Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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ff. ,. THE SPECTATOR 9 Cflhr Emu illlillinn Bnllar Iflnnh Zlmmr Wilbert C. Wehn, 19M The building program, adopted on June 25, 1917, by the Board of School Directors, has finally gone a step toward realization, thru the action of that same board to increase, with the sanction of the voters, the bonded indebtedness of the city S2,000,000, the money so bonded to be used for the betterment of the educational facilities of our city. Though the amount is large in itself, it is not a desperate undertaking, nor too ambitious for za. progressive city like Johnstown, when the building operations of other cities are taken into consid- eration. Buffalo has authorized S8,000,00 for school purposes, Detroit, S3,292,000g Minneapolis, S p4,750,000, and Harrisburg, 31,225,000 1 The need for such increase is imperative. The school authorities are facing a crisis which permits of absolutely no dalliance. A comprehensive, conservative building pro- gram is the only outlet from prevailing, threatening condi- tions, and such aiprogram has been adopted and is now call- ing for the support of the people of Johnstown and the stu- dents in its schools. There are at present seventy-one rooms inadequately equipped, inadequately ventilated, and inadequately heated, housing 2,130 pupils, or about 15.519 of the school enroll- ment in 1918. Some of these rooms are single rooms, par- titioned so as to make two rooms, others are basement and hall rooms, and one whole building is artificailly lighted. Besides these, an abandoned school house and a store room have been put into operation. The schools at tl1is time are alarmingly crowded. The Vocational School is accommodating its maximum number of pupils. The High School houses about 17.872 more than its comfortable capacity. The Garfield Junior High, thru the elimination of the industrial shops to the Twentieth Ward Vocational Building, can hold out one more year. A platoon system is in use in the primary grades whereby a teacher

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8 THE SPECTATOR your right to insist on each day and era bearing its own burdens. No one knows better than myself the power of a pur- poseful solidiiied sentiment in the High School. It is a sen- timent that usually gets things. What can I do, you ask, for the Bond Issue ? ' You can post yourself in every pos- sible way. You can build up sentiment among yourselves that will become a vital force of public opinion. You can convince others. You can write arguments that can be used in the campaign and which will clarify and render logical your own point of view. You can pass along suggestions to those in charge of the campaign. You can draw posters for window display. You can disseminate information through handbills, pamphlets, and your own fund of knowledge among the voters. To youth we look for the spirit of progress and enter- prise. You above all should be partisans of a better and big- ger Johnstown. In you hope, optimism, courage, ambition surges with an abandon of ardor. Thow yourself heart and soul in this great cause, for you will win. Xxx

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10 THE SPECTATOR has one class for outdoor recreation work while the other recites. Under this system, in winter where can accommo- dations be had for those who would ordinarily have outdoor recreation, but will be restrained from doing so on account of weather conditions? Half-time classes are looming omi- nously close. A conservative estimate of the population of Johnstown now is 82,000, a growth of 48? since the 1910 census. Con- sidering a 2570 increase each decade, we may safely look forward to a population of 128,000 in 1938. These are sane, hard figures, and cannot be dodged. This will affect the school population so that from an enrollment of 13,912 last year, the enrollment in 1938 may be expected to exceed 21,- 400. It is a cold, hard fact that every year there are more entrants into the schools as beginners than there are gradu- ates. Last year, the first primary enrollment was 1,063, while the graduates numbered 636, leaving an excess of 427 pupils. Such an excess to look forward to next year means at least fourteen rooms of thirty pupils each, barring prob- able larger classes and withdrawals. Where are housing fa- cilities to be had and thru them educational facilities? A haphazard, here-and-there housing expedient is at best only a makeshift. While it may somewhat relieve that lo- cal crisis, it will not bring general relief and in the end be- comes a liability thru its uneconomical construction, ineffi- cient organization, and inadequate teaching equipment. The building program. as adopted by the board, provides for the completion of the Cochran junior High School, a new Central High School, Industrial Building in the central part of the city, Morrellville Junior High School, Walnut Grove Elementary School Building, completion of Chestnut Street Building, auditorium, gymnasium, and swimming pool for fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, shower baths for primary grades, and an administration and supply building. In order to consummate this program, it must be financed. This financing may be done either of two ways prescribed