| OCR Text |
Show Clipping Service (801) 328-8678 THE SPECTRUM 7WOODWARD • Continued from Al ==----- . . . . . ct "What you don't realize is that 1- it affected everyone. literally everyone in St. George. Washington , Ivins and Santa Clara. " said Karl Brooks. alumni and former city mayor. "Everybody went through four \'ears at Woodward. " , Here are some of their stories: • LITTLE IS KNOWN about George M. Woodward. a bricklaver and LDS convert who came to St. George in 1861. He gave the school a piano and $3.500 for a furnace, according to a school scrapbook dated 1929-36. School board members paid 87, to write the deed, for the northwest quarter of the town square where Woodward SixthGrade Center is today. The two-story school was stateof-the-art when it opened in 1901. It replaced The Church of J esus Christ of Latter-day Saints four ward schools, said Douglas Alder, historian. "It was a quantum leap from those little school houses." Alder said. "It was a regular school as good as town's. The city was very proud. and it is still good : Students (abovellook at a rocket display at what appears to be a science fair at Woodward. circa 1963. Boy. (belowl ha~e a boxing match. date unknown. • IN 1925. PRiNCIPAL Vernon Worthen had his office under the school's bell tower and Stan Schmutz. 80. a retired music teacher. started first grade. Students stood with classmates in lines outside and marched in with teachers . In sixth grade. Schmutz learned the clarinet. which he still plays. and played marches in a small band as the classes came inside. -You just didn't come strolling in like sheep," Schmutz said . Then Enterprise School Principal N. R. Frei convinced Schmutz to earn a teaching certificate . Frei later moved to Woodward and h ired Schmutz. For an annual salary of $935. Schmu tz resumed teaching in 1942 after serving in World War II. Itwas 8 1l. 000 at his retirement. -At the time. that was pretty good pay. " he said. "It was one of the better paying jobs in St. George," "Well. I came in bach'wards." respected the power,of comoreal Wade said. punishment. L....1""Te'HI"utli'r;'ft,\~.i:in.~th'r'<~e~=.'-._-----::-;---;~_ _ . ~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"I~·w ~ as~Convinced if I ~·had Now, the Washington County School Board must decide between closing the school and a costly renovation. Since clos- • became Coral Cliffs Sixth-Grade Center principal this fall, Woodward became a sixth-grade center in 1985. Swamp coolers were installed and the plumbing upgraded that year. he said. A year later. school 'board members made Judd's Store part of the Woodward campus. Modem par- , ents had questioned the approprtateness of kids visiting a candy store, Powell said. Those who wanted to preserve traditional trips to Judd's swayed the board. For Utah's Centennial statehood celebration. Powell pulled the Woodward bell 100 times Jan. 4. 1996. 'We'd go up and ring that thing on the first day of schoot or on special events,· he said, An abundance of pigeon poop has kept the bell silent this year. Part of the classroom ceiling must be pulled down to ring it, and the messes left by roosting birds falls from the open ceiling tiles. current Principal Barbara Garrett said, Other noises abound. "It is squeaky, but it's got char- aC'~~a?e~h~d~~t'bani I |
