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75th Anniversary
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Anniversary Posts 1-15
- 1: Monroe Academy: Henrietta’s First Famous School
- 2: First Schools: Uphill, Barefoot, Both Ways
- 3: 1938: Voters Reject Creation of Rush-Henrietta Central School District
- 4: Schoolhouse Records Give Glimpse of Life 100 Years Ago
- 5: 1946: Given Second Chance, Voters Embrace New District
- 6: A Different Time: When Rush Had More Kids Than Henrietta
- 7: Choosing a Mascot: Why We're Not the Royal Falcons
- 8: Meet the Board: Rush-Henrietta’s Original Fab Five
- 9: Late 1940s: The Beginning of a Population Explosion
- 10: Breaking Ground: Rush-Henrietta’s First New School
- 11: 1952: R-H’s First New School a ‘Splendid Dream’
- 12: First Meeting of the New Board of Education
- 13: 1959 R-H Grad Still Gets on the Bus Every Day
- 14: Humble Beginnings: Two School Buses to Start
- 15: 1954: Sudden Need for a Second New School
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Anniversary Posts 16-30
- 16: 1954-1955: Two Votes for a Second School
- 17: The Story of Gillette Elementary School
- 18: 1950s: Building a New School Each Year
- 19: 1957: Residents Press Pause, Reject Two New Schools
- 20: 1958: Fourth New School Helps District Keep Pace
- 21: 1950s: Curious Visitors Flock to New R-H School
- 22: Bill Farrell: ‘Architect of the R-H Sports Program’
- 23: 1961: Rush-Henrietta Gets a Junior High School
- 24: 1963: A New School Called Wedgewood
- 25: Elmer Gordon: A Rush-Henrietta Trailblazer
- 26: Remembering Jack Gaffney
- 27: Jack Gaffney's Incredible Connections to Our R-H Past
- 28: Remembering Wilma Jean Milhouse
- 29: 1964: West Henrietta Gets Its First New School
- 30: 1965: Fyle Elementary Named to Honor Respected Teacher
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Anniversary Posts 31-45
- 31: R-H Family History Revealed in Historic Records
- 32: Dr. John W. Parker: Devoted to District’s Early Success
- 33: 1966: Amidst Housing Boom, R-H Opens Sherman Elementary
- 34: 1968: Rush-Henrietta Opens Its First High School
- 35: Richard TenHaken: Superintendent Who Looked Controversy in the Eye
- 36: 1970: Vollmer Becomes R-H’s Last New School
- 37: The Dome Arena: R-H and Other Legends
- 38: The Lion in the Room - Senior High School Pride
- 39: Artists in Residence
- 40: Providing an Even Start
- 41: Paul McKee: Humility Meets Great Success
- 42: Raymond Delaney Had ‘Unshakeable Belief’ in Public Education
- 43: Roger Eckers Strikes Up the Band
- 44: 1982: R-H Denies West Brighton Request to Secede
- 45: George DesMarteau: One - Make That Two - of a Kind
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Anniversary Posts 46-60
- 46: Recognizing 75 Years of Music Excellence
- 47: Senior High School Mural Depicts 'Community of School'
- 48: 2006: Rush-Henrietta Alumni Council Established
- 49: A Bird's-Eye View of 1951
- 50: 1945: Preparing for the First Day of School
- 51: R-H is Where ‘The Rock’ Calls Home
- 52: 1974: Rush-Henrietta Takes to the Airwaves
- 53: Glory Years of WRHR: A Student’s Perspective
- 54: 1969: R-H a Trailblazer in Embracing Student Voice
- 55: 1975: Rush-Henrietta’s High School Reaches Capacity
- 56: 1975 to 1986: A Decade of Dual High Schools
- 57: 1987: New High School Name Helps Community Heal
- 58: How We Became the Royal Comets
- 59: Extracurricular Highlights
- 60: Spotlight on Bob Sagan, Act I
- 61: Spotlight on Bob Sagan, Act II
- 62: 1991: R-H Hires First New Superintendent in 20 Years
- 63: Werner Kleemann: More Than a Sports Legend
- 64: 2000: R-H Loses ‘Wonderful Mentor’
- 65: 2000: R-H Legend Returns to Stabilize High School
- 66: A Surprise Boost for Student Athletes and Musicians
- 67: Adventures of Ping: Restoring a One-of-a-Kind Painting
- 68: Dr. Ken Graham: Two Decades of Strong Leadership
- 69: R-H’s History of Putting Safety First
- 70: Girls Basketball Team Becomes Stuff of Legends
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Anniversary Posts 1-15
- Did You Know?
- Distinguished Alumni
- First Administrators
- Norm Miller: Portrait of a Rush-Henrietta Life Well Lived
- School Namesakes
- Superintendents
- Who Was Elmer Gordon?
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75th Anniversary
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- District Mission, Vision, and Values
- District Overview
- District Policies
- District Priorities
- District Progress Update
- Job Opportunities
- Program and Service Reviews
- Staff Directory
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- Title I
- Town Resources
- COVID-19 Reopening Summary
Bill Farrell: ‘Architect of the R-H Sports Program’
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The late Bill Farrell helped develop Rush-Henrietta into a perennial sports powerhouse. Hired as the district’s first full-time physical education teacher in 1951, his contributions are still felt today.
In the 1950s, Farrell coached an incredible assortment of sports, including baseball, basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, soccer, and track. Wanting to expand athletic opportunities for children, he founded the Rush-Henrietta Athletic Association in 1954. The RHAA complex on West Henrietta Road is named for Farrell in recognition of his efforts to promote youth baseball.
Appointed as the district's athletic director in 1960, Farrell was responsible for assembling an incredible collection of talented coaches that helped propel Rush-Henrietta to sporting success. Those hires included Bill Cowden, Jim Cox, Jerry Everling, Gordon Gilfilian, Werner Kleemann, Paul McKee, Gene Monje, Rick Page, Jack Smith, Paula Summit, and Dick Young.
In 1968, Farrell became the district's personnel director and later served as assistant superintendent. One day, based on word of mouth, he contacted Page out of the blue to ask if he was interested in teaching physical education in the growing district. Page drove directly from Massachusetts to Henrietta to have an interview and Farrell hired him on the spot. It proved to be a wise decision. Page spent the remainder of his decades-long career as a Rush-Henrietta coach, teacher, and administrator. He remembers how influential Farrell was in putting district athletics on the map. “Bill was the architect of the R-H sports program,” Page says.
Gary Junge, a 1966 Rush-Henrietta graduate, worked as a summer counselor under Farrell as a teenager. “He was always good to the athletes,” Junge says. “People respected him. He was always around to talk to if you needed someone, and he was interested in what athletes were doing off the field, too.”Farrell, who served in the United States Marine Corps in the 1940s, had a big impact on our region and state. He was chair of Section V basketball for many years and largely responsible for creating the high school state basketball tournament. He also supported the Rochester LPGA. The local golf scene was one of his many passions.
When Farrell died in 2003, Kleemann honored the person who hired him, telling the Democrat and Chronicle: “He was an uncomplicated man. He didn’t have a lot of rules. He just expected you to do certain things and you wanted to do them.”
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