Hyannis High School |
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Hyannis High School |
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With a school first established in Hyannis in 1888, Hyannis graduated its first 12th grader in 1913. From the earliest frame building, it has updated its facilities in 1903 and in 1918. In the mid-1960s, it built its current high school, consolidating the schools of Hyannis, Whitman, and Ashby and drawing students from Cherry and Sheridan counties. The Hyannis Longhorns won the state championship in Class D wrestling in 1981, and their eight-man football teams have been state contenders several times since 1989 (Nebraska High School Historical Society 359).
Both Hyannis and Mullen are located in one of the most unique geographical areas of the United States, the Nebraska Sand Hills, which is the largest rolling sand dune range in the Western Hemisphere, covering 19,300 square miles.
In Old Jules, noted Nebraskan author Maria Sandoz wrote of the experience of those who homesteaded the Sand Hills:
"The country was aloof, austere, forbidding: the wind sucking their courage as it sucked the green from the grass by mid-June. Some saw it as a great sea caught and held forever in a spell, and were afraid." (424)
In this part of the country, a blowout is not a flat tire but a dramatically eroding hill. Blizzards often occur during the spring calvings season. Ground water close to the surface can fill the interdunal valleys, bringing marsh vegitation in close juxtaposition with desert plants such as yucca. Because of these unique ecological features, a portion of Grant County has been designated as a National Natural Landmark.
According to a 1939 source, Hyannis "is a hilly and rather unusual ranch town. Although they are not of the two-gun variety, the ranchers and cowboys of the vicinity still walk the streets of Hyannis in ten-gallon hats, riding boots, spurs, and chaps. . . . Between Hyannis and Alliance is sand-hill country, with here and there a lake of deep ultramarine lying in a pocket of yellow dunes" (Federal Writers' Project 368).
At that time, this source notes, Hyannis's population was 384, but by 1980, the population had dropped to 336, declining still further to 210 by the 1990 Census (Nebraska Blue Book 817). Located in Grant County, which has a population of less than one person per square mille, Hyannis is the county seat as well as the only incorporated town (855). This is, of course, in an area where the average ranch is 4,000 to 6,000 acres (Bleed 6).
There are two students taking English 102 over the distance learning system, for which they are receiving college credit:
| Kryn Kostman is an 18-year old senior who loves to play basketball, spend time with her boyfriend, procrastinate, and drive her Chevy Malibu while listening to Puff Daddy or whatever's in the CD player. Her e-mail address is kryn54@goplay.com. |  |
| Sara Adam is a 17 year old senior in high school who likes listening to all kinds of music, playing basketball, analyzing her friends, cracking stupid jokes that most people don't get, and laughing at people who tease her about her uniqueness. Her e-mail address is saradam@goplay.com. |  |
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