Fargo Central High School

Fargo High School was built in 1882 and accommodated grades one through twelve. The facility cost about $40,000 to build, not accounting for inflation. The structure was comprised of three stories with 21 rooms in total. In 1899 the school had six high school teachers and ten grade school level teachers (1-8). The first graduating class consisted of just five students, but the total graduates from Fargo High School by 1908 was 441. The school offered many class subject including history, languages, physics, biology, chemistry, and mathematics. The school, unfortunately, burned down in December 1916. Fortunately is was rebuilt in the same location in 1921. Fargo Central High also burned down in April 1966. Today, Fargo has three public high schools: Fargo North, Fargo South, and Fargo Davies.[1]

James F. Buchli was born on June 20, 1945 in New Rockford, ND. Buchli calls Fargo, ND his hometown and he graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1963. He eventually moved away from North Dakota in order to earn a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the prestigious United States Naval Academy in 1967. He then obtained a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering Systems from University of West Florida in 1975.
Following his graduation from the Naval Academy and before he earned his master's degree Buchli served a year in Vietnam and returned in 1969. He has a long list of military accomplishments including his participation in Marine Advanced Degree Program and Test Pilot School. He became an astronaut in 1979 and partook in multiple missions with NASA. He later retired from the NASA Astronaut office and took a job as a manager in the Space Station Systems Operations and Requirements with Boeing Defense and Space Group.

Sources:

1. “Fargo Central High School | Fargo History.” Accessed October 23, 2016. https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/fargo-central-high-school.
2. “Astronaut Bio: James F. Buchli.” NASA: Lyndon B Johnson Space Center. Accessed October 24, 2016. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/buchli-jf.html.
3. Photo:http://digitalhorizonsonline.org
4. Photo:NDSU Archive:rs004755
5. Photo: http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/buchli_james.htm