Ottawa Hills High School - Legend Yearbook (Grand Rapids, MI)

Page 33 text:

Music Expresses Students' Feelings Tcalclivrs. I-'fr In right: Mr. lvivrwyn Mitch--ll. A. ll.: Mi. Fra Showers, li. S. Miisic is commonly known as the uni' versal language. It expresses all the emo' tions - joy, sorrow, hate, fear, love. ln' stead of expressing their feelings by whisf tling or singing in the halls pupils harmonf ize in instrumental and singing classes. Up on the fifth floor the orchestra and band, besides small classes, practice every day. Why do they practice? The band plays for the football games in the fall, and a small group also plays at the basketball games. Every year the band has a concert at which it plays popular as well as class' ical music. When the students march into the auditorium, they do it to stirring marches played by the band or orchestra. If churches need music for something they are producing, they call for some of the members of the orchestra. The orchestra plays at the graduation exercises. The singing classes express their feelings in song on the third floor. The soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices combine in a delightful manner. You can hear them echoing through the halls during school hours, especially if you happen to be near there. The students sing operatic arias and folk songs, songs by composers of today and by great masters of the past. There are three organized music groups: the junior and senior glee clubs, and the a cappella choir. The junior glee club consists of seventh and eighth graders and the senior glee club of high school pupils. If the young singer shows that he has outstanding talent, he is placed in the a cappella choir. These choirs sometimes sing at assemblies. They also sing for other civic organizations in the city.

Page 32 text:

Fine Arts Develops Talents for Use in School Teachers, left to right: Miss Vcrnisc Pruitt. P. H. H.: Miss Hazel Zellner, B. sg Miss Ida A. Crcgo, B. S. Work in the art classes encourages the crea' tive ability of the students. Thoughts are ex' pressed in individual ways, and art work in' creases this power of expression. Through the means of drawing, design, and color, the artist tries to depict his emotions in pictures. Included in the different mediums by which one may represent his feelings in drawing, are charcoal, oil, water color, clay, and ink. Stu' dents learn how to express themselves through these different materials. Gil painting may be done abstractly, while water color painting is more definite. Lines are important in charcoal and pen and ink drawings. Many students enjoy making posters in art classes. These posters are attractively lettered and colored, and are used to advertise coming events such as plays, football and basketball games, or track meets. In this way direct con' tacts are supplied with the social and athletic activi' ties of the school, and the work of the art depart' ment is brought to the notice of the students, and a comprehension of related art is fostered. Another feature of art is sculpture. Through sculpture, artists express beauty or thoughts, tell a story,or keep facts, as in painting. The students make many beautiful clay statues, models,and group pieces. Although not so much wood carving is done, it is still popular with some students. Some of the things which they carve are Indian totem poles and mari' onette heads. The art classes are interested in the exhibits that are shown at the Grand Rapids Art Gallery. Each picture is an ex' ample of an art' ist's work, and new ideas and an understanding of art can be grasped by studying these original expres' sions. IZ4

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ll-JJ wi Commercial Subjects l-lelp Unravel Business Problems Tap, tap f f f tap, tap, tap, tap. No, it isn't the hugler hlowing the call to armsg it's a typing class using their fingers to typewritc their lessons. It's not the army marching on parade to the music of its hand: it's the typewriting class doing their lessons to music. If a student can type 100 words a minute with no mistakes, he is an excellent typist. Whzit strange symhols flow from the pencils or pens of the shorthand class! To a person who has not taken shorthand they must look like the waves of the ocean. Mziny students use this ahility in order to take notes in other classes. Rows of figures march across the page and form a column. If the husiness arithmetic student isnlt careful, his figures will get out of line and give him the wrong answer. You can't keep chickens in your hackyard in the city. lt's against the law. Neither can you huild a store across the street from school hecause it is in the residential district. Commercial law students study this and several other types of laws. s it