Hollidaysburg High School - Chimrock Yearbook (Hollidaysburg, PA)

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C.: .., THE I 5, - F F,,.- -: f- CI-IINIROCK1 1 - HOLLIDAYSBURG HIGH SCHOOL IN 1879 IFTY years ago! The pupils in the schools of today could not imagine the conditions which prevailed then in the Hollidaysburg schools. Everything was drab and uninteresting. No baseball, football, basketball or musical organiza- tions. There was not even the enthusiasm which numbers incite. The high school had two classes. The Iirst class was started by Professor B. F. Pinkerton, Principal, in 1877, and the members pledged to remain in school for that year and the two suc- ceeding years. The course of study was arithmetic, algebra, geometry, language, rhetoric, physiology, physical geography, orthography, etymology, the Constitution of the United States and music. The latter was the one bright spot. The first class, with the addition of Elmer Rooney of the second class, formed a very creditable Clee Club. On many a night from the town ucornersn resounded the strains of Swanee River, I Was Taking Nellie Home, 4'Farewell My Ladyn and other popular songs of that day. The rooms were heated by big bellied cast iron stoves burning soft coal. Every boy had a yearning ambition to poke the fire and leave as much smoke and gas into the room as possible. Generally, those sitting close by the stoves were too hot, while those near the windows were too cold. And who of that time can forget the water bucket and tin cup? I have often thought that either there were no germs, then, or nature graciously supplied immunity. On the top of the building was a cupola for the accommodation of the bell. To ring the bell was a chore seized at every oppor- tunity by pupils-but alas! if they uturnedw it, it was taken for granted that the act was intentional. The bell has been discovered and bears the name of my lone sur- viving classmate, John H. West-mute evidence that John was where he ought not to have been. The old desks and other furniture bore the initials of several past generations and other cabalistic symbols, the work of many sportive barlows. High board fenc-es separated the school yard from adjoining private properties, while from the rear of the building to the alley was a like fence, dividing the girls, from the boys, playground. But the trusty barlows had provided numerous holes for vision, the passing of love missives and conversation. The play grounds were covered with cinder or ashes. In dry weather there was black dust, in wet weather, black mud. After a recess of rough and tumble sport, it made little difference to the feelings of the teachers whether the pupils came in adorned with dust or mud. Across the street from the schoolhouse, as appropriate scenery, stood the old Ramey Barracks. A grim spectre, never to be erased from the memory of one who saw and knew it. A vast ramshackle, paintless, weather and smoke blackened build- ing. From my earliest memory, it was unoccupied, except by bats, vermin and spooks. The doors and windows were nailed shut with boards and only occasionally were pupils able to force an entrance to explore its dark and mysterious interior. The teachers were Professor B. F. Pinkerton, Mrs. Martha I. Tucker, Misses Martha Neville, Kate M. Stewart, Nettie Maus, Lucretia Kennedy and Lucy Young. A faithful band who, under most trying and heart-breaking conditions, did the best they could. They had under their care and supervision, I would say, about four hundred pupils. Have I painted a dismal and gruesome picture? Well, I think the facts war- ranted it. Yet, hopeless as it might seem, out of the muck and roil went many boys and girls to become fine men and charming women. In the year 1883, I was teacher of the grade school which occupied the upstairs room front in the old building. With the closing of the schools for the holidays, as iggipmltmhuuiummdlimwthnthvlvmnv . l- -if' Page Six

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DIVISIONS ADMINISTRATION CLASSES ATHLETICS ORGANIZATIONS MUSIC FEATURES A DVERTISEMEN TS L..

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if ,,, V Q . -- p N 0, 5X .1 4 -1 CI-IINIROCK. I recall, I rang the old bell for the last time, to drop-the curtain upon the usefulness of the old school building forever. When the schools reassembled after vacation, it was a gay and happy lot of teachers and pupils which met in the fine new school building on the hill. James H. Craig, '79. IN 1979 The future of the Hollidaysburg High School is dependent upon numerous exigencies of the next fifty years. The public has been very eager to demand a more widely, and at the same time, a more specially trained high school graduate. These too numerous demands have served as the stimuli for faculty and subject attractions. There is no reason to believe that the process will not continue. It is speculative to say what the high school of 1979 will be. Prophecy is inti- mately related to history, on the one hand, and present tendencies and imagination, on the other. In a period of fifty years it may go wide of the mark. It would be most interesting to have that time unfolded for a moment right now. There is reason to believe that the public school span will include the educational experiences from the pre-kindergarten to the completion of the common college. The present high school will be only an intermediary stage of public school life. In- stead of a specified nine months' term there may be a term extending throughout the year. School facilities will be far better adapted to educational purposes. There will be more laboratories, work and trade shops, libraries, gymnasiums and athletic fields, practice halls, lecture halls, and auditoriums. The tendency in educational equip- ment seems to bear the shop idea in every phase of its development. The traditional courses will still be present fifty years hence, but perhaps scarce- ly recognized. It may be expected that to these may be added very special courses- health, natural science, trades, public service, politics, religion, art, and music. The general course will no longer suffice in fitting the student to become a productive citizen. The future faculty will be comprised of persons specially selected and adapted for the public educational profession. The members will be better trained as special- ists. They will make a better application of psychology to each individual student. The methods, techniques, and devices of instruction are too elusive to be prophetic. The unborn student of half a century hence will have an opportunity to advance to the extent of his ability and capacity instead of being in any manner handicapped by any such thing as his class. Public school organization and procedure will permit the development of the individual with more freedom toward creation. Guidance experts will assist him, and he will become a specialist. The present common college will become the high school of the future. The then college and university will still have the same function they have today, and they will receive their entrants from the public high school. The advancement of education which is akin to the advancement of civilization makes such progress and growth assured. Who will pay the increased cost? The public will pay for this development, just as it has done in the past and is now doing. The cost to the individual cannot be increased. The worth of the new education will be increasingly recognized as the greatest asset to a democratic government. Calvin V. Erdly N, iii- l 4,,,,,g.mm..i.m.-.wmmtsmmmm....n , g Page Seven