Kew Forest School - Blotter Yearbook (Forest Hills, NY)

Page 15 text:

THB BLOTTER same through the years. The girls are dressed economically, and in good taste, with their minds free for studies and not centered on what dress will be worn on the morrow. School Becomes Non-Profit Corporation On April 4, 1941, Mr. Marriott, Headmaster, mailed a letter to the parents stating that he had decided to retire and to close the school. In this way, Mr. Marriott brought to an end a distin- guished educational career. Meeting the crisis, a group of fathers of pupils met at the home of George O. Niddrie, April 18, 1941, and decided to make plans to continue the school. On june 20, 1941, a non-proht corporation was formed and on July 1, 1942, the complete ownership of the school property was acquired by the new cor- poration. A Board of Trustees, twenty-one mem- bers, have skillfully and unselfishly carried the responsibility of the corporation since that time. Judge Nicholas M. Pette, President, George O. Niddrie, Vice-President, Theodore M. Newhouse, Secretaryg Dr. Marlo P. Bates, Treasurer and Dr. Dixon, Headmaster, were the first corporate officers and these remain the same except that the Vice- President and Counsel is now Arthur H. Wheaton. In June 1941, Dr. Dixon, who had been Associate Headmaster since 1935, was appointed Headmaster by the Trustees and Mrs. Smart was appointed Dean. Among the outstanding innovations of the pres- ent administration is a remedial reading clinic, under the direction of a trained teacher, Mrs. Louise V. Smith. The pupils' eye movements are trained, the span of recognition is increased and the time of fixation is decreased. Because, in the process of education, rapid and comprehending reading is so important, the remedial reading clinic is a significant addition. There are new outdoor playground and indoor equipment for kindergar- ten. Two teachers are in charge, each of a morning and an afternoon group. Primary One room has been newly equipped. Sterilizing ultra-violet rays have been installed in the rooms of the youngest children. Visual education has this year become a reality, through the gift, from the Kew-Forest School Association, of machine and screen that make possible sound films. The Kew-Forest School Association of parents and teachers has been most generous to the school in the seven years of its existence, under the leader- ship of Mrs. Edmund W. Fitzgerald, Mrs. Charles A. Hersey, Mrs. George A. Orr and Mrs. M. M. Taylor, Presidents. In the program of the school one of the high spots of the year is Commencement, when, since 1926, an imposing academic processional is com- posed of Faculty members in gowns and hoods, Senior girls in white dresses, Senior boys in white tuxedos and black trousers. In following Com- mencements these features have been added: a color bearer, a small boy and girl in white academic gowns, carrying the diplomas. A profusion of flowers, choral music accompanied by the organ, three Senior speakers and a guest speaker all help to make a harmonious whole. Until 1926, the Commencement wasbheld at the school, simply and charmingly. Nine Commencements have been held in the Church-in-the-Gardens. Including this one of 1948, fourteen will have taken place in the Community House of Forest Hills Gardens. Mrs. g

Page 14 text:

THE BLOTTER degrees at 89 colleges and universities and others are studying at 41 colleges, today. Several are work- ing for their doctorates and Elizabeth Knight Pat- terson, Bryn Mawr Ph.D. '41 and Suzanne van Dyke Beatty, Sigma Xi, Michigan Ph.D. '46, have earned theirs. The Phi Beta Kappa list includes: Catherine Lewerth Almirall, Smith '33, Frederick H. Bruenner, Princeton '41, Carol Ann Hawkes, Barnard '433 Margaret B. Knapp, Wellesley '36, Marie E. Mesrobian, Barnard '41, Juliet Auman Metcalf, Ohio Wesleyan '41. Many graduates are lawyers, physicians, nurses, welfare workers and teachers. Margaret B. Knapp and Diane B. Holt have taken the vows and are now Nuns in the order of Sacred Heart. Mother Margaret Knapp is teaching in the Convent of Sacred Heart, Lake Forest, Illinois and Mother Diane Holt in the Con- vent of Sacred Heart, Overbrook, Pennsylvania. A strong faculty staff has characterized the school from the beginning and many members have been on the staff for many years. Mrs. Milli- cent D. Oram joined the staff in 1922, Mrs. Blanche A. Burd and James L. Chamberlain in 1924, James L. Dixon and Mrs. Lucy Allen Smart in 1925. Dr. Dixon was the head of the History Department until 1941, In 1935, he became Asso- ciate Headmaster. In 1944, he earned his Doctorate in Education. Mrs. Smart, who had lived in the community since 1917, became Assistant to the Headmasters and Librarian, when she joined the staff in 1925. Mr. Catlin, Dr. Dixon, and Mrs. Smart are on the roll of Phi Beta Kappa. The XX X X QA Xx X :Sf 1 .'Qi 7 i1X N, gf L xv - , -xiii-R-X39-i:??'.. Xxkwsxii, ..:.f:cts,-.-5-,MugE XTEAB-,. -'vfxs rdxaaxxi I ly In III nv na ,Haw-4 xg , QEX T ' 2 ., x, I ' Q .X . , . - s . X 'QXQ Q - . ' X ' S X 'Nbvu N - N- wx ' S i it is C 'S XQ . gf P- f XNXMXQ ky t ..-1f'f 4S Q F Y Xxxxxxmaxqxdas-11-' .5 5 ,Q sn ,gxg gx X 1 is 1 2 S ' , N in BD S3359 f ,R ....xqN,- A Q Ep gf ssv -' it ,-N,,:..,. i Nr N . T .isibk V E Xa. Y xy X XQNXX Q Z R Eiga? f complete current faculty list appears elsewhere in this volume. Of all those who have taught in Kew-Forest School, not one has been more beloved than Vera E. Harif, head of the French Department, from September 1934 to June 1939. Her association with Kew-Forest School was terminated by her untimely death, january 3, 1942, at Tucson, Ari- zona. Mlle. Harif was beautiful, physically and spiritually. Through inheritance, education and travel, she was a gifted linguist. Her gracious and charming personality will always be held in pre- cious memory by those who knew her. An Organ - A Tribute to Mr. Catlin's Memory It was a dennite loss to Kew-Forest School and to the cause of education when, after a lingering illness, Mr. Catlin died September 20, 1935. In his memory a Hammond organ was presented to the school in 1936 by pupils, teachers, alumni and friends. This instrument adds to the reverence of the regular High School Assembly programs and it forms an important background to all Com- mencement programs. In 1928, Catherine Lewerth, a Junior in the school, designed and drew a seal in which she embodied the motto, Ad Summum, and these immediately became the oiiicial seal and motto for the school. Dr. Dixon, then a member of the teaching staff, wrote the otlicial school song in 1927: All Hail to Thee, Kew-Forest, which has been sung at every Commencement since that time. In 1928, Nedra Gullette, '29, wrote Cam Alma Mater, sung by the Seniors at every Commence- ment. At the suggestion of Doris Clarke, '33, Seniors began to lead Friday morning High School As- semblies in the winter of 1933, a custom that has been continued through the years. In the fall of 1931 a committee of Mothers, one from each grade, met at the home of Mrs. Elton W. Clark, mother of three girls in the school and with Mrs. Smart designed a school uni- form. As fashions change the skirt becomes longer or shorter, the waist line narrower or wider, but in the essentials the uniform has remained the

Page 16 text:

THE BLOTTER -aiwgidiixl f f ll' JM- .af fb 5 X ygyinifpxwlix ' X X f Smart has been responsible for many plans and details since 1926. Extra-Curricular Program Varied The extra-curricular opportunities have been many. A Student Council was organized in No- vember 1922, but did not survive. A Leaders Club, begun in 1926, proved to have too much emphasis on the club idea. In 1944 a Student Council was developed from the Leaders Club and is functioning as well as it can with the difliculty of finding time for meetings. The Headmaster and Dean are advisers. The Blotter was started as a small paper bound periodical of a few pages in April 1920. Fourteen small numbers, with pictures, advertisements and stories, printed without any particular plan, were published until 1925, when in the school year 1925-1926 four numbers, in good typographical style, were issued. Since that time a large, bound volume has appeared each year. This volume in 1948 is number 27. A sizable literary section ap- peared in 1925-26 and in the succeeding volumes. In 1930 and 1931, Laurose Schulze-Berg '31, wrote one story each, that took first prize in the story contest conducted by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Cam Alma Mater was the dedi- cation poem of 1928. A French department was started in 1929. A Spanish department was inaugu- rated in 1943. At times German and Latin sections have been included. Many prizes and medals have been awarded the Blotter by the Columbia Scho- lastic Press Association, all through the years, with the ultimate of a perfect score, 100079, going to the medalist Blotter of 1940. Mrs. Smart has been adviser since 1925. Debating has been a major activity since the spring of 1928, under the leadership of Dr. Dixon and in conjunction with the Long Island Inter- scholastic Debating Association. A large number of pupils take part as debaters, time keepers, chair- men. Oral themes are taught in all English classes, leading to the experience in public speaking of debating. The oldest club is the Studio, formed by Miss Enid T. Doyle, in 1930. This is largely a working organization, for tl1e members make posters and programs for the school and drawings for the Blotter. Le Salon Francais, organized in 1931, is still functioning. El Circulo Panamericano, started in 1943, interests many pupils. The Glee Club, founded in 1926, has func- tioned through the years-at no time with more vitality than today. The Philanthropy Committee has been most active throughout all classes in the school since Thanksgiving 1925 and the sum of 385,369.50 has been raised for the American Red Cross, Infantile Paralysis Foundation, New York Times Neediest Cases, Fund for the Blind, Child Service League, St. Albans Hospital, New York National War Fund. The dinners for the underprivileged, Red Stockings for the Community Service, Books for Russia, Friendship Boxes for Europe, would be worth 34500 in addition to the above sum. Mrs. Smart and all home room teachers have been the advisers. Through the years, intermittently, a variety of activities and clubs have come and gone-Players, Camera, Science, Mathematics, Three Arts, Der Deutsche Verein.