Chelsea High School - Beacon Yearbook (Chelsea, MA)

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SOCIAL STUDIES Tie vocifl studies, a very im¬ portant part of every high school ■ idc:rst ' s curriculum, deal realis- ■ •: ly with current, unsolved prob¬ lems of ou r society. Tnese studies become oi prime importance er - pecia ly during war times. Our department includes Commercial Geography Economics, Problems of Democracy, and history. Only by viewing eacn one of these sep¬ arately can we really appreciate their value. Although geography is offered solely to commercial students in the sophomore year, its Impcr fance can In no way be mini¬ mized. In fact, even the President advises its study so that Americans GF.ARAN ISRAELITE MacMiLLAN STEARNS HU8NER LEADER OBRIEN THOMPSON Problems? Blues in the night. may understand the difficulties presented by our current war prob¬ lems. Only recently have the American people realized how neces¬ sary is the knowledge of distribution of raw materials and natural resources, and of marketing goods and prices. The students are even taught the different seasors in which certain products are marketed and the related prices arc increased. The study of this subject is becoming more essentia! every day. Economists have become the most valuable men in our capital. By reviewing the topics covered in economics, we can easily understand this. The course in economics includes the practical aspects of con¬ sumption, the problem of production, the organization of industry, and many other problems of current importance. Of special notice are the discussions dealing with wages, labor, rent, insurance, anci taxation. The problems covered are of such varied nature that they could never all be enumerated. The aims, however, are to prepare the student so that he may meet more successfully the problems of today and the future. There is no doubt that democracy will endure and succeed if our citizens are interested enough to inform themselves and to study current issues in order to find a reasonable course of action based on sound and logical information. Such is the task of Problems of Democracy. This subject is devoted to the training of citizens in civic affairs. Therefore, debates on local as well as national issues are held. Discussions are also conducted or the constitutionality of laws, and on civic problems. This department develops a better equipped and more efficient citizen. History consists no longer of a series of lessons, dates, and famous names to be memorized. The modern study of this subjec deals with the consequences of the acts passed by Congress, or the differ ent technological revolutions rather than the events themselves. Besides, a thorough study of the Constitution and of our great heri¬ tage is included. Thus, h istory becomes one of our most interesting subjects not only because of the classroom discussions but also cf the oral topics given by the pupils. Every student who graduates should be well acquainted with the history cf this great nation. Orly this way will he be able to appreciate the hardships endured by our ancestors before our present system could be efficiently devised. SOCIAL STUDIES

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r-O L SOM TYPOGRAPHICAL ARTS Three thousand reserved seat tickets for graduation! Five thousand pro¬ grams! Four hundred warning cards! Fifteen hundred programs of study sheets, return envelopes, notices, reports! These and many others are the types ' of work produced by the Printing Department under the direction of Floyd A. Folsom, Lasf year nearly two hundred jobs, comprising nearly a million impassions, were turned out. One job may have several impressions. For example a sixty page Shurtleff Shavings yearbook would have thirty-one impressions for each book. Your reserved seat for Class day or graduation, each with a different otter or number, means many different forms. It ' s ail in the day ' s work. One thousand—three thousand—five thousand—yes sir! Right av ey. WOODWORK DEPARTMENT Do you need a repair man? Apply to Mr. Jackson, efficient supervisor of our Woodwork department. His boys are stilled workers, experienced in this ' r °, ° Wor ; , 5ince the V do a! general school repair. Besides these tasks the students bu.lc cabinets for their own home use as well as for outside pood, ■ non, hey perform some duties for the city of Chelsea which are connected won „.c-u regular class work. This year, moreover, they have mads modern book -ases pupd s writing desks with book racks attached on the side, combination ooo. troughs, end tables, medicine cabinets, and many other such useful imole- ments. ' 1 —-rv. .►, i i r r vs V , . V .. k . - — :r JACKSON HASAN AUTO MECHANICS The automotive course, although relatively new. has increased in oopularity wiln each passing year. This has been due partly to Ihe increase toward voca- acnoi education. But, ,t may also bo traced to the fact that the pupils are ■earning someth, ng which they know will be extremely practical and ' helpful to Them upon graduating, The purpose of the course is to familiarize the pupils with the principles o. automotive engineering and all types of automotive tools including lathes. The results of the course are, indeed, extremely pleasing and gratifvino Mr. Hagan, for a large number of recent graduates are now workino in de.ense ,nousfr.es, and they gladly admit that they owe their positions to‘the oa. ic knowledge that they obtained in their automotive course. PRINTED MATTER YOU COMPOSE IT—WE PRINT IT WOOD-WORKERS CARVED BY HAND WE CLEAN ’EM—FIX ' EM—PARK ' EM GARAGE SERVICE f sge Sovortoer MM ' ’’ ' •••( s ' .i » ' i Vi «.( ,ii i

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; COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT The ma or activities of the commercial department go on apace with typing, shorthand, bookkeeping and office pracbce taking up most of the time, he outstanding accomolishmenr of the year has been the correlation of stenography and typewriting ir the junior year. In former years the sub¬ jects were taught separately in the junior year of the high school, and the student had a different teache r for each subject. Therefore the juniors actually had no ooporturity to see the relation between stenogra¬ phy and tyoewriting as if exists in the business world. Theoretically, the pupil knew she would be requires to transcrioe her shortnand notes Into ionghsnd but •he prac ' cal work of transforming a page of steno¬ graphic outlines into a properly spaced letter with correctly spefed words paragraphing, and punctua¬ tion was not presented unn! the senior year. This year tne commercial curriculum has beer- changed in tnis respect. The beginning student has been assigned the same teacher in both subjects in oroer that correlation between stenography and type¬ writing should commence at an early stage in the learning process. In the fail the student began to typewrite supplementary words relating to the steno¬ graphic principles she was learning. These words were different from those in the textbook, and Increased the vocabulary in longnand as well as shorthand. This practice also helped to eliminate the strangeness be¬ tween the phonetic spelling : n stenography and the actual spellmg in longhand, which had a tendency to confuse some of the students. Before the first quarter was over, the student was giver an opportunity to transcribe correct sienogra- phy from the textbook into sentences and paragraphs During -he second and third quarters one period each week was devoied to transcription. The letters in -he Gregg Manual were used so that the student could see the shorthand letter she had been writing fo r homework set up ana typewritten. A vague idea of CLARKC- HARRfS MALONE SHAROOO stenography, in this way, became concrete and definite. The matter of proper spacing, correct spe ling ounctualicn, usage of common forms in letter writing gained prominence in the rrind of the studert. Steno¬ graphy became a vocational subject at once, and type writing ceased to be the automatic copying of words. A new interes- in bc ' h subjects manifested itself anc gave added impetus to the efforts c the students. The teacher having the student In both these related subjects was dole to discern individual weaknesses and ccrrec them. Incioentaily, -he ccrrele ,: on between English and commercial work received new emphasis ' . A practical advantage which one of the st udents mentioned is the confidence gained If an opportunity of summer work should be present. The students rea¬ lize that they have not attained the speed the seniors have acquired and the ' another year at school is re¬ quired for that purpose. COMMERCIAL DEPT.