SK Malone
Staff Writer
Hope School looks lovely in the fall light.
Hope School may be tiny, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in spirit and perseverance. It’s the second oldest school in the Kenai Peninsula School District since Seward’s school was built four months before Hope’s. On the peninsula there are a total of 44 schools scattered throughout a land area of 25,600 square miles. That size is larger than the state of West Virginia.
The first school was built in 1904, nine years after Hope was started, and eight years after the gold rush boosted the town’s growth. Mrs. A.L Howard was the first school teacher in the small mining town. After her husband died of a heart attack in December of 1903, Mrs. Howard asked the town to help with expenses so she could leave on the boat the following spring.
In return she offered to teach the kids in the community, which she did in her own cabin with whatever materials were on hand and many donated books. Her class size was approximately six to eight students, ranging in age and grade. Many had never attended school and others hadn’t been in a class for more than a few years. Excitement was bubbling, news traveled and more people were deciding to call Hope home.
By spring of 1904, the boat brought new faces, amongst them was a man destined to become the next teacher. Oskar Grimes was employed by the Alaska Commercial Company, the first mining company in Hope and the first to erect buildings. Grimes attended a military academy in Arkansas. Grimes first class was nine kids, eight of whom permanently resided in Hope and one boy who was the son of a local miner who moved shortly after the school was started.
Again books and materials were donated to the school, which again was the private residence of the new teacher. Even though there was a lack of material and no set lesson plan, he made sure to teach them their three R’s. It is unknown how long he taught for as well as if he was paid.
In 1915 Mable Pratt was the first Hope teacher hired by the Territory of Alaska. During that same year, a Territorial Board of Education was created by Governor John Franklin Alexander Strong, and the Hope School was one of the first territorial schools. With a new school system and an actual teacher, came the first schoolhouse, a two story building that was once a brewery that stood on the corners of Main and B streets.
The bottom floor was converted into a classroom, with the top floors the teachers quarters. Pratt served as the Hope School teacher for about two years. After she left ten women came and went over the next 20 years. Three of these teachers were daughters of former miners and towns people: Mattie Mathison Bailey, Lorinda Ward and Louise Slater. Most were women who were called “tourist teachers” from different states, coming to experience Alaska.
Mary Monagle, the teacher in 1920-22, had her students write a Hope Community column that was printed in the Seward newspaper. The years 1936-37 the school acquired two teachers, Grace Kohler and Mr. Lease, but they only stayed for one school year. During their time here, the current schoolhouse burned to the ground. The only object remaining was the giant school bell, which today resides in Moose Pass. The students and teachers utilized the one-room Hope Social Hall to finish off the year.
The fall of 1937 brought Jerry Williams to Hope, who taught 15 students in a cabin known as “The Old Snook cabin” until the new territorial school on the corners of 2nd and A streets was built. Mr. Williams left Hope School after one year. The new schoolhouse was again a two story building with the teachers quarters on the top floor, and the classroom would serve grades 1-8. Today the Hope Library uses this building.
Over the next few years big changes were in store for Alaska and Hope, in 1959 Alaska became a state and not long after Hope became part of the Kenai Peninsula School District. In 1964 a powerful earthquake rocked Alaska. Mrs. Rich was the school teacher at this time, despite the numerous aftershocks following the 1964 quake, she stayed and finished off the school year.
From 1977-84 Caroline Nesbitt Strong taught at the Hope School, and the school’s student population jumped to twenty-five kids. Her love for teaching was so strong that she not only taught her students, but other members of the community as well. In 1983 the people of Hope voted to extend the schools grades to K-10th, also petitioning the KPSD for a new larger school building.
Four years later in 1987, a new school was completed along what was formerly known as Palmer Creek Rd. and now known as Resurrection Creek Rd. Another vote was held which raised the grade count to include twelfth graders, They were the first seniors to graduate from Hope School in the year 2001.
In 2008 Patti Truesdell arrived to teach at the school. She lives in Soldotna but travels 98 miles from her house to the school, leaving at 6 a.m. every Monday morning. It takes her three hours to reach Hope, where she stays in local lodgings during the week.
Mrs. T, as she is affectionately called by students and parents, remarked, “I came to Hope on February 15, 2008, and there were only five students still attending Hope School. I didn’t know what to think, except that Hope was beautiful and I was excited to have a school of my own.”
In 2013 Hope School saw the arrival of Sandra Barron, a Science and Math teacher from the Anchorage School District. Now Mrs. T teaches History, Language Arts and Literature, and Ms. Barron teaches Math, Science and PE. Ms. Barron is also one of the schools Cross Country coaches, with the other coach being Pam Skogstad. There are also parent and community volunteers who teach some classes like music (Kristy Peterson), archery (Andrew Schell), welding and shop (Willie Davidson), art and creative writing (this reporter).
Today Hope School has 17 students, with more families moving into town everyday that number is sure to rise. For now we remain a small school with big hopes.
This article was sponsored in part by Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area.
