Looking Back at Ripon High

Ashley Jackson, Journalist|October 15, 2018

In the very beginning, Ripon Union High School, now Ripon High School, didn’t have a lot. Even though in 1910 they only had 14 students, two teachers and no school building, that didn’t stop Ripon from providing the best education that they could for their students. It wasn’t until 1916 when the third school bond election was held that passed the motion to grant Ripon the money they needed for a school building, which was built the following year.  

“Each year has been a step, and now we stand on the last one, and the next step we take is from the dear old Ripon High School out on the platform of life,” stated Senior Vera Hughes in the 1917 yearbook publication.

Since the start, Ripon High has gone through many changes, each improving upon the last. Some things do stay the same though, such as our school’s love for their seniors. In their yearbooks, Seniors were the only class identified by their full name and had individual pictures; everyone else had their last name in a list beside their class photo.  

In 1917, Ripon Union held something called ‘The Senior Ball’, where that year’s juniors put on a dance especially for the graduating class. The room was decorated in the seniors’ class color and they enjoyed refreshments and entertainment by candlelight.

“What a wonderful evening it was! The Seniors will always remember in the years to come, how royally they were entertained by the Junior Class,” said Hughes.

Ripon High’s 1950 yearbook publication cover- Can you find the mistake?

One thing that has changed however, is our yearbook’s set-up. Then, they included articles written by the journalism class and short stories/poems submitted by students.

Also, their yearbooks were continuously named ‘The Mission’ for many years (excluding 1950’s yearbook where they had a minor spelling error), and the material binding their books varied from year to year. Some years had leather, some had paper, and some were even wicker.

“This school shall stand for many years. Students shall come to it and students shall go from it- into the world. What they do there will be Ripon’s best monument to civilization- better even, than this building, beautiful though it is,” said Agnes Watkins as a freshman in the Ripon Union’s 1917-1918 yearbook.