Provo High School - Provost Yearbook (Provo, UT)

Page 33 text:

 - d ETTA JONES — Type II and School Librarian. Commencement programs. Girls' Org., Mothers and Daughters’ Tea. Learning to use the Ditto Master machine was only one of the many facets of the Office Practice class. Here, Lynette Davis and Kathy Thatcher try their skill with this fun and fascinating machine. Such machines proved to be helpful and timesaving to future secretaries. Operating a school the size of Provo High presented a formidable task to the administrative staff. They depended upon the assistance of “hostesses” (girls who helped in the office for a day). Here, Mr. Warner, Dean of Boys, checks with the hostess, Kathy Hughes. GLENN R. KENNER — Shorthand I. II, and Office Practice. Bookstore, Provost sales and finances, golf coach.

Page 32 text:

For most of us, shorthand is just what it looks like, a bunch of squigglcy lines. But for some like Gayla Clark and Elaine Cox, those squiggicy lines mean something. Shorthand came in handy for taking notes or passing them. “O.K. STUDENTS, GET READY for the timed writing. Ready . . . go!” Day after day our type teachers drilled and tested us on our speed and accuracy. We first year students were taught the positions of each letter, number, and symbol on the typewriter. As we learned to type at a much faster rate, our accuracy and coordination increased. Through constant practicing and drilling in Type II, we prepared ourselves to take important office jobs — or merely to type our school assignments. THROUGH CAREFUL, CONSISTENT study, most of us were able to develop the basic requirements of shorthand. Shorthand I classes were often confused with the strange and foreign sounds of the shorthand language. But as we advanced, we began to understand better what chay-a-s, ish-a-1, and gay-a-t spelled, along with the more complex and confusing words of the English language. Hardly a night passed without homework from that class, and wc studied diligently on our brief forms and letters that we usually transcribed the next day in class. IN BOOKKEEPING, WE MADE entries and balanced the debit columns against the credit, hoping that the experience of managing money might some day come our way. But shorthand and office practice were different. Here we learned to file, transcribe, and run off mimeographed papers. Doing secretarial work for teachers gave us practical experience for that big job wc were training to fill on the outside world. We Gain Typing, Duplicating Skills ROLAND TYNDALL — Type I and II, Shorthand I. Chairman of faculty spring party, typewriters. Boys’ Organization. LANORA ALLRED — Graduated from Brigham Young University. Teaches English II, along with Bookkeeping I. WANDA SCOTT — Teaches Vocational type, and Shorthand I and II. Sponsor of the French Club, Preference Ball.

Page 34 text:

“The bottom line connected to the top line. The diagonal line connected to the parallel line. The horizontal line connected to the vertical line.” Bruce Harding, Margaret Hafin. and Chady Burmingham listen intently as Mr. Y'oit Roper explains how to diagram a sentence. Read for Depth and Write with Purpose LEON ROWLEY — American History, Practical English and English IV. Honor Society, chairman Senior Hop and parties. FRANK WILLIS — English II and III. He is the faculty representative in the Provo Educational Association. EXTREMELY NECESSARY were our English classes, sometimes thrilling, sometimes dull, and sometimes frustrating. We struggled with themes, exams, grammar lessons, and detailed stories and plays. Our English teachers tried to develop in us the facility of expressing ourselves in our own language, both oral and written. Also, we were made to read widely for information and appreciation — and the teachers hoped we were being taught to think critically. NEWLY ADAPTED SOPHOMORES soon realized that English contained not only more complex grammar, but other vital parts of English as well. We were introduced to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, tested on short stories or plays, and were assigned themes which brought out hidden writing talents in many of us students. ACTING AS THE MIDDLEMEN were we juniors, who learned to analyze the short story, w'rite interpretive themes, and express ourselves more clearly. Our knowledge expanded with the reading of such famous authors as Hawthorne and Wilder, and we learned of grammatical definitions and basic parts of speech. WE SENIORS STUDIED the immortal Macbeth and became familiar with thesis statements. We continued to write themes, and tried every possible way to perfect the mechanics and thought content. Long hours and late nights were spent in compiling and preparing research papers. BUENAS DIAS, wie gchts, and au revoir were familiar phrases used in the foreign language classes. We students were drilled again and again on dialogues, were taught how to conjugate confusing verbs, to pass oral and written exams, and to know the historical background and customs of the country where the language originated. In spite of all the mispronounced words, we became more aware of the foreign countries, their customs, and their language. -30-