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History of the Plato School
Compiled by the SOAR Class of 97-98
Plato School was not always the K-12 school it is now. School began for Plato students in 1854. Throughout the years, Plato School has undergone many changes.
The first school house was a log building, complete with a log hewn benches. During his interview, Cecil Benson told us, "They just split a log in two and put legs on it." This school was located in what is now Harold McLauglin's field, west of the Plato Baptist Church. It was a subscription school, which meant that the parents paid, according to the number of children they had, for their education. Being located so close to the Roubidoux River and the need for more space might have been a few of the reasons the school was relocated. Plato School was next moved to the current Baptist Church itself. This building was rented until the new buiding, which is currently used as our 'old gym', was finished.
The original Plato School was founded by John Christian Hicks, better known as J. C. or Brother Hicks. He was the first teacher at Plato. J. C. lived to be 95 years of age. He was married to Nancy L. Hawkins. They had nine children of their own, but the youngest died at the age of three.
The first building that was built where Plato School is located today is the 'old' gymnasium. The foundation was laid late in 1933. Area farmers picked rocks from their fields to use in the building. A stone mason started laying the rocks, but in Cecil Benson's words, "he got mad and quit." From that point on, the Platonians did the job themselves. Ulin Cook can be noted for his knack of laying rock. When the gymnasium was finished, he built a house out of stone for himself. It is located on Prairie Creek Road, just outside of Plato, and is now owned by Ed and Barbara Penley.
In 1934, C. W. Bohannon and Frank Tonkin oversaw the construction of the old gym. They used wooden trusses in the ceiling that were 60 feet wide and 10 feet apart. It took a full truck load of lumber to make just one truss, and there are eight of them in the old gym. Bohannon allowed for these trusses to sag some two or three inches, but to the best of our knowledge, they have yet to sag one inch. These trusses were moved and put up with a Ford tractor and some cable.
When the building was finished it had an upstairs with four high school classrooms and downstairs elementary classrooms and a basketball court. Restrooms were located outside until after 1954 when indoor plumbing was installed. Lunch was cooked and served in the building that currently serves as the Community building. Students would walk down town to eat and then return to school. Two busses ran the bus routes to pick up the students.
Throughout the years more buildings were added to the Plato campus. These included the current primary and elementary. A high school building was built, but was destroyed by fire in 1966. The rebuilt high school, is the building we see today. An industrial arts building was also a part of our campus, but it has since been converted into a Jr high building. The little White House that once contained the Superintendent's office is now a preschool, Plato's first. We have also added a new gymnasium. We began to use this building in 1995. It contains a music room, a computer lab, a weight room, a very large library, a cafeteria complete with a kitchen, restrooms, and, of course the basketball court, four locker rooms, and two coaches offices.
From humble beginnings in a one-room log school house, to a large K-12 campus with an enrollment of around 500, Plato School has grown, withstood adverse times and survived to become the school we know today.
Roby Baptist Church A Going Church For A Coming Savior
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