Harding High School - Folio Yearbook (Bridgeport, CT)

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STYL S interests for this vocation, and of directing them along lines of best preparation. The great impetus given to health work in the past twentyffive years has greatly increased opportunities in the nursing field, and the fact that fiftyffive of the girl students of our school indicated nursing as their first choice of a profession shows that there is a definite need for this type of instruction. Mary J. Latimer, school nurse The Bridgeport plan of selecting pros' pective normal school students has a three' fold purpose: first, to discover intelligent, so- ciallyfminded girls who would probably make good teachers, secondly, to encourage desirable pupils who of their own initiative have decided upon teaching as a vocationg thirdly, to persuade unpromising candidates to relinquish the idea of becoming teachers. The criteria for judging desirability inf volve Connecticut State requirements, psy' chological and other objective tests, high school grades, a personal fitness index, a physical examination, and the successful completion of prescribed normal' school preparation work. A very simple sociological study of Bridgeport is conducted by means of group conferences which concern themselves with questions centering about social composif tion, characteristic schoolfdistrict populaf tions, and the work of social agencies. Every problem is studied from the view- point of teaching and teachers. The methods employed in these confer' ences may be grouped under the head of re' ports, oral and written,, discussions, projects, committee investigations, and field work. It is intended that the study should de' velop an appreciation of the intellectual, so' cial, and cultural contributions of other lands, and also arouse a thoughtful attitude toward the great problems which arise through immigration. It is expected that the work will be of some value in breaking down racial antipathies and national hat' reds, and that it will indicate in some degree the important place in the vital problem of citizenship which should be occupied by the good American teacher. The group conferences disclose other values which are directly related to the self ection of prospective normal school stud' ents. They furnish opportunity for getting a fairly reliable impression of each pupil's personality in its larger aspects, such as willingness and ability to cofoperate, power to act intelligently upon suggestions, attif tude toward other persons and toward work, readiness and ability to assume and to dis' charge responsibility, appearance, manners, poise, and vocabulary. Ideals and standards in the matter of preparation may be gaugedg voice may be appraised as to tone, pitch, articulation, and enunciationg speech peculiarities and defects may be detected. Mechanical equipment, such as habitual grammatical usage, spelling, and penmanship may be ascertained. Lastly, each student's ability to select, arrange, classify, and use material may be deter- mined. ln addition to group work, there are in' dividual conferences which occur either at the request of the student, or as necessity requires. Mrs. Minnie Kelsey, director of the Normal Preparation Department. When the school opened in the Fall of 1925 the faculty felt that more should be done for the pupils who plan to go to col' lege than is accomplished in the average high school of today. To that end they def cided to set up a department known as the College Department. The teachers of the

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STYLUS , L g r Fig' I Senior Frolic is an afternoon affair held each semester. Class eight people at that time have an opportunity to develop initia' tive and leadership in the planning of this program. Each room arranges a stunt and puts it on in the auditorium with the two lower classes as guests. This program is unsponsored except at the final perform' ance. The most spectacular function of the year is always the Senior Prom, a formal affair, at which the parents, members of the Board of Education, and members of the faculty act as patrons and patronesses. This is arranged for by different pupil commit' tees, who ind in their work plenty of op' portunity for leadership, initiative, and practice in working with others for a comf mon goal. Certain customs for these aff fairs are fast becoming fixed, such as the receiving line, the grand march, the pref cedent that, although the girls appear in formal dress, the boys do not wear tuxedos. Further festivities after the dance is over are not sanctioned by the school. The upper classes of our school are always organized for purposes of common interest but not many meetings are held except those of the seniors. This class meets frequently for business or social reasons, which makes for school unity and school spirit. They discuss such problems as graduation cos- tumes, class rings, and class pictures. The president of the class presides at these meet' ings, assisted by the other officers, and everything is conducted on a very democrat' ic basis. The attempt throughout all our activities is to develop creative school control, to aid the pupils to develop social ideals and habits desirable in school and in after life. We strive to make each pupil feel he is an inf tegral part of the school and of its life. julia E. Moynihan, dean. The promotion of the student's health as an obligation of the educational adminisf tration is recognized and assumed in a measure in advance of many secondary schools of today. A suite of three rooms, consisting of a firstfaid room, where minor emergencies are cared for, and two rest rooms, is provided. A graduate nurse doing fullftime duty is in attendance. Provision is thus made for the immediate care of emergencies and minor ail- ments. The cofoperation of the parents and physicians is sought and an effort made to def tect and report early evidences of health dis' turbances. Teachers and students are free at all times to consult with the nurse concerning individual health problems. All students ab- sent because of illness are examined before readmission to classes, and assistance in ad' justment to school work is arranged when necessary. This measure is also of import- ance in guarding against communicable disease. In the effort to meet the community need in the socialization of the program of stud' ies, classes in home nursing and child care for girls have been introduced. These class' es have two definite values: first, as a direct contribution in knowledge to meet life needs, and second, as exploratory subjects. Instruction is given by the school nurse in the simple and important practices neces- sary for intelligent home nursing and child care. ,The importance of medical supervif sion is emphasized, and the necessity of hygienic living in the prevention of disease. This work, based on the needs of the com' munity, should have a farfreaching social influence. As an exploratory subject such instrucf tion affords students interested in nursing as a profession an opportunity of testing their ability. It is also a means of discover' ing students having deinite aptitudes and

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-. ,-. EELTHEI STYL S college preparatory classes automatically be' came members of this new group and help' ed to establish its policies. In this work there were two aims at the outset which they thought were absolutely essential: first, to guide the pupil in the self ection of his college course and to turn him toward the right college, second, to assist him in passing college examinations and al' so to help him make the necessary preparaf tions for entrance. With the foregoing in mind, the Educational Guidance Depart' ment was asked to assist in helping girls and boys as early as the sophomore year to pick out the right courses in high school, and, if possible, to determine the profession which they expected to follow later. The teachers of the college group early in December organized the pupils who plan to take the examinations of the College En' trance Examination Board and started to hold review classes during and after school hours. The teachers gave many hours of extra work, for which they received no compensation. These plans, as outlined above, have been continued during the three years, and each year they have been found to be more sue' cessful. The result of the college examinaf tions have been above the average, so that today the Warren Harding High School is rated in New England as one of the leading preparatory schools, outfranking in many cases the older high and preparatory schools in this part of the country. The first year more than eightyffive per cent of all the pupils passed the college board examination, and last year this percentage was raised to almost ninetyffive. Past records of other schools are not entirely available, but from confirmed reports the record which Warren Harding has made in the past two years has been exceeded in only one or two cases, and in those instances by private preparatory schools. Une of the outstanding features of the examination last year was the passing, by the preliminary group, of one hundred per cent of all examinations. A record is being kept of all pupils who pass all of the pref liminaries and the finals. To date, one pupil, Francis King, has succeeded in accomplishf ing the task. Fourteen pupils out of a pos' sible twenty have passed all of the prelim- inary examinations, The school has receivf ed many letters of commendation from col' leges, complimenting it upon the fine record in the examinations and also praising highly the record of the pupil who entered col' lege. To date, no pupil who entered col' lege from Warren Harding has been dis' missed due to failure in his college work. The teachers and the school look with pride to this record and know that in the future, when this new system has been thoroughly established, even more wonderful results will be obtained. justin Ricker, director of the College Preparatory Dept. The purpose of the wellfequipped, propf erly-administered school library of tofday is threefold in its relation to the activities of the school. In the first place, it meets the teaching work of the school at all points and serves as a central laboratory for sup' plying to the various departments additional apparatus in the way of books, periodicals, pamphlets, clippings, and pictures. Next, it furnishes a working laboratory for the inf dividual student, where he may exercise his ability to search out and follow up informaf tion, and where he is taught thorough, definite library instruction, or how to search intelligently for such information. And furthermore, it provides for the student an environment of carefully selected books and