Benton High School - Wahwahlanawah Yearbook (St Joseph, MO)

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 P.B. Springer Gymnasium roof collapses The Student Body’s first reaction when the roof of the new gym collapsed was “I don’t believe it. It’s just a rumor started to liven up a dull Thursday afternoon.” It wasn’t long, though before the whole student body knew that it was no joke. The roof of the beautiful Pop Springer Gymnasium had actually fallen to the floor. Mrs. Turner and Mrs. Beemer moved their gym classes out of the gym and into the auditorium when they first thought there might be some danger. The only warning of the collapse was a pop- ping noise in the ceiling and the fact that the backboards looked a little too low. These things might never have been noticed had the gym been filled with people, and sheer timing saved the lives of possibly hundreds of people. n

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• m Collapse of gym roof causes numerous problems The collapse of the gym brought some immediate prob- lems. It left the Cardinal basketball team with no place to play their Friday night games as well as no place to practice. The P.E. classes had to develop a whole new schedule cen- tered around the old gym, which already held classes. Area schools offered their facilities as well as their sympathy. The student body had to have their basketball Queen crowned on a foreign court. One of the biggest problems, however, was not immediate. The senior class had to decide where to hold their graduation. After the gym roof fell the Cardinals faced a whole semester of small problems and big inconveniences which caused the Class of “71” to graduate in Missouri Western’s gymnasium. 13