Lancaster Mennonite High School - Laurel Wreath Yearbook (Lancaster, PA)

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1942- J 949 Senior boys quartet, class of 1948 sessions, the beakers would walk to the edge of the shelves and fall unless they were caught. Oc- casionally, of course, a beaker was not caught, and a basic law of physics was demonstrated. Dating on campus was not allowed in the first years, but before too long casual association was permitted. In the earliest years there was a great deal of interest in writing, and membership in Stylus Club was proportionately very high. Coupled with this interest was the formation of the Mill Stream during the first year. Edna Wenger, who served as advisor for the first 14 years, proposed the name. Some, however, thought it too frivolous and presumptuous a title, preferring something more prosaic such as The Journal. The senior yearbook had at first merely been an enlarged final edition of the Mill Stream. Then in 1946 the senior class published the first edition of the new LAUREL WREATH, a title chosen by the class. By 1949 the need for dormitory space for the grow- ing LMS had become acute. Girls were living in the administration building, the upper floor of Noah Good ' s home, which is now the Home Economics building, and in the house where Brother Stanley Kreider lives. In that year the present Girls ' Dormitory was built, and seemingly the matrons have never yet quite recovered from the shock of so many girls together in one place at the same time. Arlene Hess (Thurman), Mary Kathrj ' n Stauffer (Todd) and Eliza- beth Sauder (Eshleman) pose for their picture 21

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The Pioneer Years, Writing histor) ' would most certainly have been presumptuous to describe the attitude of the school at its opening. Dean Noah Good recalls that there was some concern whether enough students would show up to start a school. The first senior class was much smaller proportionately than it is now. Although The first Mill Stream staff it Started out with only twelve members, it was soon enlarged to sixteen, bringing the total enroll- ment to 153. These first years were exciting years. Students arriving who belic ed themselves to be in for an ex- tended picnic were soon jarred into realization of the fact that the young LMS was striving for academic excellence. Near the school ' s beginning an editorial appeared in the Lancaster New Era voicing the hope that LMS would not neglect its agriculture pro- gram for all the good hard-working Mennonite farmers. From the very first, however, LMS has had, and continues to have, a very strong academic program. The LMS student during the pioneer years reflected to a large extent the Church. He was almost certainly from an agrarian background and was for the main part isolated and unsophisticated with reference to the world around him. TTie spiritual life of students ran very high from the very beginning. There was a strong revival and missionar) ' conviction upon the faculty and student body. Chapel was held at that time in the boys ' dormitory. Science and physical education classes were held in the g) ' mnasium building. Dean Good, who taught all the science courses at that time, recalls that when basketball was being played during chemistry laboratory Dorothy Hubcr (Rclfsnydcr) and Mabel Hemic)- (Weav- er) helping to build (he Girls ' Dorm in 19 ' 19 20

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Growing Confidence J 950- 1 959; ' ' K«K A i . V ' Srf Paul Ciraybill, Edna Wenger, and Sadie Mae Yost, an- other faculty member, traveled to Europe. European relief workers were occasional speakers. Missionary children and students from distant states lent a more world-wide atmosphere to the school. Myron Dcitz became the first non-Mennonite faculty member. Along with the growing school came again the demand for more space, and in 1954 came the answer in the construction of the Agriculture Building. Brother Amos Weaver became principal in 1953. Noah Good and Clyde Stoner have kept their posi- During the fifties college and public high school administrators who had formerly written off the infant LMS began to take a second look at the growing institution along the Mill Stream. A reputation was being carved out for the school, partly due to the fact that the academic degrees of the teach- ers were first published along with the teachers ' names during this period. The school grew a great deal during this time. The enrollment for 1950 was 259 and by 1959 it had risen to 432. Along with this growth came the de- cline of the family atmosphere which had permeated the early school and a more institutionalized tenor took its pl-ice. During this period the school grew less isolated and more aware of the world around it. Clayton Keener, Lois Garber Keener, and Donald Jacobs went abroad as missionaries. Noah Good, J. Construction of the classroom building tions all 25 years. During these years the Mill Stream became a newspaper instead of a mere journal. The LAUREL WREATH grew larger and became a more modern production instead of the picture scrapbook it was earlier. Student Forum was initiated. The sjiiritual and missionar - cmph.isis continued strong. By 1957 the school was ready to enlarge again. This time a chapel was built opposite the Girls ' Dormitory. 22