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

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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.

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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.

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Attendance Office has a busy time The Berkeley High School Attendance Office main- tained records for the entire student body. Legally re- quired by the state, it provided a check on the students. Anywhere from 200-400 students were absent per day, and during the epidemics 800-1000 were absent per day. the biggest problem of the office was cutting. The standard punishment for this offense was detention after school. The most common excuse for absence was health. Most of the absences were on Mondays and most of the cutting occurred on Fridays. The attendance office staff has had a new member this past year. This was Mr. Linwood Teller, the Dean of Attendance, who was formerly an Economics teacher at Berkeley High. The other staff members included Miss Eunice Carlson, Mrs. Sheila Kilgore, Mrs. Hazel MacFarland, and numerous student proctors. — Photo by Chris Hum The Nurse ' s office takes care of the health of the students. Proctor Kathryn Cox (left) helps Nurse Glenda Crabbe who is talking to Allen Sanford while Assistant Nurse Mrs. Helen Ray attends to Ronald Cox ' s football injury. — Photo by Tim Zukas Mrs. Sheila Kilgore, Mrs. Hazel MacFarland,, and Miss Eunice Carl- son, left to right, help students in the attendance before school. Hurse Administers First Aid The nurse here at Berkeley High School this past year was Mrs. Glenda Crabbe, a Registered Nurse and Public Health Nurse for ten years. She had a helper, Mrs. Helen Ray, a Licensed Vocational Nurse who administered ad- vanced first aid. Both were here for the first time this year. Mrs. Crabbe ' s duties consisted of administering first aid for any injuries that teachers could not handle. She also took care of students who became ill during the day. She also helped to promote health by giving vision screen- ing, hearing and tuberculosis tests. Approximately 60 students came in to Mrs. Crabbe and Mrs. Ray for aid each day during the year. Mrs. Crabbe ' s advice to BHS students is to stay well. Maintenance staff has heavy load because of construction The maintenance staff at Berkeley High School has had an extra load added to their work because of the new construction here this past year. Mr. Rocky Adams, head custodian (right), said that the staff took care of all maintenance except for painting, major plumbing, and other such things. There was no in- crease in the staff to accommodate the new buildings. The gardening was in- stalled by a private firm, the Robert L. Sage Construction Company, and has been maintained by the staff of custodians. The staff also emptied the 50 garbage cans, once a day, even though they were apparently used very little. According to Mr. Adams, the litter problem is one of importance. He said over 35 per cent of the time of the maintenance staff was spent in unnecessary cleaning due to careless students and faculty. The staff cleaned up after almost all school functions. Mr. Adams, who has been at Berkeley High for twenty years, said that he can remember when the school used to have a student clean-up day. The members of the maintenance staff were: Mr. Rocky Adams, Mr. Joseph Bell, Mr. Frank Carraway, Mr. Wendell Clark, Mrs. Verna Ericson (matron), Mr. Howard Fisk, Mr. Edward Genievich, Mr. Kenneth Hampton, Mr. Curtis Hewitt, Mr. Freddie Jackson, Mr. Ruffin Jackson, Mr. Paul Jones, Mr. Morris Lackey, Mr. Marshall McGraw, Mr. George Neely, Mr. Homer Tally, Mr. Percy Williams, Mr. Vernon Williams, and Mr. Jay Royce.