Rock Island High School - Watchtower Yearbook (Rock Island, IL)

Page 13 text:

ing feet, a solid beat, a smile that’s sweet, add up to a successful Friday dancing lesson in the gym. No longer does the word school bring to mind grim thoughts of stick- wielding schoolmasters, hard, back¬ less benches, pot-bellied stoves, and the dry, ponderous books of the old one-room schoolhouse. Today, pleas¬ ant, fully-prepared instructors, comfor¬ table desks, cheery classrooms, and new, progressive courses form the mo¬ dem school. The complex, exacting world of 1957 demands well-trained, competent citi¬ zens; a demand met by the various vocational shops, many secretarial training courses, DO, DE, and home economics classes, which provide prac¬ tical experience. introduction 9

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To develop perfect archery form by after-school Instruction, Marcia Hance enlists the aid of Mrs. Pierce, who probably recommends lowering that right elbow School Not Just Book Learning The divergent requisitions of Rocky High pass through the receiving room where everything from boxes of canned soup to new desks is delivered. Mr. Austin, trailed by reporter Dennis Sears on a Crier assign¬ ment, checks the arrival of a group of chinchillas for laboratory study. f I ' 8 introduction

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Well-rounded personalities, alert minds, and healthy bodies are also cultivated in classes such as art, dancing, organ, journalism, and physical education. Rock Island high school, planned to equip young men and women with the knowledge and ability to lead suc¬ cessful lives, accomplishes this ideal through a comprehensive, in¬ telligent curriculum. From Shubert ' s waltzes and Sousa ' s marches to the Mickey Mouse Mambo, William Koeller displays his versatility as a student organist. Between-class-dashers sometimes resort to sandpa¬ per and burglar tools to manipulate uncooperative locks, but Judith Allen’s private storeroom does not seem to need such persuasions. To these halls come eager teens, filled with anticipation yet pricked with doubts. Easily adaptable, the new¬ comers quickly fit into the bustling scene and established routine like sea¬ soned upperclassmen. They soon ex¬ plore the half-hidden crannies and map out routes from classes. They memor¬ ize every teacher ' s name and recog¬ nize new classmates. They acquaint themselves with Rocky facilities: silent library, confining detention hall, hustling cafeteria, and awesome excuse and deans ' office; they become familiar with established customs: sophomore quarantine from front stairs, mass of red letter sweaters on Fridays, and dread of report cards every six weeks. 10 introduction