has kept our class alive all of these years with her extensive collection of memorabilia and documentation. Julia Rains Nusken, who has spent her adult life teaching first-graders, has been invaluable in fact checking the manuscript and sharing her own recollections of our experiences at University School. The information about the class of 1954 is based in part on the records and memorabilia preserved by Richard H. Evans, of Stuttgart, Arkansas who, like Millicent, has been my friend now for well over fifty years. The wonderful series of University School Photos taken by David Curl between 1946 and 1952 are from the University School Collection in the OSU Archives. Although David has been a photographic arts teacher and writer for most of his adult life, his early work is remarkable for its craftsmanship as well as its historical importance. Thanks, David. One of the University School teachers in this story, Robert E. Miner, ( Physical Education ) was also an artist. The beautiful -viii- drawing of the former University School building on the cover of this book was drawn by Bob Miner in 1962. And lastly, Karmella Spears, OSU School of Education Policy and Leadership, who located the vertical records of my schooling which add substance and dimension to this story for future scholars and historians. My thanks to you all. Robert Butche Greenbrier House February, 2005 -ix- -x- Table of Contents Acknowledgments vii Table of Contents xi Introduction 1 Experimentalist Era ................................2 Robert’s Story ....................................4 Privacy Issues .....................................4 A Child’s Story ...................................5 Not an Ordinary School .............................6 You be the Judge ..................................8 Family Setting 9 Family Foundation ................................10 Hard Times .....................................11 Family Reunited ..................................15 Neighborhood Influences ...........................17 Prejudice and Bigotry .............................19 Setting Me Free ..................................21 Learning About Life ...............................22 Nation at War ....................................26 Disaster on Second Avenue .........................27 Disengagement with School .........................31 Budget and Personnel Limitations ....................33 Family Pressures and Finances .......................34 The Care and Feeding of an Omnivore ................36 The Elementary School 39 Faculty and Facilities ..............................39 The Elementary Grades 41 Teacher Directed Library Support ....................42 Reading Skill Development .........................43 Progress Assessment ..............................45 University Wide Resources .........................46 Philosophical and Theoretical Foundation ..............46 -xi- Grade One 49 Columbus Goes to War ............................50 For the Duration ..................................51 First Stanford-Binet ...............................53 Discovery and Friend Making .......................56 Road to Life Long Learning .........................58 Home Life ......................................59 Wartime Columbus ...............................63 At Seven, a Lifetime Seems Forever ..................64 First Grade Reports ...............................67 Winter Quarter ............................67 Spring Quarter ............................68 Grade Two 71 In Search of My Own Identity .......................71 Candy on the Dresser ..............................72 Building Dams and Dreams .........................73 The Entertainer ..................................75 Getting With the Program ..........................76 Christmas On the Farm ............................77 Second Grade Reports .............................79 Autumn Quarter ...........................79 Health Report .............................81 Spring Quarter ............................82 Grade Three 85 Bossy Bob ......................................85 Water Boy ......................................87 Eight Miles, Uphill Both Ways ......................88 Bulletin From NBC News ..........................89 Discovering I Was Different ........................90 Third Grade Reports ..............................93 Autumn Quarter ...........................93 Winter Quarter ............................95 Spring Quarter ............................97 Grade Four 99 Exploring My World ..............................99 Up and Down the Main Stem .......................100 The American Dream .............................101 -xii- Learning Hard Lessons ...........................102 Death at an Early Age ............................103 Me and Eloise ..................................105 Kip and Bobby’s Grand Adventure ..................106 Emerging Adventurer .............................106 Keebler’s Challenge ..............................110 Fourth Grade Reports .............................111 Autumn Quarter ..........................111 Winter Quarter ...........................113 Spring Quarter ...........................114 Grade Five 115 Taste of Business ................................115 Serpentine Hill ..................................116 Over the Handlebars .............................117 To the Soo and Beyond ...........................119 Becoming a Businessman ..........................119 Nurturing the Omnivore ...........................122 Lamp of Knowledge ..............................125 Fifth Grade Class Photo ....................129 Fifth Grade Reports ..............................131 Autumn Quarter ..........................131 Winter Quarter Report .....................132 Spring Quarter ...........................134 Grade Six 135 America On the Move ............................136 Dreamers and Swindlers ..........................136 Karl Klassen’s Secret .............................138 Breaking the Rules ...............................140 Phil Tinsky’s Radio With Pictures ...................142 Watershed Years ................................144 The Red Hornet .................................144 The Radio Bug ..................................146 First Love ......................................151 Moving On .....................................152 Sixth Grade Reports ..............................153 Autumn Quarter ..........................153 Winter Quarter ...........................154 Spring Quarter ...........................155 -xiii- The Middle School 157 Faculty and Facilities .............................157 Middle School Grades 159 A Brief Overview of Core 159 Core in Action ..................................160 Criteria Development .............................161 Working Environment ............................163 Grade Seven 165 New Occasions Teach