St Rita of Cascia High School - Cascian Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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D '7' ,M .-Q . - 500 ,Ky 'T ...sv A Father Joseph B. Kepperling became Princi- pal of the school and died only three years after he was appointed chief administrator. He was succeeded by Fr. Harris, the ex-athletic director. Old structures such as the library and the football stadium were remodeled under their administrations. Fr. Harris was succeeded by Fr. Ruellon P. Fink whose main objective was to increase the schoolis population. In 1936, he introduced a technical program to the schoo1,s curriculum and increased the enrollment from 385 to 464 in one year. To house the new technical courses, the Mendel Technical Building was built in 1938. This addition was not the end of the schoolis physical espansion, however - Egan Hall was expanded. The original structure extended only to the present Room 107 - Rooms 100 to 106 were added in the expansion. The new technical course, the remodeled stadium, and the modern laboratories all con- tributed to the schoo1's increased enrollment of of 2,000 by 1953. Fr. Finkis dream of increas- ing the enrollment had been achieved. CLOCK WISE FROM TOP: 111 An early emphasis on the the basics of business: 121 students excercising in the newly built gym: 131 woodshop - still a thriving technical course: 141 auto shop - once popular, now inactive course: 151 one of the school's earliest graduating classes. Mywr' ,nf fl gasps'-Q lp. 7

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Fifty years had passed since the opening of the school, and Rita was celebrating its Golden Anniversary. The school continued to see expansion as the enrollment called for more teachers - both lay and religious. To house the growing number of priests, a new monastery went under construction in April of 1947 and was completed in September of 1949. Under Fr. Fink,s twenty-one year reign as principal, the school's technical program flourished and became one of the best in the city of Chicago. The nation's educational mood was taking a different course, however, it was in 1957 that Russia put its first satel- lite, Sputnik I, into orbit. The United States became worried that Russia was advancing in the field of technology, and the nation immediately started to question its educational values. Education, because of the fear that the United States was no longer Number Onel, in the field of technology, shifted from the technical emphasis of carpentry, aeronautics, and refrigeration to an academic emphasis of English, Math, and Science. Reform was taking place all over the United States including St. Rita, when in 1956, Fr. John E. McLaughlin became the new principal and proposed that the school should stress academics and theology more. This changing of values started the shedding of St. Rita's technical school image. gb Y ,Q it R V ft tx 14' S I HW, i f ,Mp-v . vt' . as. A M, r wa if ,.,,q.qki A 5. ff, 'A ,iw as Rf f ? , 5-.si psi.