Harding High School - Folio Yearbook (Bridgeport, CT)

Page 20 text:

STYLUS the '78 graduates 70 are working, three atf tending higher institutions, and five engaged in activities other than commercial. These 70 graduates are scattered in 46 different offices in the city. The average beginning salary of our graduate is 31450. - The highest beginning salary has been 32100, and the lowest 51125. R. C. Bannatyne, head of the Commercial Department. If education is a preparation for life, then the opportunity to prepare for one of the most important phases of the life of the girl- that of home making-is amply provided for in the Household Arts Department. The complete equipment is sufficient to cause most girls to look forward eagerly to the time when they can actually start to cook or sew, or be' gin work in the furnished apartment. Every girl can remember happy times playing house and pretending to supervise a home. In the household arts course this natural instinct is fostered and directed to be of great value to the girl, regardless of the course she follows after high school. She discovers the important bearing the choice of proper food has upon her health and realizes that the lack of this health def prives her of earning power as well as of abilf ity to participate in the social activities of her friends. She finds that the ability to do creaf tive work is the source of immense satisfacf tion and that home duties, when performed in an orderly, wellforganized way, can never be classed as menial. She discovers that cook' ing is an exact science-not a matter of good or bad luck,----and this gives a new respect for the tasks which take a woman to the kit' chen at the three most important times of the day. She finds that with systematic plan- ning and buying she can save time and money spent in the kitchen, and that this systemiz' ing of work, coupled with a knowledge of combining foods, will promote health and happiness among the members of the family. She discovers the immense satisfaction to be derived from doing every detail well, and finds that the garment on which she has worked most painstakingly yields the greater pleasure of contemplation. ,This in itself- the proper attitude toward work-is of no small value. The girls'in sewing classes study their individual needs and visit department stores to study fabrics and see readyfmade garments they may wish to copy. Their fin' ished garments are exhibited when complet' ed. The advanced cooking classes carry on thc essentials learned in the elementary work, with special emphasis to menufforming, or' dering, and serving of meals. The cost of each meal is computed and comparisons made to determine whether the differences in cost are proportionate to the food value derived. The girls work in couples to plan and order a day in advance. On the day the meal is served to four members of their class, one girl does the cooking of the entire meal un' aided. This is of practical value, for it throws upon her the responsibility of plan' ning and arranging to have all food cooked at the proper time. Her partner acts as hostess, and at their next serving, they exchange duties. Often a girl sets bread the previous day in order to serve fresh rolls at her lunch' eon and win favorable comments from her guests, who are encouraged to criticize both favorably and unfavorably the food, service, and entire menu. Next come field trips to meat markets to study meat cuts, and to bakeries to watch the actual process of bread making on a com' mercial scale. The International Silver Com' pany cofoperated with the classes in studying silverware from the standpoint of beauty, utility, and manufacture. They issued bookf A

Page 19 text:

STYL 5 magazines, in which he is free to explore and discover his individual reading tastes In our three years of organization the aim has been to build up within the school a library which embodies this threefold ser' vice. We now have a carefully selected col' lection of more .than four thousand books, chosen to meet the curriculum needs of the various departments of the school, and also to meet the recreational needs of the stud' ents. XVe receive regularly throughout the year about forty different magazines, each representing the best in its particular field of information, and we have collected a large iile of pictures and clippings for class' room use. Our attendance records show that over onefthird of the entire student body uses the library daily, and during each period in the day the librarian, the assistant librarian, and one teacher are at hand to help these students, through guidance and suggestions, to find the material they need. All iirstfyear students are given instruc' tion in the arrangement of the books in the library and in the use of certain important reference books as sources of information. Also, during the year a reading contest is held, with the cofoperation of the English Department, for the purpose of encouragf ing the reading of interesting biographies and other stimulating stories of personal ad' venture. Many of the duties connected with thc daily routine of our library service are taken charge of by student assistants, who have organized themselves into a Library Squad, and whose interest in this school service and feeling of responsibility toward it help to in- still a similar' spirit among the other stud' ents of the school. lt is by means of this co-operation of students, teachers, and lif brarians that our wellfequipped library plant functions as an active, living force in our school life. Hazel Erchinger, librarian When Warren Harding opened in Septem' ber, 1925, there were 250 students enrolled in the Commercial Department. This enroll' ment has shown a steady increase each year, until today there are 362 students taking com' mercial work, or forty per: cent of the total school enrollment, exclusive of classes one and two. In September, 1925, there were only 65 boys taking the commercial courseg in 1928 we have 101 boys enrolled, an inf crease of fiftyffive per cent. This is en' couraging, for the demand each year for boys who have completed the commercial course has been much greater than the num' ber graduated. To encourage boys to enter the commercial course and to meet this def mand of the community, the commercial cur' riculum has been materially changed. Dur' ing the past year two new subjects have been added, business organization and advertising. It is also possible for students who may want to go to some higher institution to elect physics, chemistry, a foreign language, or mathematics, and thus meet the entrance re' quirements of many colleges. In the annual state contest held by the Connecticut Business Educators' Association on March 17, our entrants won first place in the 80-word shorthand contest, second place in the 100fand 120-word shorthand conf test, and second place in the advanced book' keeping contest. Miss Mildred Keegan's transcript in the 80'word contest was graded 100 per cent. Miss Elsie Stirk won second place in both the 100fand 120fword contest, while Alfred Del Vecchio won the second place in the bookkeeping contest. The department now has 78 graduates. A survey of the employment of graduates is made each year. The surveys show that of

Page 21 text:

STYLUS lets illustrating table service and containing many practical suggestions. A representative took the class on an educational tour thru the factory, showing every process in the manufacture and explaining the chemistry ofthe electrofplating. The company then offered prizes to the girls who had done the hest work throughout the term. The Rumford Baking Powder Company of' fers money prizes for a biscuit contcst in which evcry girl participates. The furnished apartment offers opportunity for actual home making, in the making of curtains, lamp shades, cushions, and other acf cessories. Trips to furniture stores foster good taste in choice of rugs and furnishings. Girls planning to enter college or the com' mercial world spend their entire high school course in preparation, but few people considf er the importance of being trained for the work which most girls will do for the longest period of their lives-the work of home mak- ing. Ellcn Ryan,. head of the Household Arts Department.