The Importance of the Individual: East High School, Denver

OUR BEST HIGH SCHOOLS

by WYMOND J. EHRENKROOK

EAST Denver High School, which has been in continuous existence since 1859, has undergone many physical changes since the early days when classes were held in a dugout and a log cabin. The first formal building, a three-story structure costing the city about $100,000, was erected in 1875; the second, an ornate Victorian type of building, was a showplace that served the community until about forty years ago; the present school, constructed in 1924, is approximately two miles from the original site in a residential section adjoining Denver’s City Park. The history of a school is preserved in its memorabilia, and East Denver’s most highly prized memento is the head ol an angel carved in stone. (It was this bust that gave the improbable nickname “Angels” to the tough East High athletic teams.) In the present building there are many statues and photographs, some contemporary, some dating back to the last century.

A good high school is the reflection of the attitudes and efforts of all individuals who have dedicated their lives to it. In 1947 Dr. Kenneth E. Oberholtzer became superintendent of the Denver public schools. Since that time the school population of Denver has doubled, costs have continued to rise, and new or expanded facilities have been needed. The board of education and the citizens of Denver have responded by approving the spending of $79,500,000 in bonds and another $9,000,000 of current funds for building in the past seventeen years. In like manner the superintendent and board of education have encouraged the experimentation and change necessary to make East High School a leader during this exciting period.

Since the day it opened, the school has attracted the dedicated and highly qualified teacher and administrator. The first principal was James H. Baker, a recognized scholar and administrator who later became president of the University of Colorado. He set the stamp of his personality on both institutions.

Being a teacher at East High has always carried with it great prestige; thus, assignments there have been extremely competitive. Once a teacher is approved and assigned to East he usually remains there until his retirement. Ralph Pitts was just such a teacher. He joined the faculty in 1896 as a teacher of English, Latin, Greek, and French. It was not long before he was recognized for his dedication and his ability to impart knowledge, as his students went on to excel in such well-known universities as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. For forty-seven years, until his retirement in 1943, he was fondly known as “Professor Pitts.” Even after retirement until his death in 1956 his home was a constant meeting place for his former students and those who sought his sage counsel and help. The effectiveness of this great educator continues to live through his students.

Mrs. Genevieve Kreiner is another dedicated East High teacher. Since 1921 she has been making an outstanding contribution to the students who are fortunate enough to come under her tutelage. Mrs. Kreiner’s field is English literature and speech. Hundreds of community leaders in all parts of the world remember her as a teacher capable of motivating them to high standards of achievement. Her speech pupils are always scholarly competition in speech meets.

Such tenure of dedication and successful teaching is possible only because the citizens of Denver have elected school board members who believe in the value of a good education.

A CURRICULUM FOR THE TIMES

When East High School was first organized, the curriculum was specifically oriented toward academic preparation for college because most of the graduates entered a college or university. Following shortly after the First World War, pupils began to enter East who were not college-oriented in their thinking. East High School was quick to recognize the changes taking place in its student body and immediately began to examine its curriculum in order to meet the challenge. Today the program is again college-oriented; approximately 65 percent of the class of 1964 planned to enter college this past fall, and 35 percent planned to start working right after graduation.

The degree to which a high school is able to meet the educational needs of its pupils is a significant factor in its value as an educational institution and determines whether or not the school will continue to be ranked as one of the best. There are three reasons why East High stands out today: the changes in curriculum, individual programming, and the student council, generally referred to as student government.

East High School has had a continuing program of experimentation in all areas of its curriculum; however, what has been done in the field of English should serve as an example because of its importance for success in any field of work or study.

At East High the teaching of English always has consisted of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Before a pupil graduates he must be successful in acquiring a minimum of five units of English credit during his secondary school experience (six years, grades 7 through 12). Those who plan to enter college must acquire six more units. Upon entrance to East High School pupils are expected to be ready to refine their skills in reading and writing and to develop a skill in speaking and listening.

The administration and staff of East High School have for a long time recognized individual differences such as rate of learning, background of experience, and interests. Consequently there has been for many years a plan for grouping which permits a pupil to work in a class according to his own needs: modified for the low achiever, regular for the average, high for the above-average, and accelerated for the superior pupil.

The practice of grouping pupils brought with it the need for rewriting courses of study and the development of different methods of teaching. Particularly was this true for the low groups and the accelerated groups. For the low groups, with difficulty in reading, laboratories were established to provide specialized help. The time spent by a pupil in a reading laboratory was additional to his work in a modified English class. The accelerated and high groups generally were able to move much faster than they had when the slow readers were in the classroom, and could achieve in two years or less what had normally been expected in three years. This provided extra time for them to explore in depth many areas of study or to take additional English electives in the areas of journalism, literature, and advanced composition.

In January, 1921, a former governor of Colorado, the Honorable John F. Shafroth, established the Shafroth Prize for Extemporaneous Speaking. the contestants, from each high school in the Denver area, are selected from speech classes. There have been forty-one contests with two prizes for each contest. During this time East High School has had twenty-nine winners. From 1921 until 1960 five high schools entered the competition; since 1960, eight high schools have participated.

In 1963 the University of Illinois invited the English department of East High to participate in a nationwide study of teaching methods which have proven successful. This invitation was accepted with enthusiasm, as the members of the staff are eager to improve any method that they are now using.

GROUPING AND ADVANCED PLACEMENT

Grouping and curriculum revision have not been restricted to the area of English. The faculty in each remaining academic area has been working hard to improve its program in accordance with needs. The practice of grouping has been received with much satisfaction by pupils, parents, and faculty because it permits a pupil to learn at his own rate and very often eliminates wasted time spent studying material he already knows.

In 1957 when the advanced placement program was offered to the Denver senior high schools, grouping had already prepared East High pupils for this experiment. During the past seven years there has been a steady increase of students working toward advanced placement; now it is a part of the regular curriculum for about 10 percent of the seniors.

In May of 1964 there were eighty-six advanced placement tests taken by East High seniors. These tests covered college-level English, calculus, French, chemistry, American history, and biology. Eleven students took the chemistry test, and their scores were exceptional: five received the highest possible score of five, four received the next highest score of four, and two received the average score of three. Colleges and universities in this program grant students who achieve top scores of three, four, or five advanced placement or credit, or both.

INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMMING

For many years pupils had been placed in classes of a prescribed curriculum with very little consideration being given to their ability or interest. The first real attempt to solve the problem of pupil programming at East High was made in 1932 when the school became a part of an eight-year study. The pupils chosen for this pilot program were sophomores. They were few in number with average or better than average achievement. Each group of pupils selected was programmed into a block of time for English and social studies with a teacher who was to remain with the group for three years. Besides teaching an uncharted course in English and social studies, the block teacher was responsible for programming each pupil individually during his three years at East. The advantages of individual programming for this select group were soon evident, and the next step was to provide individual programming for the entire student population. In order to accomplish this, staff members had to be specially trained and qualified, through graduate work, in guidance and counseling.

The teacher-counselor plays an important role in this activity. When a pupil enters East, he is assigned, without reference to his ability, interests, or achievement record, to a grade counseling group of approximately thirty-five pupils. Each teachercounselor has two such counseling groups for whom he is responsible until the group graduates. The teacher-counselor is provided one period in his daily schedule to work individually with his counselees. His primary concern is to be sure each of his counselees is programmed into classes that are directed toward a desired goal and are within his ability to achieve. As the goals, interests, and achievement of a particular counselee change – and many do – the teacher-counselor is challenged to help him think through his problem. If the problem has to do with grouping or achievement, the teacher-counselor is able to change the individual group or schedule of the counselee if desirable. Experience has shown that in a heterogeneous counseling group of seventy pupils the majority will move along satisfactorily in school with a minimum of assistance; however, from seven to ten of the group will require a large amount of individual counseling.

During the first semester of the sophomore year a three-year educational plan is developed for each pupil. This plan is reviewed and adjusted at least twice each year when the following semester program of classes is built. It therefore becomes the responsibility of the teacher-counselor to program each of his counselees and to check at regular intervals on his achievement, usually after each marking period.

ADDITIONAL COUNSELING SERVICES

Pupils whose educational plans and achievement indicate college potential have additional specialized counseling services available to them. East High has a full-time college and scholarship counselor to assist pupils in selecting a college, and if qualified, in making application for a scholarship. This service was started immediately following the Second World War and proved to be so successful that it has become standard in all Denver high schools.

According to the records of East High, out of the 1964 class of 683, there were 92 graduates who accepted scholarships to colleges or universities in 29 states and 2 foreign countries. Included in this list of scholarship winners were 9 students who were finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. At the present time 7 seniors representing four ethnic groups – Negro, JapaneseAmerican, Jewish, and Anglo-Caucasian – are semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

A growing number of high school pupils today are experiencing difficulty in building some kind of work experience. For those who plan to get a job right after graduation this becomes a definite need. East High provides one full-time educational and career counselor whose special function is to find for the students either part-time employment during the school year, summer vacation jobs, or full-time employment upon graduation.

The effectiveness of the counseling services at East High School can be seen by the results of a survey obtained in May,1964, from the senior class. Ninety-five percent of this class reported that they had either been accepted by a college or had a job waiting upon graduation. The follow-up study for the class of 1963 indicated that out of the class of 553 graduates, 96.2 percent were either in college, special training, or were employed, while only 3.8 percent were unemployed or were not heard from. These follow-ups provide valuable information to the staff in terms of counseling and the entire school program.

In addition to the assistance provided by the teacher-counselor, the college and scholarship counselor, and the educational and career counselor, East High provides each student an opportunity to explore in a class situation the world of work. Each pupil entering East High brings with him results of the National Employment Services General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB). This is one piece of objective evidence that appears to be meaningful to the pupil and useful to the school.

When the ninth-grade pupil leaves junior high and enrolls in our school, he is programmed into a one-semester course called Vocations. Here he has an opportunity to examine his interests and achievements and to determine how these fit in with the goal he has set for himself. Our experience has shown that a pupil who has a goal, even though he may change it as he goes, makes a better achievement record than the pupil without a goal.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

The type of youngster enrolled in a high school plays a vital role in the effectiveness of the school. In observing pupils in East High School one senses a general atmosphere of happy students wanting to be in school. Economically speaking the majority come from average and above-average homes.

From the very beginning, the student body of East High has been cosmopolitan. The early pioneers in the Denver area were a mixture of nationalities, races, and creeds. People were accepted by one another on equal terms; each was respected for what he was, not who he was. Today, likewise, East students pay no attention to race or nationality in electing their leaders or in applauding the honors and awards earned by those of different color or national origin. Two years ago the president of the student government was a Negro. He was a superior individual in leadership, attitude, and scholastic achievement. Today he is continuing this record in college.

The student government at East through the years has gained the respect of both the student body and the faculty by its continuous efforts to promote among students pride in their school, faultless citizenship, consideration of one another as individuals, and excellence in their scholastic endeavors. The organization is simple. The student council is made up of twelve members. The two presidents (a boy and a girl), the secretary, and the treasurer are seniors and are chosen by a schoolwide election. Added to this group are the presidents and vice presidents of the sophomore, junior, and senior classes. Also included is one elected representative from each of the two school publications the newspaper and the yearbook.

The council, which meets daily to consider programs, problems, and activities has a counterpart in the delegate assembly. Each of the classes elects one representative to make up the delegate assembly. The size of this group varies depending on the number of classes (usually around eighty), and representatives in this group change each semester as a new school program schedule is made. The meetings of the assembly occur once each month for one period and are conducted by one of the student council presidents.

The student council and the delegate assembly are under the supervision of a faculty member who gives direction in the discussion, considerations, or actions of the governing bodies. Several years ago the group felt that as student leaders they had a definite responsibility for developing good citizens and promoting acceptable conduct. It was decided that the entire student body should be involved in some project that would constantly be a reminder to each pupil of his responsibility. The result was a code of conduct known as the East High School Tower of Strength. This slogan came from the architecture of East High itself, a copy of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. In the center of the building is a beautiful, majestic tower. The code suggests five personal characteristics which each pupil is asked by the student leaders to accept as his goals and are as follows:

Courage gives me the strength to put worthwhile ideas into action.

Competence is the ability to perform honestly the job for which I am suited.

Culture displays the belief that an appreciation of life’s goodness is a source of joy forever.

Courtesy is the outward expression of an inner respect for the individual.

Character is that spiritual force within me that demands and gets my best choices and my best efforts.

This code, reproduced on a small billfold-size card, is issued by the student council to every new pupil entering East. On one side of the card the five personal characteristics are printed over a picture of the East tower. On the other side there is an explanation of the five areas agreed to as desirable student goals.

The activities of the council and delegate assembly differ from year to year, but they are always considered in relationship to the accepted objectives. The influence of these pupils has been a positive force in the total school life of every member of the student body.