Jefferson High School - Acorn Yearbook (Roanoke, VA)

Page 15 text:

... and Mr. Moneybags Mr. Richard P. Via, Director of Activities To Mr. Richard P. Via, Director of Activities We proudly dedicate our 1957 YEARBOOK. We honor you, Buck, for many reasons: We know that you love Jefferson and devotedly serve it, giving to our school and to us many extra hours of your time and your unfailing interest. We honor you for the kind of person you are in the community, especially because of your life in your home, in church leadership and in your continued academic study. We are grateful to you for the example your life sets for us. Not only do you do your work well, but you do it always in good humor with a smile, a wave of the hand, or a friendly clap on the shoulder, as if you really enjoy collecting and accounting for thousands of dollars every term, helping us find lost books, or making detailed plans for school activities. We are grateful to you. We honor you. To show our affection, we dedicate to you the ACORN OF 1957, roms

Page 14 text:

The Big Wheels... Mr. A. Gordon Brooks, Principal, and Mr. M. G. White, Assistant Principal of Jefferson Because we shall celebrate this summer Roa- noke’s 75th birthday, we at Jefferson have natu- rally looked back too with interest upon our small beginnings. We find that Roanoke High School was estab- lished in the fall of 1891 with twenty-three students, all girls, two teachers, and three rooms in the old Commerce School, which stood on the corner now occupied by the Post Office. For page two of the ACORN, Ray Johnson, has sketched a picture of Commerce. On the first of the class- work pages, we list some of the courses offered. Completion of all was required for graduation. Had our present unit system been in effect, twenty- four units would be the equivalent. The first graduating class, in 1894, was composed of seven girls. One member, Miss Alto Funkhauser, later taught at Jefferson and now lives in retirement at her home on Albermarle Avenue. As Roanoke grew, so did the high school. From three rooms at Commerce, it was scheduled to move in 1893 to the second floor of a carriage factory on Church Avenue. But, as bad luck would have it, the building burned the day before the fall term began. However, school opened on schedule in temporary Salem Avenue quarters. Then, back to an enlarged Commerce School. The next move, in 1899, was to a new high school now known as the Administration Building. Since the Auditorium-Study Hall directly faced the jail just across the alleyway, inmates and students had opportunity for a continuous exchange of greetings. In 1924, our present building was ready, and Roanoke High School changed its name to Jeffer- son. Now we’re busy with plans for our new Jefferson—of few steps, more classrooms, larger Auditorium, Gym, a cafeteria with windows and a campus. Now, sixty-three years after our first class of seven received their diplomas, we have a class of four hundred. As it has always been, the winning of that cherished diploma is still the goal of every student. June 7th will be the great day for the Class of 1957.

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Years of Experience... Mr. A. Gordon Brooks, Principal Mr. M. G. White, Assistant Principal Mr. Richard P. Via, Director of Activities Mr. T. C. Anderson Physical Education Mr. Donald Bartol Mathematics, Driver Training, Guidance Miss Billie Lee Bates Business Education Miss Jeanne L. Bentley Physical Education, Sponsor G. A. A., Advisor Cheerleaders Mr. James W. Bishop Science, Advisor Beta Hi-Y, Dean of Boys Miss Miriam Bowman Spanish, Advisor Pan-American League Mr. G. A. Branscom, Jr. Business Education - Mrs. Ruth C. Bright English, Latin, Advisor Junior Classical League Mr. W. Irving Brinkley Electricity Mrs. Mildred G. Brust Business Education Mr. Charles R. Buchanan Distributive Education, Advisor D. E. Club Mr. Gordon Camden Auto Mechanics Mrs. Violet E. Carter Business Education Miss Thelma A. Chambers Acting Coordinator Business Education Mr. James P. Comer History Miss Frances J. Cooper Chemistry, Advisor Tri-Sci, Head of | Science Reparment) De) trs. Sadie, bite t (N UN ar DramaticS, Advisor Thespians : Miss ‘Anna Gray Cronise ve! Busmess Education, Advisor F. B. L. A. Miss Ruth M. Cronise “ English, Advisor F. T. A. Mrs. Nancy S. Dickerson Biology, Advisor Senior Y-Teens Club 1 Miss Martha J. Donaldson Business Education, Advisor Junior Y-Teens Mrs. Ruth B. Dorsey English Mrs. Elizabeth M. Drewry English, Advisor Annual Staff Mrs. Evelyn B. Eckman English, French Mr. Howard Emmons History Mrs. Henriette M. Fallwell French, Chairman Language Depart- ment, Advisor L’Echo Mrs. Ethel J. Field History, Dean of Girls Miss Margaret Fisher Mathematics, Guidance Counselor