FARMINGTON -- Davis School District opened its doors 100 years ago with 2,730 students.
Now it is the second-largest school district in the state, with more than 67,000 students.
Employees kicked off the district's centennial recognition Wednesday at Lagoon Amusement Park, complete with the Davis High School marching band and 5,000 cupcakes.
District officials and schools will celebrate the district's birthday all during the upcoming school year with such events as 100 service projects and challenging students to read 100 books, Superintendent Bryan Bowles said.
Michelle Dalby, first-grade teacher at Lakeside Elementary School in West Point, attended the event with her two children.
A graduate of Woods Cross High School, Dalby said, "It's fun to think the district has been around for 100 years. I take pride in being part of the school district."
Mary Lou Sessions, a secretary at West Point Elementary, also attended Davis schools, as did her children and now her grandchildren.
"We really are dedicated to educating kids," said Sessions. One of her daughters is a second-grade teacher at Ellison Park Elementary in Layton.
The district officially opened July 17, 1911, with Henry H. Blood, of Kaysville, serving as one of the five school board members. He later went on to become the state's seventh governor.
The district at that time had 31 neighborhood schools, four of them with eight or more rooms, and 27 with one to four rooms, Bowles said. The district now has 86 schools.
More than 50 languages are spoken in the district, students use Netbooks and laptops, and elementary school students are learning foreign languages, said Marian Storey, the district's school board president. Gone are the blackboards, chalks, erasers and slide rules.
"Children were, are and will continue to be our greatest natural resource," Bowles said.
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