Back in Time, April 27

Apr. 27—Photo of Bradley Young taken from the 1958 Mitchell High School Yearbook, the Warbler.

Mitchell has always prided itself on providing an education for its citizens. Evidence of this is shown in the early years of the community when it was still at Firesteel where the first school was held in a store building with Edmonia Greene as the teacher from 1874 to 1875. The first school in Mitchell proper was held in a building known as the Presbyterian Chapel from 1879 to 1880. Founders of Mitchell started planning for a school right away with a vote taken to assess taxes to pay for a school. John and Catherine Lawler donated land for the school that was built and named Whittier in 1880. It faced Sanborn Boulevard and was both elementary and high school.

Mitchell continued its building of schools throughout the city and it still continues today to upgrade the buildings and curriculum. The story of Bradley Young School is a part of that history.

When Bradley Young moved to Mitchell in 1917, he probably had no idea that one day he would have an elementary school named in his honor. He came to Mitchell as manager of the first J. C. Penney store. He was respected for serving his community. He was a very accomplished man and his 21 years as a member of the Mitchell School Board, and 10 of those as its chairman is the reason he was honored with a school named for him.

It had been known for many years that the Junior High School building at the corner of Third Avenue and Sanborn Boulevard would need to be replaced. In 1966, the Mitchell school board purchased 40 acres of land located north of Eighth Avenue and west of Minnesota street from Edwin Cassem and Thelma Cassem Cropp. The new Junior High School was built on this land in 1969, and dedicated on Nov. 2.

In 1967, Plano Consolidated School was taken into the Mitchell School District. The junior and senior high grades were moved to Mitchell, leaving only the first six grades at Plano. In 1969, the remaining six grades were taken into the Mitchell school system and moved to the old Junior High School building. The name was changed to Plano Elementary School.

The Plano Elementary School remained at the old Junior High School location until the fall semester 1971 when it moved to rooms in the west end of the new Junior High School. When this move was made, the school's name was changed again to Bradley Young School.

Bradley Young School existed from 1971 to 1979. Mrs. Leona Klinkner was the principal at Plano and also taught kindergarten. She was also the principal at Bradley Young School and taught 5th grade. Several other teachers taught at both Plano Elementary and Bradley Young School: Mrs. June Goldammer, Mrs. Georgia Gross, and Allan Biggerstaff. In 1979, students attending Bradley Young School were absorbed into the existing grade schools in Mitchell. Thus came to an end the existence of a very short-lived elementary school in Mitchell—Bradley Young School.

— Back in Time is a weekly photo submission that includes history about Mitchell and the region, provided by the Mitchell Area Historical Society.