and put the Academy in the black for the first time since its beginning. McKay received this news and the tributes throughout the evening with great emotion. The evening was concluded with a dance held in the academy auditorium. The next evening, May 27, 1908 twenty-six graduates were presented their diplomas by David O. McKay at the Commencement exercises for the Academy. Colonel Richard W. Young, a son of Brigham Young and veteran of the Spanish American War, addressed the 1300 people assembled in the new auditorium and in his speech he emphasized the importance of moral training as well as classical education. On May 28, the new building for the Academy was dedicated. Seated on the rostrum with President Joseph F. Smith, who gave the dedicatory prayer and made some remarks concerning the importance of the Weber Stake Academy, were all of the original members of the Weber Stake Board of Education except Nels C. Flygare and Thomas Stevens, both of whom had died. In his remarks, Smith outlined the purposes of the Weber Stake Academy and the Church School System. As much attention should be paid to (young peoples) moral and spiritual development as to their temporal development. The system of education in the Church had for its object the fitting of the students to become self-sustained and independent, and these things were essential to the upbuilding of the city, state, and nation. Education is inefficient if it does not include a knowledge of how to do the practical things. One of the greatest objects in the establishment of the Church schools was the teaching of the principles of a correct and pure life. The educational facility that leaves out the question of God is faulty. In later years, David O. McKay noted that the highest purpose of education is not just to teach facts, however important they may be, but to train the mind, to make good citizens, and to develop character. He had practiced this philosophy while a teacher and the principal of the Academy. The students and faculty at the Academy were deeply touched by McKay, and his influence for good at the Academy was continued throughout his lifetime in numerous ways, particularly because of his position as a general authority of the Mormon Church. The Weber Academy soon to become Weber College continued to hold a special spot in David O. McKays heart throughout his life. In 1908 the structure of the Academy board was changed in part because of the growth of the Mormon Church in Weber County and the division of the Weber Stake into three stakes: the Weber Stake, the North Weber Stake, and the Ogden Stake. In September of 1908, the new Academy board was organized with eight members including each stake president. David O. McKay was chosen as president of the board with Lewis W. Shurtliff as vice-president, Charles F. Middleton, Thomas B. Evans, David Eccles, and James Wother-spoon as members. With the other changes at this time the name of the school was changed from the Weber Stake Academy to the Weber Academy and the governing board became the Board of Trustees of the Weber Academy. Wilford McKendrick, new principal of the Academy in 1908, had taught at the Academy since 1902. McKendrick had received his Bachelor of Science Degree in 1895 from the Brigham Young Academy in Provo and in 1896 the Church Degree of Didactics. The Department of Manual Arts under the direction of Wilford O. Ridges began to function during the 1907-1908 school year, and the courses in this department under the direction of Ridges included shopwork in wood, cabinetmaking, advanced woodwork, and shopwork in iron. Ridges suggested that schools should teach boys to do as well as to know and that the hand as well as the mind should be trained in school. The teachers in the Domestic Science Department taught courses for girls to do as well as to know including a chafing dish course, a course in fruit work, a plain cooking course, a course in personal hygiene and home sanitation, a course in household economics and fruit work, and a course in the science of nutrition and dietetics. During the fall term of 1907, 119 girls registered for sewing and 100 girls for cooking. The completion of the new building allowed the expansion of the Commercial Department in curriculum, facilities, equipment, and students. During his first year as principal, Wilford McKendrick noted that the school acquired fifty new Remington typewriters and fifty oak tables for the typewriters. The Academy offered a three-year course in bookkeeping and shorthand. During the 1909-1910 school year three new courses of study were added to the curriculum at the Academy: agriculture, personal hygiene, and home sanitation. The two year agriculture curriculum included courses in elementary agriculture, animal husbandry, and elementary horticulture. The courses that were developed and offered were geared to the high school student. Preparatory courses were phased out gradually until no further preparatory courses were offered after the end of the 1911-1912 school year. From the end of the 1911-1912 school year until the beginning of the 1916-1917 school year only high school courses were offered at the Academy. Beginning with the 1916-1917 school year, the curriculum was expanded as the first year of college work was added. This new curriculum was called the Fifth-year Normal Course, and during the 1917-1918 school year the second year of college curriculum was added as the Six-year Normal Course was offered. Since its beginning, the Academy had focused part of its effort on the effective training of teachers. With this change in curriculum, the Academy was offering both high school and junior college courses. This arrangement continued until the end of the 1922-1923 school year when the high school program was completely eliminated. As the curriculum of the school changed so did the make-up and activities of the studentbody. The first student officers at the Academy were elected in March of 1901 as the students of the first-year Normal Course and the first-year High School course organized themselves into the Class of 1903. In November of 1904, Wiley M. Cragun was elected as the first president of the newly organized studentbody. Cragun was assisted by Ruth Larson as vice-president and Parley Taylor as secretary and treasurer (note the appendix for a complete listing of studentbody officers). Beginning with the 1906-1907 school year, a yell master and a standard bearer were elected on the same ballot as the other studentbody officers. The office of standard bearer continued on the ballot until the 1916-1917 school year while the office of athletic manager was on the ballot from the