Madison Central High School - Tychoberahn Yearbook (Madison, WI)

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0 1 v 1 Department of English Aliss Alary Hargrave. Nliss Esther Hibbard. Aliss leanette E. Nlarsli. Alrs. Ruth Benson. Miss Ruth A. Skewes. Nliss Cathrine A. Afloore. Nliss Amanda Kluth. . Aliss Edith Al. lsely. Miss Dorothy B. Harrison. Nliss lane Nl. Salter. Aliss Annah C. Pierce. Miss Laura S. Stark. Bliss Iulia F. Tormey. Nliss Nlary G. Powers. LIBRARY M .... I n rN....i:rr m:..- un.. 1.1.4. .. Top Row: lxlarsh, Hargrave, Skewes, Kluth. Harrison, Pierce, Tormey, lohnson. Bottom Row: Hibbard, Benson, Moore, lsely, Salter, Stark, Cardiff, Powers. ENGLISH DEPARTMENT The first aim of the English course in our high school is a practical one. English is the language in which business must be carried on, and the business world each year demands greater proficiency and skill in its use. As essentials which make for proficiency and skill, the course emphasizes ability to spell, to punctuate, to apply the rules of grammar, to speak correctly, to compose a clear forceful letter, to use the dictionary and other books of information, and to read and understand the printed page. These are commonplace requirements, but fundamental, and vital to success in almost every vocation. The second objective is more personal. It is concerned with the inner life and experience, or with so called cultural values. It has to do with the study of literature. As the serious student becomes acquainted with the masterpieces of Shakespeare, Alilton, Wordsworth, Dickens, Browning, and the best living authors, his reading interests will be extended and his taste refined. He will discover that books may take the place of travel and of experience and that they will lift him from the commonplace and set him in a large world of thought and experience. The department of English hopes to so train pupils that they will find in good books one of the chief recreations for their leisure hours. Briefly, the aims in English are to train pupils in the use of correct English as a necessity in the business of earning a living, and to teach them to find in books one of the principal joys of life. Page Twenty

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Department of Modern Language Nliss Caroline Nl. Young. Bliss Regina M. Hein. Bliss Ieanette E. Nlarsh Nlrs. Doris Sharp. Nliss Alice lohnson. l Hein Nlarsh Young Sharp Iohnson MODERN LANGUAGE Broadly speaking the aims of a iwlodern Language Course are general intellectual improvement, cultural development and preparation for a higher citizenship. These aims fall into two distinct classes+l. Alental Growth. 2. Broadening lntelligence. Under the tirste-Nlental Growth-are classed taj the training to THINKQ tbl a quickened perception of the eye and earg greater ACCURACY. Under the secondfBroadening Intelligence-are classes cultural advantages: thj a familiarity with other civilizationsg tcj ideals of other times and countries from original sourcesg tdj literature. The fact which should perhaps have least weight in the election of a foreign language and which seems to he growing in importance is well shown in some figures compiled in one of our state colleges. 59 per cent of the freshman class had already studied a foreign language and 41 per cent had not. Of those having had language study 31 per cent had high grades, 24 per cent had lowg while of those who had never studied a foreign language 9 per cent had high grades, 63 per cent had low. From which the president of a great university drew this conclusion: The student who attempts a four year course in a foreign language is undertaking a longer and more important piece of intellectual work than he has attempted hefore. The completion of such an attempt is the best kind of moral preparation for success in any serious work he may undertake. Through literature one liecomes a partaker in the intellectual times of other peoples. He hecomes familiar with their ideals and institutions, their mistakes and failures, so that his life is enriched and he must of necessity become a more intelligent and therefore a more useful member of society. The heauty, charm, joy, vivacity, and hrilliance of France and its people are embodied in the mother tongue just as the scientitic thoroughness, wealth of folklore, love of nature, industry and philosophy of Germany are a part of her language and through these mediums there should be imparted to the student an appreciation of these things. Page Nineteen

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Department of Mathematics Wlrs. lean M. Cowles. Miss Anna E. Syftestad. Bliss lllyrtle H. Stocking. Nliss Ethel F. Schilling. Nliss Harriet 0. Kruger. Nliss Florence I. Morris. lllr. Selmer C. Larson. lllr. Benjamin H. Ashman. Top Row: Larson, Ashman.7Bottom Row: Syftestad, Stocking, Cowles, Schilling, Krueger, Nlorris. MATHEMATICS The broad general aims of the work in mathematics are three in number: the practical, the disciplinary, and the cultural. All of these overlap more or less. The practical aim of the required work is again on the part of the student ot' such mathematical knowledge and skill as is likely to be Qlj of actual use in pursuing his work in other high school subjectsg C25 of actual use to those who need these elementary courses as a foundation for all further work in mathematics and related fields: C51 of actual use in the everyday life of the average citizen, in question of taxation and investment, etc., ability to understand and interpret correctly graphical representations ot' various kinds which abound in popular discussions of current scientihc, social, industrial, and practical problems. The practical aim of the elective courses in mathematics is primarily preparation on the part of the student for still more advanced work in pure mathematics, science, and engineering. ln regard to the disciplinary value, by which is meant mental training as distin- guished from the aquisition of certain specific skills, there is lack of agreement on the part of modern educators. The study of mathematics should train theistudent to think wellg to develop power of concentration, constructive and spatial imagin- ation, hahits of logical reasoning and organization, a love for precision, accuracy, truth, thoroughness, and a dislike for vagueness and incompleteness. The cultural value of the subject is less tangible and consequently more ditlicult to measure. A love for the symmetry and beauty of the geometrical forms common in nature, industry, and art should be fostered. Aquisition of ability to discriminate between the true and the false should be en ethical gain. An appreciation of the power of mathematics should be gained through a knowledge of the permanence of its laws, through a knowledge ofits origin and growth, and through a knowledge of the im- portant role it has played in the development of our civilization. Page Twenty-one