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Each department head
was like a little world within a world. I can't remember all the network.
There was the administration, academic, power plant, vocational, boy's
department, girl's department, boy's athletic, girl's athletic, home
economics department, food service, kitchen and bakery, agricultural,
poultry department.
Everything was under
the administrative department with Mr. Lawrence E. Correll as the
superintendent. Academic was over the high school while the Navajo program
took care of just that tribe. The reason for this was that they had to learn
English along with their other studies.
The boy's and girl's
department were called boy's guidance and girl's guidance departments. These
heads position was to keep everything functioning for the children in their
home lives at the dormitory. Under them were the workers who stayed at the
dormitories in their own complete apartments. I stayed in one of these
apartments in Home Five when I was on a working scholarship at Chilocco in
order to attend College in Arkansas City, Kansas.
Under the Home
Economics department head was Arts and Crafts, Health care students,
cosmetology (beauty shop), sewing, and café management. The bakery came
under the kitchen and food management head.
The dairy came under
the agriculture department like the poultry department, Morgan horses,
orchard, farming also was in this department.
The trades: Printing,
automotive, shoe shop, dry cleaners, and I'm sure there are others I cannot
remember.
At any rate, listing
these department heads are simply a way to show how structured the school
was. It was actually a functioning small town which provided every amenity
for everyone's comfortable living.
Mr. Correll had me
tramping around and about the campus doing sketches of the buildings.
Maybe, somehow in his far reaching vision he knew I would be writing about
the school one day. I went over the campus doing my sketches for him. This
was the year 1954-55. A student was not allowed to walk about over the
grounds indiscriminately. Unmarked boundaries where, if you were caught
there without permission, the rules had been broken and punishment was
exercised in the way of having to give up attending a Saturday movie or some
other function. Occasionally, at first, I had to show my note from Mr.
Correll to one or another of the department heads or staff while I was doing
his sketches. Students too, wondered why I was given a special privilege. I
couldn't explain it at the time but as age rests upon me now I realize this
was his way of encouraging with my art endeavors. It was his integrity with
education that made me learn art was something valuable and needed to be
pursued.
Now I wonder if he knew
about the eventuality of Chilocco's closing and was trying to save memories
of it. Other than that I never knew what he wanted with the sketches. |
