"Good Golly Miss Molly"

 Our BHS class of 1969 dedicated our yearbook to "Those of Supreme Dedication," namely two long-time BHS teachers Miss Frances "Molly" Malmstrom and Miss Ruth Helland.

Many of us likely had one or both of these fine instructors for at least one class during our "illustrious" high school years.  We also may have thought, since we dedicated this annual to them, that they were retiring after almost 30 years of teaching math and Spanish to hundreds of students.  However, they remained on the staff for one more year, and retired after the 1970 school year.  

After graduation, we lost track of many of our classmates and our teachers.  Curiosity led me to search for their lives after 1970.  An obituary was found for Miss Malmstrom, but none could be found for Miss Helland.  If anyone has information for Miss Helland, please let us know.  

It appears that she remained in Brookings after retiring from teaching in the district for 27 years.  Her birth date of January 1, 1903 is interesting.  She was born before the Wright brothers made their first flight (https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/wright-brothers).

Think of all the other history that occurred during her lifetime.  She lived during the first and second world wars and the "Dirty 30's"; in fact, she came to Brookings shortly after the United States entered WWII.  During her lifetime, air travel went from the 852 foot flight of the Wright brothers to the round trip of Apollo 11 to the moon (https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/moon-landing-1969).

While we may not think of Miss Malmstrom or Miss Helland very often, their pedagogy likely has influenced in subtle ways.