Atlanta High School - Atalanta Yearbook (Atlanta, IL)

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Atlanta High School, 1919 THE HO.MK K X) ).Ml( S DEPARTMENT 1 lie Home Economics Department was installed four years ago, but since has been changed to meet the requirements of the Smith-Hughes Bill, a bill passed by Congress l°r the purpose of increasing the number of girls taking sewing and cooking. It is an excellent showing for any school to meet the requirements of this bill, and the Atlanta High School has been able to meet these requirements. Next year in addition to the courses taught this year, there will be courses in home-nursing and serving. An excellent course in domestic art or sewing is given. In this course, a complete outfit of underwear, a gingham, a voile, and a child’s dress with many other articles of clothing are made. Next year it is hoped to give a full course in designing. These changes will make the Atlanta High School one of the best small schools in the state. MANUAL TRAINING In 1915 the Board of Education with the assistance of Mr. Shirck introduced manual training in the Atlanta Public Schools. At that time the shop was equipped with tools and benches more completely than schools the size of A. H. S. usually are. Since then, a jointer, band-saw, and a grinder have been bought, making the school one of the best equipped shops in the state. Since Mr. Sugg has taken charge of the work many additional improvements in the way of tools and lockers have been added. In another year, a lathe will be added, making without doubt the best equipped shop in this section of the state. Atlanta offers three years of work in the manual training department, two of regular manual training, and one year of mechanical and architectural drawing. Any boy who is considering an engineering course can secure the best of preparation in manual training, drawing, and mathematics as the basis of his course in the A. H. S. Our shop is an unusual opportunity for the boys interested in construction of useful articles in wood. 5

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Atlanta High School, 1919 At the beginning of the present school year, the enrollment of the high school was but fifty-five; five years ago the A. H. S. enrolled ninety-six. The class of ’14 had twenty-two graduates, the class of T9 but seven. This condition is partially due to the failure of country boys and girls in continuing their education. It is now up to the Hoard of Education, the Faculty, the Pupils, and the Alumni of the A. II. S. to build up the enrollment of the school. The keynote of the high school atmosphere is found throughout this annual, and its chief objective is to interest the country people in the A. H. S. We feel that the country people do not realize the advantages of having a school like A. H. S., and we wish to emphasize the advantages of Atlanta over neighboring schools. The present indications for our school next year are most excellent, and we hope to see more enrolled than ever before. The war has been the greatest obstacle to the enlargement of the school, and now that it is over, we hope to make next year a great year in the annals of A. II. S. with a large enrollment to retain the true spirit of old Atlanta High. J. U. P„ T9. 4

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Atlanta High School, 1919 To Eighth Grade Graduates You have now finished the work of the 8th grade and will now be considering what to do next. Your grade work has been but a preparation, and you are not yet fully prepared. Your next step is to enter a recognized high school. The Atlanta High School, the oldest and best in Logan County, is the nearest to you. It is your duty to attend. One of the worst things encountered by our Government during the war was the ignorance of many of our soldiers. The man who received the most from the Government in the way of promotion, because he was the most capable, was the high school graduate. The Government is offering both high school and a college education to those who were disabled in the war, because it realizes the necessity of education in order to compete with other countries after the war. DO YOU REALIZE THE VALUE OF A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION TO YOURSELF AND TO YOUR COUNTRY? In dollars and cents it is worth much, $9.02 for every day of schooling. This was before the war and now it will be worth much more. This computation of the value of schooling to YOU is the result of a government investigation and not an idle guess. If you are to be a farmer on the best and most expensive farm land in the United States, Logan and McLean Counties, you must know how to get the most from the land; and this you can only do by knowing what every graduate from the Agricultural College of the University of Illinois knows. In order to attend the University, you must know what our high school graduates know, and the best school for this is the ATLANTA HIGH SCHOOL. If you do go to high school, you will study botany, biology, chemistry, and physics, and you will understand what is meant by acid soil; you will learn how to graft your own fruit trees, and why certain plants do not grow well for YOU, but do for others. You will learn to handle tools properly in the school manual training shop. In brief, you will be well prepared to do your part well. For the girls, the Atlanta High School has a well equipped sewing-room and kitchen. If you have not learned to sew and to make your own clothing, our Home Economics Department can teach you. You can prepare for college, or for normal and then for teaching, or else you can become better prepared to take a business course. A girl with a high school education makes a better business woman than one without the education. The teachers of the Atlanta High School are graduates of the best colleges and universities and are well prepared to teach you and to advise you what to do and to take in high school and in college. In another section of this announcement you will see pictures of our workshop, our kitchen, our students, our building, and our basketball team. Atlanta has played Bloomington, Decatur, Springfield. Lincoln, and Normal, and has more than held her own. The Atlanta High School oilers you as much as the larger high schools and more than the other small schools. You are invited to visit the school at any time and to become acquainted with what we do and what you may do. It is your duty and your business to make the best of an opportunity. THE ATLANTA HIGH SCHOOL IS THE BIGGEST AND BEST OPPORTUNITY OPEN TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF THIS PART OF LOGAN AND McLEAN COUNTIES. Sincerely yours, JAMES D. DARNALL.