In July 1909, Thomas Wyman formally opened his School of the Woods. It was incorporated in 1911, with William Mather, Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Compnay president, being a principle stockholder, together with other merchants in the Munising, Michigan area. The curriculum consisted of a continuous 2-year program with 9 months of class work plus 3 months of hands-on field experience required each year. Students were taught basic botany, mathematics, zoology (including ornithology), soils, silviculture, logging methods and other woods work. Specialists instructed them on such things as logging by steam, forest utilization, manufacture of wooden-ware and veneer, etc. In its heyday, the Wyman School was considered among the top two ranger institutions in the country (the other being at Wanakena, New York, established in 1912, and still operating). Graduates were awarded a diploma in Forest Engineering or in General Forestry, depending upon choice of major emphasis. However, few of them graduated because these smart, well-trained technicians were snapped up by private and public forestry agencies as soon as they showed promise of becoming top notch workers.The Wyman School had to shut its doors in December 1917, when all but a few students left to fight in World War I (excerpted from http://michigansaf.org/ForestInfo/Verme/3-Wyman.htm, accessed Dec. 2009).