Rockford High School - RHS Yearbook (Rockford, IL)

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Garnhart. johnson, llngcbretson. llruntly. Vaget. l,unrlgren, l'eterson. Taylor. Lumleen. Zeigler, Lundvahl, llergren. jones. Joslin, Crowell, Coleman. Dodge. Olson. Sehrom. XYaltz, Schmidt. llailey. Krcvel. Miss I'utnam. adviser: llopkins. llrace. Un Plain. Richmond, president: Merchant, treasttrerg Sander Brown. Student Council l think it speaks for itself. just last year the council devised a monitor systemg new steps, divided by hand rails were put in, the post that blocked the entrance to the north building from the second Hoot' was removed, and a smaller but stronger steel one was substituted. The cotmcil has bought the slide projector used in all the .Xud programs. ,X committee of student council members keeps up the grounds of the school. During the last few years the stu- dent council has revived the cottnty fair that was formerly the big event between the junior and senior classesf, I should think it wottld be hard for the boys and girls to cooperate with the council di- vided. Oh, it hasn't been for the last seven years. ln l927, the student council was reorganized into one large group under the leadership of Miss l'utnam. A drastic change was made as to membership, also. Up until l929 two members were chosen for each council from each study hall except the auditorium, from which two juniors and three seniors were chosen for each council. llow are members chosen now F Since 1929 one member has been chosen front each home room. This method has proved very satisfactory. How do they handle their various duties F flat present every member of the student council is on one of three standing committees: class room citizenship, study hall citizenship, and extra-curricular activity citizenship. All of these committees are active and carry on important work. The members of the student council serve the school in many other ways too. lfour of the members of the lioard of .Xthletic Control are members of the councilg a leaders' club has been organized in the school made up of the most outstanding students, class ollicers and athletesg and every year several deserving Rockford fam- ilies are made happy at Christmas time by the large baskets the council gives. these committees are active and carry on important work. fit:-ot' jiftrru

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Lunclgren, Annis, Severson, Pearson, Hinton, Matthews, Varlaud, Olson, Billingham, Mohr, jorgenson, Johnson, Bailey, Carlson, Capron, Denney, Hibbard, Larson, Rehn, Swenson, Brundine. Crum, Anderson, Snyder, Gable, Greenberg. Erikson, Larson, Tyson, Rowley, Junor. Smith. Boyer. IVIackey, B. Carlson, Braid, Bertrand, vice-president, Stites, secretary, johns, XYalsh, Cohn, VVelsh. Student Council Student government! Thats a radical step, i-eingn-ked the visiting alumnus, It might have been, but it's a necessary step now. Today's student defends the system. XVell, times have changed. Certainly this feeling between the teacher and students hasfl A'You've noticed that. lVell, I'm not versed on teachers of yesterday, but I think Rockford has some fine teachers now. Some of our faculty are just like dads. You have a lot of respect for themg but you don't feel that you have to act formal when you're around themf' If you could only see how formal some of our faculty was. 'fThey were kind of stiff. I think that's the basis of our present student council. In your day the teachers kept a wide breach between students and faculty. A fellow who mixed with the teachers was a 'spotter' and a 'pet.' But you find nothing of that now. H VV hen was the council started? VVell, I imagine student government like most of our modern plans can be traced back to the war. The outbreak of the war in 1914 and our entry in l9l7 showed clearly the old order to be a failure, and the need for a new system? Then was it established as a war unit ? No, though it did help our city. It was not a war club, but it helped. Yes, for instance with the aid of two high school clubs. the Biology and the Agriculture, the Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. George Dillon gardens were planted on all vacant lots in Rockford. XVe used all of the food we could grow in those days. After the war both groups quickly found new duties. Both groups- ? Yes, you see, at that time, the student council was divided into the boy and girl councils, under Nr. Frank Dufrain and Miss Hazel Putnam. Is it a practical club PM fwzgr' fUIl7'f1'4'Il

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iss Carlson. lihrariang Blake. Mackey, Murray, XVhite. Alherstett, liertrand, Seise, Ryan, Doran, Hyzer Vol:-. Carlsten, Sheldon, Barnes, Marshall, Starr, Ilahnke. Dasenlwrook, Norton, Anderson, Franzen Librarq Board lust look at those hooks, and the size of the room. Nothing like our lihrary. Did you ever see it? inquired the visiting alumnus. No-still it must he in the school. XYhere was it P queried the interested student. ln what you now eall 22l. I think the cooking students use it for a cloak room. 'flint that room's so smallf' Yes. and the number of our hooks was even smaller. However, it kept growing. ln l89-l a trained librarian was hiredf, I didn't think we had a lihrarian until l9l6. Oh, she didn't stay lonff. She was only to e'1t'1lo0'ue the books and instruct the teachers, one C Y 6 K 1 I C 6 for eaeh hour of the day, who were to he left in ehargef' L'XVhy, that's not so very different from ours. Of course, we have a regular librarian at all times, hut I thought your system was far different from the present day onef' lt was. You see in those days, the lihrary was not large enough for the students to go and remain all period. The opening and closing of the study hall doors on pupils hound for the library hranded the plan a failure. Then the books were divided into three groups and placed in the study halls themselves, 320, 322, 222. Hllfere they ever returned to the little main lihrary again ? No, the new north huilding was soon to he finished. :X block of rooms was not to he used and so it was appropriated hy the lihrary staff. Thanks to a new librarian, this plan proved very satisfactory. From l9l6 on, the lihrary has been mueh the same. Do they still have the staff? Yes, but it now consists of a board of twenty-three pupils and the librarian. These students handle the 9,827 books and take care of the attendance every day, but they are always under the direction of a librarianf' jvnge sz'.1'lcfn