History of the Marion Seventh-day Adventist
Church School
The Marion Church board voted to open a school between 1971-1972. There were 3 students: Beverly Fisher, Kevin Fore, and Kevin Kelton. There was no building and no teacher. The Illinois conference offered the use of their Medical Building located at Little Grassy Lake Campsite for the first year until a building could be obtained. A teacher was hired, and school opened September 1972. Roland Miller was the first teacher. There were 8-10 students and they were bussed to the campgrounds in Dr. Joe Billock’s van.
By second semester, more students moved into the area and enrolled in our school. Desks were literally wall-to-wall. A second teacher was needed so Georgette Fisher, a church member, taught grades 1-4 in the trailer across the drive from the medical building.
By fall of 1973 a small block building on Taft & Boulevard St. in Marion was purchased and served as the school until June 1977. That year, land east of Marion was purchased and two classrooms plus a library was built. Later 2 additional classrooms, offices and a gym were added.
Two students did 9th grade the year of 1980-1981. They sat at desks in the hallway for lack of space, and did correspondence with supervision from the upper grade teacher. In the early 1980’s we had nearly 100 students and four teachers.
In 1999, this property was sold and a new building attached to the church was built. This included two classrooms, a fellowship hall and a large gym.
The students moved into the new building on February 14, 2000. The school continues to utilize these classrooms at this time.