Reading High School - Arxalma Yearbook (Reading, PA)

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Lest we forget, let us recall that twenty-five years ago, there was no television, no half-day shop courses for boys, no girls' shop or baby-sitting clubs, no interscholastic wrestling, no senior prom at a country club, no Red and Black on the air, no driver training classes, girl cheerleaders, card and music record clubs, were frowned upon, and girls in the service of their country were unheard of. Depression years brought in N, Y, A. to help keep students in school, and W, P. A, developed the athletic fields and planted some of the shrubbery on the hillside, The war years, l94l-l945, gave us our air raid drills, vic- tory corps, first aid classes. Our shops undertook the task of training boys for the industries, working sixteen hours a day. lt was during this time that Student Council remembered our service men with an original card at Christmas, After the war, R. H, S. was one of the first schools in Pennsylvania to open its doors to veterans wishing to complete unfinished high school careers or learn new trades, ln l948, as a memorial to our war dead, we planted the elm trees in front of the school as part of a landscaping project. FUTURE Little do we realize how large a part Reading High has played in shaping the lives of the many successful and prominent people it has fostered in the past twenty-five years. Judges, lawyers, doctors, a dean of school, a chancellor of a university, a foreign correspondent, a broadway star, other musicians of note, national football and baseball players, and civilian leaders are iust a few of the noted alumni, Yet, there is always more to be gained by us today and by those coming after us. To us have been offered unlimited opportunities to gain a sense of responsibility and prepare for citizenship through many well- planned classes and varied activities, Most of all, we are taught to recognize that we gain by what we offer, Those who have put forth their best during their stay at the Castle will leave with lasting memories of the Years spent here, And so, we join wholeheartedly in the celebration of our alma mater's Silver Jubilee.

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so We BEGINNINGS It is with great pride that we hail our Silver Jubilee, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Castle on the Hill, With the turn of the quarter century here at the Castle, we look back to the time when the school district first purchased the nineteen and one-half acres upon which the buildings of Reading High now rest. On July 22, l92S, the ground was broken for the new co-educational high school, This was the first attempt at coeed- ucation since l8S9 and was abolished in l88l With an impressive Masonic ceremony, the cornerstone of Reading High was laid on June l2, l926, and over a year later on September 7, l927, the portals of the new high school opened to the stu- dents of Reading, The 5l,650,000 structure was built of yellow facing brick with the motif of o medieval castle. At a formal flag raising and dedication on October l, the Reading Company presented the high school with an American flag, and the Spanish War Veterans gave a salute. The gymnasium, erected northeast of the main building and on a much smaller scale, was not opened until February, l929, while the auto shop was built in l93l, In l939, the much-needed practice field, cinder track, and field house were added. Our Castle, which was built to accommodate l8OO students, in l935, housed 3389 students in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades, Because of this crowded condition, half of the tenth grade was transferred in l936 to two of the four junior highs andthe practice continues at the present time, From l927 to l936, two classes graduated each year, one in January, and another in June, Since l936, there has been just one graduation in June, the largest class being that of June, l94l, with 830 students. CASTLE LORE Our official school seal, designed by Joseph Weitzenkorn in l907 and used by the High School for Boys, was adopted by the new school, This design uses the colors, red and black, which have be- come the official school colors, and the Latin motto, Duc Cur Hic lTelI Why You Are Herel. The first edition of the school newspaper, The Red and Black, wa's issued in September, l927, as a weekly. This, like the seal, came from the High School for Boys when the newspaper was first published in November, l897, as a monthly. Today, this weekly publication holds a respec- ted place in the hearts of the students. lt was Miss Betty Stoudt, a member of the first graduating class, who originated the name Arxalma , meaning fostering citadel , for the Castle yearbook, first published in January, l928, The Arx Alma Song, however, was written by Miss Mildred E. Runyeon, a Reading graduate and teacher of English, One hazy winter morning in l930, as she was climbing the hill to school, She could see only the four towers pointing to the sky, She was so filled with their beauty that when she arrived at school, she wrote the inspiring words that students ever since have used to pledge their devotion to their school. Mr. Luther Goodhart, an alumnus and teacher of music at the castle, wrote the melody for the words, Just as the four-square towers rise to the sky, so he built the music on four ascending tones. This music shows courage, strength, beauty, emotion, dignity, and reverence. This song was used for the first time in the first Commencement pageant, Fair Learn- ing's Gifts , presented in June, l93O. 0 . - -'S.,,,,,' evo, The phrase, Castle on the Hill , was coined by Mr, Will Durant, the well-known philosopher and author, who spoke at the P. S, E, A, Convention in December, l928, and was kept vivid in the minds of all by Mr. Carl Cassel, vice-principal here from l928-l935, because of his continual refer. ence to the school as the CastIe . ln January, l93l, a standard school ring was proposed and voted an in March, lt was, how- ever, the June, l932, class that finally adopted the standard ring and pin. Among the Castle characters is Red Knight, suggested by Edward Heinly, a member cf the class of l924 and the winner of the Reading Eagle contest for a name for R. H. S, sports teams, He goes well with our colors and the title of our school, Castle on the Hill , Through the efforts of Mr, Cardin, a picture of the red knight on horseback crusading for the Castle, was designed for use on school uniforms and decals. Another character, Joe Red Knight, was adopted in l939, as the Kilroy of R. H. S. sports. Joe Rednightingale, the musical character, was designed in l947 by Jack Loy as a result of a campaign to secure new uniforms for the band. For graduation exercises from l930-l943, Reading High School became very well known throughout the state for such historical pageants as, Thunder Mountain, Hearth Fires, Citizen- ship, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Children of Liberty. These productions which took the place of the old class night and commencement programs, were student-written, stu- dent-costumed, and student-enacted. Even the scenery was made in the school shops and in the school art department, All the seniors, with the aid of the faculty members, made the pageant a spectacular occasion in color, dance, song, and speech. A seventy-five piece orchestra, a chorus of one hundred voices, dancers, and students for the tableaux, drills, and dialogues, practiced for ' hours for the gala affairs. These pageants were presented on two to five nights, with the diplomas presented and prizes awarded on the last night, The class of l944 had a very much simpler commencement, held on one night in the new City Park Band Shell. Since that time, a pageant has again been used, but it is presented on one night only in the Band Shell. 'Q CONTRAST Throughout these twenty-five years, changes have been made in curriculums clubs organiza M tions, and sports, Intramural games play a much larger role today in both girls and boys' sports? lnterscholastic sports for boys, however, have always played a very prominent part in the life of the school, and today we still follow our teams wherever they may go.

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Skyword doth gleam We fan-QW an fafe Foursquare her towers rise , . . af if.Sx... -Q I . . . our westward ways May lead us for . . . Die cur hic fTeIl why you ore here?