Beloit Memorial High School - Beloiter Yearbook (Beloit, WI)

Page 12 text:

I THE RA-ZZLE O' TIDENTIJ The new structure, together with the old, was destroyed by fire, Septem- ber 21, 1918. April 1, 1919, :l5125,000 in bonds was voted for the erection of a new building. This building is now under process of erection in the Sixth Congressional District in Kansas, and fha-ei will be none better inthe State, a.lthoug.rh there are some larger. The new building will be inueh larger than the old one with splendid library, gymnasium, laboratory and auditorium facilities and with the newest a.nd most up-to-date equipment that can be had on the market. The new building' will have a eapaeity of practieally 500, with a seating capacity i11 the auditorium of 800. ' NVhile the loss of the old building has made it necessary for us to occupy other buildings and thus interrupt the work of the last two years to some extent, yet we are glad to know that the boys and girls who attend the High School in subsequent years will have the best facilities that can be provided for their physi-sal and intellectual welfare. New times demand new condi- tions and the new building will take care of Beloit and Mitchell County better than the old one.

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THE RAZZLE O'TlDE.NTl1 I I Vl .lim E 'un Mi? :Bilge Historq of Beloit High School ?:N , 'l' 4 o'eloek, May 5th, 1879, the Board of Education of the city of L39 Sli? Beloit, Kansas, held its first meeting at the school house, then a 73 little brick building located on the site of the present high school gi i 1 building. . V 5 ,uf NV. H. Burke, 1Vm. Grew, A. Patton, ANT. Rodgers, NV. H. Mitchell, Dr. Eakcns, members of the Board of Edueationfelected Prof. D. H. Thomas principal and superintendent of the school at a salary ofone hundred dollars a month not to exceed a period of over nine months. Olive A. Veach was elected as his assistant at a salary of not over thirty-tive dollars a month. On September 15, 1879, school opened with an enrollment of seventy students, thirty boys and forty girls. The school year was divided i11to three terms of three months each. A tuition fee of 334 a term was charged each student and the following subjects were offered, viz: Thalhemer's History, General, Thalhemer's History -of England, Thal- ll9I1101',S History, Ancient, Thalhemer's History, Med. 85 Mod., Thalhemer's History, East Monarchiesg Tl1i1lll0lIlE31'iS History, Rome, Tl1fllll8II101',S History, Greece, Morton's Elements of Natural Philosophy: Steele's Physiology, Ste-ele's Physics, Guyot's Physical Geography, Ray's Revised Higher Arithe- meticg Harvey 's Revised Grammar. The first graduating exercises were held in the Opera House, Saturday evening, June 1, 1883, with Emma Long and Mabel Barnes as graduates. Mr. S. Hutchinson, Superintendent. ' I11 1884 bonds amounting 'to 320,000 were Voted, and the money derived from them was used in erecting what was for so many years known as .the Central Building and what is now the major part of the present High School buildng. The building was completed and ready for occupancy at the beginning of the fall term in 1885. There were ten large accommodation rooms and two large halls. The citizens of Beloit on February 24, 1914, voted 825,000 bonds for the erection of a large addition to the Beloit High School building, which had been too small for the accommodation of the students for a number of years The new addition was completed and ready for school at the beginning of the second semester, 1915.

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METHODIST CHURCH Our Step Alma Matersn W 'i?2l??5 f HEN on that fatal day, September 21, of 1918, we saw our beloved lg, .2 High School consumed by fire, and turned away feeling homeless 5 and forelorn, only to be taken under the protecting wing of the LN X 5 Methodist Chureh, we felt like wandering orphans who had at .Q last found a haven of rest. It, together with the Parish House and Christian Seienee Church, were rapidly fitted out with sehool parapher- nalia and soon we were bark in the harness, trying to forget our sorrow and to enjoy the pleasures of the remainder of the term of '19. Baek we eame to these friends in the September of '19, feeling secure and happy, only to be 'Q-ousted from our main home, the Methodist Church, on January 27, 1920, by the same formidable and familiar enemy, another fire. Again we were shelterless and forced to seek new friends, which we soon found in the l'nited Brethren, Christian and Presbyterian churches. The unhealthy eondition of the Cliristian Church basement required another ehangre and proved to us that there was still another waiting the opportunity to befriend us, in the form of the Baptist Church. VVe only stayed a, short time i11 the Presbyterian ehureh because the distance was too far to go. While these ehangres eaused us some inconvenience, nevertheless, we profited by them for they gave us more reereation and out-door fun. It also showed that we eould overcome the work of the Fates and, too, we realized and appreciated more fully what we had lost. Thinking of the misfortunes we have encountered and the obstacles we have overcome, aided by -others, we realized how kind and generous are the friends who gave us the use of thir ehurehes, without a moment 's hesitation. And we trust that our action and our care of these buildings that we have occupied will, in a measure, show our benefaetors our deep gratitude and appreeia.tion -of what they have so readily given us. These buildings rank next. to B. H. S. in our hearts, and will be classed by us as our Step Alma-Matersi' forever. ...Y J