Vignette > Tam High Courts

Orange Court

Sometime before World War I, four orange trees were planted in the courtyard near the Clock Tower at Tam High. In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a statue with a fountain in the center of the court. The workers named the statue “Myrtle”. In 1960, the fountain was dedicated to Jean Compton.  In 1947, Jean, a popular 15-year old straight A student, contracted polio. A photograph of her in an iron lung was used as a symbol for the March of Dimes.  After abandoning the iron lung, she lived with her aunt in Santa Barbara, became an avid reader and took correspondence courses.  In 1950, she received her graduation diploma from Tam High.

Sundial Court

In 1939, principal E. E. Woods dedicated a brass sundial as a memorial to faculty members who had died either while still teaching or shortly after retirement. On a Halloween night in the mid-1960s the sundial mysteriously vanished. The Sundial Court with its pedestal removed became Freshman Court. On Halloween 1985, a large heavy package containing the sundial was delivered to the school. Principal Ted Mitchell was thrilled, but he had no clue as to who sent it.