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better be ready for them." Actually the contractor refused to believe that we would really put students and teachers in unfinished buildings. They were not impressed with my threat even though they knew we had no other alternative. When over twelve hundred students showed up on September 7 the construction Superintendent almost fainted but then he began to push for the finish that could have been reached well in advance of Sept. 7. All that was needed was a little attention to scheduling of sub-contractors.

Just a word about school size. We felt we could put a thousand elementary pupils, in Kindergarten through Grade Eight, on a ten acre site. Our high schools were built with four thousand pupil stations and were on forty five acre sites. There was a small school for severely mentally handicapped pupils and a Child Care Center that was very popular with the industrial community.

The Superintendent had organized a Citizen's Advisory Committee composed of representatives from every organization in the district. This Committee met each month during the school year and school personnel presented programs that illustrated teaching techniques and procedures used in the schools. We might bring in a teacher and a whole classroom of students who would do a lesson on phonics or long division or art or just any phase of the school curriculum. The Committee members were supposed to report back to the members of their organizations. This process kept the community informed about what was going on in the schools. The whole effort was aimed at communication between schools and community. If a member had a particular interest, he could ask for a program in that field and the school staff was always available to help with questions. I always gave a School Building report to keep people updated on existing and planned projects. This system worked well as long as we were growing rapidly and citizen interest was at a high level. When their interest waned, it was almost impossible to keep the Citizen's Advisory Committee alive and active.

The Soviet Union had just put Sputnik in orbit around the earth and interest was very high in Modern Math. We organized classes for adults in New Math and it was very rewarding to see elementary teachers instructing auditors, computer specialists and engineers in the field of math. They were actually quite compatible and were most respectful of each other.

Once again I must mention the Board of Education. When I first arrived in Torrance, there was an excellent Board. We had a very bright house-wife, a medical doctor, a lawyer, a Superior Court Judge and a labor leader. Everyone of them served on the Board because of their interest in the schools. When this board began to break up we got members who had personal axes to grind or who "hated the Superintendent" or had some idea they wanted implemented through the schools. One of the very first new members was a strong-willed man who came on the Board to push for Junior High Schools and to reduce the influence of the Superintendent. He wanted to occupy a position of power so he challenged the top man in the organization, the Superintendent. This Board Member did not bother me very much but he caused me to do much extra work. For