Time to celebrate! 50 years of Tippecanoe School Corporation

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - On the first day that the very first Walmart opened in Arkansas - July 2, 1962 - something much more significant happened in the Greater Lafayette area.  It was the day that the Tippecanoe School Corporation (TSC) was created.

It's the same year that John Glenn first orbited Earth, Marilyn Monroe died, and the Beverly Hillbillies television show first aired.
    
There was a special 50th anniversary celebration bringing out more than 200 members of the community to McCutcheon High School Wednesday evening.
 
"A lot of folks have gone before us and have paved the way so that we can experience the success in education that we deliver yet today," said Superintendent Scott Hanback.

TSC was created from the state-mandated consolidation of eight area districts: Shelby Township, Klondike School Corporation, Tippecanoe Township, Fairfield Township, East Tipp School District, Sheffield Township, Lauramie Township, and the Southwestern Tippecanoe County School District.  In 1962, there was 450 employees, 5,778 students and a budget of $2.3 million.

How things have changed.

This year, TSC employs almost 1,400, teaches 12,108, and has a budget of $108.9 million.
    
In a special presentation, the longest tenured teacher and recently retired Marsha Kuebler passed off her traditional #1 jersey to the next longest tenured teacher Tanya VanHyfte.

There have been 160 current or retired staff members who have served TSC for at least 30 years since 1962.
    
How things have changed.

When Kuebler was hired in 1970, smoking was allowed in teacher's lounges and female teachers had to wear dresses.

"It's amazing to know that I've been here almost the whole time that TSC has been in existence," Kuebler said.

From pictures of old schools to school yearbooks, there was plenty of memorabilia on display including a corporation directory from 1963.

But it wasn't just artifacts honored.

Janie Getchel and her sisters are the daughters of the very first TSC school board president, Alonzo Booher.

"I'm very proud, very proud of my father," said Getchel.

TSC has since graduated 20,000 men and women.  But as much as Wednesday's celebration remembered the past, it asked those to look ahead to the next 20,000 graduates.

"We think those that have gone before us that have paved the way have built a solid foundation," Hanback said.  "We've been able to reap the benefits.  Then it's our opportunity to build for the future so that people 50 years later can look back and say, 'Look how far our district has come'."

At 437 square miles, TSC is the 2nd largest district in Indiana by area.  With more than 12,000 students, the corporation is the 13th largest district by population.

How things have changed.

When TSC was created there were 15 schools, including six high schools.  Now, TSC operates 19 schools and just two high schools.

TSC's assessed valuation was $60.3 million in 1963.  Now, just the building value of all TSC buildings and facilities is $418.3 million and the assessed value for the corporation is $3.4 billion!

A first-year teacher in 1963 was paid $4,700.  This year, a beginning teacher will earn more than $34,407.