Olean High School - Congress Yearbook (Olean, NY)

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A BOOK ONE NEW SCHOOL

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THE NEW OLEAN I-IIGI-I SCI-TOOL BUILDING For years The old red briclc building ThaT was Olean I-Iigh School building sTood unchallenged on The Tip oT Sullivan I-Iill. IT served iTs purpose TaiThTulIy Tor over TiTTy years. lvlany sTudenTs had called her corridors and rooms 'home'. BuT aT IasT, her duTy TulTilled, she became unsuiTed, Too old and inTirm To ouTTiT The coming generaTion. She musT needs pass To allow a new sTrucTure To rise in her place. I:iTTy years The old I-Iigh School had served youTh Tinely and nobly. BuT as Time passed and The number oT pupils grew, many Tar-sighTed ciTizens could see in Their mind's eye a new and beTTer school. IT was seen even more clearly ThaT a new building was soon To be needed. As The number OT subiecTs oTTered To sTudenTs grew, so grew also The need Tor more space To carry on boTh The curricular and exTra-curricular acTiviTies oT our school. The TaciliTies Tor Teaching science, Tor example were inadequaTe and many imporTanT experi- menTs had To be done in Theory alone. Many oT The oTher acTiviTies so viTal To school liTe were hampered and curTailed To a greaT exTenT by laclc oT space. The gymnasium was in need oT enlargemenT. Germanlclasses overTlowed To The Open Air School building. Soon people began commenTing upon The inadequacy oT The old ediTice. IT was labeled a Tire Trap . I-Ier sTairs were shabby: her rooms and seaTs, were baTTle scarred Trom combaT wiTh sTudenTs Tor over ThirTy years: The saniTary condiTions were noT oT The besTg The lighTing TaciIiTi,es were bad and sTudy space was needed. The library was Taxed To capaciTy wiTh new boolcs and reading maTerial, looking sadly ouT oT place on The well worn shelves. The laboraTories were anTique and did noT TuITill Their duTy. WiTh The advenT oT The new conTinuous session iT was Tound ThaT The caTeTeria was enTirely unsuiTed To The large numbers who Tloclced There Tor Their lunches. Surely, said many, SomeThing can and musT be done. Is iT TiTTing, aslced parenTs, To have sTudenTs go Trom new and modern grammar schools To an old high school building? Few oT The grammar schools were as old as The insTiTuTion OT higher learning. The old sTrucTure anTedaTed mosT oT Them and she showed her age. In I93O The TirsT sTep in The high school reorganizaTion program was carried ouT. The gymnasium TirsT available in I923 was en- larged. This gave To The physical educaTion insTrucTors space To carry on a consTrucTive program oT healTh worlc ouTIined by The New Yorlc STaTe Syllabus. IT gave The I-Iigh School aThIeTic Teams suTTicienT room Tor pracTices during inclemenT weaTher and also provided a room in which To hold assemblies denied To pupils when The Senior sTudy hall moved To The old audiTorium. This was The TirsT sTep Toward The new. I 3 ,