New Kensington High School - Taleoken Yearbook (New Kensington, PA)

Page 9 text:

,. p y ' If u Mjjl' ff K' FM' The Taleoken Cover is selected LM' ,J if fl ,ff , ' 'Of' i it ' ff Clf JI, lpdfb qi, by the staff. There was much planning on the setup of the book and the buildin of th th ' ' g e eme and deciding what went best on each page. Names were to be Put in alphabetical order and pictures identified and a little written about each informal picture. The activities, classes, and athletic sections were then to be written and every one worked as long and hard as possible to have them complete in inform- ation. We then anxiously awaited the return of the plates from the engraver so that we could write the informal captions. Having everything written and the pictures planned on the pages, the Taleoken was then sent to the printer U on h - P t e return, there were many long hours spent on proof reading. Then, on the evening before the Taleolcen is to be presented to the student f K s o en Hi, a banquet is held for the members of the Taleok S ff en ta and as a fitting close for their diligent work they are given a preview of the printed Taleolcen. Our staff photographer catches the staff typists at work. 5

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M, W W.. ..a ra Wg of 1901. The Taleoken this year commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of Ken High. After We had been in school a few Weeks, there came an announcement over the public address system stating that any senior Wishing to become a member of the Taleoken Staff was to hand in his or her name to Miss Boucher. This was the Hrst step forward in the publishing of the Taleoken. The members of the staff then met in an attempt to choose an appropriate cover for the year book. After long arguments and much voting they arrived at the decision of a gold cover in accord- ance With the golden anniversary. Then there was the task of se- curing advertisements. Each member was given the names of three or four business establishments and it was his job to secure from each one a pledge to support the Taleoken. This Was done success- fully by the good salesmanship of the members. Senior names were then handed out for Write-ups. This caused much excitement and many questions to Hnd out Who was Writing up Whom. The typists were now kept very busy. 4 The 1950 Staff confers with Miss Hawk, a member of the class

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Within sight of the present Ken Hi build- ing, New Kensington High School came into existence in a small room in the Walnut Street building in September, 1899, when sixteen students reported for high school work. One of those students was Miss Irene Hawlc, a recently retired Ken Hi teacher to whom we are indebted for many facts and interesting experiences of those early days. The first teacher was Mr. Harry Piper, suc- ceeded very soon by Miss Mary Ashe, later Mrs. W. R. Alter, as principal. She was the instigating force in having the high school properly recog- nized by the State Department of Education so that, before the end of the year 1899-1900, the high school was properly accredited with a two year academic course. In May, 1901, the first class was graduated. In 1904, a three year course of study was adoptedg consequently, a larger enroll- ment followed and more teachers were needed. In 1908, the four year course was approved. There were six graduates in the first class but just one in the class of 1903, Hazel Schenclc, now Mrs. Lamont Bixler. The largest Ken Hi enrollment was in 1932 when there were 1539 students in the four upper grades. In 1949-50, there are 1050 in the senior high proper-tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. As the numbers grew, larger quarters were necessary. From the Walnut Street building the high school was moved to the Flynn building on Ninth Street, and from The Class of 1901 called the Walnut Street Building their High School. there, in 1908, to the new high school building on Fourth Avenue. Soon this building became too small and plans were made for the erection, in 1913, of the present high school building on Ridge Avenue. A new wing was added to this building in 1924 and 1925. The high school began with one instructor who served as teacher and principal. In the year 1949-1950 there are fifty-two regular teachers, the superintendent of schools, the high school prin- cipal, assistant principal, and dean of girls. This larger faculty is necessary because of the large number of students and because of the several courses of study and the many subjects offered. In the first years the subjects were academic, large- ly college preparatory. Today Ken Hi offers the following courses: academic, general, commercial, distributive education, and vocational. Many other changes and improvements have been evidenced through the years. Among these is consolidation with Parnassus. On May 20, 1930, citizens voted to consolidate into a single com- munity. Teaching staffs Were also consolidated and in September, 1931, the two high schools became one, the old Parnassus High building be- came a junior high building. Vocational train- ing began in the Ridge Avenue building but, when more space was needed, that department was moved to the Second Ward building. Later the W. P. A. building on Stevenson Boulevard was