844 Garfield Ave History from Louisville Historian

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on the southeast corner of Garfield and Walnut. The school, which opened in 1920, immediately eased the overcrowding in the main school. At some point, perhaps from the beginning, it also became the junior high school. The imposing pillars at the front of the school served as a backdrop for many school photos, and there was a small playground on the south side of the building where even high school students had recess. A low metal railing that ran in front of the school became a place for students to sit outside and a favorite hangout. The fine new building would serve the town through the 1920s and 1930s and led to increased offerings of more specialized classes, more theatrical productions, increased school spirit, and the development of sports teams and sports rivalries with other schools. Football was introduced in 1937, displacing the sport of speedball that boys had played before that; football games were played on dirt at Miners Field ball park. Many of the teachers brought energy and talents that benefitted Louisville's young people. For example, Violette McKenzie, who was the school's music teacher in the 1930s, inspired many of her students to follow musical careers. Richard La Salle became a swing band leader and composer of music for TV and movies; Fred Nesbit became a vocalist in Denver, performing frequently in operas and other theater productions; and the music store started by Melvin Rocldey continues today in Lakewood. Also, it was while the junior high and high school were in the building at Garfield and Walnut that Louisville students became the "Pirates." Records indicate that this happened in about 1929, when the school newspaper's name was changed from the "LuLu" to the "Lookout." When students first put together a thin paper -bound yearbook in the 1930s, they named it the "Cargo" to also go along with the Pirates theme. Current and former Louisville residents who attended the new school for junior high or high school remember it with a sense of fun, even though times were hard for most families Brothers John Negri and Mike Negri, who graduated in 1938 and 1940, remembered some of the pranks that were played. Once, boys took teeter totter boards off their stands at the grade school playground a few blocks away and wedged them through the doors of the high school so that it was impossible to open the doors. That day, all of the students and teachers had to get into the school by going through the bottom floor furnace room. Other boys are remembered for hooking up wires from their cars to the low metal rail fence, surprising students with an electric shock when they sat down. It's unlikely that high school students would get away with such a shocking prank today! A home economics class at Louisville High School in the 1920s. May Day dancers in front of the school. A 1920s student play, which was likely performed in the school auditorium. 7" \dr 2