Central High School - Booster Yearbook (La Crosse, WI)

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iii P , 1. X K , El !f!EB UltflTfEU'l,'X ' K 'EffnUIG f 1 lrmtEr3Er 7he ' 'Ei' u Trial F ,Eaosfe prospered. The roomy corridors pro- vided an excellent place for students to meet before and between classes, and the large auditorium was enjoyed by all. The well-equipped library became a great aid to the students and partly offset the fact that they were so much farther away from the main library. The gymnasium was then located where the lunchroom now is, but there was then no tank, and two basement classrooms were employed as a lunchroom and as a kitchen. So things ran smoothly from year to year until even those people who had be- lieved the construction of anew building, and such tremendously large one, to be a waste of money were surprised to learn that the enrollment gradually increased, passing the five hundred mark and still steadily growing. The faculty too had to be steadily enlarged, and during this time the principalship again changed hands, Mr. McCormick now taking the helm. But this good fortune of having every- thing work so well could not last forever and in 1910 there began to be a desire among the boys for manual training. The school board was at a loss just what to do but finally decided to place a little shack at the rear of the main building. This served the purpose for a time, but the tools were inadequate and citizens soon began to complain about seeing the view of such a fine building as the High School spoiled by a little old shack. The board and council were despairing of finding a way to satisfy everybody, yet not to bring the city into debt, when Mr. Frank Hixon most kindly and generously offered to build and equip an annex at his own expense. There is no need of saying that the offer was gratefully ac- cepted, and in 1912 the building of the Annex was begun. The building was to cost 2690,000, but by the time all the equipment was in place, the sum had crept up to over S100,000. The plan of this building included a large gymnasium, a swimming tank, and all possible equip- ment necessary for the carrying on of the manual training work. Since the time of the completion of the Annex the High School has grown step by step from five hundred students to eight hundred, from eight hundred to one thousand, until now we are more than two hundred beyond the thousand mark. Little did the first students imagine to what extent and degree the High School would develop. Since the time when Mr. McCormick was principal, there have been two others, Mr. Tift, and Mr. Col- linge whom we now have at the head of our institution. We have completed our journey over the sands of time from 1870 to 1921 and after following the development of the High School, we shall all appreciate our advantages more, and do our best to promote the interests of the La Crosse High School. RENATA GAMM. fume P-7 xmcfeen 5 Q wefvgofve ' s lmlnve Page 12

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-eglbiiii 2' . I ' .T -A, ummm' 1535 E '7f,g EE n 'JE BMV -X schools in the state. At this time four definite courses were elective for students entering the school. These were, the English Scientific, the Latin Scientific, the German Scientific, and the Classical Courses. It can easily be seen how many, many things were lacking both in the curricu- lum and in the school in general. Al- though a slight interest in athletics began to be evidenced, there was no gymnasium to encourage this interest, and all outdoor sports took place in Burns Park directly opposite the school. In addition to this there were no commercial, domestic sci- ence, or manual training courses because none of the means for carrying out these branches had been provided. As there was neither a chemistry nor a physics laboratory, these studies could not be added to the curriculum. In regard to music there was also very little that was worthwhile. Although there were regu- lar chorus classes, there were no glee clubs and it was only in 1897 or 1898 that an orchestra was introduced. One serious disadvantage was that there was no lunchroom and all students finding it necessary to carry their lunch with them had to eat it either outdoors or in a class- room. So work continued from year to year with little change until in 1894 the faculty was increased to nine members. By this time the enrollment had passed the 250 mark and the aim was to have it reach 350. It was also at this time that Miss Heideman joined the faculty, where vsdth the exception of one year she has been stationed, ever exerting her excellent in- Huence and strong personality over the entire student body. Through the encouragement of stu- dents, more and more boys and girls en- tered high school, so that in 1897 it be- came necessary to build an addition to the school. During a few years previous mu: to this time, the board had been trying to interest the people of La Crosse in the building of a new high school, but in vain, hence the addition which was planned was no better than the original building had been. ln 1899 the faculty was increased to fourteen members because there were over 350 students. Finally in March, 1901, owing to the lack of accommodation for many more high school students and also to the di- lapidated condition of the building, the council ordered that the city be bonded for EB200,000, which money was to be used in the construction of a new high school on Fifteenth and Cass streets, a site which was bought by the city the same year. One can easily imagine the joy with which students and teachers received this news. However, their ardor was slightly dampened because the construction of the building was not begun until 1905. In 1905 the commercial course was intro- duced and quite a number of students immediately took up the Work. It is needless to say that from this time on all looked forward to the completion of the new school. At last the great time came when the High School was formally dedicated. This great building was constructed to occupy fully half a block. It is now difliculty to imagine the High School without the Annex, but the Annex was not built until 1913. With the com- mencement of work in the new building practically all courses were introduced excepting manual training. There were at this time 387 students and twenty- three teachers. Mr. Hemmenway had retired from work and Mr. Benezet .was now principal. It was with great energy and enthu- siasm that all members of the high school began the regular work. The Domestic Science and Commercial Courses became very popular and the science classes also 'Q S , ,',,ef-ee,-, K 2 jruenfyorze Z s - Quinn? ' Page 11

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