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

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Week of planning murals and fashioning foil decorations and mobiles culminate in Robert Huneke s placing a tinsel star atop the Christmas tree. Joan Soelzer and Francois Deschenes assist in this art department project. introduction 1 1

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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

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Frequent excursions into the library remain an unforgotten part of busy high school days. Joel Novak and Judith Schmitt make ' jse of the extensive facilities and reading material. Teens Mature with New Friends, Studies, Ideas, Plans Lockers act not only as storerooms but as leaning posts for many Rocky High couples like Wayne Shellhouse and Janet Schuster when they snatch a brief rendezvous between classes. Soon, these book-toters leave be¬ hind their junior high hesitation and adolescence. They express their own ideas and beliefs in club meetings, classroom themes and recitations, and the mock political rally. Shyness fades, and new acquaintances become close friends. All too swiftly they are seniors. This final year is a rush of preparing and planning. Mailboxes overflow with col¬ lege catalogues and applications; scholarship tests challenge their know¬ ledge; class ranks and percentages fill their minds; and College Day repre¬ sentatives remind them of the near¬ ness of a new chapter in their lives. From adolescent teen-agers to adult- minded young people, R1HS guides students through the maturing years, the high school years. 1 2 introduction ■