Proviso East High School - Provi Yearbook (Maywood, IL)

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H. H. EELKEMA Miss Elizabeth B. Oakes C. C. Taggart H. E. Carr A Review of the Administrative Work for 1934-35 ln District 209, the school year of 1934-1935 was marked by the progress of the high school under a three-point program set up by the Board of Educa- tion and the Administration: to place the finance on a sounder basis, to improve the physical plant, and to provide an educational program which would make Proviso Township High School of greater service to the students and the community. The close of the school year of 1934-1935 finds the condition of the finances of this high school district greatly improved. During the year all salaries were paid promptly in cash, all bills were discounted, and 318,000.00 in bonds was retired with an additional 325,000.00 scheduled for retirement on lune 1, 1935. This important improvement in the financial condition of the district was made in the face of a decline in the valuation of the property for each pupil enrolled in the township and despite the lag in the collection of taxes and the leisurely manner in which they were remitted to the school authorities. The current expenditures were reduced to an estimated 398.00 per pupil as compared with 3101.88 in 1934, 3119.43 in 1933, and 3168.00 in 1932. Part of the improvement in the condition of the finances of the high school district was due to the success of the Administration in finding new sources of revenue. The vocational courses were altered to meet the requirements of the Smith-Hughes Act, and new courses were added so that now, for the first time in its history, Proviso is receiving state and federal aid for this worlc. Another increased source of revenue in 1934-1935, the tuition received from pupils outside the district, is estimated at 39,200, almost double the amount received the previous year and more than four times the amount received for 1932-1933. To improve further the financial condition of the district, the Board and the Administration adopted and put into effect a detailed budget plan and accounting controls. As a result of this effort, expenditures were kept within the budget. Today Proviso Township High School is one of the few large suburban schools which are holding school for the full nine months and meeting all obligations in cash. This school year also saw great strides in the improvement of the physical plant of Proviso. A stadium, which would have cost approximately 380,000 under private contract, was erected with government aid and donations from the Classes of 1927, 1928, and 1934. The total cost of materials, exclusive of labor, was 39,306.3l, of which only 31,800.00 was allotted from local taxes. The athletic field, which was re-arranged, tiled, and re-seeded, gives promise 10

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of being one of the finest outdoor athletic layouts in the Chicago area. A new quarter-mile track was built, and the whole field completely fenced, with the parking space at the rear of the new building separated from the athletic field. The installation of flood lights on sixty-foot poles is a major improve- ment that makes possible night football. lllinois Emergency Belief labor was utilized to make many repairs and improvements about the building, including the weather stripping of all the windows in the new building and the converting of unused space in the basement of the old building into a bicycle storage room with a capacity of 600 bicycles. A start was made on beautifying the inner court of the new building with relief labor and the funds left for that purpose by the Class of 1931. With the approval of the Board of Education, Superintendent H. H. Eelkema made many adminis- trative changes during the year. Supervised study within class periods, which were lengthened to sixty minutes, was introduced. By breaking up the former large home rooms into smaller groups, a closer con- tact between the home room teacher and the pupil was made possible. The student body was made cognizant of many school problems through well- organized home room discussions, to which students responded. A revised system of checking and report- ing attendance between home room and classroom teachers was worked out successfully, making it possible for the main office to find any one of the 3,500 students any period of the day. A testing pro- cedure was introduced, calling for departmental examinations at the end of each of the three report periods, as Well as at the end of each semester. More definite standards regarding the number of subjects a student may carry were established, and the requirements for the number of credits to de- termine the class ranking of students were defined. All Proviso students were rated by each classroom teacher on character traits, in addition to scholar- ship. Formerly the only record on file from which inquiries could be answered regarding the capabili- ties of students and their fitness for certain postions was their scholarship record. An expert in vocational guidance was added to the staff the second semester, and a survey was made of the vocational plans of the students and of the opportunities for employment offered in the community. An employment bureau, the aim of which is to gather complete data on all Seniors, is in the process of establishment. These steps were taken for the purpose of making the school serve both students and employers. Other administrative projects were as follows: the extension of physical education courses to comply with state requirements: the addition of new courses in English and, as a class project, the preparation of a student handbook under the supervision of Miss Eileen White: the sponsoring of conferences between the grade schools of the district and the high school: the supervision of a government adult school in which l,000 citizens beyond high school age were enrolled. The Board of Education, Superintendent Eelkema, and the faculty have all shared in helping to make this year one of great progress in the history of Proviso Township High School. ln April, Leslie l. Smith of Forest Park finished his eighth consecutive year of co-operative service as secretary. Those now serving as members of the Board are lohn M. Newcomer, a real estate broker in this community: Leslie B. Allen, manager and purchasing agent of the Richardson Company, Mel- rose Park: George Bosco, a resident of Melrose Park who graduated from Proviso in 1913: Harry Ewert, a resident of Maywood for fourteen years, and for twenty-one years connected with the Chicago Board of Trade: and Emery Parichy, the newly-elected member on the Board, President of the Parichy Roof- ing and Shingle Company, Forest Park. Leslie B. Allen Iohn M. Newcomber E. A. Parichy, Pres. Hurry W. Ewert, Sec. George Bosco tk