Columbia High School - Mirror Yearbook (Maplewood, NJ)

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DEDICATION More years in every life— More life in every year!” This is the motto under which our parents re- new their school days in the South Orangc- Maplcwood Adult School. Shakespeare for the housewife seeking culture, photography and gym for the business man wishing relaxation, and forum discussions of current problems conducted by leaders of American thought combine with more formal instruction in science, languages, and philosophy to offer a curriculum extensive enough to meet all tastes. On an October evening in 1933, Dr. Ross Runnels suggested the Adult School during a back-to-school” night at Maplewood Junior High School. The idea spread through the com- munity, and twelve classes, with an attendance of 400, were formed during that first season. Un- der the leadership of Mr. John K. Torbert, its first president, the school was so ably run that in 1936 it had to extend to Columbia High School. Dur- ing the current school year of 1939-40, the school, with Mr. Louis S. Bird as president, has 83 courses, and an enrollment of 4,700. While not the first adult school, ours was one of the pioneers in the movement. We are justly proud of the progressive spirit of our community, which others have emulated. A short time ago the Readers Digest” published a detailed article describing our venture, and, as a result, other communities have opened adult schools. Mr. John K. Torbert, the present director and a past presi- dent of the school, in his book, The Establishment of an Adult School,” gives helpful directions for other towns contemplating similar schools. Although the average school or college with its continually changing population can keep the same courses and professors year after year, the Adult School, with substantially the same student body, must change its curriculum. The need for con- stant changes in the curriculum resulted in the formation of a New Ideas Committee” which has always welcomed suggestions from the citizens of South Orange and Maplewood. About fifty per cent of the courses arc new each year. The citizens have already suggested such courses as Law for the Layman, Everyday Grammar, and Boxing. Several very unusual courses have been instituted by the New Ideas Committee,” includ- ing Aviation, Piloting, and Intelligent Buying. Although one would not think of our community as a place for navigating a boat. Piloting has been successful and well-liked. There is probably no subject of more practical, everyday usefulness than Intelligent Buying. Given by our own Dr. Summers, in a scries of non-tcchnical lectures and discussions concerning materials used in and about the home, it helps people in economizing wisely. Such courses, with the more usual ones of Music Appreciation, Philosophy, and World Politics, have gained the growing interest of our community. Will Durante, General Hugh Johnson, Robert Frost, Vincent Sheean, and other men eminent in varied fields of thought have spoken in the school forum and have contributed to the school’s seven successful years. Many of us in Columbia now wish only to get out of school and stay out. But we shall in time all realize that life without the stimulation of new ideas and new knowledge would not mean very much. It is because this already successful community project is an inspiration and a chal- lenge to all of us that we, the graduating class of Columbia High School, dedicate our yearbook to the Adult School of South Orange and Maple- wood. R mn

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While we do our home work, our parents go to school. LIFE Miga inc SB1 111 11 III HS2 Whoever would have thought our parents could look like this!

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