Ambridge Area High School - Bridger Yearbook (Ambridge, PA)

Page 16 text:

MR EARL M. CASS D re t r f Vocational Education As We Learn Under the supervision of the administrative staff, Ambridge High School stresses the fundamental elements of education: learning and doing. The first of these is accomplished in the regular curriculum of studies, together with special courses offered Ambridge students. These special courses, home economics and vocational training, have rapidly developed into major departments of our school. In the regular curriculum are courses in social science, which are an effort on the part of the administrative staff to prepare the students for a good democratic life. The second element of education-doing! Through the ceaseless efforts of our principal, the extra-curricular program of A.H.S. has become one of the most extensive in the state. School plays, forensic activities, music, and sports have earned our school an enviable repu- tation. Moreover, our noncompetitive activities rank high. Our tri- weekly newspaper, our class meetings, this yearbook, and especially our Student Senate give the students opportunities to develop character and to prepare for good citizenship. A step toward a more perfect administration was made when the plan of advancing home room teachers and sponsors with the students was introduced in 1939. This system permits development of a closer re- lationship between teachers and students. IZ

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0ur Education w l N-..., Dr. N. A. Smith Supt. J. R. Miller Mr E B Leaf Our Administrators Through the school board our capable administrative staff is selected. The staff is headed by Superintendent Miller, who directs our s'chool policy. He is active in community life and has spent many years in administrative school work. Mr. Leaf is the assistant superintendent in charge of instruction. He is a member of four fraternal organizations. Especially remarkable is his ability to take charge of practically any class of students and to dem- onstrate the most efficient methods of instruction. Our principal, Dr. Smith, is a man well known for his many achiev ments, among these being the service he rendered his country in the World War. An admirable characteristic is his willingness to cooperate with the students by fostering their progressive ideas. Concerning the Class of 1940, Dr. Smith said, The iniiuence of the entire class has been for the betterment of the school. Miss Halaban, secretary to the principal, has worked efficiently and untiringly in the high school oHice for a number of years. The superintendent's secretary, Miss Esther Baeuerlein, assisted by Misses Yolanda Giammatteo, Elvira Nippes, and jean Knauss, is in charge of the administrative routine of the entire school system.

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We Train for Industry A basic course in our educational sys- tem is the vocational department, su- pervised by Mr. Cass, director of vo- cational education. Our industrial program is aided by the state and the federal government. The purpose of the program is to lit students for in- dustrial employment. The vocational student's time is equally divided be- tween related subjects and shop work. At present the enrollment is two hun- dred and twenty-five boys, distributed among five shops. To the left of Mr. Cass's office is Mr. Wolf's wood shop. Here the boys learn pattern making, building construction, and job estimation. General school re- pair and construction is handled by this shop. Farther along the corridor is the electric shop, under the instruction of Mr. Axtell. Electrical repair work throughout the Ambridge Public Schools is done by the boys of this shop. The machine shop is headed by Mr. Arnett. The boys do practical machine work on the lathe shaper and the milling machine Next to the machine shop is the auto shop, which is under the supervision of Mr. Todd. After a semester of assign- ment work the boys put to practice what they have learned about repairing automobiles. In a room apart from the shops is the trade drafting department, taught by Mr. Keusch. The work here is largely practical drawing. Blue print- ing for the shops and the school is done by this group.