Mendota High School - Atodnem Yearbook (Mendota, IL)

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Fifty years later . IN THE SPRING of 1911 the first issue of the Atod- nem was published under the leadership of Elmer Feik as Editor-in-Chief. In one of the essays pub- lished therein, written by Mr. Feik, we find this state- ment: Many people think education is valuable only in that it fills the mind with knowledge . . . In this they greatly err. The knowledge thus acquired is useful, but that is not the only thing, Education develops . . . keen and bright minds. The mind . . . is not a store- house . . . but it is an instrument to be . , . fitted for the highest uses. This point of view, fully as significant in 1951 as it was in 1911, has undoubtedly guided the thinking and planning of board members, administrators, teachers and citizens who have for these fifty years given their best to the education of the youth of the Mendota community. It is, indeed, appropriate that we pause a moment to pay tribute to all of those people who have over the years made contributions to the development of this school as an instrument of the community in order that the minds of the youth might be Ufitted for the highest uses. Mendota I-Iigh School was born out of the desire of the citizens of Mendota to cooperate in providing the best possible secondary education for their chil- dren, and out of the realization that this purpose could better be achieved through unselfish cooperation. This same desire to provide the best, and this willingness to cooperate, have been characteristic of the com- munity for half a century, resulting in the continued maintenance of a school with high standards of ac- complishment. The reputation of Mendota High School is attested by its continued membership in and un- qualified approval by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the regional ac- crediting association covering nineteen states of Mid- America, since 1918, During the span of years from the publication of 'Volume One-Nineteen Eleven to the Fiftieth Anni- versary edition many changes have occurred. The dis- trict has expanded to a sprawling 201 square miles, enrollment has grown from ninety-two to more than six hundredg the program of studies changed in an effort to better meet the needs of the present school population. Further changes will be required in the years ahead if the educational needs of the young people are to be served as well in the future as they have been in the past. Perhaps our most ambitious wish in 1961 may well be that this school may continue to serve its proper purposes as well in its second fifty years as it did in its firstg that the minds of those who pass through its doors may, indeed, be fitted for the highest uses. A,c,i,QZ

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CA? '57 5 XS' b X 'QM ml 4 1 -vw' ,ijff 'gf W, , fc- s LX x 4 X A 2 '7 GA' 'J .X . Q r.-gf W? ENpoTA's FIRST ATODNEM was printed as the consolidation ol the East and West high schools took place. During the past fifty years, rapid changes have taken place everywhere in the world. Many changes have also taken place at Mendota High School since the first yearbook publication. ln the following pages the 1961 Atodnem staff points out these changes and gives you a then and now approach to the people Hlty wamlerful years at MH

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I -A1 .I , ,, ff Y c vi 1. 1 ff' ' semi 'is f . c 'tieifgdi y rf' ffm.-l 1 c ,.,. f W he se ,:+icl19.,.,.l gil . 1? .r ,,f1 e,,,+-.m+5:z3e.'v-N ' H he We ek ww e 'foils' Y if :J gi New f ei ..1,, if 1 1 , J tri E 115551125 gms . 1.1 ,greg Mig 1 , 4 ' li iii 'Mft s A+ if' and a band room. The old gym was converted into a modern auditorium. A library was built at the east side of the study hall and modernized in 1952 into an out- standing school library. ln January, 1957, a proposal to build additions and to remodel the high school building and to issue bonds in the amount of 51,150,000 was approved by the voters. Total expenditures to June 30, 1959, were 51,- 156,771.32, with an estimated 575,000 required to complete the program, including smoke screen partitions in corridors and remaining lockers. Major improvements resulting from the program were: a new south wing lthree floorsl including five class- rooms, a chemistry-physics laboratory-classroom, and offices, a new agriculture department, including class- room and farm shop for high school and adult classes, a new metals shop and print shop in a completely new industrial arts department, a new gymnasium, adequate in size for both boys' and girls' physical education classes, new locker and shower rooms for boys, re- THE EAST SIDE of the building. shown here in a 1923 photo. remained unchanged until the building program of 1957. . - . . . , 1.1.1 .ww '- ' ' elseif -... J 41 1 gf l W-1 , 1 , N 2 V ,f-is li - sit-ae-E - THE ORIGINAL building was only two classrooms deep . The view at the left shows not only the addi- tion of 1927. which added la cafeteria and classrooms in a three-story addition on the west. but also the new gym. which was built in 1939. Full-grown shade trees and flowering shrubs beautified the campus. Some alumni may mourn the loss of part of this cam- pus and miss the familiar front entrance. Problems of construction involved in adding the three-story 'addition in '57 made these changes necessary. Such are the sacrifices made to progress! modeling of old gym providing expanded cafeteria facilities and girls' locker and shower rooms on first floor and enlarged facilities for homemaking, music, and art on the second, other remodeling and improvements in the old main building providing adequate quarters for the school nurse, an enlarged library, enlarged class- rooms, redecorating and relighting the auditorium. DIRECTLY BELOW. to the extreme left can be seen the new Industrial Arts department and the new three-story stairway. In the foreground are the Farm Shop and Agriculture rooms. IN THE LOWER PICTURE can be seen the new gymnasium with its en- trance which faces north. The new additions cover much of what used to be the old football field behind the school.