Towson High School - Sidelights Yearbook (Towson, MD)

Page 32 text:

ln 1916 there were no clubs at all True there were the rudIments of a Ctlee Club whose actIvItIes were lImIted to leadIng the sIngIng at assemblIes There was a pIano but sInce the teachers went from room to room a tunIng fork was used because DIOHOS don t 6GSIly lend them selves to beIng carrIed around on peoples backs The bugaest school actIvIty In l9l6 was The LIterary and DebatIng SocIety lt met nearly every FrIday afternoon These meetIngs were very lIvely there were dIs cusslons on TOPICS of current Interest recItatIons and talks and debates Almost the entIre school belonged to the SOCIETY fortunately the classes were small or they wouldnt have been able to meet In the audItorIum ThIs club was of such Importance and power that the bug events of the season were the evenIng debates It presented annually DotIng mothers and fathers CUVIOUS and Interested onlookers everybody from all around turned out for the show also Chosen teams challenged CIty College and came back smIlIng and trIumphant They even challenged out of state teams The SOCIETY faded out of exIstence as Interests began to change the Idea of Informal clubs slowly began to evolve Of course now there IS such a great support of the JunIor SenIor Debate because we have other clubs and Interests In l9l6 the SocIety was the whole of the extra currucular actIvItIes at Towson The only Informal note a quarter century ago was the sporadIc sororItIes They were many and varIed but only one seems to have had any measure of fame It was called the Eta Beta PI fcolloquIally Eat a bIte of pIe 7 lt consIsted of eleven gIrls and a But It flnally succumbed to changung tlmes ln l9l6 too CymnastIcs and sports were the essence of actual school lIfe Although there were no varsIty teams of any kInd and no Inter school contests everyone was eager to get to gym class and to partIcIpate In everythnng possIble The SemI annual REVIEWS at the FIfth RegIment Armory were awaIted expectantly At present we have bug REVIEWS at the Armory too The Curls WInter CarnIval The Track Meet and so on but there IS a vast dIfference In the OCTIVITIGS presented Then they gave folk dances In full costume DVSCISIOD drIlls and complIcated marchIng forms OccasIonally they played games prIncIpally basketball but only for fun Today we send teams to compete In races to relays contests and such games as deck tennus volley ball badmInton etc TheIr theme was grace and beauty ours skIll and speed lnter school contests are Important In our school actIvItIes and the student body IS enthusIastIc about attendIng When we came to Towson the only part the students had In the gov ernment of theIr school lIfe was a Student CouncIl wIth very lImIted powers lt had the usual four offIcers and ITS forty members served as monItors In the halls Any InfrIngements on the school rules other than traffIc vIolatIons were handled and punIshed by the faculty Some of the actIvI TIES of the CouncIl were formIng a slate of OTIICGVS changung the school 28 ' 1 I . ' , ' I Q I I T I I , . . . I I - - I ' 1 , . 1, . . 1, I. . teacher, an honorary member, and enjoyed a fair season of prosperity. ' I I - I . . . , . . . I I I I I ' I I ' I I ' I I I I I I I ' I . g . - I - . . . F . - - . - ll - ,I - ' I

Page 31 text:

When sophomores we graduated to the honor of callung our party a Prom lt was guven on bt Patrucks Day we used luttle green admussuon tuckets and ate green uce cream We danced too to the musuc of a hured nuckelodeon Our second class party was a hut too Then un our Junuor year came one of the bug events of our lufe at Towson the only party we gave the Junuor Senuor Prom The audutoruum has seen many a gay spec tacle but thus one ut wull always remember That versatule hall was dec orated to resemble a French sudewalk restaurant the Cafe Ouarante The humble yellow spotlught was glorufued that nught of nughts lts place un the cast was the role of the moon and ut performed beautufully Our last bug affaur as members of the student body of Towson Hugh was the Senuor dance all for ourselves wuth outsude guests a pruvulege extended only un thus last party of our undergraduate days lt was our farewell to all the good tumes we had had un our four years at Towson Twenty fuve years ago the entertaunments were very dufferent from ours No class ever entertauned utself as we do at formal partues The Freshmen Sophomore and Junuor classes un turn acted as hosts to the Senuors All thru the furst years of hugh school a class entertauned suc cessuve Senuor groups and then funally came the year when you could sut back on your laurels and be feted The classes used to plan partues for each other where they played games and had races and contests Every one pupuls and teachers aluke uouned un and enjoyed themselves whole heartedly ln the partucular year un whuch we are unterested l9l6 the Junuors gave a Valentune tea for the Senuors and had a bug party wuth games and contests to whuch the Senuors were unvuted l9l6 was the furst year dancung was permutted at the entertaunments and ut receuved an enthusuastuc welcome Whule we dance to the stuauns of a modern raduo vuctrola un the bug audutoruum they used the corrudors and had to dance to the tunes of a wheezung wund up vuctorla But they had uust as much fun as we do Among theur socual actuvutues one of the most popular was the goung on excursuons and pucnucs Untul the classe got too large to have the trups at all Tolchester was the reugnung favorute War work was an umportant actuvuty then too The gurls were taught to roll bandages many knutted and sewed for the Red Cross Theur udeas of fun may seem prosauc to us but those were happy days un l9l6 In the make up of the modern hugh school there are many thungs whuch contrubute to the lufe of the students besudes classes Clubs for unstance are outstandung When we came to Towson there were many clubs organuzed some of whuch we could uoun and some for whuch we were not eluguble The Latun French Math Scuence Dramatucs and Clee Clubs were and are an essentual part of our school lufe The Latun Club unutua tuons the French Club movues and the annual Clee Club and Math Club dances are unstututuons at Towson We wouldn t feel rught wuthout them 27 1 . - . , . . . . . , . , , . , . I I . - 11 11 1 . ' , . 1 I , . , , 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' - 1 1 ' ' 1 1 1 .1 , I u - 1 . .S I , 1 ' 1 I . ' 1 ' 1 , . 1 1 ' I 1 1 1 1 1 . . . , . .

Page 33 text:

colors charterlng a new club and most popular ralsnng money to buy monutor emblems The purpose of the Student Councnl was to promote cooperatnon and school splrut of Towson Hugh But an our Sophomore year the seeds of a new Idea of student government were planted and watered They grew speednly under the nutrutuon and tender care they recenved The new governmnt followed the pattern of the government of our own country rn nts constitution departments and actual procedure The Student Government Assoclatlon was nts formal and offnclal tntle I was a SL ccess In nts probatlon per od and has contnnued to b one Twenty fuve years ago there was no organnzatlon that would even fauntly resemble our present S C A As a matter of fact there was not the least need for a system of any knnd ln those days the puplls and teachers were much closer there were tewer students which made It possible I l9l6 there were thnrty an the graduatung class the largest one there had ever been today we have two hundred and eleven the largest there has ever been' They shared thenr problems wuth the teachers and sought theur advice When there was need for dnsclplune the faculty took care of It But all good thlngs come to an end and as the years passed the classes got larger and larger and much of thus close camaraderne dlsappeared lt might mean more to the student body of today to conslder some actual figures ln l9l6 there was a maxlmum number of 8 classrooms to the 34 In actual use today There was a total faculty of ll agalnst the 4l of todav Another polnted difference In our manner of engoylng our school lrfe IS brought out when our social actlvltues outside of the specnflc class partues and club entertainments are compared In l9l6 they had small Informal parties nearly every week perhaps more than once a week occasnonally The faculty were lnvlted to them too They all played snlly and undngnnfned lnttle games and had great tames together They seldom had night enter talnments other than the debates as we have our dances at nlght They dldnt dance nearly as much nor as often as we do but they liked ut too Our S C A and Sensor Dances enjoyed great popularity We never tlred of them because of the great variety costume dances leap year partnes and novelty dances added to their enthuslastlc receptuon We have been a very dancung class and these varnous dances were as nmportant a part of our llves as the Informal partnes were a part of thenrs 29 I I I I ' ' Il . . . . ,, . I I j ' - - 11 V - 11 - 1 I Q - , . . - , . n 1 I I I . , . 1 I , I . 1 I I ' I I I ' . . L . . . . , . , . . 1 . . I I I ' I I II v ll - '