COBB >> On September 15, Cobb Mountain Elementary students and staff will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the dedication of their school. A reunion of all current and past students, staff and parents will be held on Saturday, September 12 at Black Rock Golf Course on Cobb, and a celebration at Cobb Mountain Elementary School will occur the following day at the annual Harvest Festival on Sunday, September 13.
The original dedication ceremonies of Cobb Mountain Elementary School on Sunday, September 15, 1985 included student singing, presentations from then School Board members Bill Hecomovich and George Hoberg Jr., as well as Congressman Doug Bosco. The local newspaper noted that “Mr. Schuyler Jeffries, the architect for Cobb Mountain Elementary School, has certainly captured the feeling of the mountain area in the aesthetically constructed school.” They also commented on the “modern and efficient” classrooms which included “computers and tape recorders” and “impressive digital clocks,” The current Middletown Unified School District Superintendent at the time, Bill Cornelison, said that the district was “the fastest growing in Lake County. There was a 17 percent growth just this year, and seems to be totally due to the work at the Geysers. There has been very little impact from the Homestake Gold Mine to date.”
The ceremony celebrated the history of education on Cobb Mountain, particularly the work of Mrs. Leslie Egan. Mrs. Egan moved to Cobb in 1922 and lived in Pine Grove until 1953. She taught at the Little Red Schoolhouse there for 18 years, retiring in 1945. She was a trustee of the school district for a short time after that. She and her husband also operated the store and resort at Pine Grove.
The dedication ceremony program notes, “The history of education on Cobb Mountain is intimately connected with the name of Leslie Egan. Many local citizens owe their education to this pioneer teacher.” To recognize her service, the multi-use building at Cobb Elementary is named “Leslie Egan Community Center.”
Keller McDonald, the first principal of Cobb Mountain Elementary, had these reflections on the first days. “The opening of Cobb Mountain School was an incredibly exciting time for the entire community! Everyone had waited a long time since the closing of the Little Red School House for a school to return to Cobb. It was obvious that the beautiful new school was going to be a center of community pride and activity. But it took an amazing amount of work to open the new school once the buildings were finished! The classrooms and library and auditorium had to be outfitted from scratch, and the school culture and traditions had to be created from the ground up. Cobb staff, parents and community worked hand-in-hand with boundless energy to create a great school for Cobb kids. Community groups came forward with funds they had raised in anticipation of Cobb school opening, and volunteers designed and built the first playground. The ball fields were designed and built with a grant from the County of Lake, and the school district landscaped the school soon after the school opened. The nature trail and garden followed, and Scouts and other volunteers added features to help Cobb kids enjoy outdoor learning. For 30 years, the Cobb community has continued a tradition of caring that has given Cobb Mountain School a well-deserved reputation near and far as a very special place for kids!”
The vision of Cobb Mountain Elementary was to integrate outdoor education with science curriculum with outdoor learning experiences. Faculty and instructional aides received training in Project Wild and Project Learning Tree. Cobb School is located adjacent to a 40 acre section of Boggs Mountain State Demonstration Forest, and soon after the school opened, a series of nature trails were constructed. These trail loops have been extensively used by the school students over the years. Later, an adjacent outdoor amphitheater and school garden were added. The outdoor education program has seen tremendous growth in the school garden over the past 7 years, which now includes a paid garden aide to help bring the students into the garden every week.
The success of Cobb Mountain Elementary School is due to the commitment of the staff and teachers and also the tremendous community support from parents, local businesses and community members. Even in times of short funding from the State Department of Education, the school has pushed to continue to offer art, instrumental music, culinary and nutrition education, physical activity and lots of other services that commonly are cut when finances are short.
For more information about the 30th Anniversary Celebration weekend, please contact David Leonard at david.leonard@middletownusd.org. To purchase tickets for the Saturday evening reunion dinner, go to Brown Paper Tickets and search “Cobb School 30th Anniversary”. Tickets cost $32.00 for adults and $13.50 for children. No-host bar to open at 4:30 p.m. and buffet dinner at 5:30. Advance ticket purchase recommended (so we know how many to cook for!).
The annual Cobb Mountain School Harvest Festival is a fun, free day of art, music and food samples held at the Cobb Mountain School Garden from 11:00 till 2:00 on Sunday, Sept. 13.
