Berkeley High School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

Page 11 text:

Administrators express pride in students Mr. George Wilson (right), co-ordinator of student activities, ex- presses pride in the student activities of the past few years. He says there have been more new activities in recent times than ever be- fore. Student government has been a constantly improving organiza- tion, which has accomplished much in the past few semesters. Mr. Wilson says that there is more than enough room for the in- volvement of all BHS students. He believes that the more students involved in school activities, the better the communication between students and administration. Many students are reached by the Drama, Music, and Speech, and Sports programs, but some are still not reached, it is with these people that Mr. Wilson says he is very concerned. During this past year, there were 30 after-school clubs on campus to accommodate any student ' s interests. — Photo by Chris Hum Mrs. Muriel Ulry, dean of girls (right), said her job was being as helpful as possible to whomever needs help. She says it is her respon- sibility to encourage the students to take as seriously as possible their school work. She said she does not consider herself a discipli- narian, but instead she tries to help the girls who need it, and assists girls with dis- cipline problems to mature and assume responsibility. Mrs. Ulry is the sponsor of the Senior Friends. — Photo by Jerry McClain 1 + has been a pleasure to observe the sincerity with which the majority of our BHS pupils have assumed their rightful responsibility toward themselves and their school, said Mr. Levi Poe (left), Dean of Men at Berkeley High School. Mr. Poe said that he feels confident that the large number of students who attended BHS for the first time the last two semesters were able to make their adjustment with ease and comfort in an atmosphere where there exists a deep sense of respect for the rights and privileges of others. Mr. Poe said, No pupil gets any more out of school than he is willing to put into his program in the way of effort. Success depends largely upon how seriously one pursues his studies and how determined he is to succeed. By making one ' s self an honest, striving, human being, Mr. Poe believes the road ahead is certain to be less rugged. He also feels there exists a constant challenge for each person to resist being influenced by these negative elements which surround one and to be guided by one ' s inner cravings for individual success and achievement. One ' s ch aracter, attitude and social behavior, said Mr. Poe, are among those assets which are so necessary if one is to assume his rightful place in a modern society. Mr. Poe went on to say, The future of our country depends upon our young people and how one prepares ones self through education and the proper moral and society training. Best of luck to those who have completed their high school program or those will be completing their studies here. — Photo by Jerry McClain — Photo by Chris Hum A new office was created at Berkeley High School this past year, that of Dean of Attendance. The place was filled by Mr. Linwood Teller (above left), who taught Economics here for six years before tak- ing his new job. The new job was created for two reasons: to keep track of 3200 students so that attendance can be reported to the State Department of Education, and to cope with truancy. Mr. Teller ' s responsibility was to find out who, among the students, was in attendance and if some- one was not, to find out why. He also did, as he said, everything possible to encourage kids to come to school. Mr. Teller says he is concerned with what he calls a growing problem with truancy among underclass- men, who tend to experiment with truancy. He 7 states that this problem is not bad among upper- classmen.

Page 10 text:

Administrators Define Their Responsibilities BHS Principal, Mr. Emery J. Curtice (left), dictates a letter in his office to his secretary, Mrs. Eva Hayes (right). Mr. Emery Curtice, principal of Berkeley High School, says he strongly believes in the im- portance of the use of established channels through which action can be accomplished. Mr. Curtice says that he feels that, in this day and age, marches and demonstrations are not the most effective means for getting things; people should use the right channels for orderly ac- complishments. He also says that if there is fault with the channels, it is better to grease them than to demonstrate. This is an important measure of individual intelligence, true in both civic and school affairs, he says. It is the school ' s obligation to teach the students to use the correct chan- nels, and it is in this situation that the schools are falling short. Mr. Curtice says that he hopes that more orderliness will result. Mr. Ray Hitch, vice-principal at Berkeley High, has this message to give BHS students: Berkeley High School is a large, metropolitan and comprehensive school. Since it is the only high school in the city, it is fully integrated and takes on most of the aspects of an ' educational park. ' It offers a wide variety of training programs, all the way from strictly college prep to job training and work experience. In spite of all this, it is not perfect and many changes are needed and many will be made. Mr. Hitch also notes these following statistics: The school popula- tion is very mobile which results in approximately 50% turnover each year. This is largely due to the fact that we graduate about 1000 students per year and have about 500 per year moving out and approximately the same number moving in. About 40% of our graduates go on to four-year colleges and uni- versities and a good share of the remainder go on to junior colleges and other training institutions. My message to you, as students, is that there is no time to waste here because the three most precious years of your life will pass very rapidly so make the best use of them. Work hard but also try to participate in student activities outside the classroom. My job is to try to provide a good working Master Schedule for you, together with adequate and up-to-date curriculum. If you have any problems that I might help you with, come to see me in BI25. My door is always open. In the last year, the job of Mr. Clifford Wong (left), the administra- tive Vice Principal, encompassed many different areas. Not only did he supervise the three deans, assist professionals who came to observe Berke- ley High School, coordinate the budget and control expenditures, but he also helped Mr. Emery Curtice when he needed it, headed teacher evalua- tion, aided the deans when they needed an additional consultant, and he was responsible for all administrative details. Mr. Ray Hitch, Vice Principal of BHS (right), says that Berkeley High is a large integrated school which offers a wide variety of training programs. 6

Page 12 text:

Front Office Is School Powerhouse Each secretary in the Main Office of Berkeley High this past year had separate and distinct duties. Mrs. Eva Hayes, who was Executive Sec- retary of Berkeley High, and secretary to Mr. Emery Curtice, the principal, also managed the main office. I do everything, said Mrs. Hayes, and in this she included training proctors, han- dling visas of foreign students, and maintaining a general liaison with the public. Mrs. Mary Walter handled storeroom requisi- tions, accident reports and insurance claims, the Principal ' s Bulletin, graduation of seniors, and some correspondence for Mr. Curtice. She also fulfilled the duties of a receptionist. Mrs. Carolyn Hennington handled all Data Processing for the school, including Run-through day, teacher mark-sense cards, from which re- port cards are made, and the government census cards. She stated that there was much check- ing and double-checking the accuracy of the data processing and teachers. Busy at work in the administration office are (left to right), Mrs. Mary Walter, Mrs. Emy Peterson, Mrs. Margery Thorpe, Delma Mack and Ann Hunter (students), Miss Francis Shaw, Mrs. Molly Larsen and Mrs. Carolyn Hennington. Miss Frances Shaw, the registrar, celebrated her 32nd anniversary with the School District last November. She has spent nearly 25 years in the main offices at Berkeley High. The biggest change during that time, according to Miss Shaw, was the appearance of the campus. When she began work here, there was no large auditorium. The auditorium which existed then was on the site of the present Florence Schwimley Little Theater. It seated 900 and re- quired three assemblies to seat the entire school. There was homeroom every day and an assembly every week. The G building did not exist then, and the shops and science classes were in shacks where the auditorium is now. There was a garden used by the botany classes and the gardener. In the 1930 ' s the Grove Street building was started, and then the auditorium. Due to shortage of metal and building material during the war, the auditorium remained un- finished. It was a skeleton building throughout the war, and was called the birdcage. At one time the gym was condemned because of an earthquake scare, and classes were held in tents in what are now the playing fields. At the same time, during the earthquake scare, the 1 0th and 7th graders were held back, so there would be fewer students at the high school. Miss Shaw did everything concerned with registering students, keeping records, sending out transcripts, and ranking at graduation. She was the person to whom seniors came with questions about transcripts, and interviews with college representatives. Miss Shaw arranged the interviews when the repre- sentatives came to the school. Mrs. Emy Peterson called her job a most interesting one, stating that she got a bird ' s-eye view of what goes on in school from grades seven through twelve, because she was secretary to the Curriculum Associates. Mrs. Peterson said that the department heads are very nice people — wonderful to work for. Mrs. Peterson said that she was an information center for the school. If some- one wants to leave a message or find someone they call here. Mrs. Peterson does not consider her job routine. The people themselves make it interesting. All financial matters of the school are handled through the accountant ' s office. At the counter, Mrs. Elvira Gordon talks to a customer, drama instructor g Peter Kleinbard. Busy typing is Mrs. Emma Harlamoff. Head accountant, Mr. Roy Okerstrom, is speaking to John Day, Business Education Department chair- man (left), and Mr. Roger Carr (right) of Remington Rand Corporation. Mrs. Eva Hayes, secretary to Principal Emery Curtice, types a letter. — All photos by Chris Hum Accountant Managed $100,000 Last Year Besides Many Other Services One of the unique features of Berkeley High School is the accountant ' s office, B-I5I. This past year it handled all the financial matters of the school, including the accounts of more than 40 clubs and other special or- ganizations. Other duties of the accountant ' s office including checking and stamping all materials and textbooks and handling all packages and audio visual equipment. Also lost and found, locker distribution, selling of game tickets and yearbooks, were among the office ' s many chores. This past year it man- aged more than $100,000. The office has been run the past 10 years by h ead accountant and former BHS student, Mr. Roy Okerstrom. Those who helped him this past year include Mrs. Elvira Gordon and Mrs. Emma Harlamoff and numerous student proctors.