Minot, North Dakota, is a town of about 38,000. Minot Air Force Base, ten miles north, adds 10,000 or so to the population. Minot was a railroad town in the early days, named after Henry D. Minot, who came in with the railroad. It is a good, clean town, with a low crime rate and one of the best school systems anywhere.
Minot Model High School was established in 1926 as a school where Minot State University students could do student teaching for their education and teaching degrees. Classes were limited to 35, allowing close student and teacher relationships, with extra attention not found in larger classes. One main teacher supervised each student teacher and there were new student teachers every quarter. We had marvelous bands, choirs and athletic teams. Our boys basketball teams won five of seven Class B state tournaments between 1947 and 1953. In 1968, the state decided they no longer needed training schools. Students transferred to public schools, which was hard because Model was the only school most had ever attended.
Every five years we have an all-school reunion in Minot to renew friendships and relive our wonderful past at the training school. Every six months I send a newsletter, so we always have up-to-date addresses-very useful when we are planning reunions.
Five hundred attended our 2005 reunion. The three-day event included a social with hors d’oeuvres, class pictures, a banquet and program, dance and Sunday brunch. We honored veterans, those lost in 9-11 and wars, and alumni lost since we were last together in 2000. Very colorful decorations were the blue and red of the Beaver Kits of Minot Model. A revamped choir performed two songs before the banquet, and la local band played songs from the ’50s and ’60s.
We award yearly scholarships to descendants of Minot Model graduates or those who attended the high school until it closed.
Contact Judy Thorson Ross ([email protected]), Class of 1961 and Editor of the Model Messenger, Minot, North Dakota.
