Mendota High School - Atodnem Yearbook (Mendota, IL)

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Everyone needs some kind of math as a preparation for adult life. Miss Pottinger taught practical math and commercial arith- metic to students who weren't taking algebra and geometry. I-Ier room was always on the cheerful side because of her many flowers, Her students were taught manners and ab- sitively and posilutely along with their math. 'U BOOKKEEPING and business training help get you started in the financial upkeep of a business. They teach you how to handle and figure out problems concerning money. Miss Swanson keeps the students working hard so they'll know how to take care of their cash in future years. Typing is considered the first step in becom- ing a good secretary. Miss Mabel Brown and Miss Swanson drill the students in finger ex- ercises and typing exercises. Can it be the students enjoy this class because there isn't any homework connected with it? Along with typing the girls are taking short- hand so they'll make first-class stenographers. Miss Brown keeps the girls in a whirl with her same, next, same, same, same, etc. Then to top everything off, Miss Brown di- rects the few senior 'iwould be secretaries in the art of transcribing their notes taken in shorthand II. Office practice is the all around class that polishes the girls up on everything including world affairs. 9 IN GENERAL SCIENCE, Coach Lewis tries to explain the parts of a car to his classes as one of the big projects of the year. The girls are really dumbfounded now. What will they think of next? As the year continued they found that general science had better things in store for them. There are always a few gruesome things we have to overcome in high school and dissecting in biology is one of them. Mr. Doenier has a hard time getting the girls to touch the moldy things. Do you blame them? Biology is an interesting subject in spite of the dissecting. The students also learned different types of birds, the bones of the skeleton again, and the different classes of insects. They also made leaf notebooks during the course of the year. The chemistry class worked just as hard this year and came up with the same old odors. Mr. Norton managed to get the chemistry students through with little destruction. They studied magnetism, electricity and various other scientific subjects. Some of the college-bound students indulged in physics. T.hey learned about light, force, matter and a million other scientific things. We can't figure out who had the most difficult time, Mr. Norton trying to get it across, or the students trying to get it. 3 SOCIAL SCIENCE, world history, economics, and U. S. history make up our social science department. They contribute a great deal to the educational schedule. U. S. history is a required subject also. Nancy Brown has the sole task of teaching the seniors the back- ground of our country. What a jobl Mr. Mauntel teaches world history and economics to the students that are really digging deep for knowledge about our country. The social science classes learn how to get along with people. Mr. Koeller is really the man for this job. 9 MISS BREESE, the capable director of Latin I and II, guided the first year students through the fundamentals and then helped them put what they learned to good use in Latin II. 9 SPEECH and drarnatics go hand in hand. Speech, the first semester and dramatics, the second. I-Iere, as well as in debate, Mr. Koeller shows the students how to get out in the world and speak for themselves. In dra- matics they learn how to act and a good many things that have to do with producing a play. 0 SEVVING and cooking aren't the only things the girls have been doing in the home eco- nomics classes. This year the senior girls dec- orated the new house built by the building trades class. Mrs. Elsesser also planned the meals for the cafeteria. A new class started for the boys this year was boys home economics, taught by Mrs. Bryant. Can you bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy? 9 MB. MORRIS had classes in agriculture I, II, III, and IV. A new class that started this year was non-vocational agriculture. This was for both boys and girls. More city boys

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ur urricu cc 9 OUT OE Tl-lE confusion that resulted from arranging, balancing, shifting, changing and re-changing programs, the class schedules were finally set up and assigned. Teachers and students got to know where they be- longed, and book larnin' at MHS got off to a good start. Qn practically every students program was some phase of English, for ability to read, speak, and write well is basic to good work in all the other courses of the curriculum. Freshmen found that their first course in high school English combined grammar lessons with practice in effective speech and with reading widely from many distinguished modern writers. They also read lvanhoe, and many took pride in their poetry scrapbooks. Miss Pottinger, Miss Payne, and Miss Breese were the English l teachers. The sophomores read. The Tale of Two Cities as their classic in English ll. Miss Nancy Brown and Mrs. Doenier guided them successfully through the story and, of course, many other reading projects. Along with their literature they .had their nevereending grammar lessons. The juniors were assisted through English Ili by Mr. Moogk. During the year they read some of A.rnerica's best literature. They also learned to read poetry. They tried, anyhow. The English lV class, a college-preparatory course in English literature, was made up entirely of girls plus one poor boy. They wrote long themes, read Macbeth , and gave 60- minute book reports. This very interesting class was directed by Miss Payne. journalism, also an elective course for sen-- iors, was taught by Mr. Moogk and was a whole year subject for the first time this year. Students learned the basic principles of jour- nalisrn and practiced them in their writing assignments. 9 ERESHMEN who planned to go to college undertook the job of learning algebra. Al- though some of them wondered how X equalecl so many different things, it became clear to them before the year was over. Mr. LeMarr saw to that. They all sign their notes with an X now. The teachers big question now is, who does X equal. The tables have turned. While the freshmen were struggling with algebra, the sophomores were being initiated into geometry. And they thought algebra was hardl Mr. LeMarr showed them how to get around the square corners and figure out all the angles, though. The few students who ventured into Mr. Norton's room to take algebra ll did a fine job. They came out with flying colors and some neat knowledge on algebra ll.

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f' 173-f Ji T could take this subject because no projects were needed. 9 MR. GEHLER showed the boys how to make good use of a hammer and some nails. ln the shop classes they learned to build all sorts of things, and they also built the scenery for the junior and senior class plays. They always helped in making the decorations for activities held at the school. 9 MR. WEDEMEYER assists the artistic stu- dents in mechanical drawing and art. Mechan- ical drawing is more technical and is a step towards the field of drafting while art is more fun and helps to bring out one's ability. Mr. Wedemeyer's classes also helped to paint the scenery for the class plays. 9 A NEVV CLASS in the music department this year was the general music class instructed by Mr. Schlick. ln this class they learned the history, and all the details that have to do with the reading and writing of music. This may be the beginning for some of our great composers of the future. 9 DO YOU KNOW why none of the cars have dented fenders lately? The credit belongs to the drivers' training class. Mr. Rollins teaches the students the background for becoming a good driver. Then he lets them put their knowledge to good use by driving the special car furnished by the Ford dealer in Mendota. Mr. Rollins also has charge of the diversified occupations course. 9 COACH LEWIS was the instructor of the boys rough and tumble gym classes. The classes consisted of varied activities such as basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, tum- bling, wrestling, and a few laps around the gym if you get in trouble. One of the boys' classes was held with the girls and they played against them until the girls started beating them too much. Now it is considered two different classes. The girls' physical education classes led by Mrs. Brent survived another year by start- ing with hockey and baseball in the fall and then continuing on through the winter and spring with basketball, volleyball, dancing, baseball and a few calisthenics sprinkled here and there. Hockey left the girls with bruises and swollen shins, but they were soon forgotten when the floor burns from basketball took their place. One day a week the junior and senior girls were taught the fundamentals of home nursing by Miss Pope in Red Cross. jane, the patient, was poked, shoved, jerked, and pulled from one side of the bed to the other while the girls learned how to handle a patient in bed. The girls and the patient lived through it though, and Miss Pope revived to teach an- other year.