East High School - Echoes Yearbook (Wichita, KS)

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East students have long beer. known as the Aces, and our colors have always been blue and white, but not until fall of '79 did we have a mascot. Then Blue'Max was born, and he became an important symbol of school pride and spirit. But why the name Blue Max? A Blue Max did exist once, but, contrary to popular belief, he was not a brave World War l fighter pilot who gallantly shot down enemy planes and won vic- tories for the Allies. A Blue Max was, instead, a highly coveted German medal created by Frederic ll of Prussia, as the Order of Pour le Merite. The tag Blue Max was just a common nickname that the British had for the medal, which over the years stuck to it. Skilled pilots, such as the infamous Fted Baron, were awarded this honor for bringing down a specified number of enemy planes. But this number often changed with the whim of the Kaiser. The Bed Baron, for example, shot down 16 planes before he received his medal. Yet several men before him only brought down eight planes to get theirs. Another school trait is calling ourselves the East Blue Aces. But why Aces? Why not the East Blue Bombers or something similar? Maybe the answer lies in a trusted authority. Webster's dictionary difines ace as follows: Ace-ti a single point or spot on a card or die. 2iF'article, atom: jot. 3lln some games, a point won by a single stroke. 47Combat pilot who downed at least 5 planes. 5lOne who excels at anything. The difinitions that most apply to East, however, are the last two. The former originated during World War l, when a minimum of five planes was set as the sole qualification for ace This tradition was started by the British but adopted by Germany as well. Officially, ace is a British term signifying the same level of bravery and skill as the holder of a German Blue Max.. The latter definition, although rather vague, seems best suited to aptly describe an East Ace. Excelllng at anything at East could mean in sports, academics or in school ace tivities. ECHO 981 VOLUME 57 WICHITA HIGH SCHOOL EAST OPENING .... SPORTS ....... ACADEMICS .... ACTIVITIES . . . PEOPLE .... SENIORS ...... ,IUNIORS ....... SOPHOMORES ............ TEACHERS ................. SENIOR ACHIEVEMENTS. . . INDEX ................. 2301 EAST DOUGLAS WICHITA, KANSAS 67211 ....2 ...17 ..51 ..71 ...115 116 140 ....152 ....166 ...170 174

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Assistant principal Melva Owens and her husband view the Homecoming dance from the sidelines. Administrators gain new faces The adminstrators put in a great deal of hard work which paid off. Dr. R. Larry Roberts, principal, said the majority of his time was devoted to promoting an educational at- mosphere that would allow students and teachers to work together in a harmonious goal-reaching environ- ment. One of the reasons that Roberts is able to use his time to promote this atmosphere is due to the help of Associate Principal Sam Allen. He has been assisant principal at three junior high schools in and around the Wichita area and was assisant prin- cipal at South for three years. Three years ago he came to East as assis- tant principal, and last summer he became associate principal. To fill the vacancy created by the promotion of Allen and the departure of last year's second assistant prin- cipal, we added two new faces to our administrative staff. They were Larry Turner and Melva Owens. Turner came from Hamilton Junior High School where he was principal. He took over the position of assistant principal, replacing Sam Allen. Owens wasn't exactly new to East. She had been director of Experience Based Career Education 1975-1979. But last year she took a leave of absence to work on her PhD in Education at the University of Kan- sas. Owens replaced Don Wright. Our administrative staff worked ex- tremely hard at the job of making and keeping East High School the best high school in Wichita. After a hard day's work, Dr. R. Larry Roberts, principal, and Sam Allen, associate principal, relax while watching the Aces play Kapaun- Mount Carmel.