 | Typewriting was first taught in 1889 as a curriculum subject. |
| Penmanship was first offered to partials in 1918. The theory was
that partials were straining their vision in public school to get a couple
useful skills, and if WSB could give them those skills instead, it would be
"conserving" their limited vision. It became a regular course in 1930. |
| In the early 1900s, instead of traveling to other schools for major
athletic events, each school held their own event and results were telegraphed
to the others and tabulated. |
| Summer school began in 1918, with a class of 14 men. |
| Smoking was disallowed anywhere on the school grounds in the early
1920s--not even by visitors or adult staff--because Superintendent Hooper felt
that he couldn't rightly tell parents they were taking as good care of the
children as they would have received at home. At home, the children
would not have such easy access to smoking materials, nor so many smokers
around them. |
| In the early days, non-denominational Sunday services were held at the
School, instead of sending the children out. Different speakers came
each week, often from area churches. |
| In the 1920s, the Workshop for the Blind and the School were both under
the supervision of the School's superintendent. |
| The School's music program was so advanced, that in 1926, WSVH was moved
to Class A, despite its small size, in order to give other Class B and Class C
schools a fair chance in the statewide music competitions. Even in Class
A, WSVH won many of the solo events. |
