Celebrating 60 Long Years

This year marks sixty years for MacArthur’s campus, and while there have been many changes, one thing, or person, has remained consistent. Linda Emory, Assistant Principal’s Secretary, moved and started school at the original campus in 1956, and graduated in 1964, and has worked on campus since 1988.

Many changes have been made since Mac opened in 1950 as North East Rural High School.  First of all, the name has changed, and along with that, the students.

“While we were a rural school district, we had both the high school and junior high on this land,” Emory said.  “The junior high was on the math wing side.”

Language classes were not as varied.  Now, students need three credits of a language to graduate and quite a few electives.

“When I was at school, we had basic Spanish and French classes but there weren’t things like Latin,” Emory said.

In those days, high school was about learning the basics and having fun.  There were plenty of organizations.

“We had Powderpuff, even then,” Emory said.  “We had more dances then too.  There was the Blue and White [dance], and there were dances where the girls asked the guys.  We had a live brahma as our mascot too.  He went to every game.”

According to Emory, there were virtually no girls’ athletics.  Girls in the 60s were not as prominently involved in sports.

Ms. Emory was a Lassie as a student and had to help out her fellow dancers when she started working here in 1988.

“The Lassies were non-existent when I came back,” said Emory.  “I started the program back up again.”

Since a lot has changed since the school’s aperture, there could indeed be dramatic changes with this school and the whole school system in general, in the future.

“I think [the school] will be more like college,” Emory said.  “There will be online textbooks, more students, fewer teachers… It’s unfortunate. I don’t hope for it, but I have a gut-feeling.”