Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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'wg g ' Nw'-1 +-aft,-.Nr-',1r --'- -- - J,-1. :gf -Q 'ff--' lr,- Our New Superintendent .PfTfi ITH some dread I entered the building where the ollices of lf? the Board of Education are situated. Mr. Wiley, the sec- 2 retary to the Superintendent, told me that Dr. Withers 'A if would see me in a few minutes, and as I glanced about me, ' I caught sight of several familiar names: Mr. Rathmann, Mr. Knox, Mr. Bryan, each above a door leading to a small private oliice Then the door of the Superintendent's office opened, and I found my- self looking upward into the kindest blue-gray eyes imaginable, and heard a pleasant voice asking me to come in. Tall, extraordinarily so, and broad, Dr. Withers is a commanding Figure, His grayish hair is thick and his eyes, though kind, are piercing. Not until a smile lighted his face and filled it with kindness did a feeling almost of awe leave me. His very look inspires a trust that he can do for our schools what no other man could. He is a man to follow, to emulate. The room in which Dr, Withers works is long and narrow. The walls and hangings are a soft gray. At one end is a large table abso- lutely bare, with chairs about it. At the other are two desks covered with papers, for Dr. Withers, coming into his new duties at a time when so much was to be done, has been very busy indeed. And down one side of the room is a large case filled with books. Such is the workroom of our Superintendent. When asked concerning his education, Dr. Withers mentioned bare facts. He said nothing of the determination, the sheer grit that held him to the struggle, ever drawing him nearer the ideal before him. He did not speak of the hardships endured, first earning money, then going to college until it was spent, and returning again to teaching. This is his story. john W. With.ers was born in West Virginia. There he received his elementary education in the public schools. Some- times his way led through woods, across streams, over hills. Then came his high school training, at Gallia Academy in Ohio. So far his father helped him. Then began his struggle. Ever faithful to his ideal, he fought onward toward his goal. He taught for money for his college course, and borrowed enough to complete his last year at the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. His I-irst position was at the Kentucky Normal and Business Col- lege, where he received a salary of seventy-five dollars a month. There he remained for two years, after which he returned as dean of the prepara- tory school of the National Normal University, from which he had been graduated. In 1894 he became a professor of mathematics there, and in 51

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011121115 3 I I J X Qt '7'X ! 2-1 Our New Superintendent john W. Withers, Ph. D. A ttention! The Soldan Battalion The Scrip in the Making A Misunderstanding The Widow's Son From Afar Evening Scriptorium Do XXI- XY:int thc Scrip Shall It llc thc Will-in Spring licvcx' 'lhc Alcliinh-5' lligh Sclu-ol Suhlun Spirit lluts Oil' Hur N:utiiru:il Hymn Girls' Atlilulica Birds, Animals, Fish, and Scenery A Patriotic Meeting of Girls The Third Interscholastic Debate New juniors, january, 1917 Student The The The The Phu The The The Activities Forum Sohlam Bulunicsil Gcrmxin Club Girls' Athletic Cuuicrxn Cluli Clmininznlc Cluli Clicss Clul: Congress Boys' Athletics xvlllll thc Senior 'l'r llzlselmll Sulslzm vs. Yentnmn Th 't I L. .S ii r Catchy fzunpiis Cuininuiil Uvrr Ihr lluriili' 50 :xcli Xlvn lflll Cluln Xssocizitwn

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.. -,.--ff'- -g .2 ' -Q lf? G- - -- 541, 51,15-2 - 1,-'-f-jg.: ., .1 G1-HARD 'lS'EN5 JOHN W. WITHERS, Ph. D. Superinlendenl Sain! Louis Public Schools