Silver Creek Central School - Hi Lites Yearbook (Silver Creek, NY)

Page 13 text:

Then and ow One example of Silver Creekis community co-operation is our Foreign Student Program. Through the combined efforts of pu- pils, parents, teachers, and businessmen, we have again received a foreign student in Silver Creek. This year the people of the village have gone a step farther and have raised enough money to send one of our students abroad. As a result of this effort, a boy or girl from the present Junior Class will represent our com- munity in a foreign land during the summer of 1960. Community spirit has also helped to build our new Junior- Senior High School. It is expected that this building will be complete enough to be used for the commencement exercises this June. Pride in our educational system, as well as concern for their children,s Welfare, attracted even more parents than last year to our annual Parents' Night. Here the parents talked with teachers and examined samples of the students, work. Still another result of community spirit this year will be the breaking of ground for a new public library, as soon as a suit- able site is found. In addition to building the library, plans have been made to dedicate a room in the library as a memorial to the memory of the late Daniel Recd, who served this area for many years as a representative in Congress, and Howard fB0bD Ehmke, a Silver Creek graduate who won fame in the field of big-league baseball. A Reed-Ehmke lWemorial dinner was held to raise the money to build this room. Our community spirit has not only remained steadfast through the years, but it has also been responsible for many of the changes which have taken place.

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ur ommunit Silver Creek has seen many changes during the last century- in dress, education, and transportation, among other things. One of the greatest factors in these alterations has been trans- portation. Great progress has been made since the first car in Silver Creek was bought as a costly toy, in 1901. A few decades after the advent of the auto in our community, the street car, bringing still more advantages, made its appearance in Silver Creek. Today our important highways carry a heavy flow of trucks, buses, and automobiles, and school buses transport, rural students to our Central school. Also altered is our dependence upon Lake Erie. When the community was founded, the primary function of the lake was to facilitate travel and commerce. Now the lake provides ex- cellent recreation for the villagers and summer visitors but is seldom regarded as a means of transportation. Education has also changed. Aside from changes in the curric- ulum, there have been many additions. Such programs as sports, cheerleading, Honor Society, and Tri-Hi-Y have been created. Another attraction of recent years is the Adult Education pro- gram, Of course, a part of the progress in education has been its growing work in the community. Fifty years ago the school was a place for the children to learn reading, writing, and arith- metic. Today the school is an active part of the community life in many other ways as Well. Yet, in the midst of all these changes, one thing has remained constant-our indomitable public spirit. In the early days it was this spirit which caused the settlers to clear the land. It is this spirit which has caused our continued growth.

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ur urriculum Through the years Silver Creek has seen many changes and additions in its high school curriculum. In the early part of the century, the primary purpose of a high school education was preparation for college. As a result of this, many students who couldnit afford higher education dropped out of school. Very small graduating classes were the rule. Today our curriculum is far more comprehensive. Included are courses aimed at the student who is not planning to attend college. A few of these courses are health, shop, homernaking, and psychology for living. Of course, the future college students have not been neglected. For them, extra courses in mathematics, science, language and electronics supplement the required courses in English and citizenship education. Another advance- ment has been the inclusion of laboratory work with the regular science programs. It is especially important that a chemistry or physics student have not only the theoretical knowledge but also the practical know howf, Today, instruction in music and art can lead to a career for especially talented students and add to the enjoyment of life for the rest. Another facet of Silver Creek's curriculum is its fine Business Department, which has been enlarged through the years to include secretarial practice, business law, book- keeping and other subjects. The business courses have a dual purpose-to train students for employment and to give future college students a business background. In brief, the purpose of our curriculum is to offer something to everyone, whether preparing for college, a job, or a life of homemaking. Although the educational structure of Silver Creekis high school has changed through the years, its guiding principle has remained the same: to offer the best possible education to every young person in the community.