School Yearbook
Mary M. (Howard) Ellis (FHS Class of 1941) provided this bit of information about the Fairmount
High School yearbook:
"The FAIR-HI, the school's first yearbook, was published in 1940. Eleanor Bjelland, our commercial
teacher, was in charge. Our commercial class typed the stencils, ran them on a mimeograph, and had a company in Danville
add picture pages. The company then bound the books in purple leather with gold lettering."
In the photo above, Mary (Howard) Ellis is seated at the typewriter. The information she
provided was all accomplished without computers!
Other Extra-Curricular Activities
The following activities were also enjoyed at Fairmount High School. Thank you to Mary M (Howard) Ellis
for supplying this information.
School newspaper: "The Eagle's Eye"
FUTURE FARMER'S OF AMERICA
HOME EC CLUB
GIRL'S GLEE CLUB
BOYS GLEE CLUB
PEP
CLUB`` The idea of this club was to arouse school spirit by helping the cheerleaders at pep sessions with pep
talks ... hoping to have a very active cheering section for basketball games.
There was a yearly "Gym Circus"
as well.
Memories
The Following memories of Fairmount High School were offered by Arlene (Howard) Jaynes (FHS Class
of 1949). Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
"I remember the beautiful marble floors in the halls and staircase.....We had hardwood floors in the classroom.
There
was a double staircase going upstairs....the boys had to use the one on the left and the girls the right one......We had to
use the correct stairway or we would get into trouble..
There was no hot food program unless our Home Economics class
made chili or soup and offered it to the students. Some walked several blocks to Hucks Cafe or brought their lunch.
There were no pop machines, candy machines or anyplaces where we could get an extra goodie.
The seniors initiated the
freshmen. When I was a freshmen, the seniors blindfolded us, led us into the gym, had us step on a SHOCKING MACHINE
for a second, and fed us "worms" which we later found out was spaghetti....This was scary, I thought.
Boys sports were
important and had schedules. Our girls basketball team only played a few games with other schools and could only play
1/2 COURT. We felt that was a bummer.
The janitor for years was Pete Kizer and he did all the maintenance, all
of the mowing, all of the cleaning and in the summer refinished the gymnasium floor and painted the classrooms.. I never
saw him with a helper.
In the late thirties, FCHS only had two large cars to pick up the rural students. Later
they bought a school bus. I was one of the first to get on the bus in the AM and the last to get off after school.
I was on the bus about an hour each way. The state made a ruling that a student could only ride a certain amount of
time each day. Then they bought the second bus. Was I happy.
An alumni group is planning a reunion this
summer for all the students who attended any Fairmount school....Plans are being formulated at this time."
Here's to hoping for a great turnout for the Fairmount High reunion...I hope you send us photos!!
Special Thank You
Special thank you goes out to the Howard sisters, Mary M. Ellis and Arlene
Jaynes, for their personal stories and researched contributions to this page.
Seeking More Information
If you have any further information regarding the history and successes of Fairmount High School, especially a photo
of the former high school building, please e-mail us at
ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net . You can also write to us at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago, Il. 60631
