GHS History

Goodland Junior-Senior High School's current building at 1209 Cherry was constructed in 1937, in the middle of the Great Depression, by the Public Works Administration  (PWA). PWA was a New Deal project that employed people on public works projects. PWA was employing 493 men in Sherman County while the high school was under construction. Most of them worked on the high school and Smoky River Bridge. PWA employed other workers to build the Voltaire Township Bridge.

Joseph W Radotinsky was architect. Lundgren & Carlson were the general contractors for a bid of $211,072. They were the same contractors who built Goodland's post office.

The school board had hoped to retain the old building while the new one was under construction. The contractors thought differently. They wanted to tear down the old school building. They said the cost savings would be substantial. The board of education approved their bid Jan. 16, 1937.

The old building came down in the spring of 1937. Classes were held all over town while the new school was under construction.

Most of the laborers worked for as little as 35 cents an hour. In April 1937, they decided to strike for 10 cents an hour more. They wanted their wages to increase to 45 cents. They agreed to wait two weeks before striking in order to give J.A. Lundgren time to negotiate. Lundgren came back with a five-cent an hour raise, to 40 cents, and the workers agreed.

Christmas vacation began early, Dec. 10, 1937. During vacation, the high school teachers moved into their new building. The new building opened Dec. 28. The Goodland News-Republic reported Jan. 5, 1938, that the exterior of the building follows the modern "streamline" design. The interior is beautifully finished with floors of asphaltic tile and floors finished in glazed tile wainscoting.

Goodland High received two new additions: one in 1957 and an elevator shaft in 1997. The science wing was remodeled in 2001. The building received new windows in the 2012-13 school year.

In 2013, local school district USD 352-Goodland's voters passed a $14.1 million (PDF) bond issue. Part of the bond issue, $8.7 million, was earmarked to remodel GHS.

Like their predecessors, Goodland students spent the 2014-15 school year taking classes in buildings all over Goodland. District buses transferred students to classes at Central Elementary, Grant Junior High, Max Jones Fieldhouse and the Tech Building across the street from GHS. Elementary students had been consolidated into remodeled North and West Elementary Schools, leaving Central available for high school classes.

Aug. 20, 2015, was the first day of school in the remodeled building. USD 352 held a ribbon cutting and open house Aug. 23, 2015. Many of the original interior details remain.

Grant Junior High and its Mustangs are no longer. All junior high and high school students now attend school in the same building. Since the buildings have consolidated, all USD 352 sports teams are now Cowboys and Cowgirls. Central now houses Goodland Community Learning Center and the school district's administration. 

GHS has had some outstanding teachers through the years, These are our "Kansas Teacher's Hall of Fame"

Audrey Smith - 1978

Leonard Howell - 1979

Milford Johnston - 1987

Jackie Elliott - 2018

Duane Unger - 2020

Duane Unger     2020                                         Jackie Elliott         2018                                   Milford Johnston   1987