Texas School for the Deaf - Towers Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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February 28 through March 12: Bobby Barlow, a senior, was one of twenty-five young professional baseball aspirants in the Austin Pioneers' first annual training school and tryout camp, but he failed to place. Any- way, we felt proud of him for trying his best at the tryout camp. March 4: The two seniors who had their birthdays on that day were Finice Taylor and Joyce Eastham. Joyce's mother sent her a big three- tiered cake, and we seniors had a small 'party in our classroom. We en- joyed it very much. March 15 : We seniors have been eager to get our rings since Janu- ary, but on this date we really got our beautiful rings. I know we shall enjoy wearing them. March 18: We boys and girls had Ye Ole Time Frolic Party that evening in our gymnasium. Everybody had loads of fun at the party. Many enjoyed square dancing while others played games. April 8: The senior class with our sponsor, Mrs. Mitchell, had a senior dinner party at the Hitchin' Post at 6:00 Friday evening, April 8th. We invited our girl friends to go there with us, and we enjoyed the evening very much. April 23: The Longhorn Club members and their dates will have an outing at Bastrop State Park. Picnicing, swimming, and hiking will be enjoyed, I hope. May 15: The annual C.E.S. picnic, a long looked-forward-to spring affair. May 20: We shall be honored by the juniors at the Junior-Senior banquet. Afterwards there will be a dance in the gymnasium. We do appreciate the J unior's arranging this nice social function for us. May 27: On this evening, there will be a program in honor of the Field-Day Queen. may 28: This will be a big day for all the ex-students, friends, and parents, as there will be some track events, a softball game for girls, and a baseball game for boys. We shall have a delicious barbecue dinner for all. That night, we shall have a Field Day dance in our gymnasium. I expect everyone to heve much 'pleasure at this big dance. May 29: Our hearts will beat hard when the time for the Bacca- laureate service arrives, as we will be on the stage, but we shall do our best to make the audience interested in our program that night. May 30: This will be the final school day for us as we shall get our doplomas that evening, however, we will do our best to be a credit to our Alma Mater when we go out to begin new tasks. We want to express our thanks to Mr. Stelle, Mr. Mclntire, Mr. Weyerman, the teachers, the supervisors, and our old friends who have been helping us to prepare for our life's work. Best wishes to alll

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WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? WHY? By FINICE TAYLOR September 7: We seniors were glad to return to school to get more education. September 8: We boys and girls were excited over seeing our new superintendent who appeared on the stage and spoke a few words to us. September through N ovember: The spectators were thrilled at watch- ing a number of good football games. We seniors were proud of our class- mates, Tom Withrow and Jack Autry, who played in every game. October 16: On that particular Saturday morning we were greatly excited over going to watch the game between Texas and S. M. U., in the afternoon. Many of us were sorry that S.M.U. beat, but I think we en- joyed watching that game very much because we saw the great Doak Walker as well as other star players. October 22: There was a thrilling game between our team and the Kirwin High team of Galveston at House Park, but we were very much disappointed over losing the game against them. The Silents had defeated this team four successive years before this. October 29: We had a Hallowe'en party in our gymnasium which was lots of fun, however, no one in the senior class won any of the prizes, al- though their costumes were good. November 25: None of the seniors went home on Thanksgiving Day, but the parents of Bobby Hallmark, H. C. Collins, and Finice Taylor came to see them. A nice Thanksgiving party was given us in our gymnasium that night, and we all had a very good time. December 3: We senior boys together with other members of the Longhorn Club had a balloon party that evening in our gymnasium. We hope everyone enjoyed that party as much as we did. December 15: We congratulated one member of our senior class, James Watson, who had his picture in the Lone Star with the other mem- bers of the Junior Red Cross Council. December 15: We had much pleasure watching the Christmas pro- gram in the auditorium that night. Classmates had drawn names, so everyone received a gift from under the big Christmas tree as well as fruit and candy. December 17: We felt excited over going home for the Christmas holidays and were very happy because we were to have a long holiday. January through February: An exciting basketball season with many good games was enjoyed by all. January 22: It was amusing to watch the game between the Flat- foots and the Superbrawns in which the seniors took part. This game was a benefit for the seniors to raise money for part of their graduation ex- penses. I think the boys and girls and other spectators had their money's worth laughing at the antics of the seniors. January 25 : We seniors were very proud of Tom Withrow, who is a senior, for getting on the All-American football team of the deaf schools and congratulate him for getting this honor. February 18: We enjoyed having a Valentine and Washington's Birthday party all in one, that night in our gymnasium. The students played games and danced. The Paul Jones Extra was lots of fun. February 26: Several seniors, Tom Withrow, Gordon Gibbons, Jack Autry, and Finice Taylor began to practice playing tennis at Stacy's Park. We played several times a week during the spring.

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My wn School By ARNOLD voor The seniors are thankful that we have been able to get an education at T.S.D. We have studied many subjects and taken many different trades. We are grateful to God, for He has made it possible for us to be educated in a good school instead of living in ignorance. A pleasant and successful life, in which we enjoy the good things, is possible if we are educated even if we are deaf. For a number of years, we have come to this school that has given us an opportunity to learn many valuable lessons. We are very happy that the state established a school for the education of deaf boys and girls. , The Texas School for the Deaf was founded in Austin on the south- side of the Colorado River in January, 1857. Three students came here to get an educationg they went to the school in a smokehouse with only one deaf teacher to teach them. During the year of 1857, our school had not enough equipment, and it endured great hardships because of the Civil War for several years. Most of the present buildings were built between 1895 and 1923 under the Board of Trustees which controlled the school. At present, the school together with a number of other state institutions is under a three-man board known as the Board of Control, whose mem- bers are appointed by the Governor. There are eleven buildings used for the housing and training of the student body. The Mechanics Building, established in 1932, the Auto Shop in 1932, and the Gymnasium in 1928, are newer than the other buildings on the campus. We are proud of these buildings and of our campus, dotted with many beautiful oak trees. The school uses the oral, manual, and acoustic methods of teaching. Some of the students are improving under the oral method, as some stu- dents have learned to talk very quickly and to read lips, but the students who are born deaf usually advance more rapidly under the manual. Other students who have some hearing use hearing aids and are taught acous- tically. There are many shops. They are art, baking, automobile mechanics, barbering, cosmetology, foods and cooking, sewing, shoe repairing, clean- ing and pressing, tailoring, printing, vocational agriculture, woodwork, and painting. We must learn many different trades so we will easily get a job to earn money for our living expenses after we leave school. Physical education is an important part of the daily life in the school. All the boys and girls are encouraged to take part in some sport. Our teams usually play very well. In 1947, our Texas Silents were undefeated in nine games, and the number of points scored were 516 while the op- position was held down to two touchdowns. The team won the champion- ship in football of the deaf schools in the United States that year. In 1948, a new superintendent, Mr. Roy Moore Stelle, was appointed. He is the seventeenth superintendent that the Texas School has had. Mr. Stelle has inspected our campus and the buildings thoroughly and is sur- prised at the condition of some of the old buildings. He wants a number of new buildings which will cost 81,100,000 and has presented a request for them to the Legislature which met last January. We hope that the Legislature will pass the appropriation for this school as he has drawn it, and that the Governor will sign it. It is necessary to build the new buildings if the Texas School for the Deaf is to have a plant that every- one interested in the education of the deaf can be proud of.