Graduation Day

Recently, 183 graduating seniors received their diplomas from BHS (the total school enrollment was listed at 807, according to  http://high-schools.com/report/sd/public-school-enrollment-rank-in-south-dakota.html).    These figures are slightly higher than when we graduated.  45 years ago, according to the Bobcat of 1969, 178 seniors received their diplomas (the total school enrollment, based on class pictures in the yearbook, was 770; 187 juniors, 214 sophomores, and 191 frosh)..  Although the population of Brookings has almost doubled, that increase has not carried over in the same proportions to the school population..  Indications are, however, that the trend is about to reverse itself in a rather large way.  This year's kindergarten class was about 300.  Construction is underway for a new elementary school in the southern part of town (near Taylor's Fireworks, if any remember where that still is--roughly a mile south of where the Drive-in was, or about a mile and a half south of the old Purple Cow).  Within a few years, then, there will likely be graduation classes in the 220-250 range.

Most of us realize that the cost of post-high school education has skyrocketed.  Many of us were probably able to pay for much of our later education by working a part-time or a summer job(s).  Our parents may have helped, but they were unlikely to be saddled with the huge debts that many students face nowadays.  Scholarships helped, and undoubtedly a number in our class received generous aid from an academic and/or an athletic standpoint.  If memory serves right, there were not that many local scholarships available, such as those given by Kiwanis, Rotary, or  Brookings Ready-Mix.  According the the 1969 yearbook, the Knappen scholarships were awarded to Ron Havermann and Brian Johnson in math, and to Helen Sheimo and Lynne Kamstra in English, and the Guy O. Karnes Scholarship to Mark Bortnem. On the national level, Ken Beckman and Helen Sheimo were honored with National Meris Scholarships.  BHS was the only school in South Dakota to have more than one student to receive this prestigious honor.  Undoubtedly , there were others that were honored for their high school achievements.  Lee Colburn had a basketball scholarship to play at SDSU.  Did Stan Skubic receive a scholarship from a fairly new college, called, ironically New College, in Florida? 

Today's seniors can apply for  a multitude of local scholarships.  The Brookings Register recently listed the 2014 local scholarship recipients that were honored at the 29th Academic Awards Night (meaning  the inaugural ceremony was first held in 1985).  Would you believe, as Maxwell Smart (http://wouldyoubelieve.com/ and http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=maxwell+smart+would+you+believe&qpvt=maxwell+smart+would+you+believe&FORM=VDRE) used to say, that 173 local scholarships were awarded to 109 of those seniors for their academic, school, and/or community achievements.   Some, of course, received multiple awards, but few of these were available when we were in  school.  The local businesses, organizations, clubs, companies, churches, and individuals recognize how expensive a college education can be, and are willing to donate and sacrifice to ease the burdens of those wishing to further their schooling.


The scholarships can be broken down into various groupings.  There are scholarships from some of the various graduating classes of BHS, namely the classes of 1950, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1967, and 1976.  Our class started a fund a few years ago, but there does not seem to be a large enough base to make it a yearly award yet.  Does anybody know? 

A number of scholarships in honor of individuals who have been closely associated with the school were also listed.  Most of us had some association with these wonderful people, such as Alice Sheimo (Helen's mother), the Beatty Family (Beatty Jewelry?), Bob and Jean Jostad (The buck a point scholarship-appropriate as he was one of our basketball coaches, as well as biology teacher and later principal and superintendent), Doc Serlet , Dr. Scotty Roberts (Gawain's dad), Victor Webster (Skip Webster's dad; Skip was our JV basketball and a freshman football coach), Guy O. Karnes, Helsper and Mahlke (Rich Helsper is a lawyer in town, and was a year behind us), Mert, Karen, and George Lund (Mert graduated in 1954 and became a successful banker; his son George graduated in the early 80's .  Mert passed away recently, and was a close friend and classmate of my oldest brother), Wayne and Rosemary Hauschild (Patty's parents; each of them have a scholarship in their honor), Pete Hays (he was a fine golfer in the same class as Rich Helsper; Pete sat next to me in Mrs. Lippert's typing class our senior year), Patricia Lou Horrigan (was her father the superintendent during most of our school days?), and Virgil and Eileen Bell.  Most of us probably have some vivid memories concerning these individuals.

For example, on the first day of senior English class, Mrs. Sheimo was calling off the roll.  She had taught in the system for a number of years, and knew our older siblings, so she didn't necessarily have to look at the class roster to know who we were.  Four of my older brothers were also her students.  When she came to me, she knew my last name, but called me by each of my older brothers' names before she was able to recall my first name.   There are a number of stories that concern Mr. Jostad.  We were 8th graders his first year in the district.  He and Mr. Kabrud were our football coaches.  One time at practice, we were learning how to run some plays.  Our team was on defense, and we were just going through the motions.  I was shocked when he told me rather loudly "Knock em on their ass!"  I had no idea teachers talked like that, that's how naive I was at that age.  If any of you readers out there have some good tales to tell, feel free to enlighten us in the comments section. 

A number of businesses have also been quite generous.  Avera Brookings Medical Clinic, Banner and Associates (a local engineering firm), Best Choice Real Estate by David and Sara Kneip (they graduated a few years after we did), Children's Museum of South Dakota (now located in the old Central Elementary building), Daktronics (you may see their scoreboards and video screens at many of the large arenas and stadiums all over the world; once in a while, you may even see their name during a televised event--you probably have to look closely at the scoreboard or video screen), First Bank and Trust (formerly First National Bank that is still associated with the Fishback family), Metabank (the bank that Mert Lund was associated with),  and Mills Construction (I believe he built many of the early homes in East Acres out by Hillcrest). 

A number of churches and religious organizations have scholarships for the students who are active in thier respective denomination or chapter.  Those listed are Ascension Lutheran, Eastern Star, First Lutheran, First Lutheran in honor of Gladys Vanderwal, First United Methodist, Masonic Lodge, and St. Thomas More.

Many of the school clubs and associations have their own scholarship.  These include the BEA (Brookings Education Association), the Monogram Club, SADD, Student Council, High School PTA, High School Visual Arts, School Administrators, School District CTE, and School District Permanent Fund.

Some of the civic organizations that fund scholarships are the American Legion, Bobcat Backers (http://bobcatbackers.com/), Municipal Utilities, Police Foundation, Brookings Regional Home Builders, Brookings Wrestling Association, Elks, Kiwanis, Noon Lions Optimist Club, and Rotary.

 These are just a partial listing of the local scholarships available, and are named because most of us may be somewhat familiar with the people, businesses, churches, clubs, and organizations that generously sponsor these scholarships.

If you have some time, don't be afraid to pass on your stories about the above-named people or organizations.  Those few of us who follow this blog would love to hear from you.