Altoona High School - Horseshoe Yearbook (Altoona, PA)

Page 14 text:

A. -sf L- A ,W If V .ge A QUARTER Pictured above is an architect's sketch of the original Altoona High School building as it appeared at the time the school was opened in 1906. ln the foreground the careful observer will note ladies carrying parasols, a few bug' gies, and even some of those new-fangled Hhorseless carriages. When Altoona High Was built, it cost the then unheard of sum of 3250000 and was the most imposing edifice in the city. Doubtless there were many citizens who shook their heads in dismay and loudly lamented the extrava- gance of the Board of Education. But events have confirmed the wisdom and foresight of those men who had the courage to face critif cism in the belief that Altoona should have a high school second to none. Altoona High School means different things to different people. To some it is only a dreary building Where they spent three or four NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING: l906 MILLION FOR WHAT? reluctant years and then escaped to take their place in the World of affairs. Others, no doubt, when Altoona High is mentioned, Will conjure up a vision of a favorite sport or activity in which they participated, or perhaps a class or a teacher who made a more or less permanent impression upon their memory. However, in the last analysis, a school, like any other institution, is judged by its product. lf this is the case, Altoona High is far from being, as some of its detractors state, a mere diploma mill. Over the years Altoona grads have made an outstanding record in the field of busi- ness, the professions, industry, and the sports and entertainment worlds. Altoona High is justly proud of the achievements of its gradu- ates. And they, in turn, retain fond recollec- tions of the place where they received their earliest training.

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