Steinmetz High School - Silver Streak Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Steinmetz High School opened September 17, 1934, with 40 teachers, selected and transferred from other high schools, under the leadership of yylilliam Bogan, Superintendent, ylohn NV. Bell, District Super- intendent, Daniel F. O'Hearn, Principal, Grover C. Ramsey, Assistant to the Principal, and yylilliam E. McBride, Administrative Assistant. In mid-October, Elma E. Boughton was appointed Administrative As- sistant of Girls and Room 124.-X and B and 104A became the co-ordinating centers of student activities and student problems for the next seven years. By the close of the first day of school we had en- rolled 2,200 pupils anel had 57 pupils who were deter- mined to be our first graduates in February, 1935. VVe began in a new three and one-half million dollar building not yet completely equipped, but beautiful, with a student body from several other high schools, a faculty capable, but strange to each other with few exceptions, a top-rate engineer who had been here 4 years during the construction, a fast-growing connnunity that knew nothing yet of a high school life in its midst, borrowed text books, and a muddy cam- pus which was said to have been the one-time beach and shore of Lake Michigan fcalled Lake Chicago by the Indiansj. It was a period of economic depression and unem- ployment, of shifting values, still reflecting the fears engendered by loss of life-time savings, and a time of the initialed experiments of Franklin D. Roos:velt's first administration as President of the United States tXV.P..-X., C.C.C., etca. Pupils had plenty' of time on their hands for school. Business men in the community had sought to harness the energies of the more adventuresome youth by sponsoring athletic clubs. There were many such groups when Steinmetz opened, some of them present- ing us with strong rivalries for a tinre, both wholesome and disturbing. He soon lgarned that there was also a substantial percentage of our student body and conrnntnity which was delighted, at long last, to have its own high school. They' accepted with enthusiasm, the challenge to build a new school. Student activities had been increasing in high school for several years, their various merits as contributions to the development of the whole personality were being strongly advocated, and standardized testing, guidance, and counseling ideas were fineling favor every year as means of enabling the pupil to enjoy learning while he made satisfactory adjustment to social and economic life. This was the soil in which Steinrnetz High School was planted, and otit of which it grew, and tlrrivecl, sometimes choked with weeds for brief periods, but occasionally flowering proudly in scholarship, and more often in music, art, drama, athletics, generous service, school spirit, sportsmanship, and lasting friendships, through times of peace and war, storrrr and sunshine. l'.ac:h of our principals contributed sornc-thing lcr Steinmetf that has lrelpczcf tts to corne of age as a school. Many devoted pupils and tcachers lraye ntaclc- significant contributions that cannot he nreasured itr words. Mr. U'flc'arn was sunnnarifirrg Irotlr the Iriglr school emphasis during ottr frrst two years, and his own philosophy when he wrote his ctrmcot report in lurre, l9fl0: 'if believe that a school isa great social irrstitutiou. lt rs fasctrratrrrg to watch thc rrrtc rcst of pupils in each other, their pleasttrc- at rnc-eting. flonlac ts and lrierrcl- ships are busy daily in rnolclitrg the thoughts and actions of our thousarrcls ol pupils. l endeavor corr- tinuously through the daily bulletin, at teachers meet- ings, and through hundreds of conferences with teach- ers to wean teachers away from pre-occupatlon Wllh subject matter and pupil grades, into a realization that school is a place where character is made, and that the socialization opportunities are the chemical agentS that transform the social being. Xyle grew steadily for the first seven years IH S123 and as an educational and social center in the com- munity. In numbers we reached our peak of more than 4200 pupils and a tripled faculty in 1939, and did not drop much below 4,000 until 1941. 'About 300 Of LIS overflowed into Sayre Branch early in 1936. Mr. Mc- Bride had become administrative assistant of boys and assemblies, with the addition of John A. Sheehan HS attendance administrative assistant. The adjustment service was initiated as a separate department in 1940 uneler Miss Helen Brindl. remedial reading under the English Dept.-Miss Margaret Cahill, Chairman., and the vocational guidance set up as a separate service IU 1940 under Mr. -lackson. Then came Pearl Harbor of yyorlcl Yyar Il with all of its disrupting and sobering influences. Between 1941 and 1943, 2300 Steinrnetzers in Uncle Sam's service signed our Guest Book when visting on leave. Under the leadership of our Servicernen's Committee, the Hld of these visitors, and the whole cornmunrty, and the stuelent groups. we learneel of the service of more than 3.000 of our students. As school went on, yy'e held per- petual open house for those in uniform, and many. of ottr pupils and teachers spent hottrs each week writing cheering letters. Through it all we learneel that there wottlel always be a Steinmetf in the hearts of our students, Ori the whole, they reflected credit on Stein- metf around the worlel in their faithful service and leadership. In 1944, before the war was brought to a fearful halt at Hiroshima. Nfr. O'l-learn retireel and Mathew L. 1'-1UQ,L'l'1lltl became ottr leader for the next six anel one hall years, ln some ways, they were reconstruction years, the aftermath of war. Unusually large wages proffered to youth eluring the war years. and the re- sponse ol our young people to the need for their help to take the places of those who had gone into service had reduced school life to a bare class rnininrurn. lt foreshacloweel permanent change in high school life. Few resisted the lure of the dollar. student actiyities virtually disappeared unless they could he done in class tinre, school rnernbership began to decline. and scholarship suffered. New devices had to he Iottncl to stirnulate interest in atrcl support of school. The Cliy ic liiclsel clfl lfrl to clate and the lfall lfestiyal tlflclti Btn hcgan in these years to consolidate and reyiew otrr fund raising worls. and for a time the lfaculty tlouncil was a clearing house lor organization prolrlerns, ll was in these areas that Mr. l'IllQt'l'lllfl Irelreyecl th.rt te.tchets should lraye an crpptrltllltlly to lcatrr hy actttal expertttretrt and ex- perierrce what yy.ts practical cn itrrpt.rctic.tl about their ideas. Hur eighth grade coutrselots. now rnorc' experi- encecl, corrtr'ihutc'cl rnttch in unifying and co-ordinat- ing the now decc-ntralifecl counseling Icrnc tion. During this perrocl a lac rrlty cornnrittec- rrracle a thorough study ol organization needs, and the daily telephone calls to the lronres of all absentees lregan under the leadership ol Mrs, l.y'clia lfausel and Nliss fic-rtruclc' U'C1orrnor. lhe Sl'lIlt'Sfl'l' cletnotiorr teclrrricptcs now used were' hecotnirrg necessary, attcl llre nrore aclecluatc' adyiust- rnetrt offices were rernodelecl and began to lurrction under' thc' leaclership of Miss Margaret Boller tcltlr adiustrnetrt teac'lrc'rl. Some activitic-s revivecl crnder new sponsors: the Student Council was rebuilt by Mr. llenry Xyeayer

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tj-Aware Always ge 494 Sfeinmefz Steinmvetz, 21 beautiful building. but barren of trees and land- scapmg. The people of the coimnunity, appreciative of their new high school building, attend its dedication ceremmiy.