Paseo High School History

The history of the original Paseo High School is an ongoing project of the Paseo Alliance and is still under development. Please read this document with that in mind. Just click on the button below and the Paseo History file will open for you to read.
Within the document above, named A History of Paseo High School and The Kansas City Missouri School District, is a section called The Friends of Paseo. Two of these Friends, the founder Sharon Teague McCone, and a Paseo High School Teacher,  Melissa Wiggins, gave a presentation to the Paseo Alliance quarterly luncheon on January 27, 2014. Also participating that afternoon was attorney John Kurtz, along with several other individuals who tried to save Paseo High School.

Below you can see the presentation that talks to the efforts to save the Paseo High School from the wrecking ball.  
Another interesting story, that is part of the Paseo History, relates to the placing of the stones in front of the school that spells out PASEO. Read on to learn the individual and class responsible for coming up with the idea, and how those rocks have been maintained over the years. 
Rock on Paseo - - - Pointing the Way!
Before the rocks were place, the space between the steps leading from the Paseo Boulevard, to and from Paseo High School, looked like this:
This picture can be found in the 1950 Paseon.
The picture above can be found in the 1950 Paseon. Looks kind of plain. 

The idea of placing the Rocks on the hill from Flora to Paseo was conceived by Coach Andy Nurski. Although several classes in the early 1950’s have taken credit for performing the task, it was the Class of 1951 who deserve the credit. 

For some months, Coach Nurski watched contractors, who were building Volker Blvd. from the west, and when they neared The Paseo, they encountered massive amounts of limestone which had to be blasted out and hauled away. One day the Coach went down the hill and asked the Contractor if he could have some of the rock. His answer was ‘sure, we have to haul it somewhere so he had them haul several truckloads of limestone up to the school, adjacent to the football field. 

In cooperation with Coach Dwight, both Coaches recruited the gym classes to carry and put the rocks in place. (A second version of how the PASEO rocks came to be, can be found later in this story.)

The rocks on the hillside that spell out PASEO seem pretty permanent, but they have needed help through the years to maintain their dignity.

In the fall of 1994, members of the class of 1962 got together to spruce up what had become a less-than-pleasing vista from The Paseo looking toward Flora. The brain child of Glenn Hunt, Marc French and Glenn spent a day repositioning and mortaring the rocks prior to the class work day. Then about 30 workers from the class of 1962 came together on a beautiful Saturday in September to give the old letters a fresh coat of white paint and the area a good cleanup. Then Glenn and another classmate returned later for a 2nd coat of paint. It was a fun, although strenuous project and we patted ourselves on the back and said, “Job well done!” Here is a picture of the workers from the Class of 1962 and the results of their fine efforts.
The pristine condition didn’t last over time.
An email went out to Paseo Pirates from Keith Adams, coordinator of the “Save the PASEO Letters” restoration committee of the Paseo Alumni Association. Attached to the email was a picture of the “rocks” which illustrated the deteriorated condition into which they had fallen. A date was set for Saturday, August 22, 2009, starting at 9:00 a.m. for the cleanup to begin.

People were urged to bring rakes, shovels, trash bags and other items for the cleanup. It was a bright, sunny day and quite a number of Pirates showed up ready and willing to put the “rocks” back to the beautiful enhancement of the hill. Pirates who couldn’t come due to living out of town sent money to help out with drinks and refreshments for those who could help.

One of the hard workers was a graduate of Southwest, Tom Mize, and the former husband of Pirate, Karen Barber. He was voted an honorary Pirate for all his hard work and effort. 

The coming together of people from Paseo classes from about 1960-2008 was a great experience and a way to get acquainted with graduates from other years. Some Pirates were from the “original” school and some of the “Pirates” were from the current school, but all were proud to be working together and interested in having the “rocks” declare the proud name of PASEO. The “jolly roger” was hoisted up the flag pole for all to view. Following the cleanup there was a brunch provided for the workers. It was another great day to be a Paseo Pirate!
Thanks to those who contributed to this article.

Forrest Weddle, ’61, Mona Halliburton Hartzler, ’62, Ruth Haubein Weddle,’61, Raymond Vaughn, 68, Dr. Juanita Hempstead, Principal, The Paseo Academy.
Baylor Edwards, ’55  



Are you ready for another perspective on this story? Here goes.


First-Person Recollections from Class of '52

Added January 25, 2011

provided by Dave Herron '52


To clear up some misconceptions about the "Paseo Rocks". I am enclosing a letter written to me by Dr. Jordan Cohen, Paseo '52. He and Dr. Stanley Shane, Paseo '51, spearheaded the project shortly after the 1950 Football season ended. It was initially a project of the Paseo Letterman's Club; Shane was the President of that organization. The project was completed in July of 1951 after Shane had graduated, and a photo of Shane and Cohen putting on the finishing touches appeared in the KC Star. I had emailed a letter to Stan and Jordan asking if they had a copy of that photo a few years ago, and received a copy from one of them. I hope the attachment of the letter from Dr. Cohen can be inserted in this area. Dave Herron


Dave,

My recollection (after 58 years!!!) is as follows: Stan and I conceived of the idea and got permission from the principal, Mr. Bond, to put the lettering on the grass mall between the steps. Stan and I carefully measured the area and blocked out the letters. We dug the "P" first and dug way too deep; it took many loads of stones to fill the "P" trench we dug. So, we decided to dig the remaining letters much shallower so that one layer of stones was all that was required. I think Stan and I were the only ones who actually dug the ground out for the letters. The stones came from what I recall as some kind of quarry just across Paseo Blvd. from the steps. I have a vague recollection of getting some help from other students to carry the stones to the site but I'm pretty sure Stan and I were the only ones who actually laid out "PASEO." I'll be interested in hearing whether Stan has a different recollection. 

Jordan



So there you have it. Two different stories about how the PASEO rocks came about. What do you remember happening? We'd like to know. Just send us your thoughts about this subject through the

 Paseo Voices

and we'll make sure to include your recollections here.




The Implosion of The Original Paseo High School

View From the Back of Paseo High School

View From the Front of Paseo High School

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