Sheridan High School - Bronc Yearbook (Sheridan, WY)

Page 30 text:

High School Objectives In the past few decades the objectives of high school education have undergone great changes. Inheriting its objective from its ancestor the academy, the old high school endeavored to train largely for college entrance. This objective is no longer sufficient. Though the enrollment in our colleges is much greater now, the percentage of high school graduates who will attend is less. The high school enrollment doubling many times has brought new types of students having new needs. These have been needs not only in the primary or mental values, but more in the concomitant values of social training and personality development and the like, imperfectly served by other social agencies. Training as it does a large proportion of students for whom it is to be the ultimate in education, the high school must offer new vocational opportunities. There must be social opportunities, for students to learn the all important art of getting along with people. Students must have opportunity to develop special talents, build initiative and responsibility. Sufficient freedom must exist that the individual student may have opportunity to learn to choose. While Aristotle said that experience is the teacher of fools, still there are many things we must learn by that means. High school activities must give opportunity for students to make some mistakes, where the cost will not be irreparable. Sheridan High School in its courses of study, its wide program of extra curricular activities and its administrative procedure, has endeavored to keep pace with the modern program of secondary education. Every year the normal training department graduates a class trained and ready for rural school teaching. Three full time teachers in the commercial department fit graduates for office and secretarial work. The manual training, home economics, art, and vocational agriculture departments send out students better fitted for work in these fields. Glee clubs, band and orchestra help provide one-third of the students of the high school with training for a leisure time occupation that will bring pleasure to themselves and others throughout their lives. Football, basket ball, base ball, track, hockey, tennis and regularly scheduled physical education classes for boys and girls provide physical development and teach cooperation, confidence, courage, and the ability to accept defeat or victory gracefully. Fifteen regularly organized clubs give opportunity for leadership training, social and avocational development. The general administration, home room organization and the splendid spirit of friendliness existing between teacher and student conduces toward the ideal of freedom under guidance. In all, Sheridan High School strives to be a place where boys and girls of high school age may have opportunity under the best environment to achieve for themselves mental and physical attainments and skills and to build habits and ideals of worthy behavior. —(24)— —R. W. Skinner.