Trophies from Wasson hall of fame will move, some will stay
Wasson High School may be closing but the memorabilia, the physical archives from their athletics, will not go far. Many of the trophies won by Wasson since the opening of the school in 1959 will stay on site and will honor the school. Almost all of the athletic trophies in Wasson’s “Hall of Fame” will remain intact and in place.
“We’ve got 50-plus years of history and achievement from that facility, generated from the students and staff,” District 11 project manager Val Bachman said. “We want to honor them. We never wanted to take Wasson’s history away. … Tough decision for our board to make, but we certainly want to preserve the athletic and academic history.”
Closing time for the ‘Mansion on the Hill’
Some trophies will move to one of two locations. District 11’s public information officer Devora Ashbee expects a display case to be near the auditorium in Wasson High School. That case on the soon-to-be Roy J. Wasson Academic Campus will include sports trophies, awards and prizes earned by the school for academics, choir, band and other honors.
“We’re dedicating a space at Wasson High School to display Wasson-specific memorabilia,” Bachman said. “That memorabilia would consist of trophies, photographs, some historic teaching materials … some interesting history.”
The display filled with Wasson’s historical mementos will be open to the public when the school changes into the Roy J. Wasson Academic Campus.
District 11 will send the more important pieces to a second location, the Tesla Facility, as opposed to the District 11 archives.
“We have a committee that is working on identifying the artifacts or memorabilia that has historical significance, and that’s a tough thing to do, because memorabilia means different things to different people,” Bachman said.
The Tesla Facility will act as a museum for the many schools that have been closed in District 11.
“We thought it would be nice to create a (District) 11 museum where all of these memorabilia may be housed and that would be over at the Tesla Facility,” Ashbee said.
Wasson High School athletic director Jared Welch approves of the district’s three venues for display.
“I think what the district is doing honors the history of Wasson. I think that that plan is a good plan,” Welch said. “It will allow the district to showcase the history of Wasson High School.”
District 11 just wants to preserve the legacy of closing schools, and Wasson is no exception.
“What we’re trying to do,” Bachman said, “is acknowledge the entire history of D-11.”
Tamra Stellick, a 1997 Wasson grad, takes a picture of classmate Jimmy Adams, who is in the school’s hall of fame, while her husband Zachary Stellick, a 1997 grad, and daughter Michelle Tomkinson, 10, watch Feb. 12 before the last regular season home boys’ basketball game for the Wasson Thunderbirds. The school closed last week. Many of the trophies from the hall will go to the Tesla Facility. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE