Downingtown High School - Our Year Cuckoo Yearbook (Downingtown, PA)

Page 29 text:

 a ri r s ► ' J ■i HOME ECONOMICS The major purpose of homemakiog education is to help girls, boys, and adults contribute to better home and family living. The new Home Economics Department consists of a suite of three rooms—a family living center with a demonstration kitchen and two all-purpose rooms. The all-purpose rooms are designed to accommodate the six areas of the Home Economics Course: personal and community relationships, child care, housing, health, and safe living. Woven through the program are the qualities of good management and gracious living. MATHEMATICS As an art, mathematics is full of beauty and truth; as a science, it is practical and demonstrable. Through the study and application of its rich history, the philosophy of man is profoundly enriched. The objective of the Mathematics Department is to provoke the curiosity and imagination of students to form their own conclusions. SOCIAL SCIENCE This department consists of those courses which study the relationship of man to his environment and of man to his fellow men. Its four principal divisions are Geography, World Culture, American History, and Problems of Democracy. In geography classes the students learn the physical and economic background of all sections of the world which have in the past, and will in the future, affect their lives. In culture and history the students gain an understanding of their heritage. P.O.D. is designed to help the students understand the basic principles of democracy and the United States form of government.

Page 28 text:

SCIENCE The purposes of the Science Department are as follows: to teach rational thinking which can be carried over to other courses of study; to understand the scientific factors of environment; to apply scientific principles to everyday life; to keep informed of scientific discoveries and how they affect the citizens of the world; to present the sciences as an intellectual and cultural pursuit; to present the sciences as a flexible and useful tool to be used without limit. LANGUAGE In language classes the students learn not only to speak, read and write the language of other nationalities, but also about their customs, country and culture. Studying any language helps to develop an understanding of the aspirations and ideals of the people. The Modem Language Department has a most useful learning tool in its modern R.C.A. laboratory. With this new instrument of learning, pronunciation and inflection can be taught more effectively and efficiently than before. BUSINESS EDUCATION Increased mechanization in business offices has brought about a need for office workers equipped with basic knowledge and understandings of the business world in addition to vocational competence in office skills. The Business Education curriculum has been expanded to include offerings of Typewriting and General Business in the ninth grade; Principles of Economics and Law, Principles of Selling, and Electric Typing in the three-sequence curriculum—Bookkeeping, Secretarial, General Clerical—in the senior high school. Modern facilities, an all-electric typewriting classroom, and new up-to-date office machines will aid business students to prepare adequately for initial positions in the business offices of our area. 24

Page 30 text:

PHYSICAL EDUCATION The aim of this department is to provide activities which aid the progress of the physical, intellectual, emotional, and social aspects of each student’s life. It furnishes activities to promote physical efficiency. It affords opportunities to develop leadership. loyalty, self-sacrifice, alertness—all qualities needed for social development. It teaches skills in recreation which will lead to a worthwhile use of leisure time. It helps produce health habits valuable both for today and for tomorrow'. ART In the Downingtown Senior High School program, art education is based on the relationship of the needs of youth as well as on the encouragement of the talented students to advance their knowledge of the widely diversified art fields. As the art program changes from a required subject to a more condensed program for those who show definite ability and skill, the art curriculum must also change to meet the needs of this special group. Therefore, the art curriculum is dedicated to the progressive advancement of the students’ skills and knowledge of art. It also encourages students to continue their training beyond high school and to become the artists of their generation. AGRICULTURE This department, the only vocational one in the high school, is designed to teach students of agriculture proficiency in farming. With the rapid change from agriculture in our area, the agriculture program is oriented to rural living which includes mechanics, and on-the-farm training. The student program is of a twelve month duration since the training on the farm takes place during the summer months. This is the only program in the high school which directly receives federal aid. 26