New Athens High School - Vespa Yearbook (New Athens, IL)

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v, • t HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY The N. A. C H. S. known as District 68 was organized in 1920. The first Board of Education consisted of George Nuernberger, George Wirth, Jr., S. J. Woodward, Henry J. Reuss, Jr., and William Eberhardt. This Board was organized with Mr. Nuernberger as president and Mr. Wirth as secretary. Those members still constitute the present Board. In the summer of 1922 an attempt was made to discontinue the High School, but the vote for discontinuance lacked the necessary two-thirds majority required by law. In a second attempt in the summer of 1924 the high school district was upheld by a majority of the voters. Since then the enrollment has increased to such proportions and the sentiment in favor of the school has grown to such an extent that the N. A. C. H. S. may be considered fairly well established. Since then the enrollment has steadily increased until now it comprises ninety pupils distributed as follows: 12 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 27 Sophomores and 32 Freshmen. The present members of the faculty are Mr. Krohn, Mr. Fiedler, Miss Helen Seago and Miss Martha Brown. It took several years to properly equip the laboratories, the library and other departments so that full recognition by the State Department of Education and the State University could be obtained. This recognition was secured after inspection by the high school visitor, Mr. Trimble, in February 1925. Since then, on account of the increasing enrollment and the addition of music, both instrumental and vocal, the present building is inadequate to meet the demands of modern High School education. If the community wishes to maintain a recognized, four-year, high school, a new building in the very near future will be necessary.