Berkeley High School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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f N ULLA FODRIDA PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OE' THE BERKELEY HIGH SCHOOL. JUNE ISZI 50 ff Qi f 'O?,'2 75 IN 30

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Progress NLY a few years ago the high school of America was an institution for a selected few whose chief purpose was to prepare in the subjects necessary for entrance to college. Nearly all of its students studied English, Mathematics, History, Latin, and Physics, or Chemistry. Excellent work was done but in a very limited field. Gradually changes took place as people began to realize that high-school education should be organized not only for those preparing for the so-called learned professions but also for all children, no matter what their future occupation. Secondary education was estab- lished upon a new basis. It became merely the second step in the complete development of youth, and in order to function properly, it had to be enlarged in its' scope so as to meet the needs of all kinds of pupils. Our own Berkeley High School well illustrates this development. Twenty years ago, the high-school curriculum was limited to about half a dozen courses, chiefly literary. Changes came gradually through the addition of a commercial department, then 'manual training, then domestic science and artg then physical educationg and lastly, specialized vocational courses. With the extension of the variety of work has come increase in the number of students and a change in the student body personnel. We no longer limit our efforts to a special group but try to serve all the children who have reached a certain stage in their educational progress, the chief emphasis being placed upon a wise choice of the career which each is best fitted to follow. These steps' in our growth show the progress made in satisfying mental and physical needs. They are of little real value, however, unless they also indicate a development which is far more important to the individual and the nation, namely, that of personal character and civic responsibility. We may have all the new courses that can be taught, we may have the Hnest buildings and the most beautiful grounds, but it is only as we use these material assets to develop right conduct in civic and personal relations that we make real progress. Character counts above everything else. If this be our dominant idea, then we shall surely prosper. C. L. BIEDENBACH.