Angola High School - Key Yearbook (Angola, IN)

Page 25 text:

Physical geography is taught during the first half and commercial geography during the second half of the Senior year. These subjects afford many oppor- tunities to study questions of direct practical value. Chemistry is taught in the Senior year. A great amount of laboratory work is done; it is believed that the best way to become familiar with compounds is to study them in the laboratory, rather than to read the description from a text-book. The work in chemistry is planned to assist those interested in agriculture, domestic science or any subject in which the fundamental principles of chemistry are needed. HISTORY Ancient history is studied in the Sophomore year, especial emphasis being placed on the history of Greece and Rome. In the Junior year mediaeval and modern history will be taught, the history of the English people being emphasized. United States history and civics are taught in the Senior year. Our purpose in this is to give a thorough knowledge of the history of our country followed by a practical study of the present political condition of our government. MUSIC The work in music has been under the direction of Miss Louise Steagall, who has placed especial emphasis on the fundamental principles of music. Considerable time was spent in reading music and in rote singing, and much has been accom- plished along these lines. It will be the purpose next year to place more emphasis on chorus work. DRAWING A hundred years ago children had opportunity to participate in many phases of industrial life. Every child had certain household duties to perform. They lived in an environment of industry, invention and progress, which occupied their minds and removed from them many temptations so often met to-day. As a result they grew into manhood and womanhood with an early training which fitted them to begin at once the duties of life and citizenship. To-day this is changed. The child has but few household duties to perform and grows mto manhood or woman- hood poorly prepared to take his or her place in the activities of life unless the public school comes to the rescue and prepares him along this line. Our work m drawing is being organized to assist in overcoming these defects. Drawmg and industrial work will be combined, thus laying the foundation for a more extended industrial training; and it is hoped that we will soon be prepared to accomplish much in domestic science and manual training. LATIN The Latin course includes four years of high school work, the last of which is elective. Considering the value of the Latin language in a course of liberal education, the prime object of our work is to give the student a practical knowledge of the subject which will enable him to read accurately and with a certain degree of fluency. Latin I. During the first year the fundamental principles of Latin Grammar are studied to give the pupil an accurate idea of the peculiarities of Latin Grammar. Especial emphasis is placed on the declensions and conjugations, and an effort is made to have the student enlarge his vocabulary as much as possible.

Page 24 text:

(HonvBt of tu g Our course of study is arranged to meet the demands life places upon the student. Every subject taught is made as practical as possible. An effort is made to eliminate many things which will not be of value to the student after leaving school. If the student wishes to enter college, he has the privilege of electing subjects in the Senior year especially arranged to meet this need. If on the other hand he wishes to enter at once upon the active duties of life, he may elect subjects more suited to this end. It is the intention to continually improve the course to meet the needs of these two classes. The high school work is arranged according to the departmental plan. The program for 1909-1910 will be so arranged that some one teacher will have charge of each department. This plan will give to the school a specialist in each subject. A pupil may enter the high school by, 1 . Presenting a diploma showing graduation from the grammar school. 2. By giving satisfactory evidence of having completed the work of the first eight grades in some other school. 3. By examination. In order to graduate from the high school a pupil must have 34 credits. A credit means satisfactory work done in one subject for one-half year, except in Music and Drawing, in which one credit is given for one full year ' s work. The standing of the pupil is based on daily work and examination combined. An accurate record is made of the work done each day, followed by a brief monthly test. If the grades in all subjects average 90 ' , or more the pupil is exempt from the final examination, provided that his deportment grade is high. OUTLINE OF WORK The course in mathematics consists of three and one-half years ' work. Algebra is taught in the Freshman and the first semester of the Sophomore years. Geometry begins at the second semester of the Sophomore year and is completed in the Junior year. Commercial arithmetic is given during the last half of the Senior year. This latter work is intended to provide a review of the fundamental principles of arith- metic and to emphasize problems and terms most generally met in the business world. Speed and accuracy are insisted upon. SCIENCE Botany is taken up in the Freshman year. The study of plant life in the vicinity of Angola is emphasized. The compound microscope is not used by the pupil, but is occasionally used by the teacher before the class to give an idea of the minute structure of the plant. The last two months are used for the study and classification of flowers. Physics is taught in the Junior year. The principles of physics which can best be applied to the home and life of the student receive the greatest attention. The work of the recitation is supplemented by laboratory work suited to the needs and the ability of the class.

Page 26 text:

Latin II. Four books of Caesar are read during the second year and the student is taught to apply the rules of syntax, learned in the first year, to the reading of ordinary Latin. Latin IIL During the third year four orations of Cicero against Catiline are read, together with the Pro Archia Poeta Oratio and the Pro M. Marcello Oratio. In order to keep the principles of Latin syntax ever before the mind of the pupil, prose composition is studied one day in each week throughout the year. Latin IV. Six books of Vergil are read during the fourth year. Scansion and versification are studied and a certain part of each day is devoted to sight read- ing to enable the pupil to read with greater ease. ENGLISH Throughout the four years ' work in English a twofold purpose is kept in mind — to develop the power of (I) Expression and (2) Literary interpretation. The work in Rhetoric in the first two years is replaced by the History of Literature in the last two years — History of American Literature being taken up in the Junior year and that of English Literature in the Senior year. The work in composition extends through the four years, not less than one period each week being devoted to that branch of the work. The following classics are studied carefully : Freshman Year — Cooper ' s Last of the Mohicans, Goldsmith ' s Vicar of Wakefield, Shakespeare ' s Merchant of Venice, Hawthorne ' s House of Seven Gables, Lowell ' s Vision of Sir Launfal. Sophomore Year — Scott ' s Ivanhoe, Shakespeare ' s Julius Caesar, Coleridge ' s .Ancient Mariner, Scott ' s Lady of the Lake, Franklin ' s Autobiography, Arnold ' s Sohrab and Rustum. Junior Year — Tennyson ' s Idyls of the King, Dryden ' s Palamon and Arcite, Shakespeare ' s Macbeth, Eliot ' s Silas Marner, Ruskin ' s Sesame and Lilies, Shake- speare ' s Twelfth Night. Senior Year — Milton ' s Minor Poems, Addison ' s De Coverley Papers, Macaulay ' s Milton, Addison, and Johnson, Shakespeare ' s Hamlet, Palgrave ' s Golden Treasury, Anderson ' s Word Study. In addition to the above-named classics to be studied carefully, two or three books are read outside the usual work by each class. The course in English is intended to give students a rather comprehensive view of English and American Literature with a glimpse, from time to time, into that of other countries. GERMAN A four years ' course in German is offered. German I — The chief object of the first year ' s study of German is to secure a good working knowledge of the grammar and the ability to make use, in con- versation, of the vocabulary. Correct pronunciation is insisted upon from the be- ginning. The text used is Spanhoofd ' s Lehrbuch der Deutschen Sprache. German II — In the second year a deeper and more thorough study of the grammar is made, Thomas ' German Grammar being the text. Storm ' s Immensee and Grimm ' s Kinder und Hausmaerchen are read and are made the basis of frequent exercises in conversation.