Frank B Willis High School - Delhi Yearbook (Delaware, OH)

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SIENTOR HISTORY We have reached it-graduation day is ours. Another milestone of life has been attained. Six years have passed since we first entered Willis High School as green little seventh graders. In compari- son with the years to come, these six years were quite short. Memories are all that remain of our won- derful days of high school. Some of these memories are very happy while others are sad. Six years ago we regarded Willis happily as we anticipated the good times we would have. The past six years have certainly lived up to these expectations. Do you remember the seventh grade? Willis was a gigantic building that year. The first couple of days we had a lot of trouble finding rooms. After a while, however, we began to recognize new faces and the whole affair of being in high school started to be lots of fun. This year marked the beginning of a new type of iunior high teaching program, the core program. We were glad to stay in one room half the day with a teacher we could really call our own. This first year found our main interest in scholastic affairs. Many of our fellow classmates made the honor and merit rolls. Naturally we found time for the numerous extra-curricular activities which were already beginning to fill up our schedules. The rec became a favorite meeting place of all the gang. We had a voice in the Student Representative Assembly lS.R.A.l - even if it was but a little one. The club program added much to our first year at Willis. The girls ioined the newly formed Junior Y-Teens while the boys ioined the Junior Hi-Y. Although the activities of the clubs were limited, they helped us to achieve a higher degree of responsibility and leadership. Time passed quickly and already we were storing up a wealth of memories for the future. Our eighth grade found us becoming the leaders instead of followers. We were old hands at the school- we even showed the younger pupils around the school. This year was really one of adventure for us. We continued to have a hand in school government. A Junior High S.R.A. was formed and we had our own Junior High Student Body President. With the aid of our core teachers, we started the Olympiad. The stadium at Community Field was transformed into the stadium at Helsinki, Finland, with all its pag- eantry. Remember how the girls insisted upon carrying those mammoth flags around the field? The boys were content to watch them suffer it out. Another first for our class was the Junior High newspaper, the Livewire. We had an opportunity to participate in more worthwhile clubs. We had an excellent club program. Everything from nature study to cheerleading was offered. Through the various clubs we met new friends and continued old friendships. A highlight of the year was the first Junior High Open House. The operetta club presented Over Mountain, River and Plain, and the dramatics club, Not Quite Such a Goose. There were also displays showing the activities of the various clubs and cores. A one-act play, The Knave of Hearts, was started during our eighth grade, but was not given until the ninth grade. The first iunior high yearbook was published and appropriately called The Panther. The first awards assem- bly was held that year and many of our pupils made that long trip up the aisle to receive their awards. A Junior High Girls Ensemble entertained. Our athletic program improved this year with the winning of the Central Buckeye League football championship. Many of us showed our school spirit by attend- ing every game-both home and away. The high stepping Willis Band included a sizable group of eighth graders. The biggest rivalry of the century was the eighth grade feud between T02 and 209. Tests and sports made these two classes always in competition. The hatchet was buried during a picnic at Blue Limestone Lake following the Olympiad. The long awaited moment of officially being in high school started with our Freshman year. This was our first year to be in homerooms by alphabetical order. lt was also our first year to change classes every period. The fellows had their first opportunity to participate in the high school athletic program, while the girls began their sports program. Our first formal was held on November 19. Everyone looked extra nice and the dance was one always to be remembered. Some of the boys interested in agriculture joined the Future Farmers of America. Doing this, they braved the worst ordeal of all -the initiation. F. F. A. initiations are long to be remembered by anybody participating in them. Our boys were no different. They were mighty sore the next day but wore triumphant smiles and beautiful blue F. F. A. jackets. The main club for girls was W-Teens, for the boys,-Hi-Y and Key Club. Some of the girls decided to try their hand at home economics and ioined the Future Homemakers, a newly-formed group. During that year we had a choir composed entirely of freshmen. The formation of a reserve basketball team for the boys brought about the need for freshman cheerleaders. Our voice in school affairs was main-

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NOT PICTURED: George Byus DORA WINSHIP Alain Cdvaniu F.H.A. 3, 47 Spanish Club 31 Popular Music Dale Campbell club 1, 2, 4, oem: Slaff 4. Gevfge Converse lesler Hill Sandra Jervis Donald Johns Eugene Jordan William Paynler Ed Radugge Arlyn Ramey Barbara Sovereen Howard Slephenson Donald Sievens SENIOR CLASS COMMITTEES 2 .J Y Q f-' .3 .ff Left to right: Sealed - L. Evans, J. Elliott, D. Barringer, J. Drake. Row 2 - Mr. Fells, Miss Bussard, E. Dixon, J. Southard, S. Tapp, F. Schnees, R. Piaft, S. Black, J. Royer, H. Ufferman, J. Kofoed, D. Jaccaud, D. Gorsuch, Miss Benson, Mrs. Hearn, Mr. Graham. Row 3 -W. Paynter, J. Burns, R. Crose, D. Barkeloo, D. Blackledge, L. House, S. Hamilton, K. Morris, C. Borden

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tained by elected representativesto the S. R. A. Remember the spring of our freshman year when the combined choirs and the dramatics depart- ment of Willis presented the Delaware Diary? This musical was the school's contribution to Ohio's sesqui- centennial. Our freshman choir was chosen to depict a scene from the old one-room school house, and the scene,was called The Three R's. It was lots of work but will long be remembered by those who participated in it. Some of the boys ioinedrthe newly-formed Print Crew. The crew took over the big iob of printing the Delaware Diary programs and many other printing iobs throughout our four years of high school. This group of hard-working fellows performed a real service for us and the school. Our sophomore year was also very eventful. For some fourteen members of our class, a big moment was the initiation into Thespians. The ceremony was held during an assembly for the whole school. lt was indeed very exciting when they were tapped by a member of the Thespian Society. As Latin became harder, numerous students obtained a translation called a pony. Often they felt they would not make it through the class -without the help of those tiny masterpieces. They really rode through Latin on a pony. Our Junior year was filled with many money making proiects. Our first item was a car wash. Several of these car washes were held before school started in the fall. After school began we sold pens, wrapping paper, and peanuts. Several dinners and dances were given in order to increase the class treasury, so that we might finance the annual Junior-Senior banquet and prom. Finally the time for the Junior-Senior arrived and members of the elected Executive Committee of the class went to the Memorial Union Building on the Ohio Wesleyan University Campus to order the menu, while others worked on the decorations and selected an orchestra. The theme, Over the Rainbow, was carried out with colorful floral decorations, and the appointments for our guests represented the pots of gold at the end of our make-believe rainbow. ln the ballroom the formals of the girls blended with the color scheme to make the MUB look indeed as if it were one large rainbow. Remember all the fun we had after the dance at our own iunior party at the Moose? Our mothers worked so hard to provide a nice party for us and it was indeed a success. Many members of our class took an active part in the many extra-curricular activities during the year. Some continued their dramatic careers and appeared in Harvey, a play given in the fall, and The Mikado, the spring operelta. These productions took a lot of effort but everyone will always remember the fun it was being Helen Hayes or Maurice Evans for a night. The speech class gave some of us a chance at the directing end of a play. Three one-act plays starring freshman actors were produced in assembly. We had our try at American Literature, a class long to be remembered-our first term papers, hard tests, and lust plain work. Most of us felt that the study habits we learned in this class were very applica- ble to our other classes. This year was tops in sports for us. The football, baseball, and tennis teams all won first place in the CBL. The basketball team finished mid-way in the league. Our fellows had a part in making this year's sports a year to be remembered. More and more of the boys ioined the ranks of letter-winners and proudly displayed a big D on white letter sweaters. We were represented across the state and nation this year, too. Some of our F.F.A. boys went to Kansas City to the National F.F.A. Convention. We really envied them, missing all that'school. Four of the fellows and one girl were chosen to represent the school at Buckeye Boy's and Girl's States, held in June, a real honor. Senior year, the one which we'd waited for so long, finally began. First day we were assigned to homerooms and assembly seats-the honored ones down front. What a thrill it was to be able to leave the auditorium first when the student body president said, Seniors, That one word was enough to bring tears to the eyes of many pupils when they thought that this would be the last year that we would be leaving the auditorium as students of Willis High School. The year brought its privileges, too. We were the presidents of the clubs and had the main responsibility of helping to run the school. That over-awed expression on the faces of the iunior high pupils was directed at us. Some were even lucky enough to take Diversified Co-operative Training Program-school in the morning, work in the afternoon. That was the life! As the classes began in earnest, we decided we would not have an easy time during our senior year. Our class was honored to have Jack McCloughan, an exchange teacher from Sydney, Australia, as our teacher in Problems of Democracy. His accent and whimsical iokes provided us with many laughs. Everyone loved him, his days at Willis brightened ours. We'll always remember his classes. Our class found that compiling data for the Delhi was a tremendous iob. Do you recall those frequent interruptions such as, Pardon the interruption, but will homeroom 301 please report to the auditorium for their Delhi picture. An added incentive for buying the Delhi was the possibility of getting fcontinued page 985 I