Atwood School History/Rajah History

Atwood School History/Rajah History. . The town's first schoolhouse was a two-story, wood-framed building located near what is now the west corner of Main Street and Hickory Avenue. The first graduating class in 1887 consisted of two people., When fire destroyed the building in 1913, classes were conducted in a temporary structure known as the “sheep shed.” A new school building, completed in 1914, was located on what is now Illinois Street. School colors were black and orange., In 1915, plans for another building just for the high school began and a structure was built on Magnolia Avenue., Fire claimed the building in 1917, but it was rebuilt., A gymnasium was added in 1938. An agriculture shop was added in 1955, and in 1964 the entire high school was remodeled., In 1948, voters created a community school district consisting of Atwood, Garrett, Hammond and Pierson. Grade schools were maintained in each town while all high school pupils attended in Atwood. School colors were black and gold., Classes were later reorganized with all kindergarten through sixth grade classes conducted in Atwood, junior high in Hammond and high school in Atwood., The Hammond school officially closed in 1981 and all grade levels moved to Atwood., The school building on Illinois Street was demolished in 2002. At the time it was one of the oldest structures in Atwood., In 2013, voters approved Arthur school district's annexation of Atwood School District #39., The last graduating class in 2014 consisted of 32 seniors., The high school building was demolished that same year., Rajah History , Atwood-Hammond was unofficially the first high school in the United States to use the title of Rajahs for its athletic teams., The name originated in the 1920s in reference to longtime coach Clarence E. Rogers, also known as “Rog.”, The teams were considered “Rog's boys.”, Sports reporter Eddie Jacquin described Rog as a prince or Rajah, as in an Indian prince or chief, and the name stuck., Although a prince-type image was used, students in 1969 created and adopted a stylized version of a similar Japanese image as the Rajah mascot.