Episcopal High School - Whispers Yearbook (Alexandria, VA)

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payed to Latin derivatives and Latin cliches on the top of each page quicken the student,s interest. ln first Latin, Messrs. R. P. Williams, M. F. Williams, and R. K. Butler pound conjugations, declensions, syntax, and vocabulary into the zealous students, who wait eagerly for the time when they can peruse the stirring commentaries of Julius Caesar. This comes in Latin ll, under Mr. R. P. Williams, Mr. Murray, and Mr. Whittle. In Mr. Whittle's nearly 50 years of Latin he has led, Latin I having been conquered, many a student against the Belgae and the Nervii. This course is the cornerstone of Latin, in which refinements are added to the foundation gained in First to enable the student to handle Cicero under Mr. Whittle in Latin Ill. Mr. R. P. Williams teaches fourth, fifth, and sixth Latin to anyone who qualifies, and they are rewarding courses to all who reach this level of proficiency. These higher courses as taught by Mr. Williams, who as we have shown is equally at home in Latin, Greek, or English, cover poetry and drama, and encourage the student to read Latin and Greek on his own. The Launcelot Minor Blackford Medal for excel- lence in Latin is presented each year at Finals. Wo eI I'L CBlI6'l.l'l?Llag'e5 The student who aspires to learn a modern language will find a choice selection from which to choose: French, German, and Spanish. As talented professors are essential to good language courses, E.H.S. is fortunate in having a group of highly capable and fluent instructors, who in- doctrinate their classes with equally fluent propa- ganda concerning the boundless merits of their respective adopted fatherlands. The modern languages are especially important today because of the increased stress placed on foreign affairs. The excellent background a boy receives is also a tremendous help in college, if he wishes to con- tinue his study. The seniors who take Spanish are fortunate to have as their instructors Mr. M. F. Williams for first Spanish and Mr. H. K. Murray for first, second, and third Spanish. These Spanish courses are counted among the hardest- in school, and it is very rare indeed that any of the senors are over 90. The course emphasizes grammar and sentence construction the first two years, but light reading is included, and by the third year students are prepared to brave the rigors of the heavier reading that comprises almost the entire course. Additional excitement is added to the course by Mr. Murrayls excursions into acid sarcasm.

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of Messrs. Callaway, Emmons. and McLaughlin, the students of second algebra learn the theory and systems of quadratic equations. exponents. progres- sions, the binomial theorem. and logarithms. When second year algebra is completed. an entirely new ty pe of math is taken ups- geometry. Geometry is the world of squares. circles. triangles. and other polygons. ln geometry Messrs. C. V. Tompkins and P. ll. Callaway are successful in teaching the Pythagorean and the four hundred and nineteen other accompanying theorems and corollaries. Every student in fourth mathematics is required to take trigonometry for the first half of the school K year. After finishing trig, each boy must choose between complicated numbers or confusing figures tadvanced algebra or solid geometryl, depending upon which is required by the college that he is planning to enter. Both lVlr. Emmons and Mr. Walker attempt to cram the fundamentals of trig into some of the non-Euclidian minds, with a great deal of success. During the second half of the year. Mr. Emmons handles the figures, while Mr. Walker takes care of the numbers. For the real mathematical geniuses we have fifth and sixth math courses. Both of these, which include analytic geometry and differential and in- tegral calculus, are under the direction of Mr. D. S. Walke1'. ncienf ofanguagefi Shakespeare had little Latin and less Creekf' but the modern student, as he is unlikely to be a second HSwan of Avon. would he ill advised not to take advantage of the comprehensive Ancient Languages program here on the Hill. As well as its being a fine training ground for the mind. who but a Latin or Creek scholar could appreciate e pluribus unzun, lioi polloi, or non illegilinzis carborundum? The pedagogucs of this all-important phase of an E.H.S. education are Mr. R. P. Williams and Mr. R. L. Whittle. lVlr. Williaiiis. who is completing a half century of teaching here, is alone but excellent in the teaching of the three Greek courses offered here. If a student has completed three years under Mr. Williams, he has read Plato and Homer in the original and has done considerable prose composition. Mr. Willialiis also overlaps into the Latin division of the department. of which he is the head. ln this field knowledge of forms and basic grammar are drilled into the student until he has become thoroughly grounded in the basic features of the language, and then ancient authors are taken up in order of difficulty. Considerable attention is 3 . 15

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The French courses are instructed by lVl. Deeble in first and M. Harnly in first, second, and third. As in Spanish, the first two years are passed quickly in learning the bare essentials of grammar tsuch as how to say hi-fin in Frenchj and reading. The third year is usually spent repeating second French. Twelve months later in the third French students begin to read higher literature. The glory of the course is somewhat enhanced by the kind offer of lVlr. Harnly to conduct, for a slight fee, yearly tours of Europe, during which the lucky travelers soak up an intoxicating overdose of culture. The German course is smaller and is comprised chiefly of future engineers and scientists. Herr Whittle brightens up the course with frequent witticisms in Deutsch, and a consistent good humor. A well rounded offering of grammar and reading is given for each of the two years of German that are taught. German is probably the most interest- ing modern language because of the strong resemblance it bears to English. This year, in the last term, a new idea has been put into application. The boys who take languages have been placed together at special dining room tables. Nature, with a little assist from masters in charge, has taken its course, and the students have gained the invaluable experience of actually making a speaking acquaintance with their languages. , .iwiafory Napoleon once said NWhat is history but a fable agreed upon? The Episcopal History Department however. has decided that it is a fable that should be learned by heart, as all alumni of Mr. Daniells American History will testify. ln Mr. Walden's Ancient and Medieval History and Modern European History the stress is on Mgiving the student the leading ,facts of history and explaining the importance of various political and social institutions. Notebooks, map work, and memory are necessary, and any student- who passes these two courses has a full picture of the growth of the Old World. Once a week this period is devoted to the study of current events, when the students study Our Times, a student-level publica- tion covering the international scene for the past week that attempts to explain political and social institutionsi' to the student. In Mr. Deeble's English History the student begins with Paleolithic man and by the end of the second term has traced the development of Great Britain to the eve of the First World War, paying particular attention to the trends and underlying causes of the great movements in English history. ln the third term World War l is covered quickly, and the Hall's Iron out of Calvary, is adopted as QIOCLl fl'l'L2l'li A A 17