Amana High School - Bugle Yearbook (Amana, IA)

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THE HISTORY OF A H S CCONTINUEDQ For a number of years after the 1n1t1al outlay of money for the equlprnent of the school covmparatxvely few unprovements were posslble A klndergarten was added n 1939 Federal funds through WPA were made avarlable Dons Bloone of Vxctor was the teacher 1n charge Parents who were formerly opposed to trans portlng the chxldren of grade school to other towns now consented to have them brought to a central school Th1s paved the way for the later consolxdatxon of all v1llage schools These had prevlously been con ducted much as ordmary rural schools Pres1dent Frxley of Ames College and W R Boyd of the Iowa Board of Educatlon met wlth the board members and other leaders 1n Amana to study add1t1-ons and lmprovements ln the currxculum It was fmally agreed that agrrculture would be most practxcal The Smlth Hughes course under federal and state supervxsx-on was adopted by the Board Chr1st1an Hess an Ames graduate was engaged by the Board as agrxculture xnstructor The plan however proved futlle smce condxtxons ln Arrana were different f om thos m any other Iowa oommunxty Farmmv was an lmportant Amana enterprlse but there were no 1nd1v1dua1 farm ers or farmsteads hence It was rmoos lble to meet federal prerequ1s1t1es For thxs reason Chr1st1an Hess resigned as mstructor The school then added a manual trammg course John R Neveln to be mstructor A home ec-onomlcs course had already been added the prevlous year w1th MarJor1e Bales as teacher The grade schools xn the vlllages contxnued to be conducted much as they had been under the former system untzl 1939 At that tune they were reorgan1zed so that no grade teacher had more than two grades to teach The number of grade schools was reduced from seven to three These were ln the larger towns, Amana South and M1ddle The f1.rst school bus was purchased xn 1938 a second bus 1n 1942 Amana was probably one of the flrst schools to adopt the plan now being followed ln recent oonsolldatlons Th1s consxsts of transportxng puplls between towns ln such a way that bulldmgs ln the several towns may be used lmutmg the number of grades per teacher and makmg posslble more complete ocnsohdatlon The or1g1nal budget of S10 000 had been mcreased to S27 500 Oonsxderlng the lnadequacy of the library and lab orabory equxpment durxng the f1rst years and also the fact that nearly all of the hxgh school teachers were recent college graduates w1thout prevnous ex perlence the SCh01aSt1C record of Amana graduates m colleges and the large percentage of graduates en terlng college IS concluslve evidence of the excellence of lI'lSII'1lCt101'l and management Approxxmately 25076 of Amana graduates entered college whxle the Iowa state average was only 10 percent It would be a mls take to ascrlbe the success of th1s achlevement ex CIUSIVBIY to the system of mstructlon and dnscxplxne Amana was notably free from one of the detrimental mfluences that have been pnmanly responsxble for the low esteem 1n whxch Amer1can hlgh schools are held, especxally 111 scho1ast1c achlevement compared to Euro- pean secondary schools Able and consc1ent1ous school adm1n1strators have not been able to carry out and ap ply thelr professronal knowledge because of many pressures such as well meanmg athletxc enthus1asts, and p011t1C.l8IlS or men rn posxtions of power The teachmg professxon has, apparently, always been held rn h1gh regard ln Amana Fortunately th1S IS begm nxng to be true of more commumtles today than for merly If we are gomg to have sclentlsts and mathe mat1c1ans sufflclent rn number and equal 111 ab1l.1ty to other countrles rt wrll be necessary to begm trammg these 1n our Junxor and seruor hlgh schools An abso- lute prerequlslte for th1s IS to secure teachers wlth expert professlonal trammg and glve them authority to carry out the1r ldeas The key to thrs goal IS better pay for teachers but even more important is respect for the professxon Among the drfferent factors whlch contrlbuted to the success of the Amana hlgh school IS one that has not always been reoogmzed by students of Amana SOCICIY There IS a keen sens1t1v1ty to the art1st1c and fmer emotronal elements of culture For lnstance, stage scenery for plays was pamted by Carl F11ck an artxst of natlonal fame An art1st1c appreclatlon IS demonstrated 1n the products of factory ands the home workshop m whlch boys were encouraged to desrgn and make 81110165 of thelr own deS1gD The g1rls are expert 1n makmg household artlcles of the1r own art 1st1c deslgn A f1ne mens chorus has existed from the early pmoneer t1mes Famous artlsts authors and statesmen have been makmg more frequent VlSltS to Amana than to any other community among these was Dr Hans Luther top-rankxng ambassador from Ger many to our country Amana was the only Iowa com munxty whlch he Vlslted Our students were able to gwe frequent reports on hlstonc men and women from personal contact wlth them all of which has a real educatronal value The dlsadvantage of some ' Amana or German accent was more than offset by the advan tage of bexng blhngual Th1s proved to be a valuable acoomphshment 1n college and also m the armedl servrces By the year 1950 when J R Neveln reslgned as supermtendent 240 students had completed the Amana Hxgh School The great majorlty served m the armed forces of our country The government had long ago granted non combatant standlng to the members of the Amana Church Not one of the graduates chose to avaxl themselves of thls prlvllege Slnce 1950 dur mg the past ten years the Amana Schools have stead! lv advanced under the caoable supermtendency of the present superlntendent Charles L Selzer John R Neveln . .- I ... Y- . . . 9 . . . . , - . ' - , . ' 1 , ' , - I , - . I . . - , , 1 . ' 'A 1 , u . - ' 1 . . 1 up . I .. '. ' . ' . ' ' - vt n . . - C 1 A , Z, . I-, i - S . v ... '. . L , .. . . 1 ,, , . . .. .- . ' . . ' v ' . . . . . . - , , , .. . . , ' 1 1 . 1 , . ' ' 1 ' ' ' . . .'. - 1 .. . ' - 1 11 , . ... - - ' . .. . 1 1 ' ' , . , . . , , . .- . 1 ' , 1 . ' v ' . 1 ' , . . ' .1 - - , . . - . ,- .

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THE HISTORY OF A curtarled Careful plans were made to make them self supportmg fmanclally Typewnter rentals were pald by students The followmg notlce appeared m the Amana Bulletm on June 28, 1934 NOTICE I w1ll glve free nolm class mstructron dunng July and August to students of any of the Amana Schools provlded a suftlcxent number express thelr deslre to enroll If you do not own a vxolm, lt may be possxble to rent one If you wlsh to learn more about xt, meet me at my home on Frnday June 29, 7 30 PM Lllhan Neveln The responce and pnogress made by the vxolm students was most gratxfymg It was the begmmng of an orches tra whlch was playmg regularly durmg the flI'St month of schooL Thls also created mcreased mterest m mus1c m the entlre commumty The supermtendent of school was able to brmg one dozen or more p1anos into the homes. Llke the Quakers of Wxlham Penns tune, the Amana elders had formerly forb1dden and later on discouraged brmgmg muslcal mstruments xnto the commumty From the earllest begmnmg, students pubhshed a school paper w1th artlcles and news 1n both EI1g11Sh and German. They sold readlly m every vlllage It was pnnted 1D excellent type at the Amana Prxnt Shop Athletxcs were not overlooked yet never allowed to donunate xn a manner to dxmmxsh scholastxc standards The baseball team won the county tournament the flrst year Alvm Skow had orgamzed a very efflcxent Boy Scout Troop Every hxgh school boy took part Edxe Brandt orgamzed the G1rl Reserves whlch ln eluded nearly every g1rl The flrst hxgh school play coached by the supermtendent was so successful that the perfonnance was repeated four txmes by request Before the end of the f11'St year lt had become clear that Amana would be forced by pubhc opxmon to estabhsh a full four year hlgh school for 1ts youth Smce our country was Just emerglng from a most dxsas trous depression, the prospects for equxppmg and bull-ding a school were not pronusmg The members of the Amana School Board at the t1me were Pres1dent, W F Mlller, Dr H G Moershel Rudolph P1tz Ph1l1p Mrttelbach Martm Berger, Rudolf Schaefer and W1l ham Foerstner The Board after a careful survey of publ1c sentunent in Amana dec1ded that some steps would have to be taken Representatlves from the State Department of Publlc Instructlon, the School of Education at the State Umversxty, met w1th the School and local leaders to determme the local needs and possxblxtxes The school board gulded by the concensus of opuuon de clded to bulld an add1t1-on adJOlIlll'1g the two buxld mgs In Mlddle whlch had served Muddle Amana for many years The new addztnon was 84 feet by 36 feet, makmg the modern plant 169 feet long An outstandmg feature was a stage des1gned by dramatxc art d1I'9Cf0I'S from the State Unlverslty The aud1tor1um had gradually rxsmg seats and a capaclty of 400 Much of the stage equipment was bought w1th funds from school act1v1t1es A bond ISSUE of S16 500 00 was put to vote of the people and carr1ed by an overwhelrmng maJor1ty There were only seventeen negatlve votes out of 325 The amount of bonds to be lssued whlch was regarded as the hrmt was 1nsuff1c1ent to pnovxde fully for all extra currlcular act1v1t1es Thxs accounts for postponement of a gymnaslum bexng buxlt The second year began w1th a four year course a H S QCONTINUEDD h1gh school enrollment of 68 The grade enrollment was 206 The hlgh school teachmg staff oonslsted of J R Neveln, Howard Durner, Francls Hartley, Max me Cummnns, and Charles L. Selzer Grade schools contxnued to be operated 1n each town as before, w1th the exceptxon of the school rn Hlgh whlch was con sohdated w1th the other town schools Nxne grade teachers whose term ranged from 7 to 40 years con tmued rn then' posltlons The names of grade teachers ln onder of then' length of servxce are Ludwxg Unglenk Wllham Hemze, Fred Schaedhch, Fred Pltl, W11l1am Gra1chen, Carl Fels Rudolf Blechschmldt Adolf Ber ger, and Paul Kellenberger The supermtendent of schools presented a plan for extra compensatuon to be paid any teacher who would attend college for ad dltxonal tralnmg Nearly everyone took advantage of this On November 30 1936 the flrst program was pre sented m the new audxtonum. A muslcal play, Ma1d of Japan , was under the dlrectlon of Maxme Cum nuns On the 7th of December the sennor class pre sented the1r play ' The Mystery of the Thmd Gable The flrst baccalaureate servlce was held xn Amana Church on May 24 1936 Smce no muslcal mstrument had ever been used m the Amana church serv1ce lt re qulred specxal perrmssxon from the church 0fflCla1S to brlng m an organ to accompany the sxngers When the organ was placed 1n the church and the suoermten dent struck a few notes the presldent of the Board made the followmg remark You are the flrst man to play an mstrument m any Amana church for over 200 years' Dr H G Moershel a Homestead physxclan and an elder of the church dehvered the flrst bacca laureate sermon Dr Bemanun F Shambaugh of Iowa Clty dellvered the fxrst commencement address I-le IS nationally rec ogmzed as an outstandxng authonty 1n the fields of hlstory and politics Mrs Bertha Shambaugh IS the author of a hxstory -of Amana Soc1 ty The iollowmg lS a portwon of has dxrect appeal to the graduatlng class by Dr Shambaugh Members -of the graduatmg Class May I say ho you that y-ou have recelved from your commun 1ty fwhlch I stlll llke to speak of as the Commun 1ty of True Inspxratxonl the most precxous gnft that can posslbly come fnom the hand of men he g1ft of educatxon Wlth th1s glft you may lf vou wxll make your lxves a chant -of happiness and a song of beauty May I say to you also that you are most fortu nate ln your herltage Your ancestry for more than 200 years 1S wxthout blemlsh Wlth courage patlence and foresight your forefathers have burlded a commumty of noble trad1t1ons 1n thmgs both spu'1tual and materxal Moreover, durmg your hxgh school years you have w1tnessed a oommun 1ty achxevement that IS unparalleled 1n the annals of Amerlca Here 1n the Amanas you ha ve seen a whole commumty achxeve the goals of the Amer1 can Dream whxch are mdxvldual freedom popular oontnol and eoonomxc secunty For thzs herltage you should be .deeply apprecla t1ve and pnofoundly grateful Your fathers and forefathers have 1n then' tlme w1th courage and inslght poxnted the way to the Good Llfe May y-ou nn your day w1th understand mg hearts keep the faxth Remam true true to yourselves true to your herltage and true to your commumty . . . - . - . D . . . ' , . - - -. . . . . , ' . . . , , , . . . , , .. . . . .. , . . - 0 l I . . . . , - 0 1 I ' . . . . . . . . . . U . . . . n ' ' ' - . .. , - ' - . - . - c ' u , . . . . . . . - - . 1 1 ' , - . ' ' . . , . - . . .. . ' .lc ' - - . .. v , . . . . , . . ' . . . - ' ' ' , . . I . . . . . . ' - ' ,I . . L .n . fl ' o . ' - 1 . . . . , , ' ' ' ' ' . 1 ' ' .-1 ' . . . , I . . 1 ' . a . . . . . . .. , , . .. - D , . . ' . - . . . , ii .. . . .. I y 1 . . , . ... . ' ' '- . 4 , . . - J . r 1 ' 7 - . , - ' . 1 r , .

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Herman Shoup Rudolph Le1chsenr1ng Ivan Gethmann general contra tor Dr L Unglerxk Rudolph Blech schmmdt Walter Wendler Davnd Toenjes archltect Mr Neveln Dr H G Moershel Peter Stuck Chas Selzer In January of 1950 on the retxrement of Mr Neveln Charles L Selzer became supermtendent of the School Teownshlp of Amana after attalnlng h1s masters de gree LH educatxon xn the mxdyear convocatlons at the State Unlverslty of Iowa An unsuccessful S150 000 bond 1ssue to try to es tabhsh a gymnaslum for the Amana schools at a s1te south of the Amana gas statxon was held 1n February of 1952 Colony schools were be1ng consol1dated wxth and Amanas for the 1ntermed1ate grades dur1ng the years before 1954 After a successful bond 1ssue vote 1n 1953 the new S185 000 Lakes1de grade school and gymnas1um was buxlt the flrst new sch-ool bulldmg m the Amanas smce 1879 and opened for classes -on February 1954 It IS -of brxck oonstructlon of the most modern type and faced on the mterlor wxth waylxte block and. acoust1 cal cellmgs and rooms thnoughout were tastefully decorated Fwe acres of ground playground space was purchased from the Amana Socxety on the north edge of Mnddle along Hxghway 220 Smce 1,950 school p1cmcs at the end of the regular school year have become annual events Fall tr1ps to h1sbor1c pomts of lnterest have been sponsored usually on Saturdays especxally 1n Junmor hwh and h1gh school An Amana Teachers Assocxatxon was formed 1n 1901 wlth regular monthly meetings a fall dxnner rneetmg and an annual Ch11stmas party All Amana t achers are also members of the Iowa State Educat on As socxat on and most of them are members of the lNatxon al Educatxon Assoclatxon A cumulatue record system the reoordmg not only of grades but also of a students h1s'ory for lxfe was begun ln 1951 Chnstmas carolmg m the Amanas begun by h1gh school muslc department has become a regular annual event An annual Award mght just prxor to graduatlon w1th academlc and 3th1Et1C awards and scholarshlps 1S an event smce 1951 The semors began to take annual week end tr1ps to Chxcago Just prlor to graduatnon m part sponsored by Amana Refr1gerat1on Incorporated In th1s same year Amana Refl 1gerat1on began to offer two fxve hundred A 1 ' . . I I 1 ' l C 1 - ' r ' D 1 l ! ' I ' ' ' 7 I ' , -. ' y I , . . . . .O . ' . . . , 1 ' . e 1 . ' x' i - . . . D i I Y , - South's schoolhouse being used for the primary grades 1 ' ' ' . . , . . . . ,, . - a s ' . . . ,- . , . . . . . l ' A 7 . . , 7 1 ' ' . 1 - y ' 1 . 1 1 , -' ' '