CENTERVILLE NO. 5L-RED ARROW


Clara Lallensack


    Centerville district No. 5 is
located in the old village of
Centerville, now known as Hi-
ka. It was named the Red Ar-
row school in 1919 in honor of
the famous Red Arrow, or the
32nd Division, to which many
of the local boys belonged dur-
ing World War I. To county
residents it is commonly known
as the Centerville or the Hika
school.
    Centerville district No. 5
was organized on January 19,
1852 as Centerville district No.
1. In 1856 the school districts
in the township were for some
reason renumbered and thus


the old Centerville No. 1 became district No. 5. On January 5, 1852, D. Schneider,
town
superintendent of schools for the township, ordered Peter Schneider a resident
of this
community, to notify all qualified voters in sections 14, 15, 21, 22, 23,
27, 28 and the E½
of sections 32, 33, 34 to meet on January 19, 1852, to consider the establishment
of a
school district. Thirty-three voters met at that meeting and they elected
Director Fred
Babenroth, Clerk Frederick Langenfelt, and Treasurer Joseph Schneider. It
was also
agreed by a majority vote to build a schoolhouse on Lot 6, Block 9, in the
village of
Centerville at a sum not to exceed $100. This money was to be collected by
the treas-
urer at a five per cent fee by August next, through taxes. On June 30, 1852,
Susan
Gretz was engaged to teach a three month term beginning on July 1, at fourteen
dol-
lars per month.
    The district did not maintain its original boundaries for long, for in
November,
1852 the E½ of sections 29 and 32 were attached .to district 2. In
May, 1856, the NIA
of section 14, the N1½ of 15, all of section 16 except a small area,
the W½2 of section
21, the W½ of the E% of 21, the W½h of 28, the W½ of
E½/2 of 33, and the W½h of
the E/ of section 23 were attached to districts No. 3 arid 4.
    The first schoolhouse was built in the summer of 1852. In September,
1853, the
 schoolboard leased the schoolhouse for one dollar per month to Geo. Leisemer
for a
 period of six months with the agreement that one room of the house was to
be kept
 free for classes should it be decided to hold school. The crude building
had very little
 equipment. Two tables and two benches, each twelve feet long made for the
sum of
 four dollars, were provided. The old school and site were sold at auction
for about
 fifty dollars in 1858.
     F. W. Otto, in 1858, presented the district,as a gift the SEV4 of Lot
11, Block 12,
 village of Centerville. Whether this gift was accepted is a question, since
the district
 later bought the SV4 of Lot 9, Block 1, from John Sachse for twenty-five
dollars. This
 was the site of the present school grounds. The district, in 1858, appointed
a build-
 ing committee to design and to contract for a new school. Joseph Hermann
was hired
 to construct the building for the sum of $162, said structure to be ready
for occupancy
 by October 1, 1859. A stone foundation was put under the building in 1866,
and at the
 same time a woodshed was built in front of the school "so as to be
convenient for fuel
 in cold weather". Records do not seem to indicate the kind or size
of the second school.
     By 1871, the second schoolhouse was considered inadequate. A special
school
 meeting was called at which the voters decided to erect a brick school.
Bids were let,
 and by October, 1871, a brick building, 26 x 46 x 14 feet was built for
$867. This
 building, after 77 years is still in use today. The structure still has
the old time light-
 ing with windows on the long sides and, at the entrance. It now has a large
classroom,
 an entry hall, two cloakrooms, a floor furnace, built in library cupboards,
a piano,
 radio, electric service, a steel file and other necessary teaching and learning
aids. The
 school does not have a basement and outdoor toilets are used. Single adjustable
seats
 and desks now replace the old double seats. In 1911, through the efforts
of R. H. Hinz,
 then clerk of the board, the Hika school installed the first playground
equipment for
 a rural school in the state of Wisconsin. The swings and whirligig were
homemade
 at a cost 'ot about $18. The-school had an artesian well which had an outdoor
bubbler.


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