WSHS 1960s - The Oracle

What is a school without a school newspaper? This work of journalism, composed by students for students, offered updates on pertinent events, provided insightful commentary and editorials, and facilitated a holistic lens into the lives of WSHS students. To this day, the award-winning Oracle is a microcosm of the school itself, and its issues are case studies that speak to the soul of the institution in this decade.

The Voice of the Students

An angry student opines to the Oracle about friends of football players who are loud at games, while the Oracle staff writes its own letter imploring students to send more letters to them, as they fear no one is reading the school paper.

An angry student opines to the Oracle about friends of football players who are loud at games; the Oracle staff writes its own letter imploring students to write more letters to them, as they fear no one is reading the school paper.
All libel-free, obscenity-free letters are published... This isn't a totalitarian state.

The Underground Newspapers

Facing the prospects of competing with two underground student newspapers, the Oracle carves out its unique place among them by doing the unthinkable: defending modern education.

Facing the prospects of competing with two underground student newspapers, the Oracle carves out its unique place by doing the unthinkable: defending modern education.
School is more or less the lesser of two evils, lesser than the insecurity of dropping out.

A Police State

There are draconian measures, and then there is the WSHS Hallway Policing Plan described here. “Ogre patrols” guarding every corner of the halls, multi-step hall passes, and strict requirements for teacher visitation all plagued the WSHS students of the 1960s.

There are Draconian measures, and then there is the WSHS Hallway Policing Plan described here.
One has to have practically a gold key signed by God to get through [the halls].

Read more excerpts from the Oracle

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 1

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 1

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 2

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 2

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 3

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 3

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 4

The Oracle, Volume 1, Issue 3, January 31, 1967, Page 4

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 1

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 1

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 2

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 2

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 3

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 3

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 4

The Oracle, Senior Issue, June 5, 1968, Page 4

An angry student opines to the Oracle about friends of football players who are loud at games; the Oracle staff writes its own letter imploring students to write more letters to them, as they fear no one is reading the school paper.

An angry student opines to the Oracle about friends of football players who are loud at games; the Oracle staff writes its own letter imploring students to write more letters to them, as they fear no one is reading the school paper.

Facing the prospects of competing with two underground student newspapers, the Oracle carves out its unique place by doing the unthinkable: defending modern education.

Facing the prospects of competing with two underground student newspapers, the Oracle carves out its unique place by doing the unthinkable: defending modern education.

There are Draconian measures, and then there is the WSHS Hallway Policing Plan described here.

There are Draconian measures, and then there is the WSHS Hallway Policing Plan described here.

The 60s were a time of change, but at WSHS perhaps no change was more desired than to move out of the bottom quartile of the school safety rankings.

The 60s were a time of change, but at WSHS perhaps no change was more desired than to move out of the bottom quartile of the school safety rankings.

A bygone of a bygone era, the WSHS hosted a tradition so seldom seen for underclassmen: a student dinner.

A bygone of a bygone era, the WSHS hosted a tradition so seldom seen for underclassmen: a student dinner.

The College Board is synonymous with AP examinations, but the article above illustrates its early epoch: marked with fewer tests, shorter test times, and lower fees paid to take them.

The College Board is synonymous with AP examinations, but the article above illustrates its early epoch: marked with fewer tests, shorter test times, and lower fees paid to take them.

School fundraisers enlisting students as salesmen are decades old, but this particular drive is noted for what it promises the high achieving teenage telemarketers: dream pets.

School fundraisers enlisting students as salesmen are decades old, but this particular drive is noted for what it promises the high achieving teenage telemarketers: dream pets.

An existentialist piece rivaling that of Dostoevsky, its sardonic and moving criticism of assigning students numerical identifiers is elevated all the more by its subtle references to the novel 1984.

An existentialist piece rivaling that of Dostoevsky, its sardonic and moving criticism of assigning students numerical identifiers is elevated all the more by its subtle references to the novel 1984.