Arsenal Technical High School - Arsenal Cannon Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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Tech has its own organization olf Gamp Fire Girls and Girl Re- serves that meet once a week on the campus. The Camp Fire group, a new organization at Tech, was formed only a year ago. In its meetings, the girls do handicraft work and study nature, trying not only to improve themselves, but to help other girls to be happy and helpful. The Girl Reserves, organized for Tech pupils in 15123, has two groups: freshman and upperclassman. The members strive for three ideals-the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. It was for just such group meetings and school activities as these that the school needed a Student Center. The school likewise needed adequate offices for the Dean of Girls. These needs were met in December, 1932. The rooms which are used as ofiices for the Dean of Girls-tlie large room as a reception room and the small one as a private office-are at the disposal of all groups of the school at all times. The Dean of Girls has meetings each semester with different class groups of girls. Special groups are called in for round-table discussions. The usher staff hold its meetings here. The sponsor room system includes one lmndred thirty-two underclass, one post-graduate, and six senior rooms. Each room is supervised by a member of the faculty to whom the pupils report every day for a period of twenty minutes. Here the roll is taken, the school bulletin is read, and absences, tar- dies, transfers, and other details are taken care of. The pupil stays in the same sponsor room for three years. On receiving the minimum numloer of twenty- four credits, including requirements, the pupil is ad- mitted to one of the six senior sponsor rooms. Here the same procedure is taken except for the fact that the six rooms organize as the senior class, each room elects officers, and the combined thirty otlicers form what is known as the Senior Council. The seniors have two plays a year, a Glass Day, class party, and special assemblies. Included in the commencement activities are the Sunday vesper serv- ice and the two graduation exercises when special Girls The book store is a large, fully equipped room in the basement of the Arsenal, with three distribu- tion windows. A faculty member is in charge. There are the two pupil lunch rooms where live lunch counters operate during the three lunch peri- ods, serving thousands every day. Here is offered at an unusually reasonable price every kind of nour- ishing food necessary for the development of young minds and bodies. The faculty has its own lunch room where the same prices prevail. The well organized student tratlic system which takes care of the traffic in the buildings and on the campus, the evening program each June when voca- tional certificates arc awarded, Honor Night, held in June, when all honors won throughout the year in classroom, extra-curricular activities, and sports are recognized, and senior scholarships to various col- leges are awarded, the general, the attendance, and the tinancial oflices, Auditorium assemblies, and numerous other activities and groups are all a part of the life of Tech. Every year Tech parents are introduced to the school at a series of Open Houses: freshman, mid- course, and senior, at which time the pupils acquaint their parents with their activities, friends, and teachers. Here Campfire and TTICPC medals and scholarship awards are given. Student Center 25 THE ARSENAL CANNON

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Military Training 24 THE ARSENAL CANNON Non- Commissioned Officers Unit Instructor: Sergeant Chester A. Pruett. Senior Ofiicers: Cadet Colonel William Feeman and Cadet Lieutenant Colonel George M. Messmerg Cadet Majors William Kendrick and William Hume, battalion commanders, Cadet Captain Robert Hick- man, personal adjutant to the Cadet Captain, and Cadet First Lieutenants Wallace Buenting and Lewis Douglas, adjutants for battalion commanders. Tech's R. 0. T. C. . was instituted in September, 1919, the training at that time being compulsory tor all boys. The unit consisted of about two thousand cadets, with seven instructors in charge. lin 1921, the subject was made elective, and the enrollment was about sixteen hundred. lt was then that a Captain was put in command, and four ot the instructors were relieved. It was also in that year that the first Annual Inspection was held. Tech won the red star for the honor unit in the Fifth Corps Area, a precedent that has not yet been broken. Each year for twelve consecutive years, a red star has been attached to the streamer of victory. In 1930, the present instructor, who was as- signed to the Tech unit in 1920, was placed in com- plete charge of the unit with another non-commis- sioned ofheer assistingg in 1939. the latter retired, leaving only one instructor at the school. Commissioned Officers 1 1 i 7 D The unit has participated in many interesting events. lt took part in the parade in 1923, given in honor of the last t'ommanding Officer ot the A. E. F., Major-General Ryan. in 1927, over four hundred fifty boys were in charge of traffic and acci- dent prevention on the East Side, which had been swept by a tornado. ln 1932, the unit formed a guard ot honor for its Commander-in-Chief, ex- President Herbert Hoover. The R. O. T. C. unit of this semester has con- sisted ot tive hundred eighty-one boys, with thirty-six commissioned and one hundred thirty non-comn1is- sioned officers. ltitle practice is held on the fourth Hoor of the Main Building, where the Tech Rifle Range is lo- cated. The uniforms and supplies for all the city units are issued from the Magazine which is located near the football field. A former Colonel oi the Army is in charge. In the course of this semester the unit has taken part in the following events: lt has furnished guides for the Freshman, Mid-Course, and Senior Open Houses, and for all football games played at the Tech field, it has provided most ot the ushers for the Auditorium exercises and other school activities. The senior otlicers ot the unit attended a ban- quet given for them bv the Reserve Officers' Asso- ciation. Armistice Day, the ex-service members of the faculty presented the school with a. new silk flag. This may be used by the unit for parade and cere- mony purposes. The school board presented a new Hag which was received with military ceremony on Armistice Day. This Hag is to be raised each day on the Tech tlagpole by designated lt. O. T. C. boys. The unit received its twelfth red star for win- ning the Spring Inspection of 1933. At the beginning ot the semester the O. D. shirt and breeehes were replaced by white shirts and long trousers. - -. . ...... .... X

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The Music Department , in , 7- 26 ,A 'ev MN .XJ XJ, , ,fl fy! 7 TL.. Double String Quartette Madrigal Singers Back in 1912, music made its debut at Tech with a chorus of twenty members. These young people assembled for practice in Splinter lilallv, more connuonly known to Tech pupils today as the third floor of the Arsenal. Two years later, the present head of the Music dc- partment caine to Tec-h to take charge of this work. 'Under her enthusiatie guidance the Music depart- ment has grown to include approximately Httecn hun- dred pupils in forty classes. Tech does not confine itself to the usual ele- mentary courses in music. lt was the first high school in Indianapolis to add Harmon y on a credit basis to its curriculum. In 1915, Music Appreciation was included in the course. This subject makes it possi- ble for one to enjoy the real beauty of music in its various forms, even though he is not an accomplished musician. Out of Music Appreciation grew the- pop- ular and instructive Music Memory Contest, intro- duced into the three high schools by the director of music in the city schools. . Another valuable addition to this department has been its outside music. This provides a Way for pupils to obtain credit for private lessons outside of school. Meetings are scheduled at intervals and re- ports concerning their progress are turned in by the pupils. The Music department likewise abounds in a wealth of activities, such as the various orchestras, bands, Double String Quartctte, Girls, Crlee C'lub, Boys' Glee Club, Tech Choir, Girls, and Boys, Con- cert Clubs, Madrigal Singers, and a Mixed Chorus. At present Techls Music department has four orchestras, ranging from the Beginners' Orchestra to the Concert Orchestra, with the Junior and the Boys' Glee Club 4 THE ARSENAL CANNON