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HISTORY OF THE KIRKMAN CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL

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KIRKMAN CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL (Above left); KIRKMAN'S FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE BUILT IN 1883 (Above right)
The first schoolhouse built in Kirkman was in 1883 at a cost of $2200, which was a reasonable amount for that day in history. The building was a two-story structure with two departments, each having a teacher. The school was located just to the south of the present Methodist Church location. The first class to graduate from the original two-year high school was in 1900. School records from that time period were destroyed, but there is a record of the members of the class of 1900. The graduates were: Rose DeKlotz, Hazel Potter, Mable Barton, Zoda Woods, Blanche DeBord and Emma Steen. Emma Oakes was the Principal at that time.

When the new schoolhouse was built, a sale was held and the original school building was auctioned off to the highest bidder. It was purchased by Willis Oakes for $250 and was moved to its new location just north of Main Street where the Senior Citizen Housing now stands. It was used as an opera house, dance hall and as a gathering place for other events in the community.

Mr. J. L. Barber, a prominent farmer in the Kirkman area, was very active in getting the new Kirkman Consolidated School District formed. Mr. Barber had visited a school in Marathon, Iowa, and was very impressed. He returned to the Kirkman area and stimulated interest as well as circulating petitions in the rural areas. George Thomas took the petitions to the eastern area of the district, where everyone signed them. The residents of the town of Kirkman completed the needed number of signers. The opposition voiced concern about the amount of money needed. On April 26, 1913, a vote was taken on forming the district with 59 voting in favor and 20 opposing votes. The territory embraced by the new district included the town of Kirkman and all of Douglas Township except for the four corner sub-districts 1, 3, 7 and 9. The pupils from this territory were conveyed to the school in Kirkman by the means of four horse-drawn hacks. On July 1, 1916, sub-district 7, 3 and 3/4th sections were taken in.


From the Shelby County Republican - September 18, 1912

KIRKMAN SCHOOL NOTES; The school hacks which were shipped from Indiana September 2, reached here Friday morning, September 12. As they were shipped as a car load we fail to see why they should be so long on the road. The hacks are nicely finished and lettered "KIRKMAN SCHOOL". The running gears are especially solid and durable and curtains are provided to make them snug. A shed to keep them is has been built on one of the lots to be added to the school site.

The school board has bought the two lots south and west of the T alleys in the rear of the school site. The price was $150. This adds a plot 115 feet by 125 feet to the site. Two cars of pressed brick for the school house have arrived. The brick for the lower part of the building are dark colored and those above the sills of the first story windows are red with beveled edges. This combination will make a particularly fine building. The latter kind of brick are the same as used in school building at Omaha except that ours are a better grade.

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THE NEW KIRKMAN SCHOOL HACKS - 1912 (Above)
In July of 1913, the building of the new schoolhouse was well under way. On January 21, 1914, the dedication of the Kirkman Consolidated School Building was held.

The total cost of building and equipping the new school was $18,000. The course of study provided for the taking of agriculture in the eleventh grade, instruction in this branch having been offered for the first time in the fall of 1914. Courses were also offered in domestic science and in manual training. The schools shop equipment consisted of ten double steel vises and work benches, and one lot of tools for carpenter work. For domestic science equipment there were five double cook tables, one kitchen cabinet, one blau-gas range connected with a blau-gas plant, cooking and table equipment and also a sewing machine. For teaching of the agriculture course there was one set of agricultural charts.

The first Board of Directors were: George Thomas, J. L. Barber, W. E. Blaine, T. B. Paup and James Gregerson.

The school bonds for the new building were paid off and burned in November of 1923. An appropriate celebration was held on November 13 at "8 P.M. sharp", when all farmers were urged to, "Never mind 100 bushels Tuesday-quit a little early and bring the whole family in on time" (from newspaper dated Nov. 8, 1923).

The new school offered baseball, basketball, glee club and declamatory. Track and football were later added and subsequently dropped due to lack of participants. Basketball teams fared well during these early years as shown by winning the Shelby County Conference in 1929-30; 1934-35; and 1938-39. The Class "B" Sectional was also won in 1931 and 1935. Baseball honors were also won in the 1931 Elk Horn Tournament. The above is only a list of examples of those early achievements of the athletic teams. Later teams went on to achieve much success as well.

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KIRKMAN SCHOOLS (Above)
The old school building was moved to the site where the Senior Citizens apartments now stands.

There was an attempt to make an addition to the school building in 1930, at a cost of about $35,000. The voters did not approve this addition.

Superintendents employed by the district were: F. F. Stover, 1914-15; R. J. Cornell, 1916-17; S. C. Overholt, 1918-20; Willis Fogle, 1921; Joseph Bogard, 1922; Chas. J. Christensen, 1923-25; C. D. Winder, 1926-27; Alfred Gregerson, 1928-30; P. L. Sager, 1931-32; Lyle B. Shelton, 1933-36; J. H. Watson, 1937; C. J. Johnston, 1938-41; Roy Lieurance, 1942-43; W. F. Brower, 1944-45; Arthur M. Willard, 1946-47; K. A. Steele, 1948; Max McCord, 1949-50; Harold Sawyers, , 1951-52; Ivo Smid, 1953; Conrad Rectenwald, 1954-55.

In 1955, the Kirkman School District was combined with the Irwin School District and was named the Irwin-Kirkman Community School. Members of the last graduating class, on May 21, 1955, were: Shirley Andersen, Barbara Blair, Bonnie Christensen, Nora Holloway, Deloris Mosher, Peggy Thygesen and Larry Svendsen. Members of the school board were: Clarence Baughman; President, Harry Ahrenholtz, Elmer Andersen, Gerald Frank, Fred Stock and Ellsworth Shannon.

In the fall of 1955, the high school students were bused to Irwin while classes were continued in Kirkman for grades first through sixth for the years of 1955-56; 1956-57; and 1957-58. In 1959 the school building was sold and torn down.

In the fall of 1985, due to a smaller number of enrolled students, a sharing program with the Manilla school was started. In 1991, the two school districts were combined and the school district became IKM (Irwin, Kirkman, Manilla). K through 4th grade students attend grade school in their respective hometown centers. Students in 5th through 8th attend class at the Middle School Center in Irwin, while students in 9th through 12th attend class at the High School Center in Manilla. In addition, a number of students in the Kirkman area attend school in the Harlan Community School District under open-enrollment.

A Kirkman Alumni reunion-picnic is held every fifth year on the second Sunday in August. The first reunion was held in 1956. The following have served as officers of the Kirkman Alumni Association:

1960-1965 Gilbert Hanson, Pres. Stanley Christensen, Sec.-Treas.
1965-1970 Clifford Kauffman, Pres. Doris Shannon, Sec.-Treas.
1970-1975 Norman Wiig, Pres. Elliott Svendsen, Sec.-Treas.
1975-1980 Nels Block Jr., Pres. Bernice Howe, Sec.-Treas.
1980-1985 Elliott Svendson, Pres. Peggy Rasmussen, Sec.-Treas.
1985-1990 Elliott Svendson, Pres. Peggy Rasmussen, Sec.-Treas.
1990-1995 Elliott Svendson, Pres. Peggy Rasmussen, Sec.-Treas.

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KIRKMAN ALUMNI REUNION - AUGUST 1980 (Above)
Transcribed by Denise Wurner, February, 2015 from Kirkman Iowa, Celebrating Our Heritage For Over 100 Years," by The History Book Committee, J & L Printing,pp. 41-43.