In 1917 Elias acquired shares in the O-Zell jelly factory in Chicago and moved his family back to the city.[24] In the fall, Disney began his freshman year at McKinley High School and took night courses at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts under the tutelage of artist and educator Louis Grell (1887–1960).[25] He became the cartoonist for the school newspaper, drawing patriotic topics on World War I. With a hope to join the army, Disney dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen, but was rejected for being under-age.[26] Afterwards, Disney and a friend joined the Red Cross.[27] He was soon sent to France for a year, where he drove an ambulance, but only after the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.[28]