Altavista High School - Nuntius Yearbook (Altavista, VA)

Page 15 text:

Modern Math Provides Challenge MISS MARY ELLEN ARNOTT B.S., Madison College Algebra |, Geometry, Math 8 Miss Arnott gives help to a Geometry student in proving 4 theorem. Mrs. Carper prepares our younger students for Algebra and Geometry, taught by Mrs. Moorman and Miss Arnott. Mr. Dod- son teaches a class in Business Math for Seniors. Math is one of the most important skills of today, since it is used in highly technical jobs such as engineering, as well as in solving everyday problems. The teachers of this subject do their best to help students fathom the mathematical mysteries brought on by simple math as well as highly complicated Algebra and Trigonometry. Miss Arnott, a former graduate of A.H.S., is the only new addition to our Math Department. We can hardly forget the other teachers whose trails Miss Arnott is now following. MRS. JOYCE CARPER B.S., University of Virginia Math 8 Mrs. Carper supervises students as they work math problems on the board. Miss Arnott asks Mrs. Carper’s advice on grading some Algebra tests.

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We Acknowledge and Honor Mrs. Mary S. Moorman, who retires after this, her 13th year at A.H.S. Mrs. Moorman shows her class an icosahedron made by one of her Solid Geometry students. All trails begin somewhere, and Mary Smith Moorman’s stems from Martinsville, Virginia, where she was born and raised. In her earlier life she attended private schools, and was graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. After doing graduate work at the University of Virginia, she accepted a position as the Chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Hampton High School, in Hampton, Virginia, where she remained for a period of six years. She then accepted a position as Professor of Mathe- matics and the head of the Math Department at Grenada College, no longer in existence since it marged with another college in Mississippi. After two years there, she was compelled to return home because of illness. In 1927 she married Dr. Carleton Moorman and .made Altavista her home, thus ending her teaching career for 25 years. In the spring of 1953 she began teaching at A.H.S. and has ta ught continuously until the present. During her time at A.H.S., Mrs. Moorman has taught Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, and Advanced Math, Latin, and English. She was chiefly responsible for the founding of the National Beta Club at A.H.S. and has been its sponsor since it was established. So with gratitude we say good-by to Mrs. Moorman and wish for her the best through the coming years. Mrs. Moorman good-naturedly laughs along with her class as they take a break from the arduous, but fascinatina- world of math. With patience, a desirous trait of all math teachers, Mrs. Moorman explains a complicated Algebra problem to Janice Hughey. MRS. MARY S. MOORMAN B.A., Randolph-Macon Woman's College Algebra, Math 9, Trigonometry, Plane Geometry, Solid Geometry, Advanced Math

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and Drama Adds MR. EARL D. MARTIN B.A., Lynchburg College M.A., Northwestern University English 10, 11 Mr. Martin answers questions while his class of junior English works on a test. Two special courses offered in the English department are remedial reading taught by Mrs. Spradlin, and a revived course of Speech and Drama, taught by Mrs. Walker, who joined our faculty this year. In Mrs. Spradlin’s English—Remedial Reading classes, the eighth grade students practiced their reading and competed in class for the ‘best reader’ title, while the upperclassmen studied vocations, In English this year, more emphasis was placed on reading and creative writing than anything else. Mr. Martin’s Sophomore and Junior English classes read such classics as Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Thorn- ton Wilder’s Bridge of San Luis Rey. Mrs. Martin’s students did research on Shakespeare and read some of his works. In some of her classes, extra work was done on mythology and the gods. practiced writing letters of application, and practiced public speaking. Mrs. Spradlin points out an important sentence to one of her English Students. MRS. NANCY SPRADLIN B.S., West Virginia University Geography, English RR 12 MISS MARY S. WALKER B.A., Longwood College English 8, 10, Speech and Drama Miss Walker’s Speech and Drama class was responsible for a program broadcast each week over a local radio station, WKDE. Students learned to speak and read better and were given practice on extemporaneous speaking.