The board also heard a report from W.O.
Fisher, superintendent, concerning the progress of construction
at the Stagg site, let equipment contracts for Stagg, and
discussed details for leasing of classrooms to district 117 for
next year.
The decision to call the Stagg team the Chargers came as the
result of recommendations made by Ray Bentz, principal at the
new school. With a committee comprised of Karen Lundgren,
Henry Meier, Judy Guglielumucci, Ardis Rewerts and Don Brauer,
he had narrowed the selections to two choices. In addition to
the Chargers, the committee also suggested the teams be called
Patriots and wear red, white, and blue. The committee, however,
favored the Chargers, as did the Board.
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Bentz explained that he and the committee had
attempted to select colors which were "distinctive, but yet
different from those worn by any other school in the area." The
group favored the deep navy and burnt orange combination because
few, if any, of the schools in the area use it.
The board also approved a curriculum for
freshmen at Stagg next year. It calls for three levels in
English and Science, with four levels in Mathematics. Each of
these three subjects and physical education will be required of
students.
Each student will also take two elective
courses. Electives will include social studies, foreign
language (French or German), practical arts (shop, business
education, home economics, physical education and art), band and
choir. Bentz called the curriculum both "adequate and
comprehensive for the expected enrollment of 250 freshmen."
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Under a "modular scheduling program" students
will not be assigned to study halls, but will have supervised
study sessions. The schedule at Stagg will create 21 modules of
20 minutes each which can be combined to create classes of
varying lengths.
Fisher told board members that modular
scheduling was outlined in a recent study sponsored by the
National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Work at Stagg is progressing well, according
to Fisher, despite a five month delay in the delivery of steel
paneling. "We are at the point, "Fisher said, "that we can have
so many trades working at once that progress is very rapid.
Although things are really humming now, the finishing touches
will appear to progress more slowly."
The heating, which has been turned on in the
building for the past two weeks, is operating well, Fisher
said. He said that District 230 personnel, who "double as
watchmen", are maintaining control of it, each night and over
the weekend.
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The board also let contracts for the equipment
in all the general offices, carpeting, draperies, classroom
seating, the teachers' lounge and dining room, cafeteria, and
department offices. Bids on the equipment had been accepted
prior to Jan. 10 and have been reviewed and analyzed since
then.
The contracts call for the carpeting of the
library, conference room superintendent's office and two
classrooms. The board approved the carpeting in the classrooms
and library as part of a test of flooring materials.
"Current thinking is that carpeting, rather
than being a luxury item, is actually one of the most durable
and easily maintained floor covers available," Fisher said. He
cited ease of maintenance and long-range economy as two of the
advantages. If the carpeting proves satisfactory, the board
will consider it for all classrooms.
Cooper-Smith Furniture in Orland Park was
awarded the carpet contract for the sum of $5,221.34.
Fisher said that tentative agreement to lease
classrooms had been reached with representatives of the North
Palos schools for the 1964-65 school year. Fisher, with board
members Gordon Bendix and Paul Erlandson, will meet with
representatives of district 117 on Feb. 3 to review the
arrangements. Board action could come at the meeting scheduled
for Feb. 10."
This excerpt is from a publication History of
the City of Palos Hills, printed in 1978, for the twentieth
anniversary of the incorporation of Palos Hills. This excerpt
is from History of Palos Hills - 1945 to Present, a part of
that publication, by Mr. Earl Potter, copyright and permission
granted by Mr. William L. Potter.
How Stagg High School Came To Be
The Palos Hills Civic Association had also
joined the District 230 School Election Caucus in 1960, and soon
became embroiled in a contest with many of the Caucus members
from Palos Park. This came about when the 230 Board announced
that enrollment had grown to where a complete new school had to
be built, and they were recommending that it be built virtually
next door to the existing Carl Sandburg School. They held public
meetings to sell the idea, which the PHCA Caucus representatives
attended. District 230 Superintendent Bill Fisher tried to
convince the first meetings of the desirability of having a
"high school campus" or "educational complex". The Board did
not own the site next to Sandburg where they proposed to build
the new school, planning instead to sell the old North Palos
school property to raise the money with which to buy the
projected new site. Potter questioned sharply the wisdom of
such a move, since it would commit the District to a future of
ever increasing mileage in order to bus the students to the
central site, and since the population of the District north of
the Sag Channel was then growing by leaps and bounds, it just
did not make sense to not put the new school in that area. The
reactions from some of the residents of Palos Park soon
convinced the PHCA delegation that the real reason for the
advocated site selection was not based on logic at all......The
PHCA representatives at the next public meeting formally served
notice of the PHCA's strong opposition to the campus idea and
petitioned that the new school be built on the Palos Hills
site. The 230 School Board postponed making a final choice
until after the next school board election which by then was a
few months off. At the Caucus meeting, two candidates were
chosen who supported the campus idea, so the PHCA
representatives plus the delegates of most other north of the
canal organizations dropped out of the caucus and formed a rump
caucus of their own, picking up two well qualified candidates
from their area. One of these was Dr. J.M. Yarbrough of Palos
Hills, who had been on several school boards, the other was Dr.
R. A. Holt of Worth. Both filed to run in the school board
election of 1962, but soon after the filing, the board announced
that it had dropped the campus plan and would build the new
school on its Palos Hills property. Dr. Holt withdrew his name
from the ballot as soon as he was certain that the school would
be built north of the canal, but Dr. Yarbrough ran and lost by a
small margin. The new school was built and named the Amos
Alonzo Stagg High School, opening for its first class in
September, 1964, in Palos Hills, thanks to the all-out campaign
spear headed by the PHCA.
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