Medina High School - Mirror Yearbook (Medina, NY)

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lr Q Q Q THEMIRROR Q Q 1 Q him a taste of art, music, a foreign language, or an industrial course, and may thus help him decide upon his future vocation. That explains why the freshman year's work is often called 'texploratoryf' By the second, or at least by the third year, the student should have some definite ideas as to what he likes best. Having formed these ideas, he specializes in those subjects which most appeal to him. For example, let us say the student is interested in the commercial subjects. He may specialize in that field by taking the regular com- mercial course, or he may take the general academic course and branch out into the commercial field for his electives. Likewise, the students interested in classical, art or music courses may study foreign language, drawing, music, history or science as electives. This brief outline may give some idea as to what the student may do to graduate from high school. The times call for men who have special- ized in a certain line, and the more proficient a man is in his single course, the more successful he is bound to be. Medina High School is not a machine into which boys and girls are fed like so much raw ma- terial to be ground by a. four-year process and then turned out as dupli- cate copies of a single mechanical product. A thousand times no ! When our diploma is handed to us, we as human individuals leave our Alma Mater to take up the challenge of a richer, fuller, and better life. -Vlfinthrop Curvin Around the School Clock with Home Economics HE Home Fconomics department of Medina High School is J 'xg -' 1 - made up of three different groups of students. The first group is composed of High School students, the second, Junior High School, and the third, Pre-Vocational students. THE PRE-VoeATIoNAL XVOHK At nine o'clock every morning the Pre-Vocational group comes over from the Central school. They are instructed in Clothing, Home Nurs- ing, Foods, and Drawing. These girls spend at least two periods in the department every day. Mondays and Tuesdays are spent in the sewing room. There they are given a general knowledge of garment construction, renovation, and wise clothing selection. Their first project is to make a white smock. On Wednesdays they are taught how to care for and prepare dietaries for the sick in the home. The foods class meets every Thursday, and is taught not only how to prepare foods, but also how to plan and serve meals, what to do in emergency cases of fire, burns, etc., and how to use and care for the equipment in the laboratory. In the drawing class on Fridays the girls make their own recipe Page TWBIIYZY-SBVEII

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Q Q Q Q THEMIRROR Q Q Q Q every day and performing faithfully daily tasks that often irk us. As the memory of our school days is one that will linger as long as life lasts, let us try to make it as perfect a picture as possible for memory's art gallery. -Marion Haak The General High School Courses ,gm ORF often than not the student graduating from the eighth grade and entering high school is utterly at sea as to what he will do to gain a living in the years to come. He is confronted with a bewildering number of subjects from which he must choose those which will be most useful to him in his particular vocation. Yet how can the entering freshman choose, when he does not know what career he wishes to pursue as his own life work? No doubt many adults are even yet filled with vain regrets about the profession they would have taken up if they had had, in their 'teens, some experienced person interested in their welfare and capable of giving much needed advice, or if they had had some of the opportunities their children have today, or if, on the other hand, they had made better use of the chances then open. There are many misfits today in every profession, who might have been successful, had they found in their ,teens the type of work for which they were best adapted, and had been prepared to do that work. Our Medina schools today are seeking to keep us from falling into these pitfalls. This is accomplished, in the first place, by offering three major courses of study: the academic or general high school course, the classi- cal or college-entrance, and the commercial. In each of these courses the first year's work is very similar, and may be called exploratory. The subjects generally include English, biology, civics, and mathematics or an elective. By studying these gen- eral subjects the freshman gains a foundation from which he may branch out into the field that seems most interesting to him. 1 say interesting, because the individual who is not deeply interested in his work does not, and can not, give it his best efforts. Furthermore, if the freshman never completes his high school educa- tion, he has at least learned from his biology the rudiments of physiology and hygiene, and the fundamental facts of plant and animal life. His English has introduced him to the best types of literature to which to turn in leisure moments, has given him experience in addressing a g1'oup of classmates on some topic of current interest, of conducting a meeting according to parliamentary procedure, and has trained him to express himself clearly, convincingly, and fluently whether in speaking or in Writing. His civics has prepared him to become an intelligent voter and a law-abiding citizen. Meanwhile, the elective subject gives Page Twenty-six

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Q Q Q Q THEMIRROR Q Q Q 1 books and note-books. They also make place cards, favors, and posters, which help to emphasize the aims of the Home Economics work. Perhaps thc very busiest periods of the day are the third and fourth in the morning. During these periods, one girl taking High School Home Economics, and four students, who work for their lunch, prepare the noon lunch for the students. The aims of the luuchroom course arc: to plan, prepare and serve suitable refreshments for various occasions, to plan and prepare dietaries, to preserve and store food for future use, to emphasize the selection and preparation of suitable foods for the school lunch-that is, foods which will give the students the most nourishment for the amount of money expended. YVhen the 11:45 bell rings, the student customers begin to line up. XVhen they reach the counter, they provide themselves with trays and necessary silver. As they pass along the counter, they are first served the main or hot dishes, next the beverages-either cocoa or milk, next, salads, then rolls, and lastly, the dessert, oranges, and ice cream. Each dish is sold for five cents, except milk and oranges, which are slightly less. A complete, well-balanced lunch costs not more than twenty or twenty-five cents. The number of students served each day averages between ninety and one hundred and fifty. Between 12:00 and 12:45 eight girls take entire charge of running the electric dish washer and of washing all cooking utensils and trays. These girls receive only their lunch in return for their services rendered. The first two periods in the afternoon are devoted to a Senior High School clothing class. The aims of this course are: to teach the relation of the principles of design to beauty and choice of clothing, to teach the characteristics and comparative values of textile fabrics, so as to de- velop an interest in those factors which influence the cost of the family and personal clothing, to teach the efficient use of equipment in the construction of clothing, to encourage a spirit of service through work- ing for others, to teach the relations of hygiene to health, and the care of body and clothing. In the Junior High School Group there are four different classes, which meet the seventh and eighth periods of the day. Because of limited time, each of these classes meets only once a week. The classes are divided according to the grade of the student: YB, 7A, 8B, and 8A. The first class learns how to care for and run the sewing machines. Their first problem is the making of a white uniform to be worn later for all food Work. The next term this class is given instruction in food selection and preparation. The third term the girls are again given more advanced work in clothing selection and construction, while the fourth and last term is devoted to more advanced food study. --Verna Garrett Page Twenty-eight