Elgin High School - Maroon Yearbook (Elgin, IL)

Page 16 text:

4 THE OLD HIGH SCHOOL of these were allowed for graduation. As an outgrowth of this addition the glee clubs took form. Something new for commencement was started when the class of 1900 voted to put on a play instead of the regular commencement program. They selected for their play The Merchant of Venicef, The following class chose Midsummer Night's Dream. Two new departments were started in 1903. An official from the watch factory agreed to supply the material for a manual training course if the Board of Education would allow the expense of a teacher and the up-keep. This was done, and as the Elgin Woman's Club offered to supply the laboratory equipment, a course of domestic science was adopted at the same time. Plans for the erection of the high school building as we know it today were begun in 1905. At that time Franklin School was being used for the overHow students from high school. That summer, ground was broken for the new building. The construction was rushed and soon there arose a beautiful two-story structure. The old high school building was still in use, but at the middle of the year classes began to be held in the new building as well. Soon, however, it was seen that more room would be needed with the rapid growth of the school, and another story was added. Next the old building was torn down, the gym and auditorium constructed in its place, and the west wing added. That same year the graduating class published the first Marconi, containing pictures of the faculty, of the seniors, and of such activities as debating, glee clubs, orchestra fthe first formed in Elgin High Schoolj, football, and baseball. Three years previous the Mirror had changed from a monthly to a weekly publication, and was more newsy than before. The courses offered in the high school were: English, general, foreign language, science, business, normal training, household arts, and a two-year business course.

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O THE NEW BRICK high school, the English and classical, each requiring four years for completion, were adopted. The year 1872 was a memorable one, for on Iune 27,of that year the first high school graduating class, consisting of the Misses Helen C. Kimball, Euphemia A. Martin, and Iulia A. DuBois, held its exercises in the Opera House. Each read a lengthy essay. The following year the control of the schools passed from the city to the state under the new general school law, the citizens having voted the change. The Hrst real high school building was erected in 1883 on the central part of the present location, just east of the old brick, which was later torn down. Although part of this new building was used for grammar grades at first, it was not long until all twenty-Five of its rooms had gradually been taken over for high school classes. The Hrst Mirror was issued October, 1897. The Mirror was then a monthly publication, a magazine with a stiff paper cover, mainly literary. In 1900 the proceeds from this were diverted into at very worthwhile project, a scholarship loan fund. In 1901 this amounted to 15300 and was used by two students. Today it amounts to over S3000 and has been used by over sixty-five students. That same year the first true football team was organized and at the same time a club was formed for athletics. At that time a variety of courses and a wider Held of subjects were offered to the stu- dents. The students could select from three courses: Latin, German, and English or commercial. There were now nine teachers in high school with E. C. Pierce as principal. Though just inaugurated, the work done that year by the commercial department, which included bookkeeping, stenography, typing, and arithmetic, was very encouraging. Music and drawing were added as minor subjects, although not more than two credits

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THE PRESENT HIGH SCHOOL Great interest was shown by the students in the World War. The study of the Ger- man language and everything connected with Germany was abandoned. There was even military training, and a company of eighty-two boys was formed. Many high school graduates participated in the War, some giving their lives. An important memorial was left to the school when the class of 1922 gave the money to present medals to the most outstanding boy and girl from each graduating class. ln 1924 the Student Council, the first form of student government, was initiated. They devised a student handbook for the use of incoming freshmen as well as for those already in high school. Increased interest in extra-curricular activities was shown by the presence of the Girls Athletic Club, bands, the orchestra, glee clubs, English, Latin, French, and Spanish clubs. Auto mechanics, office training, and journalism were new courses adopted about this time. In 1926 an honor point system, in use today, was devised in order that extra-curricular activities might be more evenly spread among the students. The same year the old wooden stairs were replaced by steel and cement. It bcame necessary in 1931 to build a junior high school on the west side to take care of the increasing enrollments. Some day there may also be such a school on the east side. Perhaps, too, we shall soon have a much needed new gymnasium and auditorium, a topic which is now being discussed by members of the Board of Education. Thus we see how Elgin High School has grown to be one of the most outstanding schools in northern Illinois, joining with other large high schools to form a Big Six and next year a Big Seven through which all interscholastic activities are held. It is a school of which to be proud, graduation from it is recognized all over the country, its graduates have proved its worth by their outstanding accomplishments.