Argentine High School - Mustang Yearbook (Kansas City, KS)

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ARGENTINE HIGH SCHOOL have carried on a struggle for the education of every American youth for three centuries. This struggle will not slacken. Argentine High School has also taken an active part in the system of education. It, too, has progressed as the other high schools of the United States have gone forward. In 1908 it had an enrollment of approximately one hun- dred students, and was proud of its six rooms and auditorium, and its faculty of six teachers. The courses offered by Argentine High School in 1908 were: algebra, geometry (plain and solid), four years of Latin, two years of German, three of English, botany, physics and chemistry on alternate years, American his- tory, ancient history, and general science. In the graduating class that year there were eighteen members. Then in about two years typewriting, book- keeping, penmanship, shorthand, music, do- mestic science, and manual training were add- ed. The school then had athletics, but coaching was done as a side line by one of the regular teachers, without special training in this field. There were no extracurricular activities. All the school had was general assemblies and a senior play at the end of the year. The enrollment was increased to two hun- dred by the fall of 1918. Argentine had the largest gymnasium in Kansas City, and had made other progress, too. Scenery and foot- lights had been installed for its stage, and it had an orchestra; it had begun limited cafe- teria service; and it was also beginning to win honors. Then in the fall of 1919, Argentine made .its big start in athletics. This began with the adding of a coach. Also during this year a school paper was established, an annual was published, Camp Fire was organized, and other extracurricular activities were introduced. In 1921 the school had ten teachers and an enrollment of 225. In 1923 a large addition con- taining eleven classrooms and the present auditorium was built on, ten teachers were added to the faculty, and the school was changed to a junior-senior high school. And still the enrollment increased. In 1930 another addition was made to the building. The addition contains the gymnasium and eight more classrooms. The enrollment at that time was 809. Today the school is still going forward. It has an enrollment of 1,130 students, and a fac- ulty of twenty-nine teachers. Many extracurri- cular activities are carried on, and the courses of the school have been enlarged to meet the ever increasing demands of the social world. Argentine High School joins with the other high schools in celebrating this tercentenary of the American high schools, and rejoicing in the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of the school which was to change the future of the youth of America. Five

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HIGH SCHOOL TERCENTENARY The year 1935 marks an important milestone in American history. It is the three hundredth birthday of the 28,000 high schools of the United States, for it was exactly three centuries ago that the good people of Boston voted for Phil- emon Pormont to become scholemaster for the teaching and nourtering of children with us. Thus the forerunner of modem American high schools and the founder of free education was launched and the forward movement of the world toward education began. Any stu- dent was eligible to enter this Boston Latin School provided that he was able to read. He was trained for the professions, and was ad- mitted regardless of race, creed, or purse. The tuition was free. However, there was one ex- ception: girls were not admitted to public schools until two hundred years had passed. Boys were admitted to the Boston Latin School in 1635 at the age of seven. When they were the age of fourteen they were thought to be ready for college. Now the student of today does not enter high school until he is fourteen. However, the junior high school is offering the benefits of secondary education to the students of eleven and twelve. Three hundred years ago the boys studied Latin almost exclusively. They studied the writings of Vergil, Cato, Corderius, and Ovid. They did not study English, for English was not considered respectable enough for the profes- sions of law, navigation, and theology. Today the students study about the modem writers such as Sinclair Lewis, Einstein, and Willa Cather. Today the schools offer courses of a voca- tional nature. Boys and girls are taught how to run a farm, repair a telephone, and things of practical use. The modem high school tends to educate the student as to how to live a social life, and is teaching him how to live by living. If twenty students enrolled in a Colonial Latin School the school was believed to be suc- cessful. Today, if 100 students are not enrolled in a school it is believed to be too small to give the student every opportunity. It is believed that the Colonial students attended school from seven in the morning to five in the afternoon during the summer months, and from eight to four in the winter months, and had only two hours at noon. The dream of the Colonial fathers is grad- ually shaping into the reality. There are now over six million high school students enrolled in schools, and there are 28,000 high schools now in the United States. The courses are taught which will do the students the most good in later life. However, with all its changes the modem high school has remained true to one tradition. It does not cater to any privileged class. The child of the poor is just as welcome as the child of a rich family. The high schools —Courtesy of Scholastic Magazin . Four BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL

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Jtt IE muriam DR. D. E. CLOPPER Through the passing of Dr. D. E. Clopper, March 15, Argentine lost one of its truest friends. He was constantly working for the welfare of the community and the advancement of the high school. He was instrumental in obtaining the athletic field for the school and was one of a group of citizens whose efforts brought about the building of the gymnasium. At the time of his death he was a member of a com- mittee to discuss the possibility of adding an industrial unit to the school. As a member of the Board of Education he had the welfare of the school system at heart, but his special interest was Argentine High School. Six