Tampa Bay Tech High School - Titan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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Youve Come a Long Way Baby From the old Brewster on Ross Avenue in Tampa, to the largest Vocational center in the Southeastern United States — you have come along way. Brewster Vocational High School, first called Brewster Opportunity School, was started by Dr. and Mrs. Brewster. They had always worked to further education. Dr. Brewster had been the Dean of Agriculture at the University of Minnesota, and Mrs. Brew- ster was a librarian and musical director of one of the departments. Until his death in 1923 Mr. Brewster was the benefactor of the first vocational school in Tampa. Mrs. Brew- ster continued alone after his death and made Brewster a memorial to her husband. She was quoted as saying, Brewster is my life. The first Brewster Opportunity School was opened only to adults who were inter- ested in learning a trade and receiving a high school diploma. In the late 30 ' s it was decided to give high school students a chance to learn a trade and still receive a high school educa- tion. These srudents attended Brewster for half a day and were transported back and forth from Brewster to the high school. This worked for a while, but was later found to be expensive and time consuming.

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Full Time H.S. in 1945 In 1945 Brewster was converted into a full- time vocational high school. It was primarily a business scnool and offered four different clerical diplomas: Stenographic, Bookkeep- ing, Secretarial, and Clerical. Brewster was the first and only school of its kind at this time. The main shops offered dating back to 1931 were woodshop, machine shop, sheet metal, and auto. By 1945, they had a radio shop. 1957 was the last year for what was known as the Gen- eral Shop. It was open to ninth grade students and was an industrial arts program which offered students the opportunity to learn the basic fundamentals in six areas. Mr. Hershell Van Dusen taught electricity, mechanical drawing, auto mechanics, printing, metal shop, and woodwork. Recor dings of the first beauty shop and dental assistant programs date back to 1957. The first technical graduate was Donald Leigh Convert. He graduated in 1945 and his subjects were radio, history, and typing. In 1927, Jim Buseigilo won a trophy for bicycle racing. In 1927 the Brewster Vocational News spoke out against social clubs. They felt a vocational school should only have clubs that were concerned with practical mat- ters. The first newspaper was called Brewster Vocational News, then The Brewster Broadcast, the Brewster Tech Star, and the Brewster Ram ' s Horn. The papers featured Shop News, Literary contributions and bits of Brewster Blarney. The following clubs had their beginnings in: 1930 — Print Shop, 1938 — Home Ec. Club, 1931 —Journalism Club.