Binghamton North High School - Wampum Yearbook (Binghamton, NY)

Page 10 text:

Tenth Harvest Mrzny moons have passed-- many traditions made since our tepee flaps were first thrown open to 1,500 students in the fall of 1937. Planned as a million-dollar W. P. A. proj- ect in the midst of the depres- sion, our reservation became an actuality when the smoke of l blue and scarlet flames began to V curl into the skies from the campfires of North High. Where Andrews Avenue meets East Frederick Street4that was the chosen -5 campsite, but before the 1937 Christmas vacation our tribe was facing its first foremost problem, a tepee shortage. Sophomores, spend- ing their first Indian summer at the Old State Armory. were inconvenienced by crowded class- rooms, narrow, traffic-jammed stairways, and short hours. Juniors and seniors complained compara- tively little about no lockers and only insufficient equipment during their afternoon sessions at East Junior. Parents' Night A February 14, 1938 - Binghamton thronged through our wide impressive main entrance and roomy corridors to see our brand new classrooms and laboratories with up-to-date equipmentg our ground floor technical, industrial and vocational shopsg our first floor with its smart modern administration offices, gyrnnasiums, well-planned and well-stocked library,' our second floor with its model apartment: our third floor with its cafeteria decorated in modern tempo. vocal and instrumental music and practice rooms: and most of all. our amazingly spa- cious auditorium with the second largest proscenium arch in the United States, bowing only to that of Radio City tV1usic Hall-Two hundred and eighty rooms of B.lV.1-I.S. Classes began-even that first year lVorth High, built to relieve the crowded city classrooms, was itself crammed. 6

Page 9 text:

om-tom 'Beats To Mr. H. Earle Weaver this tenth anni- versary issue of the Wampum is affec- tionately dedicated. Above all others, Mr. Weaver was the creator and the molder who made from a mass of brick and mortar the friendly school, where faculty-student relations mean companionship. He was the promo- ter ofa progressive school policy by which students assumed greater responsibility 'for their daytime environment. Feeling strongly that student opinion counts, he 'has encouraged committees in which stu- dents often far outnumber faculty mem- bers and thus has fostered formulation of fschool policies by representative groups working in harmony. He has always main- tained an attitude at North of a square deal, trying to sympathize with the stu- dents' point of view, their problems, and their reactions. Willing, even eager, he gives any new project a fair trial, if the venture proves unsuccessful, he chal- lenges its promoters to find the better way. Rather than strive to match rival schools, he seeks ever to meet the needs of his own students. North has developed in ten years an individuality among Southern Tier high schools-one that characterizes so completely that same friendliness, cooperation, and progressive- ness of North's principal - Mr. H. Earle Weaver.

Page 11 text:

The Archifect's Vision of North Initial academic endeavor was challenged by workmen installing machinery and last equipment. The next year local papers headlined North's rain,' whenever storms drenched third floor ceilings. Better waterproofing brought relief-Our mountainous backyard was leveled off for parking areas and a fitting athletic field. At the front, shrubbery and trees were planted, low fences added along the walks. Then in the fall of 1939 a catastrophe struck. Even though letters over the main entrance proclaimed this as Bing- hamton North High School and every side entrance bore B.N.H.S., still because petitioning East Side residents felt that North as a name was inappropriate, we became East High--that is, until our Student Council held a pow- wow, went on the warpath to Keep North High, North High, won a victory and raised a wa-hoo. And, through the years down the towpaths of our Happy Hunting Grounds we have found feathers marking the trails of our North High Indians. Of the chieftains one was Jim Barnes,' another, Don Jones who originated I'll always carry a red and blue chip on my shoulder. Many went out carrying a peacepipe and dreams-War interrupted-Every school activity focused on our Great Father's battlefronts-Gone now is the threatening cloud. But many did not return,' so, in fitting tribute this anni- versary year of North we have dedicated two bronze plaques to those fifty-four loyal braves who will not join us in our traditional Alumni Day or observe with us this tenth birthday celebration in peace. Inheritors of the Indian tradition so unsuspectingly begun by our first coach, Bob Redman, we celebrate this our tenth harvest with a feast recalling-our powwows, the glories of our chieftains, and the prowess of our warriors, woven into the blue and scarlet beads of our tribe's Wampum. Along the Susquehanna our tom-tom beats and all know our tribe-We are the redmen, the Indians of North High. 7 Ss 'f gf UU.. is-',g'T i' if 'I K3 35