No. of Recommendations: 1
The school was rather large (6,000 students +/-, ten stories, 12 double-sized elevators) and had modern labs, shops and facilities for each program.
Mine wasn't so grand: 4 floors, probably about 1500 students. Elevators are for wimps! The building had been built in two phases, with the new section built in 1924. A bit disturbing is the "new" Kalamazoo Central building is now older than "old Central" when I started there. The building was U shaped. Of course, my EE class was on the ground floor, near the end of one end of the "U", and my English class, when was next, was on the 4th floor, near the other end of the "U". Didn't see many fat kids in that school. Several years ago, I told my doc I had come across my draft card. Told him the card reported my weight as 155lbs. He said "you were skinny!". I got a lot of exercise on those stairs every day.
(along with a number of years, depending on track, of machine shop, foundry, pattern-making and so on)
The Trades are pretty much gone from Michigan high schools. The schools teach to the "no child left behind" tests, and everything else has generally been defunded. I have told the story before about my coworker, asking for driving school recommendations for her spawn, as Livonia, the middle class Detroit 'burb where she lives, even defunded driver's ed.
There was a local store (between the nearest subway station and the school) which had supplied these tools since the 1940's. After this (and a couple of other changes to the curriculum) the store closed its doors for ever.
One day, at the pump seal company, 1980ish, one of the other guys in marketing, where I worked, came over to me and asked how the draftsmen in engineering did their lettering so nice and neat. Art had been an education major in college, so drawing the house he wanted to build required a skill set he had not developed. I flipped open my phone book to Wheaton Blue Print Supply, and told him he needed a lettering template. He picked up a template that night, and showed off his handiwork to me the next day. I just looked on line. Appears Wheaton has gone toes up.
Steve....obsolete
