Des Moines Technical High School - Engineer Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

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Des Moines Technical High School... The Development Of An Educational Idea Drafting done by Defense Training Workers at the Old West High School. A technical high school for Des Moines was estab¬ lished in 1942 in the building which was formerly known as West High School. It was an outgrowth of a program for training adults for employment in defense activities which the school system had been asked to provide. The late Roy C. Woolman, director of industrial education, took an active part in the organization of the technical high school. From 1942 until the end of World War II, the high school program and the training of adult workers for the industrial firms engaged in defense activi¬ ties were carried on side by side. Meanwhile the school had grown from an enrollment of less than 300 the first year to approximately 450. This latter enrollment was augmented by returning veterans seeking technical education. At times the number of veterans in training exceeded 250. 4 A Defense Training worker works on a piece for Aircraft Riveting and Framing at the Old West High School.

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The 40’s... Des Moines’ only Technicial high school ironically will once again become what it was in 1941-1943 — a “resource center.” Originally Tech was “West High School” where students attended part-time to learn a trade and then graduated from their neighborhood high school. As WW II wound down and the GI’s began to return, the city’s need for a full-time technicial high school became evident. Interest in vocational training, not only by the GI’s, but also by many students attending other high schools grew rapidly, which led to the beginning of today’s Tech. Tech’s beginning, like its ending, was met by student resistance. In 1944, without notice to students or faculty, the Des Moines School Board changed West High School’s name to “Tech.” Upset by the board’s decision, the students of 1944 set a precedent for Tech students of 1982 and staged a two-day walkout. Classes resumed after representatives of the school board and administration met with the students. As Tech grew in enrollment, so did “Tech Spirit” and the perserverance of its athletes, which was evidenced in 1946-1947 when Tech’s basketball team won the city conference. It did so despite the fact Tech didn’t have a gym in which to play or practice. Tech expanded rapidly in the 40’s and the success of Tech and its students may best be said in the words of its first principal, Mr. E.C. Betz —“When a country or a school is new, its citizens possess a pioneering spirit. They have courage to abandon worn-out traditions and boldly set up new practices. They are friendly and helpful. They will sacrifice time, effort, and money for the general good. They develop resourcefulness, because they frequently must improvise or forego. But they will move on! Tech still has that determined spirit of the pioneer. It is evident in the classes, in the assemblies, in the band, and on the athletic teams. May we never outgrow that spirit!” Today’s generation will become the new “pioneers” of Tech, soon to be called Central Campus. If they strive for excellence as did the generations before them. Tech Spirit will always live. Ray Fenton, Iowa District Court Judge Class of ‘47 6