John A Johnson High School - Maroon Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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tis M5100 CN Nlipflf THE JOHNSON HIGH OF THE FUTURE It is the ambition of every high school to grow larger and better and to be known as an up-to-date school and one which students are proud to go to. This desire is as keenly felt at Johnson as it is anywhere else. There is not a student here who would not like to see Johnson High have a newer, larger building, with all the latest improvements and a larger enrollment. This last wish is rapidly being fulfilled. The school is growing steadily. Already the number attending is half again as large as the number for which it was built. Sooner or later a new building must be erected, possibly in some other loca- tion. There are many fine high schools in the United States, and from these an idea may be had as to what this new school could be like. One of the greatest assets a high school can have is a private athletic field close to the building, where the teams may practice and the games be held. ln some of the better equipped schools, and especially in those of the smaller towns, this field is often equal in size to the fields of many colleges, having a grandstand, a track, and a high wall or fence around the outer edge. ln localities where the space is not limited, there are often large grounds at- tached, lawns and trees furnishing a very pretty setting for the school. There is often room for tennis courts which are always popular. Sometimes these courts are not exclusively school property, but are operated in connec- tion with the department of parks and playgrounds. ln the construction of a new school, many things such as providing for wide halls and stairways, and for good ventilating and lighting systems are, of course, well taken care of. But there are other things which are not so well provided for and which are equally important. There should be locker rooms for both boys and girls so that the halls may be kept as free as possible. The lunchroom should have a place to itself and should be big enough so that students would not have to eat in the gym, the assembly, or the mechanical drawing room, or any other room. The double line lunch system, such as is used in most cafeterias, should be introduced, for it saves much time. The lunchroom should also be well equipped with steam tables to keep the food hot before being served. Likewise the equipment of the class rooms, of the wood and machine shops, the gym, the domestic science room, the sewing room, the library, the music room, the chemistry and physics laboratories, and the mechanical draw- ing room may be remarkably line and complete. One of the newest of the modern improvements is a physical inspection office. Here all the students are given a thorough examination and the re- sults tabulated. This oflice works in conjunction with the city health depart- ment, and does much to promote good health in the school. There is often an emergency sick room attached to this office where accidents or sudden cases of illness can be cared for. Some of the larger schools have a vocational guidance bureau. lts object is to find the natural talents of the student and to direct his education along that line. This may save several years of useless study on some sub- jects that will never be used and for which the student has no abilityg and he will work harder since he will be studying the things he is interested in, and in which he sees a purpose. The gymnasium is a much used part of the building, and should al- ways be made large enough to accommodate the crowds that attend the basketball games. Some of the more expensive schools have a large swim- ming pool attached, which is used on alternate days by the girls and the boys. Although the student body has much to do with a school's progress, there are much better chances for development and efficiency in a new, mod- ern building under better working conditions. 6

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as feiaaao THE FUTURE OF JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL If the present situation is at all an index for the future, the prospect for continued growth of our high schools is assured. Prophecy is always uncer- tain, but this fact of steady increase in the high schools seems to be one of the surest things ahead of us. Johnson High School has shown marked growth during the last five years, especially since l9l9. The average number of pupils in school in October, l920, was 6l4. ln February, 1922, it was 890. A couple of years ago two portables were built close to the high school build- ing, but the present enrollment is requiring various makeshifts in order to ac- commodate from period to period the classes on hand. The original provi- sions in the building gave fifteen academic class rooms in addition to the vari- ous special rooms and laboratories. The present academic classes are above this number for every period in the day except the seventh. With the indica- tions of continued growth, the necessity for better building provision is press- ing. Unfortunately the same situation is developing at each of the high schools, and the problem before the city in securing proper buildings is a heavy one. The site.and the building at Johnson are not well suited to en- largement, hence, we must look forward to provision of another building as soon as the public will grant the necessary funds. The present building in situation and arrangement is fairly Well suited for use as an intermediate or junior high school which, in the development of the city, will soon be needed in that section. Hence, provision of a new high school building will help also to relieve crowding in adjacent grade schools. How soon this need can be met no one can say definitely since it depends upon the determination of the people to invest more funds in school buildings: but we are confident that the need will be appreciated, for no public activity strikes the interest-and the profits-of more people than do the educational needs of the city. A city that provides good school buildings as rapidly as possible, that maintains high standards of school Work and a strong course of study, is a city which attracts new residents, holds and increases its industrial activities, and finds the cost of its school system more than repaid in its property increases, to say nothing of the advantages in citizenship that such a town has over one more careless of its opportunities. St. Paul has given in- creasingly large sums in the last few years to the public schools. So has every other growing city. The real difhculty-not yet fully recognized-is that the basis of a dozen years ago was seriously low for that time. The additional provisions, generous in comparison with the earlier amounts, have yet barely allowed us to keep up. The city should face for its own advancement the task of a generous increase in its school investment. This increase should include additions to other high schools, but it must include provision at the Johnson. Thus, the immediate, urgent problem is one of school accommodations. But in a larger sense the future of Johnson High School depends on its faculty and its students. They have the task of maintaining its standards, increasing its effectiveness, and making the spirit of the school a factor of power and strength for the whole community. The four years a pupil spends in high school seem a short time and pass almost before one knows it. Each student is apt to think his influence is slight, but as one class goes another comes, and the succession of students interested in their work, determined to gain their utmost and to maintain the school's reputation, constitute a factor in school growth almost as great as the influence of the more permanent faculty. Johnson High School has made a strong record. It is meeting its pres- ent difficulties arising from crowded conditions, in fine spirit, and securing just as good work as ever. With the students lies at least half the responsibil- ity for continuing this high record. Such a record will be one of the strongest points toward securing the new accommodations which the school needs. --S. O. Hartwell. m

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EQ M300 NQKJQJ THE 1922 MAROON is Dedicated To a Future Johnson High School Which Shall Have AN ATTRACTIVE SETTING ATHLETIC GROUNDS EQUIPMENT FOR COMMUNITY CENTER WORK A HEALTH DEPARTMENT VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE ADEQUATE HOUSING 7