Lena Winslow High School - Win Nel Yearbook (Lena, IL)

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Reorganization Begins The late forties saw the school reorganization which was to mean the end of Winslow High School. A state law required the reorganization of the county into larger districts, and Winslow was unable to form her own district for three reasons: lj the district had the valua- tion, but not the population, to form a unit district, 2l the state line prevented inclusion in a district of the Wisconsin territory long served by Winslow High School, 31 a large eastern portion of the district chose to annex to Orange- ville rather than to join a proposed Lena-Win- slow imit. A new Lena-Winslow Community Unit was formed in June 1949. Twenty-one rural schools and the Lena and the Winslow schools were incorporated in it. The years that followed saw I: whsle, - Ugg I a protracted rearguard action in the futile ef- li LENA- ORANGEVII-I-E fort to save the school. I205 WINSLOW UNIT I UNIT . 203 O2 McConnell I 2 I I I DAKOTA unrr zo: c oo echons I I I . I UNIT I In November 1951, the unit school board I FREEPORT UNIT '45 32, I proposed building a new single high school at I I I PEARL cnv urm I Lena. The proposal was defeated throughout I 200 III the unit by two to one. The subsequent educational I Il conflict in the unit was too involved for explana- I ns 46 GERIET VALLEY 523I SHANNON '39 O tion here, it ran to thousands and thousands of ii-Qi - - 51 ------- -'TI words in the Winslow, Lena, and Freeport papers. Stephenson County School Districts--1958 Suffice it to say that similar propositions for a unit high school, always on a Lena site, were defeated in September of 1953, January of 1954, and March of 1954. Some of these defeats were by narrow margins in the total vote, but in the Winslow precinct of the district they ran in a proportion of between four and five to one. The McConnell precinct, which contained the other portion of the old Winslow Community High School District, was, however, sharply divided in its loyalties between Winslow and Lena. I Again, as in the early days of our high school, state recognition was an object of great concern. Under this pressure many changes were made in an effort to satisfy criticisms of the Winslow school. New science laboratory equipment was installed, facilities for home economics and agriculture shop work were rented,a qualified music teacher was employed, and a steel and concrete staircase replaced the old wooden one. Then in February 1956 a plan for buildings in Lena, Winslow, Eleroy, and Waddams Grove, and improvements in McCon- nell was submitted to unit referendum. This plan,'which would have kept both a Lena and Win- slow high school in the imit, carried decisively in the Winslow precinct but was defeated in the unit. Finally in June 1956 another referendum for a single high school located in Lena passed in the unit, although the Winslow precinct still opposed it two to one. I

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Administrative Change In 1935 Winslow's superintendent was e- lected Stephenson County superintendent of schools. Mr. Pfisterer is remembered as apopu- lar and capable teacher, who contributed much to Winslow and its schools. Mr. Clarno, who had been a member of the faculty since 1928, be- came the new superintendent. In 1935-36 the first student council was or- ganized in line with the trend toward more stu- dent participation in school operation. Winslow's first student cormcil planned a clean-up campaign and attempted to improve traffic in the halls, to stop petty gossip, and to entertain students at noon. From this year on, a student council was a feature of the school. Expanding Curriculum Two notable innovations came to our school in the fall of 1938. One was vocational agriculture Qsee pages 32-341, the other was the commercial department. Prior to 1938 bookkeeping had been the only commercial subject, but in that year twenty new typewriters made their appearance as typing, shorthand, and general business were added to the curricu- lum. The introduction of these vocational subjects points up the recognition of the school board of those years that many potential farmers and business employees were attending school in addition to the college preparatory group. With the coming of the typewriters came an end for several years to printed Win-nelsg the 1939 and following Win-nels until 1952 were mimeographed in the school. Many changes in the school characterize the early forties. Emphasis on the academic decreasesg the last literary contest was held in 1941 and the last valedictorian's and salu- tatorian's addresses are printed in 1942. The first school busses were used in the year 1941- 42, and then the outbreak of war made its effect felt. The school held defense stamp salesg it was the site of draft and rationing registrations, the Win-nels were organized around tri- butes to the servicemen. In 1945 Mr. Clarno left our school to teach in the Freeport system. He is well remem- bered for his long period of devoted service as coach, science teacher, and adminstrator. Mr. Clikeman then became the new superintendent. Visual aids came into educational prominence at this time. Student movie projection- ists make their first appearance in the Win-nel of 1947. In addition the school soon secured a slide film projector for instructional use. It was now possible to use these devices to supple- ment the textbook and teacher. Another mechanical devise in increasing use after the war was the automobile. Pic- tLu'es of the school at this time show a greater number of them every year, and it was a com- mon pleasantry that more and more the newer shinier models belonged to students, not teach- ers. marssxmwxsrvra .1sssmsnnamswsx:.a uA...,f

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New Grade chool When in early 1956 it became clear that Winslow could not outvote the rest of the unit and keep its high school, its representatives on the school board succeeded in having included in the June 1956 plan a new grade school for Winslow. Built in 1957 east of the gymnasium, having its west wall directly against the gym's east wall, this modern building overlooks the terraced, three-level playground. Inside we find seven classrooms, each 25 by 30 feet, with the most modern facilities. Each room has windows along the entire side and opens into a spacious hallway. Individual student lockers are located in the halls upstairs and in the rooms downstairs. A kitchen on the lower story will facilitate the school lunch program. This new building was the last site of Winslow High School. A description of the move from the old building to the new during 1957-58 will be folmd on page 103 of this book. The old building was razed in the summe f ' r o 1958, leaving the basement story, which houses the office, two rest rooms, and a new oil-fired hot water heating plant Winslow High School's last administrator, Mr. Clikeman, is leaving us to teach in the Rockford school system. Mr. Clikeman will be well remembered by his many students for his friendly manner and for his great interest in music and natural science Next fall the hi h g school students of the Winslow area will attend school in a new buildi h ng on t e northeast corner of Lena. So ends the history of Winslow High School.