As IF to mock the newly elected 

 school board, flames burst from the 

 walls of the Franklin high school one 

 day in 1930. Hours later, the neat little 

 high school lay in worthless ruins. 



The fire couldn't have happened at 

 a more troublesome time. Money-scarce 

 depression days were just ahead. 



But with the farmer's stubborn will 

 to resist misfortune, the board took up 

 the challenge. Two years later, the com- 

 munity had a new school. Yet more 

 than that, it sowed the seed that today 

 makes it one of the top small high 

 schools in Illinois. 



Champion of the community's desire 

 to make the Franklin high school one 

 of the best in the state is slender, quiet 

 Charles R. Gibson, a charter member of 

 the Morgan County Farm Bureau who 

 came to the board 16 years ago just be- 

 fore the school burned down. 



From the start, Gibson made up his 

 mind that his community of 1800 rural 



people would have a new school and 

 scholastic standards second to none. 

 There was nothing selfish in his demand 

 for a new school. He and his wife have 

 no children. 



Shortly after the building was com- 

 pleted in 1931, the new school received 

 probationary recognition and in 1935, 

 the year Gibson became president of the 

 board, the Franklin school was accredited 

 by the state. 



In 1942, Gibson saw his dream come 

 true when the school received full ap- 

 proval of the North Central Association 

 of Colleges and Secondary Schools. 

 With 52 students, it is now one of the 

 smallest schools in the state with a North 

 Central Association rating. 



For his service to education, Gibson 

 was recently awarded the Illinois Educa- 

 tion Association and National School 

 Service Institute Certificate. The cer- 

 tificate reads in part: "In recognition 

 of distinguished service rendered the 



public schools of the state Of Illinois." 



Despite the acknowledgment of his 

 work by state educational leaders, how- 

 ever, Gibson modestly gives most of the 

 credit to the board, the community and 

 the school staff. 



On his own contention that farmers 

 can work out a satisfactory answer to 

 their own problems in education and 

 community life, he has set a good ex- 

 ample. 



Well-equipped with formal education 

 himself, Gibson knows what he wants 

 in education and tries hard to attain it. 

 He was born and reared in the Franklin 

 area and attended Franklin schools. 



From DePauw University at Green- 

 castle, Ind., he received the degree of 

 bachelor of arts and later from the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois he earned the degree 

 of bachelor of science in agriculture. 



Gibson started farming in 1916 and 

 lives with his wife in a comfortable, 

 brown shingled house on his 120-acre 



Ml 



I. A. A. RECORD 



