From the Archives – Mentor Log (December 4, 1975)

Former students remember M.H.S.

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LOG STAFF members, pictured above, participate in the raising of the school’s Bicentennial flag. The Bennington flag is the oldest “Stars and Stripes” in existence at the present time. It was first used at the Battle of Bennington by the Vermont Militia on August 16. 1777.

Mr. Steve Couch, Mr. Steve Couch, and Steven Dohm
March 4, 2022

Please enjoy this archived article from the old Mentor High School Log, one of the earlier incarnations of the Mentor High School student newspaper. Special thanks to Mr. Sanelli for finding these in an old bureau taken from the old Mentor High School Library during its renovation into the Hub. Also thanks to Mrs. Ford and the GenYes team for scanning and sharing the original article. – Mr. Couch, Cardinal Nation Advisor

Riding on a horse-drawn school bus was only one of the startling differences of going to Mentor High in the 1920s. Other differences include the building itself, the handling of discipline, school population and sports.

A horse-drawn school bus was necessary because only three area roads were paved in 1925. They were Mentor Avenue, Center Street, and Lake Shore Blvd. The motorized buses took these roads, and the horse-drawn school bus took the others.

The Mentor High of 1920 was the Memorial Junior High of today without its present-day additions. The first floor housed the seventh and eighth grades and ninth through twelfth grades were on the second floors.

Disciplinary actions also differed. At the beginning of the year, a student was given a hundred merits. With each misdemeanor, such as chewing gum, a student was given demerits. When the student fell below a certain number such as ninety, he was given a detention. During this time period problems of vandalism and smoking in school were unheard of.

If and when a student had a problem he talked to the principal because there weren’t any counselors. The mentor high principal of that day was Dale R. Rice, who now has an elementary school named for him.

Mentor High at that time had a student population of 250. This figure included both the Junior and Senior Highs. There were approximately 40 students in each class of the Senior High and 50 in each of the Junior High classes. 

Of the five schools in the system at this time, four were elementary. One was located on Hopkins Rd., another on Center St., and two on Lake Shore Blvd.