George Washington High School - Continental Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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Galainef Number One li li S ' s McCane Spencer Peterson Le Grand Flegel Hawkins Boone Shafer Hocum Woodward Scott Mr. Hughes: Ah, those arduous days in the school, when customs and traditions were in the making! We should look with sympathy at the first officers and leaders of the student body, their struggles to adopt a suitable constitution by which the students might govern themselves, and the trials of the first officers who had to establish precedents with a student body overwhelmingly junior high. To Bradley Spencer, first president, was given the task of showing all future presidents how this office should be conducted. Credit should go, too, to other members of that first cabinet: james McCane and Alice Peterson, vice-presidents, Mildred Haw- kins, secretary, Allan Scott, manager of athletics, Geraldine Hocum and Robert Woodward, self-government presidents, Leona Flegal and Loren Boone, Boys' and Girls' League presidents, Archie Schafer, manager of publications, and Bud Le Grand, manager of finances. But the student body officers weren't the only ones taking part in those formulating days. There were also the leaders in athletics, scholarship, and social life, who played such important roles in organizing activities and winning honors which have made high school life more enjoyable and valuable. For instance, there were the first Sealbearers, Evelyn Graves, Aeoma Schellhous, Mary Provaz- nik, William McNeIis, and Maurice Yazloff, the first Knight, Archie Schafer, and the number one Lady, Fanchon Martinson. And let us not forget the athletes. Dal Neville, track captain, Bud Kenny, baseball pilotg Ed Allen, varsity football head man, Bill Davis, captain of varsity basketball: and Ellamay Foyle, G. A. A. president. Others who had their share in buildingfschool spirit were Dick Goodwin, yell leader, Maurice Yazloff, editor-in-chief of the Sur- veyor: and Mary Provaznik, editor of the first Continental. Nor should we forget the first of our Ephebians, Aeoma Schellhous, And in these 2

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Mr. Hughes: To obtain a more complete picture of the history of the school, let us retrace the steps of Father Time and visualize that first day of school on a September morning in 1927. Here were the future greats of Washington, all lined up and eager for a chance to begin school. imagine the confusion when students knew nothing about either the school or its regulations, and the new faculty knew little more. Mr. Richmond, our registrar, remembers that day vividly, and l'm going to ask him to step up and recall his memories of it. Mr. Richmond: To describe the boys and girls who gathered at Washington high school the first day the doors were opened is impossible. The best I can do is to say that they were a milling, shouting mob. They were jammed in the main hall of the Administration building and overflowed up the main steps to the second floor. The school had been planned for about 700 to 800 students, but ll00 came instead. A bell was rung for the students to assemble in the auditorium. But none of them knew this, for they didn't hear the bell. ln fact, they didn't even know where the aud was. At last, under the pressure of insistent ringing and the personal urging of Mr. Hughes and some of the faculty, the mob was finally herded ifor that is just what was donel to the aud. The first to arrive there began to throw sticks which the builders had left back and forth between the balcony until they were finally stopped. There were no seats yet, so the students sat on the round iron ventilator buttons on the floor or lounged against the walls. Mr. Hughes then proceeded to shout from the bare stage above the terrific din, ithere was no public address systeml all new instructions. After the assembly, the mob noisily charged out the doors in a rush to sign up for classes. vzsf Gonfmenfal S7066

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,.-4 3 eam captains A ' jr-' Team x..-if days of hundreds of graduates in a class, it seems odd to think of the first class of only five graduates: Ruth Howe, Hazel Parker, Dick Goodwin, Edmund johnson, and Edward Magdaleno. Now l'm going to ask Miss Verle Morrow, first senior class sponsor, to recount her memories of the first commencement. Miss Morrow: On commencement night the five graduates sat in the center of the stage, surrounded by an overwhelming array of officials all gracefully seated in rocking chairs, ito fill up spacei with floor lamps and palms to complete the impressive setting. The student speaker realized that, like George Washington him- self, he was setting a precedent: that hundreds of speakers would follow him twice each year down through the succeeding generations. He started valiantlyg but before he was half through, the respon- sibility of the occasion suddenly overwhelmed him, and his mind became a blank. Mr. Hughes, two vice-principals, two sponsors, one school board member and one prompter from the wings, in agony sent out panicky thought waves while the audience sat frozen. And finally with such stalwart backing the oration was finished-in five installments. And what of the audience at this graduation? Unlike the present day when tickets are at a premium, then each member not only was given as many as he wanted, but he was urged to take more, to bring all his friends and relatives. The faculty likewise were urged to bring their cousins and their aunts. All friends of the school were asked to bring others with them and added to these were a few condescending onlookers from other schools, here to see what Washington could produce. Thus was assembled an audience well worthy of so momentous an occasion, and never was there one so enthusiastic. No restraining of the applause in that day! Applause was a necessary part of the performance, for to make five names sound like an impressive ceremony, there must be pauses longer than the names, and every member got his full share of acknowledg- ment. We are sure no students have been more thoroughly graduated.