West High School - Westerner Yearbook (Denver, CO)

Page 28 text:

'V' Q RFXQ S Q- i .ff Ag f Th Curriculum 66 HAT course do you wish to take?', asked the counselor. The bewildered freshman stammered, Huh? Whad'ya mean, course? I mean, are you going to college? or do you wish to enter the trade school? or-just what work would you like to follow? J! And thus freshie is inaugurated into the maze of school activity, from which he is graduated a finished product four years later--perhaps. It is almost imperative that a student en- tering high school know first his professional inclination, and second, the college, if pos- sible, that he desires to attend. To enable further the student to choose his subjects carefully, eight trained counselors have been appointed to confer with him and to guide him to ultimate success and happiness. West High School offers two predomin- ently important courses: the general and the college entrance, in addition to diplomas from these, students may receive certifi- cates from the Trade School and for special achievement in commercial work. In order to carry college work success- fully, a student should maintain at least a B average, in fact, many colleges have de- clined to accept any student whose scholastic rating places him in the lower third of his class. The Colorado requirements for nurses, as well as those of a number of colleges, defi- nitely bar anyone who has a D on his rec- ord. Every student is required to complete two majors before graduation, these consist of three years of English and the same number of social science. The English offers courses in literature, composition, public speaking, and dramaticsg the social science, commun- ity problems, World and American history, modern problems in government, and world relations. Since these subjects are required of all students, the teachers in these departments far outnumber the others. To vitalize these classes in English, teach- ers sponsor several activities. S I ,Ni .m. , 26 1 . X

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ADMINISTRATION 25 answering the telephone. Her troubles are the mail, volumes of it, the home-room lists, the program and choice-of-subjects cards. Hell0! No, Mary is not here today! What? She should he! W0'll check again and let you know. At the counter, reading sundry ex- cuses, some of which are accepted, others are not, early each morning stands Miss Alice Luckey, the at- tendance clerk. Filing of records is her par- ticular hobbyg seven times a day she accu- mulates reports on the whereabouts of the two thousand West- erners. When an A.W.O.L. is discov- ered, the bench is soon occupied for several hours. Luckey rosewood polishers! CLet it here be said, to the encouragement of faculty, that none of the bench polishers would have his picture snapped, and that some of the Annual Board substituted in prolonging this fa- miliar spot in mem- ory.j

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THE CURRICULUM 27 Miss DORIS COLEMAN, the first-and very popular, too-exchange teacher ever at West High School, was born in Buxted, England. She -attended high school in that historical city, St. Albans, rich in traditions, which was named after the Norman Cathedral begun in 1076 on the site of the an- cient Roman villa, Verulamin, and dedicated to St. Al- bans. She received her B.A. degree at the U. R. A., Uni- versity of London, then later she took S a teachers training g course at Oxford. She majored in modern languages. Prior to her ex- change, Miss Col- man taught at Altrincham High School in Cheshire, a school composed entirely of girls. Miss Vera Thompson of West High is now filling Miss Coleman's position there. Chief among the characteristics of Miss Coleman are joviality and the spirit of ad- venture, both greatly influenced by the quest for knowledge. In Europe, Miss Coleman has traveled much, and her walking tours in Germany with stops at the Youth Hostels, her trip to Oberammagau with her light- weight tent on her back, her mountain ex- periences in the Alps, and her canoeing through the land of the beautiful blue Danube have been a source of much inter- est to the pupils of West High. MISS DORIS COLEMAN -' Now she has purchased a car, and at every opportunity she takes a jolly interesting trip through the surrounding country, into New Mexico where for the first time she has seen Indians. She has visited the pueb- los and reservations, and watched the tribal and religious dancesi of the native Americans. On her return to her home- land she expects to go by the way of California and the ' Panama canal, stop- ping at New Or- leans to see the ne- gro in his regular southern home. Among the little things that the stu- dents have learned from Miss Coleman are the varieties in colloquialisms. It was noted that the English slang- ster compared quite favorably with the American word-wrestler, and to facilitate relations the following phrases are interpreted: , English American To flunk Hood of automobile Pull a boner Gum the works Plow under Bonnet Drop a brick Pull a bloomer To Miss Coleman we, the students of West High School, offer our felicitations for a future quite as cheerful as is Miss Doris Colman herself. a Cheerio! Pleasant voyage-come again.