El Reno High School - Boomer Yearbook (El Reno, OK)

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From point of view of service, the oldest teacher on the high school staff at the present time is Miss Rose Witcher, who joined the faculty as English teacher in 1913. The student body that year numbered approximately 200. A typical auditorium scene is pictur- ed at left. The Class of 1911, of which Mrs. Lucile Blair, now mathematics and Spanish instructor in the high school, was a member, was the first class to have the pictures of the graduating seniors mount- ed, framed, and hung in the halls. Through the years interest in basketball had grown. The enthusiasm and untiring efforts devot- ed to this sport paid off in 1921 when El Reno cap- tured the first of her six state championship basket- ball titles. First championship basketball team is pictured below. And football was not a forgotten sport. In 1920, Ruth Gadberry Beckley, pictured below, was crown- ed the first football queen in the history of the school.

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The 1914 high school orchestra, pictured here, was one of the lead- ing student groups that year. The orchestra, organized in 1911, was a well-functioning group by 1914, with Miss Irene March, now head of the foreign language depart- ment in the high school, as first violinist. The first football team was organized in 1901. The mem- bers of the 1908 squad, pictur- ed here, were described as “masters of the gridiron,” as El Iteno won four out of the seven scheduled games that year. Annual staffs from the first one in 1907 to the 1914 staff, pictured here, chose a different name for each yearbook. Title of the 1914 annual, Boomerang, was changed to Boomer by 191G, and this is still the official title of the high school publication. The first brick high school building, now Central Elemen- tary School, was completed in the summer of 1905 at a total cost of $30,000. The El Reno Demo- crat of August 5,1905, describes the building as “one of the finest school buildings in Oklahoma.” The high school convened in the new building for the first time on September 11, 1905.

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TOWARD THE FUTURE Through the years El Reno High School has moved ever forward, with a curriculum that has been enlarged as there was need and with an ever-widening scope of influence in the community. Each student and teacher in passing through the high school portals has used his talents in furthering the school program. As the years have come and gone, steady progress has been made. Those who have preceded us have laid foundations and estab- lished traditions that will be an inspiration for those who follow us. Therefore, we, the Seniors of 1946, do hereby dedicate this Boomer-Collegian, the fiftieth anniversary edition, to all the grad- uates and teachers in the past as an expres- sion of appreciation for their pointing the way toward the future that those who fol- low us must travel. Administration Building Industrial Arts Building El Reno High School