Main Avenue High School - El Sombrero Yearbook (San Antonio, TX)

Page 21 text:

 | HE ability, on the part of the student, to distinguish between right and wrong, to fully appreciate this distinction, and to demonstrate it on every occasion by his conduct, forms, in my opinion, Ihc basic principles -upon which student self-government is established. Such plan of government is being carried out here on a more extensive scale than in the average high school. It is bringing our students into a closer relationship with one another, and into a fuller realization of the responsibilities which they should assume in regard to their school affairs. It is establishing the honor system as a tradition. Let us guard, carefully, the good name of our school. This can best be accomplished by remembering that the actions of our students, individually or collectively, will always reflect upon the honor of Old Main. Fifteen

Page 20 text:

□ S a farewell message to the students of the Main Avenue High School to whom 1 am indebted for two of the pleasantest years of my life, I would urge them to take full advantage of the wonderful opportunities being presented to them in this splendidly equipped plant and exceptionally strong faculty. Not only should they prepare themselves for their furture careers by application to their studies and by the cultivation of those habits that will be invaluable to them in later life but they should enter into the spirit of the life they are novf living and so live it that they may leave the school with the knowledge that they have contributed somewhat toward the betterment of the school. The development of character is the fundamental aim of the school rather than the acquisition of information and the effort of the administration to encourage self-control through the introduction of a system of self-government should receive the hearty and cordial support of every student of the school. By this means it is hoped that every student of the school will do the right thing because it is right and because he wants to do the right thing rather than because some higher authority will punish him for not doing it. May the school thrive and prosper and finally attain those ideals toward which those who love and cherish it are striving.

Page 22 text:

 The Department of English INASMUCH as English is the only prescribed subject in the curriculum of the Main Avenue High Sehoool, six credits in English being the minimum requirement for graduation, this department is the largest in point of numbers in the school. More than 90 per cent of the students take English—many by compulsion, not a few from choice. The course of study has been altered from time to time in order to keep the work of the department abreast with advanced ideas in education, and will compare favorably with that offered in all but the more richly endowed high schools of the country, where greater library facilities and a larger teaching force in proportion to enrollment permit a differentiation of courses and a closer adaptation of the work to individual needs than is possible with us. The work of the department covers eight terms. In addition to the usual course in rhetoric and composition, a rich course of reading is offered in each class, including the chief English and American classics. From five to six plays of Shakespeare are studied—nearly all of those on the list for college entrance. English 6 is a course in American literature, with an extensive list of supplementary reading, and English 7 and 8 give a preliminary view of English literature, in which the student gets a first-hand introduction to the more important writers. A course in business English and one in argumentation have both been'the subject of serious consideration and cannot be much longer postponed. For students who can afford to disregard university entrance requirements, a course in nineteenth century and recent literature will prove highly attractive. But for such a course the library will have to be supplied with so many of the newer books that a special endowment fund will be required. Every two weeks the teachers of English confer together on the needs of the department, and lay plans for improving the course and for making the instruction more efficient. Various types of educational tests arc given, and the results of these tesls will form the basis of changes as soon as they can be applied. A beginning has already been made in English 1, where the students entering the high school in February were assigned to differentiated sections of the class as a result of a reading test held at the close of the preceding term. A course in library training is now being formulated, and when completed will be a valuable adjunct to the study of literature as well as to the other activities of the school. Sixteen