Warren Area High School - Dragon Yearbook (Warren, PA)

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3'-EO!Elili,ilil!lildiIiIil22 HIGH SCHOOL I I . YS-ws! vs iiii lin HHH UEHHS UF IHHHHHI HIGH SCHUUL ln 1897 the erection of the present high school building was completed, conse- quently, this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Warren High School. In carrying ----'-r- -...o.'. .o...,... I . ,...,' 73 7 out an appropriate anniversary theme, the Dragon Board asked prominent members of former classes of Warren High to describe school life and activities as they were in the past. The editors wish to express their gratitude to those alumni writers for their kind help in the compilation of this historical section of the 1947 DRAGON. TJRAGON BOARD, WARREN HIGH ScHooL, VVARREN, PENNSYLVANIA. Gentlemen : - The XVarren High School Class of 1897 was, l believe, the last class to be gradu- ated from the old high school or academy, as it was formerly termed, and not the first to be graduated from the new building. At that time, it was known as the eleventh grade and the sub-high school room was called Number Ten, presided over by lWiss Flower, whom many may still remember. ln 1897, the high school course was covered in a period of three years of two semesters each. Our hours of daily attendance were from 9 a. m. to 12 noon and from l p. m. to 4 p. m., exclusive of Saturdays and holidays. The assembly room and class rooms were all situated on the second floor of the old Academy building on Hickory Street where the City Building now stands. l believe we covered in three years ap- proximately the same course of studies you now include in your present four year course. The high school proper consisted of a large assembly or study room and about five class rooms-somewhat different from the present set-up. The environment was more conducive to study as there were no automobiles, radios, or movies to distract llll i

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or divert the student. Our pleasures or distractions were necessarily restricted to those of a pedestrian or bicyclist, although our flights of fancy could roam as far afield as those of our present high school scholars, and even then you would see many a dreamy eyed student diligently perusing some study book, the contents of which were mostly a blank in the class room. These were the gas light days! The boundaries of Warren Borough during that era terminated at the Cone- wango Creek and the Allegheny River. Across the Conewango Creek was Glade, and above that was Glade Run, both separate and independent towns, and on the other side of the Allegheny River was Pleasant Township. Many will remember the old wooden bridge across the Allegheny and the old famous swinging bridge across the Conewango. These towns had their own schools, and the Jefferson Street School served for Glade as a preparatory to our high school. All pupils from other towns or localities attending Warren High School were required to pay a special tuition. The only paved streets in Warren were the business streets. All other streets were dirt roads. You will understand that this was in the Gay Ninetiesn before the advent of the automobile. We had a few street cars in the borough, but no paved roads or transportation to other towns except the railroads. A pedestrian was not the low, insignificant creature of today. All he had to avoid were the dashing steeds of the wealthy or the daring bicyclist who had just graduated from the old high seater bicycle Cthe one with one big wheel in front and a small one in the rearj. lt was a great event for Warren when Major Windsor promoted and built a bicycle path par- alleling the road to Youngsville Qit was a gravel pathj and many of us worked and sweated through ay summer afternoon making the round trip. Our sports activities consisted mainly of track and field competition with other high schools in the spring and football in the fall. It might not be amiss to state that we were seldom defeated in these events. Our 1896 football team was undefeated and unscored upon during the entire season by any other high school team. Unable to get enough competition from other high schools, we played against town teams and athletic clubs, and the only team that even scored against us was the Kane Athletic Club of ex-college players. We played 30 minute halves and never used a substitute once during the entire season. Every member played every minute of every game. To any who might be interested, a picture of that team is still on display in the win- dow of Merle Graham's shoe shining parlors on Pennsylvania Avenue. lumgnllll' ' ' ' H l. T x lllnm Wlllllllllllllllllllll TT l12l