Villisca alumni live life to the fullest as adults as they did in their school years. We celebrate Villisca alumni on this page, bringing updates of alums as well as sharing ways those with ties to Villisca can make a difference in Villisca schools today.
VAFA (the Villisca Alumni and Friends Association) is committed to enhancing and supporting the educational (both academic and extra-curricular) facilities, programs and opportunities in the Villisca community. An effective public school system and ancillary educational opportunities are vital to small-town life. Click here to go to the VAFA page.
Sightings of Villisca Alumns and Friends
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There have been VHS Grads since 1884.
Since 1983, Villiscans have relied on a small, locally published book to tell them in what year someone graduated from Villisca High School or to provide the name of a classmate’s sister, brother or cousin.
The book, formally named “Villisca High School Graduates” although often jokingly referred to as the Class List Bible, was originally put together to celebrate the first 100 VHS graduating classes. It has been updated several times since, most recently in 2009 in preparation for the last All-School Reunion.
Now, this local reference book has entered the digital age with a website dedicated to it: www.VHSgrads.com.
The electronic version, scanned from the originals, organized, updated, and turned into a website by VHS 1960 alumnus Jim Artlip of Hunt, Texas, provides two lists; one with all the classes by each year of graduation, similar to the paper version; the second and new list provides in alphabetical order the names, followed by the year of graduation, of all 4,506 VHS graduates in the 128 commencements from 1884-2011. The new list is a great help to those who know the last name of a graduate, but can’t remember either the first name or the year of graduation. Both lists are searchable for those who don’t want to scroll through the pages.
The website also has photos and graphics of many of the school buildings that have housed high school classes since 1872 as well as other artwork associated with Villisca’s public schools. In addition it provides a page of links to other Villisca-themed websites and Facebook groups.
Artlip said that the website isn’t meant to take the place of the printed versions of the graduation lists. “It’s just another way of accessing the information,” he notes. “And one that lets you answer your questions through the help of the internet wherever Villiscans have gathered!”
Linda Artlip Weinstein, VHS '66, and Barbara Kemery VHS '66 set out to create a history of Villisca schools and in that process, began looking for copies of The Volcano. The copies they have found and digitized can be found at www.VilliscaVolcano.com. Linda and Barbara continue to look for old copies. Click here for a copy of a special parade edition Linda created for the 2011 Heritage Days Parade. In this issue, you can find information on the copies they are still looking for and get a bit of history of what they have done to find these issues of the Volcano.If you have some contact Linda and let her know what you have and discuss how to best get them to them. Her e-mail is linda.artlip@comcast.net
