Alumni group prepares memory book for Ruskin High School

Ruskin High School was forced to close in 1982 after enrollment dropped below the Nebraska minimum of 25 for three years in a row.

However, a loyal group of Ruskin alumni have continued to hold a school reunion every three years. At that time officers for the next event are generally elected. When the alumni group last met, it was decided the Class of 1968 would serve as association officers.

From the class a core group developed to serve as the leadership team. Members of that team are Beverly (Betten) Harmes, Teresa (Schultz) Christensen, Linda (Meyer) Kleen and Nancy (Wegener) LeGere. The four are scattered with homes in Deshler, Superior, Lincoln, Nebraska, and St. Louis. Linda Kleen is serving as president, Nancy LeGere as vice-chair, Teresa Christensen as secretary, and Beverly Harms as treasurer. In February of this year they met in Nancy Baker's home at Blue Springs, Mo., for a planning meeting. It was decided to prepare a school memory book.

In March they met in the Ruskin Community Hall to photograph the graduates' pictures that had been displayed in glass galleries that lined the walls of the former school house. But the glass was dirty and needed cleaned. They called Lori Pahl, a Ruskin resident, to help. She brought towels and window cleaner and the work began. All were amateurs and this was their first attempt at such a project. After two days, the cleaning and photography was finished.

Then they began assembling the memory book. That book is now finished and copies are being sold to the school alumni and friends.

Not only does the book contain pictures of the graduates but it also contains bits of school history. The school's first high school graduating class was in 1900. The tradition of collecting senior photos began with the Class of 1910.

In the 1870s, Nuckolls County School District 2 met in a dugout. The first teacher was Kate Russell and there were eight pupils. School District 6 was organized April 16, 1872, the same year the county was officially organized. In 1874 the first school house, a stone building, was constructed at a cost of $337.77. It was made of limestone rock the men of the district hauled 12 miles by wagons. The teacher was J. W. Walker. He taught three months and was paid a salary of $35.00.

In the spring of 1882, because of the shattering of the limestone rock, the building was deemed unsafe to occupy. It was torn down and replaced with a frame building located one-half mile southeast of the present Ruskin townsite. The first classes were held in the new building in 1883. In 1900, the frame structure was sold to the Ladies of the Methodist Church. It was replaced with a four-room frame building located on what to this day is described as the school grounds. Enrollment had grown, 10 grades were offered and there with four teachers.

In 1917, because of increasing numbers of children within the district, the brick building was built. It housed grades 1 through 10. Six teachers were employed. The first class to graduate from the new building was in 1918 and contained three students. Because of an outbreak of scarlet fever, school was dismissed six weeks early.

The Class of 1912 was the first to complete 12 grades. The class contained 11 members. That year the school had added home economics, shop and normal training classes for the juniors and seniors. Several students came from outside of the district to take the normal training course. Once completed, they could teach in a rural school without further education. Normal training was discontinued in 1941 and shorthand and typing added.

During the Great Depression, the district sold bonds to meet expenses. Teacher and staff salaries did not increase.

In the 1940s, a gym was added to the north end of the community building owned by the Village of Ruskin. This new gym replaced one located in the basement of the school building. The old gym area was used as a library and music room. In the early 1970s, the school district added locker rooms, showers, restrooms and a kitchen onto the east side of the community center.

Six-man football began in 1951 and band in 1952. In 1973, home economics was reinstated after being dropped from curriculum for several years. In 1961, the school board hired the first office secretary. Doris Alderman served the first year followed by Myrna Larsen who served until 1987. In the 1970s, special education classes, library and school nurse services were made available.

Because of declining enrollment, the last high school class to graduate from Ruskin was the Class of 1982. There were 21 high school students enrolled in 1982. At that time a state law mandated if the enrollment fell below 25 for three years, the high school would be forced to close. High school students transferred to Davenport, Nelson, Superior and Deshler. Kindergarten through 8th grade continued until 1988. The Ruskin and Deshler districts merged in 1990.

In March of 2008, several local fire departments held a practice burn to eradicate the structure. A sign using bricks salvaged from the building stands as a memorial to the school.

Editorʼs Note: An Express photographer was in Ruskin in March of 2008 when the building was used for a fire fightersʼ training lab. We hope to find those pictures and prepare a slide show that we will post on our web site (superiorne.com) perhaps later this week.