Grant High School - Memoirs Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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After the assembly, parents visited all the departments of the new school where teachers and students had arranged displays of their class work. In those early days, students bought their own books. There was a locker for every two students, and all were urged to rent and use one of the combination locks supplied by the student body for fifty cents and to keep their lockers locked at all times. Most of us remember how proud we were of our school and of our students. Most were not affluent but they had an air, an aura, that made them outstanding in any crowd. They knew how to wear their clothes and how to conduct themselves in public places. They were probably the most democratic student body in the city (1 am sure 1 am not prejudiced). Race, creed, or color had nothing to do with acceptance, nor did money. One young man, earning his way by working after hours as custodian, just missed election as Student Body President by three votes. He was extremely popular. Two anecdotes before we leave this Fletcher period may be of interest. They do show a lighter side of Mr. Fletcher’s personality, his comradery with his faculty. My second term at Grant — I was still a timid probationer — my first termers were learning to diagram simple sentences. One sentence, “The man sat up in bed,” was under study. I corrected her: explaining that up is an adverb, not part of a preposition. She looked surprised, then said, “Father told me it is part of a compound preposition.” Now, being new in these parts, but wishing to correct both father and child, I said, “Let’s ask Uncle Noah.” Over to the dictionary we went to discover that “up” in such a sentence is an adverb, that at one time it would have been considered part of a compound preposition. Such a designation was now obsolete. What teacher could resist an opportunity like that? I smilingly patted Elizabeth on the arm and said, “You go home and tell your daddy that he is three-hundred years behind the times.” The next morning, as I was signing in, a big, booming voice sang out from behind the desk, “So I’m three-hundred years behind the times, am I?” That voice was coming from a very handsome, very important man, Mr. William T. Fletcher. One very unimportant, startled teacher suddenly wished she could dissolve into thin air. A sweet little girl named Elizabeth had done it like this: Then Mr. Fletcher laughed heartily, and the aforementioned teacher went on her wiser way, glad that her principal had a sense of humor. man sat bed How on earth could she have known that that little girl in her freshman English class was the Principal’s daughter? METROPOLITAN PRINTING COMPANY Maurice Binford Orm Binford Helen Binford Kirsch 1 1

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sobered up enough to realize that Mentresso was not playing games — but alas, he was a quiet, reserved lad without a scream in his lungs. At a rehearsal, the director said to another boy, “Paul, can you show Millard how to scream?” It might surprise some of you to know that in 1927, Grant had a radio club, the very first club organized at Grant, called “The Dial Twisters,” later changed to DeForest Club, and it was mentioned in “The Radio News,” a New York publication, which listed the Dial Twisters “as one of the stable, organized radio clubs of the United States.” An unearthly, ear-shattering scream was his immediate response. As a result, Paul was hidden in the darkness of the stage, and became the “scream of the evening.” A banking program — its goal, thrift, was run through the registration rooms, each with its own cashier (later, an assistant was necessary). Four head cashiers were in the Student Body Office to take care of and bank the money. In one term, the number of depositors was nearly doubled, and its continued growth was gratifying. Clubs covered all areas. There were clubs for those interested in French, Latin, Spanish, debating, hiking. International Relations, science, mathematics, dramatics, writing, literature, swimming, tennis, art, music, and finally a letterman’s club called Royal Gs. There were also Hi-Y, Girl Reserves, and later, Tri-Y. With so many students in halls, a traffic squad was organized. The topics debated in that period by the Christos and Philadarians may interest some people today. 1. Resolved: that the Japanese should be excluded from the United States 2. Resolved: that Capital punishment should be made a part of the State penal code. 3. Resolved: that the Twentieth Amendment should be adopted. Remember, those were the days before a radio could be found in any home, or as is often the case today, in every car or pocket. In addition to the interest clubs, there were two leagues formed, one for girls and one for boys. Every student in the school was a member of one or the other. These were to encourage fellowship. No one could feel left out. In the Boys’ League statement of purpose we read: “to find fellows who are capable but not recognized.” Not a bad purpose for any group. The first student body meeting was held on November 19, 1924 at which time names were submitted for the Grant publication. Memoirs was an almost unanimous choice. The first four of these were like a small magazine rather than a newspaper. They contained few if any pictures, some news items, and much creative work. In November of 1924, the Community Chest had its first Drive in the school. The first Open House was held on November 21, 1924. It consisted of a short assembly, talks by the principal, by Mr. Grout, the then superintendent of schools, Mr. Pickering, Chairman of the School Board, Mr. Keyser, assistant director of the Park Bureau, John Paul Jones, the first student body president, and Mr. Whitney, assistant Superintendent of Schools. GUS DUSSIN GEORGIA DUSSIN DARIOTIS ALICE DUSSIN POULOS SALLY GROMAN DUSSIN MIKE DARIOTIS SHELIA BREESE ESCH 10

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Another little anecdote may give you pleasure. It can do no harm since three of the actors are no longer living. It happened at one of the last open house nights held during Mr. Fletcher’s principalship. This event was similar to the first one mentioned earlier, but had a larger attendance. There were still exhibits in the classrooms, but mostly, the evening was spent visiting with parents. Usually these chats would begin with, “Mr. Jones? Are you my child’s history teacher?” or “Miss Smith, do you have my Mary in English?” About 9:45 or 10:00 p.m. the lights would blink, a signal to clear the building. Shortly thereafter, tired teachers, their thirteen smile-muscles aching, would hurry out to rest for another day. One night, three women teachers were starting toward the door. Three men from the history department were coming toward them. One of the women who never ever seemed too tired for a joke, but who even when perfectly rested had a knack of blurting out the wrong words, suddenly strode forward, held out her hand to one of the men with, “Good evening, Mr. R, are you the father of my child?” Mr. R. could have ignored the slip but he just happened to be a man of caustic wit and couldn’t pass up such a golden opportunity. Without a flicker, drawing himself up to his most dignified height, he replied, “Well, really, Madam! How should know, if you don’t.” Covered with embarrassment, our lady fled. She was one of two women in the history department. Mr. Fletcher had called a department meeting for the next day. As she was about to enter that meeting, can you imagine her feelings when she heard a loud burst of laughter with Mr. topping them all? Fletcher’s big deep tones We must not leave this first period of our history without a reminder to some of you of those dreadful final examinations. Everyone, whether a scholarship student or a potential failure was required to take a final exam in each of his subjects. Examination week began at eight o’clock on Monday morning. Each test lasted one and a half to two hours. The questions were made out by the department head and mimeographed so that each student received a copy. All examinations for a department were scheduled for the same time — either 8:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. If a student were doubling in a subject, he would be assigned by his teacher for the second examination, immediately following the first, but probably in a different room. Since one teacher obviously could not squeeze all of her 140-150 students into one small classroom, her students were assigned to other rooms where the proctor would likely be of another department. Two different terms of a subject were assigned to each room and were seated alternately to make cheating a little difficult. At the first bell, students would receive test paper and test and set to work while the teacher walked up and down — or at least moved to strategic positions — to keep everyone as honest as possible. At the end of the period, papers were collected, alphabetized for each class teacher and put into her box in the office. The class teacher would grade them carefully, record the grades, then return the papers to the office where they were stored indefinitely in case grades were challenged. CORVALLIS SAND GRAVEL CO. JOHN H. GALLAGHER Jr. 32 Corvallis, Oregon 12