1970s

Created for the Metz 90th anniversary celebrations, this poster outlines the history of Metz and its community during the 1970s.

Jose Flores: The Metz Principal From 1972-1984

This newspaper clipping was published in La Fuerza, January 31,1974. 

Jose Flores became the Metz school principal in 1973. Flores was the first in his family to go to college. Flores attended Texas A & I college on scholarship. While in college, he discovered that his career goals were to be centered upon “helping other chicanos, and the best way to do this was to go into education.” Flores’ objective as principal was to meet  and establish relationships with the Metz community. Flores was able to do this through regular block meetings with the Metz community. These meetings were held in various homes within the Metz community. Meetings were held once a week, on Wednesday’s. The purpose of these meetings was to allow the parents to become more comfortable with Metz and introduce them to the school, as well as the faculty and staff. The meetings included slide show presentations, which were prepared by the Metz staff in order to allow parents to receive greater insights into the ongoings at Metz. A quote from Jose Flores from 1974 explains what went on during these meetings, “I tell the parents we are working with their children and that we’d like them to know they are invited to become involved and to show approval or to criticize when it’s needed. We’ve got a very informed group of parents. They are asking and getting a greater voice in what goes on in the schools.” The people who were responsible for the scheduling and development of these meetings were specific members from the Metz community: Benita Rodriguez, Margie Rodriguez, Richard Roland, and Gilbert Cantu. 

Jose Flores is also featured throughout this archive: in an interview with Don Bos and a collection of laminated Memorable People posters

The 1975 Metz Christmas Program 

These photos showcase the December 13th, 1975 Christmas program. The program included "dances, traditional music, and Las Posadas, the re-enactment of the journey of Mary and Joseph on the very first Christmas."

The Metz Choir Performed at the Christmas Program. The choir performed the song, “Up with People.” The dance group, the Scorpio Modern Dancers, performed and there were a number of skits. The Kindergarten and First grade class sang and performed dances. The program was concluded with the students, faculty, and audience singing “Silent Night.”

One of the students depicted in this clipping (Carolyn Robledo, now Robledo-Estrada) would grow up to become a teacher at Metz!

Metz's 60th Year Anniversary!                                                    

These photos were published in 1976.

These photos showcase information on the Metz 60th anniversary celebration. Every ten years Metz had an anniversary celebration. The Metz 60th anniversary celebration took place in the school auditorium. Metz Alumnae, teachers, and other individuals within the Metz community were invited to attend the celebration; “all interested citizens” were invited to attend the celebration.

The celebration honored past Metz principals. The principals honored included the first two Metz principals, Miss Clara Stubbs and Mr. W. L. Darnell, who were both deceased at the time of this celebration. The 60 year celebration also honored several other Metz principals: Lee Wilborn, L.M. Fertch, M.S. Norton, Carl Wheeler Jr., Donroy Hafner, Robert Evans, and Robert Knauth, as well as the present principal at the time, Jose Flores. The celebration also honored Miss Mamie Dell Barrow, who served as assistant principal of Metz for a great number of years. The celebration included a “display of photos and old scrapbooks, as well as a slideshow depicting the history of the Metz School.” 

The 1976 Metz El Dia de la Raza Celebration

The El Dia de la Raza celebration was held at Metz on October 13th, 1976. Students sang songs including “Blowing in the Wind” and “Yo soy Chicano.” The students in the audience sang along with the student performers. 

The 1977 Metz Book Fair

The 1977 Metz Book Fair consisted of a display of books from the Metz Publishing Company. The books were written by Metz 5th graders. These books were later used to teach Metz students reading.

The Metz Publishing Company had just completed their third year of business. Bonnie Cross was the publishing company’s director at the time, she was assisted by other teacher’s, Olga Ramos, Jose Pruneda, Elias Mendez, Pat Salinas, and Ruth Porter. Ms. Cross believed that “writing of books is beneficial in three ways. It increases the students academic skills, serves as a means of self-expression, and is just plain fun.”  

The books written by the students and displayed at the book fair also included the student’s own illustrations. Parents came to Metz to help put these books together. At the book fair, awards were handed out to students for their work. The Metz community was invited to attend the fair and local writers also attended and discussed their work with the students. Over 100 books were on exhibition at the Book Fair in 1977. 

1978 Metz Block Meetings

A 1978 newspaper article exclaimed that Flores looked upon the block meetings for an opportunity to meet with the parents “informally.” Each week, a new parent hosted the meetings and Flores reached out regularly to parents to encourage them to attend the meetings. The comfort of the home made parents more enticed to speak their minds in the meetings. The newspaper exclaimed that in the year 1978, the Metz student population was almost 100% Mexican-American, so the common language spoken at these meetings was Spanish. 

Flores’ goal was to establish relationships with the parents, in order for them to feel comfortable with himself and the Metz staff. The topics of conversation brought up at the December, 1978 meeting included parents' advice on improving the Metz student’s performances. The parents responded by “offering their support of bilingual education...but asked for more homework and more communication between teachers and parents.” One of the key points made at this meeting was said by Flores himself, upon the new Metz structure designated by AISD. He announced, "Metz is one of three East Austin elementary schools designated as educationally-redesigned -- education jargon for beefing up the staff at selected schools in poorer neighborhoods.”

See also our the exhibit on Metz parents!

Metz Student Council Election October, 1979

The Student council election involved third graders campaigning for candidates of their choice and voting for student council representatives. The 4th and 5th grade elections and campaigns were held in classrooms in a much quieter manner. 

This Metz tradition taught students about elections; students learned how to campaign, vote, and nominate candidates. The election brought students together and taught them how to work together. Student representatives worked with their friends to run campaigns. The students created posters, songs, and cheers for their desired candidate. 

There were two student council representatives per class, along with one alternate. Each student had their own voter registration card, which they needed in order to cast a vote. Student council responsibilities included choosing a school mascot, organizing a canned food drive, establishing a fundraising project, and holding dress up days for teachers and students.

Metz Awarded Funds by UT Austin’s Ralph Ratcliff

Metz was awarded funds by UT Austin’s Ralph Ratcliff, to help assist the school. Metz used these funds to set-up a special program for nine students, who were Metz’s most gifted and talented children. These students, helped by teachers, performed a play for the rest of the school, in which they wrote. The play was about a trip to the zoo. The students included in the special program were: Elaine Solis, Jesse Sanchez, Joe Segovia, Angie Sanchez, Lisa Ramirez, Melissa Hernandez, Jose Moreno, Roland Fillmore, and Dina Rice.