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Mary Yates (McGarr)
John,
Thanks for posting this article about the Irvin building. I'm thinking I recall that EPISD was on the path to tear down the school until some opposition formed. My understanding is that Rosario Mabini (Class of 1965) protested their intent at a school board meeting.
We should thank her and any others who are responsible for stopping them!
Maybe the El Paso papers should come up with a copy of the original architect's design for Irvin. I had never heard about it being built to look like a rocket. One would also need to know when the "Rocket" was adopted as the mascot. Usually they do that after the school is built. It's not important, but it is interesting.
The "wings" were built about the third year. When I first started teaching in 1960-1961, I was housed in a T-shack (as we called portables then) in the south parking lot with a whole lot of other teachers.
My second room the next year was in the new north wing upstairs at the end of the hall. (At least I think that's where I was!) That would have been Irvin's third year. It was nice as there wasn't much traffic, it was close to a lounge, and no one ever bothered us!
I could be wrong, but I believe Irvin was the largest high school in Texas that year or the next. They did have an 8th grade that year as well. It wasn't long before we were all going one way in the main hall, and they needed more space. They then built the separate building on the south side where all the social studies teachers were housed. I moved out to that building in 1966-67 where I taught American history, sociology, and economics. That was when I was banished from the English department for a year thanks to another teacher!
I noted that the news article mentioned the low ceilings and small hallways and lauded fashionable "airy spaces." I would point out that the size and the design of a school building have nothing to do with the quality of an academic education, and the emphasis on how a school looks is way overblown! Low ceilinged hallways didn't stop any of us from getting a good education! Tax dollars can be spent in more useful ways, I think.
Irvin has also had a Fine Arts building added in recent years. It is state of the art. If you've taken the tour of the building, you have seen the larger library and the art on the walls which are all good things. If you go this year, note that they still have the class pictures up on the wall.
I was pleased when I visited to library to see that many of the classic novels that I spent time ordering as a teacher are still there! Hopefully, someone suggests to students that they read them.
When they refurbish the place, I hope their additions are for the right reasons. We all have a vested interest in what they do.
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