Calumet High School - Temulac Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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rlmzual Number 'I'EJIU1,i1C Now the order of these reasons should be reversed, for the last should really be the one which dete1'mines' their choice, and unless pupils select their electives in this way, their High School course is not going to be valuable enough to justify the time and the expense. One of the great disadvantages of selection of subjects because they are easy is that there is no subject which does not at some time or another have dry and uninteresting places in it. When pupils reach this point, they appear in the oflice with the request to drop the subject, and their first statement is I wish to drop this subject, because I do not like it. This is, I believe, one of the most dangerous elements in our American life today. Many of us have the feeling that the mere fact that we do not like a thing is sufficient justification for avoiding it, whereas we would gain in strength of will and in thinking ability, by making an effort to overcome the difiiculties presented. Emerson said: Do what you will to do. If you have decided that you need to take a certain subject, stick to it until you have mastered it. By doing this you will gain the greatest end of your education, which is to learn to think as educated people think and to accomplish what you wish to accomplish with the least expenditure of mental and physical energy. If you will do this, no matter what course you take in High School, you will be able to meet the problems that the future presents to you with the fullest success, and only those people who have learned to live successfully in the world around them. can claim to be really educated. Principal. Y A liebe Seven

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TEMULA fl' Annual N umber A Letter from the Principal A, great many people are apparently afraid that our form of government is not going to survive, and their argument is, that there are many people in this country who do not believe in the American ideals of conduct, loyalty and justice. The statement is made that while the American people make more laws than any other nation they have the greatest disregard for the laws, after they are made. There is a constant stream of criticism in the papers and elsewhere to the effect that an attempt is being made to curtail the liberty of the people of this country. The suggestion is made that we need fewer laws and more law enforce- ment. It is the principle of a democracy that the people shall make the laws and having made them live up to them because they are convinced that such laws are necessary for the Well being of the people as a. whole. It may seem that this question may be very far away from the boys and girls in High School, but there is really not one of them whose life and actions is not very much affected by this' attitude in regard to law and its enforcement. To mention a particular instance, the recently enacted Compulsory Education Law compels all boys and girls to be in school until they are 16, or if they are at work they must put in a certain amount of their time in Continuation School. It has also been suggested that the course of study and variety of work offered in the High School are expensive, that they should be reduced, and the exact studies which any boy or girl may take in High School should be prescribed by law, and that they should be obliged to take those studies whether they liked them or not. The work in the High Schools represents an attempt to give the students those studies which experience has shown to be the most valuable, and at the same time to give them an opportunity to choose some work for reasons of their own. The question of what kind of work a boy or girl should take in High School is far more serious than most pupils realize, and if we are to continue with our present system of allowing pupils to choose a number of their studies, much more attention will have to be given to the matter than is now the case. I find that there are very few pupils who select their elective studies with the purpose of getting something which will help them in their school work, and after they leave school. The reasons that pupils give for their selections can be grouped in about the following order: 1. They like the teacher who is teaching the subject and this teacher gives good marks. The pupil's idea of a good mark generally means a high mark for little work. 2. They need a credit, and this subject is the easiest they can find in the course of study. 3. Their friends are going to take this subject and they wish to be in the same class. 4. This subject has something to do with other subjects they are studying and they expect that they will be more successful with their work after they leave school because they take it. Page Six

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TEMULAC Annual Number 4.. Page Eight