Scholastic at 75: rock of ages. (Scholastic Inc.)

COACHES who view Scholastic Coach as the big, bold independent media voice that answers to no man except the Internal Revenue Service may be surprised to learn that it is, and has always been, a member of a giant magazine/book corporation called Scholastic Inc.

Remember those "Scholastic" magazines and books you used to read as a school kid or used as texts in your classroom teaching? That was the same Scholastic Inc. that now publishes 40 magazines, several billion books (our abacus broke down after reaching the millions) and Scholastic Coach.

Check the centerfold in this issue. Scholastic Inc. is celebrating its 75th birthday this year, and the insert is its way of bragging a little ("The Inc. never runs dry on the Scholastic empire") and saying thank you to the millions of teachers and students who have been so loyal and supportive over the years.

And how does Scholastic Coach fit into the picture? It popped into the Scholastic family in 1931. At the time, the family consisted of one member--The Scholastic--a weekly magazine that was brought into the world in 1920 by a young, brilliant idealist named Maurice (Robbie) Robinson.

Robbie's second in command was a football coach named G. Herbert McCracken. From September 1 to December 1, he coached football at Lafayette College. From December 1 to September 1, he backed up the financial and advertising lines for Scholastic Inc.

It was Herb who founded Scholastic Coach in 1931.

Robbie and his growing family of magazines were joined in a common cause and trust--Education: the education of youth in the classroom the education of youth in life.