The Rayen Retrospective

Introduction

Rayen School. The Rayen School. It’s known by both names. For thousands of students from 1866 through 1922 on Wick Avenue, and from 1922 through 2007 on Benita Avenue, it was our school. Rayen School comes to an end in the fall of 2007, its students transferred to the new East High School. The Benita Avenue building will be coming down to make way for renewal and modernization.

Rayen School was two beautiful buildings. We can talk with pride about the classic design of the Wick Avenue school, and about the unique ramps and beautiful auditorium in the Benita Avenue school, with its large hallways found in no other school, and the great football games in the stadium. But it would be a mistake to define Rayen in those terms.

Ask any graduate to reflect on what Rayen did for them and their education and they will all give you the same answer. It was the teachers who pushed us and commanded us to do our best. The environment they created in the classrooms was a catalyst for learning. The mix of students: color, creed, ethnic group, neighborhood, religion, and education, that sense of family, all made for a wonderful place to learn.

We did not set out to write a history of Rayen, although there is a great deal of that in our book. This book is an attempt to look back on those 141 years of Rayen School and try to answer the question, what was The Rayen School and why did it mean to so much to so many students? Starting in 1866 with the endowment from Judge William Rayen, Rayen School was so unique that it took the state legislature to pass an act to carry out the instructions in his will. Trustees managed the school for many years, before turning it over to the Youngstown City Schools.

We called our book a “Retrospective”. We looked back on the many years with lots of pictures and stories, a compilation of as many different activities as possible. So many graduates did so well after Rayen; doctors, lawyers, scientists, scholars, sports, government, that it was impossible to research this and write their stories, although I’m sure there are hundreds that should be written about. Instead we selected just some who were unique or profound in some way that said something about the time in the life of Rayen or our town or country. Some were written to show relevance to today’s world.

With a few exceptions we wanted to present each year, some more than others. Academics, sports, music, teachers, students, achievements, the school, community, alumni, all to show a flavor of the time it was happening. Your going to learn things about Rayen School that will fill you with pride and wonder, that will certainly give you a “history” of Rayen.

We hope this will fulfill our goal of taking you down the wonderful path known as The Rayen School.

Harry Mays and Betsy Johnquest.

Harry Mays is a 1958 Rayen graduate, Betsy Johnquest taught English at Rayen for the last 18 years.