Maple Avenue Evening High School - Progress Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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him the equipment which will enable him to gain a foothold in the profess- ion. His stay and further progress therein depends entirely upon his own efforts. A We have received, from several former students, letters of gratitude testifying to good positions secured or advanced Wages received as a result of instruction received here. 1 Electrical Department In our Electrical Department, as in all others, the aim is to stress the more practical and logical treatment of the subject rather than the techni- cal and mathematical methods. 'There seems to have been a generally accepted theory in the past that the whole subject of electricity and electrical research was a deep and mysterious and complicated one and that it could be approached only by highly technical and scientific methods and through complicated mathe- matical calculations. While mathematical methods cannot be dispensed with altogether and there is no attempt to do so, for they are an ,essential part of the subject, We realize that the great majority of the students this school is called upon to serve have been compelled to start to Work early in life and have not had the training of the high school graduate in the advanced fundamentals and our 'aim is to give them practical, everyday engineering and electrical practice through methods easily understood and in plain, everyday lan- guage. v All that is required of the student is a will and determination to learn with the necessary stick-to-it-iveness. r For those Who understand the elementals and have already advanced themselves Well along the Way to the higher technique, there are, of course, more advanced methods in electrical science and research Work but even here the simpler forms of language and the more practical methods are employed. So also With the,National Code, the Fire Underwriters' rules and the local ordinancesg the-aim is to teach such portions of these as apply to a certain subject in conjunction with that subject and in that way fix in the - Page Fifty-five

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instruments. Often it is found after an evening's trial that an applicant is not capable of doing the type of Work required in drafting. He may,- due to physical or mental defects,-be unable to measure distances with any degree of accuracy, or he may find it impossible to settle down to the steady nerve and eye straining effort so essential to successful draftsman- ship. If such is the case he is promptly advised to drop the subject and try something different. After he has completed six or seven drawings, the student is taught tracing. The Work is planned so as to approximate as nearly as possible, practical drafting room Work. The complete course consists of some 30 plates, each of which must be drawn and traced. The tracing cloth is furnished by the school. If all the Work is satisfactorily done, a certificate is issued to the student. The subject matter of the course embraces the common elements with which the beginner in a drafting room is most apt to come into contact. That those graduating have been able to utilize what they were taught, is amply attested by the fact that positions have been secured by several and that they have had no trouble doing the Work re- quired of them, and, in fact, gaining advancement. It is not claimed that a few months night school Work will fit a man to be a draftsman, but it has been demonstrated that the classroom Work, if faithfully done, will give ' Mechanical Drawing Class Q Page Fifty-four

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student's mind the reason for the application of the particular rule to the branch of the subject being treated. We have found that this logical treatment of the subject of electricity in preference to the highly technical and mathematical methods, produces better results and more nearly meets the requirements of those enrolling in this school. In future it is the intention to classify the students in the electrical class having one department for those who have already had the advanced fundamentals but who desire more scientific research Work, another for those seeking practical Wiring and engineering Work and a third for the beginners . Class in Electricity QPage Fifty-six