Heritage 2011: Education October 28, 2011 www.plaintalk.net 19 Did you know ... ? • It was 1953 before South Dakota schools considered implementing a physical education program for both boys and girls. It was one of only three or four states that did not have compulsory PE beginning in the first grade. ? VMS From Page 17 described the core area of the building as a “large Instructional Materials center, surrounded by 18 open classrooms and two science laboratories. “The building will also have a homemaking department, arts and crafts room, music room, gymnasium, three special education rooms, two remedial reading rooms and a large kitchen and dining area,” the Plain Talk reported. The Vermillion Middle School was dedicated on Sunday, February 18, 1973. A blueprint of the building included in the dedication program showed a structure that was described accurately in earlier news reports – a good portion of it was “open” with no walls separating what were described as the building’s 28 “teaching stations” from one another. Features of the new middle school listed in its dedication program included: • Unique open area lending itself to flexible scheduling, large and small group instruction. • Commons area to serve large and small group learning experiences, the lunch program and various school activities. • Gymnasium, featuring a main court, two practice courts with seating capacity of 400. • A modern instructional materials center, with carrels, capacity for 12,000 books and a reading area that will accommodate 200-300 students. • Specially designed facilities for choral, band, art, home economics and science, special education. • Separate facilities for guidance counseling, health services. • Teacher’s lounge, teacher’s preparation area. • Kitchen facilities to permit a central staff to serve the lunch needs of the entire system. The “unique open area” no longer exists in the middle school. It has been filled with more “traditional” classrooms. “Modern Dentistry. Hometown Care.” 605.624.0070 117 E. Cherry Street, Vermillion, SD 57069 • www.heartlandsmiles.net Proud Sponsors of the Character Counts Program 11 Shriner Street, Vermillion • 605–624 –2020