Altavista High School - Nuntius Yearbook (Altavista, VA)

Page 30 text:

HOME ECONOMICS The home is the most important unit of our social life, therefore homemaking is essential in helping young girls to be the kind of mother and homemaker impera- tive to American life. It includes the selection and use of materials, the training and care of children,household management, recreational plans, religious worship, beautification of oneself and the home and the desire to be better trained to meet the many problems of the home. See, home economics is not just cooking and sew- ing! HEALTH ‘Its so nice to have a man around the house.’’ The boys exploratory course, if properly conducted, can help to mold a boy’s character into that of a man... one who will readily accept home responsibilities. This course primarily deals with social etiquette and helping the boys to adapt to a changing world. COMMERCIAL EDUCATION The aims and purposes of the commercial department are varied. To produce efficient and welltrained office workers is the primary goal toward which we work. An elementary course in general business is offered to help students decide which classes they will be interested in. In their last two years, pupils may take two years of typing, two of shorthand, and a one-year course in bookkeeping. A combination of these courses will enable the business student to obtain a good job with a future and will help the student to learn skills which will prove invaluable in any career they may choose.

Page 29 text:

SCIENCE We teach the basic scientific principles and the scientific method which will better fit the students to live in and understand the modern scientific age. We also try to stimulate the natural interest of the children and to help them realize that there is aneed for science and the important part science has played in shaping and changing our civilization. We tryto build an understanding how science is integrated with all fields of liv- ing and to help them to see science in their environment, in small things as well as in the hydrogen bomb. SOCIAL STUDIES Every attempt is made to fit the student for the role which he is soon to play in our democracy. To this end there is much teacher-pupil planning in our classes, A premium is placed upon initiative and students are encouraged to engage in some purposeful activity of their own choosing. Later, these individuals or small group projects such as drawings, news reports, biographical sketches, etc, are presented before the entire class. Each member of the class becomes actively engaged in the learning process as a contributor and a sharer. All feel the warm glow of achievement. Drawing from the past to meet present needs the social science students of Altavista HighSchool develop the resourcefulness which will insure for themselves and their posterity a brighter tomorrow.

Page 31 text:

Music, properly taught and placed in true prospective in the whole program of education, plays a major role in building morale and developing desirable attitudes in the school. Music provides a setting in which every child can come into closer relationships with his fellows; it brings to children another and often essential path through which many people find ways of release and self-expression; it is a field for the discovery and development of outstanding individual talent; and, lastly, it brings to each child a means of present and lasting enrichment which will be a joy throughout life. INDUSTRIAL ARTS Industrial arts is the part of our education closest associated with our great industrial development of today. Although it is industrial in nature, it is still part of our general education program. We teach the student the arts of: woodworking, modern finishes, principals of electricity, ceramics, plastics, and photography. We use the same personnel system as industry,therefore teaching the students to work together as a team and better fit them for the ‘‘Wide Blue Yonder”’ of to- morrow.