Walnut High School - Walnut Tree Yearbook (Walnut, IL)

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AND PLAY” -----------TH€ SCHOOL 1927 - 1928 - 1929 - 1930 - 1931 - 1932 PAGE SEVEN

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HEIGH-HO HURRY BOYS—THE DELI. WHERE WE WORK BOOK I —-------------------—! 1921 - 1922 - 1923 - 1924 - 1925 - 1926 PAGE SIX

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fifty Years of UUalnut Community High School This year Walnut Community High School celebrates the Sami-Centennial Anniversary of its first graduating class in 1890. Fifty classes will be represented in the processional at the commencement exercises, June 1st, when Principal Cecil A. Snider presents diplomas to twenty-nine graduates, one of the largest classes in the history of the school. At this time, alumni, former students, and friends of the school will gather from tar and near to renew old friendships with their classmates and former teachers, and pay honor to their school which has attained its fiftieth milestone. In 1875 a school was built in Walnut, since the population had increased and the parents realized the necessity of education for their children. This was one of the first projects in the early days of the village. The school consisted of three departments; primary', intermediate, and grammer school. There were one hundred twenty-two pupils and G. D. Peddicord was the principal. About 1884, the high school was organized consisting of only the tenth and eleventh grades, with no one graduating until 1890. In 1894 a new, six room building was constructed to accommodate the increasing enrollment. The high school, at this time, included three grades, each consisting of six classes. The school year was divided into three terms instead of two semesters as it is today. Of the two hundred fifteen students in 1895, thirty-three of these were high school students. About 1900 the school was organized into a four year school. Originally Walnut School District which was in the center of Walnut Township, embraced only three thousand acres. Today, the community High School District covers seventy-four square miles of area in Bureau, Lee, and Whiteside Counties, with a taxable valuation of almost three million dollars. To accommodate the enlarged student body in 1914, a building was needed with better facilities. The school house was remodeled and used until it was destroyed by fire in November, 1933. Many former students watched the old school burn with feelings of regret, and the memories of days spent there will always remain among the people in this community. The Community High School law was passed by the Illinois State Legislature in 1917. In October, following the passage of this law, a new board of education was elected. There were five members; Wallace Bass. Sr., Ira White, Foster Black, Howard Keig-win, and Louis Gonigam, Sr. The new board met and organized but no plans were made until spring when the district organized into a community high school. In 1918, Mr. C. C. Decker was elected principal. The people of the community, realizing the demands for larger accommodations, proposed the building of a new high school. At first the proposal was not generally liked. However, when an election was called to float a S90,000 bond issue, it was almost unanimously accepted. During this time a new board of education was chosen, which capably guided the construction of the new building. The members of this board were: Louis 1933 - 1934 - 1935 - 1936 - 1937 - 1938 - 1939 PAGE EIGHT