Durham High School - Messenger Yearbook (Durham, NC)

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Rolslcm' EARL FRMJMAN Dean qf Boys MAIKQLA R ICT SPA RGICR RICH ARIIS1 DN Dean of Girls 'THE Rue: is well worn, and the cushioned chairs are somewhat bumpy from constant use. The desk is large, with a chair on either side. The doors are seldom closed, and the wide window opens upon the front yard. The occu- pants of this room are the deans-two indispensable members of our faculty. Well may they be respected! They possess singular authority. It may be only a square piece of paper with black ink forming a few words, but if it bears the familiar initials HM. R. or HR. Fa its owner possesses a passport sufficient for an excused absence or tardy, a sick card, a trip to town on school business, or any of the numerous matters of discipline. rams 25

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u1N'1'oN HoL'1'oN Principal qf Durham High School MR. HoLToN is everything a man in his position should he: versatile, capahle, business-like-all that and more. When he is interrupted several times daily by unusually naughty children, whom exasperated teachers have generously wished orl on him, he simply measures out, in proportion to need, a dose or two of I-loltozzl' Ilzfczllible Cure: one part of understanding, one part of kind- ness, one part of patience to two parts of firmness, generously sprinkled with the spice of reproof. It works. He believes in dividing interests, too. He sings, plays both piano and organ, he's a Latin scholar and a lover of history in any form Qeven our past recordsj. He received his A.B. degree from Duke University, studied at the University of North Carolina Medical School and the University of Chicago Graduate School of History. mule 24

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Herr Freeman L. Hampton Hanson lust' WHAT is the program offered in the Eng- lish department? I asked the Director of English, Miss Marguerite M. Herr, one day when I met that busy lady sailing down the halls at the lunch hour. 'LWould you have me to explain the whole secondary program nowP', she questioned thoughtfully. Puzzled, I ventured I could answer that ques- DEPARTMENT tion exactly if I understood what secondary implied. Oh, that's easily explained, beamed Miss I-Ierr as she led me back to her room to con- tinue this conversation. That is the name given to public schools above the sixth grade. In this city there are four secondary institutions. In these, English teachers are responsible for the growth of students through desirable ac- tivities in which language as an effective tool of expression, and literature as a source of in- formation, pleasure and inspiration are used to learn to do well what life will require for suc- cess and happiness. Do you think grammar should be stressed every year? I drawled, hoping for a negative response. Emphatically, I do think so, she replied. For fundamental rules of the English language must he understood and fixed if pupils are to have a dependable guide to their own use of English. Theme-writing and speech-making cause so many headaches. Are they so essential? queried I. Phrasing what one has read or thought is most necessary to test what one has actually learnedfl she oHered. Practice long and hard, is the price of any success in expression. Select- ing the theme sources from which the pupils can draw material: personal experiences, read- ing, and discussions, teachers Find, turns hard work into play. Spelling and punctua- tion rules are more readily learned and retained when used as they are needed in such activities, concluded Miss Herr. Well, with all there is to stress, why do the teachers insist on good mechanics such as legible penman- ship? I asked. l i Legibility is just one of the courte- sies you extend to your friends in your social correspondence, laugh- ingly remarked Miss Herr. A well- planned, conversationally correct, at- tractively penned epistle is a flattering reminder that others care for you. PAGE 26