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

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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

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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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4 Senior Orchestras supplementing. The reason for four organizations is to make it possible better to distribute the players in order of their abilities to play and to build up the playing quality of those in the lower orchestras. The pupils in these groups have the Concert Orchestra as a goal toward which to strive. Owing to the large number of pupils wish- ing to join the Junior and the Senior Orchestras, the Beginners' Orchestra and the Concert Orchestra were organized in 1930. The Beginners', Junior, Senior, and Concert Orchestras offer a half-credit per semester. The Concert Orchestra always furnishes the music for the senior plays and for the Tech com- mencement exercises. Another phase ot the instruction in music is the training afforded pupils in Techis four bands, named in order of their ranking: Concert, Senior, Junior, and Beginnersf Tech's first band was organized in 1915. In large part, it Was made up of boys who were members of the News Newsboys' Band. The Concert and the Senior Bands are called the Military Band, its members wearing military uni- forms which are issued to them each year. The Con- cert Band is composed of forty-nine capable musi- cians, Senior Band has an enrolhnent of forty-eight pupils, Junior Band, sixty players, an-d Beginners' Band, thirty players. The Concert Band usually furnishes the entry music at Techts auditoriums. The hope of some day becoming a member of the Concert Band causes every pupil to work his hardest in the other bands. No football game would be considered complete if it were not for the large one-hundred-piece Mili- tary Band, which is recruited from the Concert and Senior Bands. This band marches before the games and during the halves, under the direction of a ca- The Music Department Boys' Concert Club . y p Q -r Girls' Concert Club Girls' Glee Club .THE X, ARSENAL CANNON - 27 I V t it X A