Mount Pleasant High School - Netop Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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Physical Education for Boys Our Physical Education course rates high when com- pared with other high schools. Gym is compulsory at Mount Pleasant and the only ones exempted are those with a doctor's excuse. Apprritus is used as a basis of grading in the gym. with the skills becoming increasing- ly difficult as one enters a higher grade. There are six pieces of apparatus. with a maximum number of 15 points obtainable on each. Thus 90 points is required to compile a perfect score, with 75 points qualifying for an A. 60 points for a B. and a minimum of 45 points for a C. All the skills and exercises are devised to develop th: strength. endurance. and agility of our gymnasts. The gym class also has the opportunity of taking part in intra-class sports such as volleyball, baseball. basketball. and football. ln the spring and fall the boys participate in the popular activity of cross-country. which among the boys is commonly known as over the hill. Our excellent Physical Education course has proved to be a great asset both in civilian life and in the armed services. efbob ably N S 1 5 5 f Onlookers anticipate a display of strength Physical Education for Girls Have you ever looked into the girls' gym. where often eighty girls at a time are engaged in healthful activity of one kind or another? The teen-age girls in their neat blue cotton uniforms and blue socks present an attractive picture as they go through the lesson of the day. In our school. the gymnasium classes have plenty of variety. The aim of all gymnasium is to improve the health of the student by coordinating mind and muscle in the various phases of gym work. Exer- cises. apparatus work. dancing. and games are the four principal divisions of girls' gymnasium at Mount Pleasant. Exercises. snappy and precise. are taken to develop in the student strength and vigor. Need- less to say. exercises also help to keep our girls look- ing trim. Apparatus work develops strength and courage. Most of the students are especially en- thusiastic about dancing. which gives a sense of rhythm and makes a girl graceful and well-poised. Games are played on certain days because they help build character. as well as physical endurance. Each girl gives her best for the good of the team. She learns to follow rules without quibbling. and she learns to accept the decisions of the referee. Perhaps most important of all. in playing games a girl learns to lose gracefully and to win without gloating over her opponents. The girls' gym is a busy place after school hours, as well as during the day. Badminton. table tennis. volleyball. and basketball are among the favorite sports. Except in the winter months. the girls may play games outside the building. Golf, tennis. and softball have their loyal followers and are very popular. When at last play-time or work is over for the clay. the girls go down to the shower room. which is very well equipped and up-to-the-minute in its aopointments. Each girl has an individual marble shower stall and dressing room. and over the sound of the showers can be heard happy voices reviewing the fun of the dav. Then. one by one. the girls emerge. invigorated and fresh from their activity. and happy in the companionship of the friends made at gym.

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English A TEACHER ANSWERS A IOB STUDENT Miss fleery. tell me why I must study English each term. Paul. language is the basic means of communication. lfnglish is your language, therefore your means. liut. Miss Avery. what is communication? Communication is a twofway movement of thought. You receive from others by reading or listening to their thoughlsi you reach others by speaking or writing your thoughts to them. But haeenit I been speaking and listening all my life. and ean't I yet along without reading and writing? Hundreds of years ago, men could communicate with a fair degree of success by speaking and listening. The complexity of modern life. however. makes it imperative for us to be able to understand the thoughts ot men through reading. At times we ITIUSI write. The lfnglish course has for its purpose the teaching oli elliqctive speaking, reading, writing. and listening. Moreover. just as the telephone company must have etlcctive mechanism and eflicient operators to transmit messages. so must we have the skills to receive and to send out ideas effectively. As .1 child matures he is able through study and practice to acquire greater and greater effectiveness in communication. ln senior high school the materials of the course give him opportunity for ever-expanding discrimination in understanding the thoughts of others and in conveying his own. A day-bygday growth occurs in the student. imperceptiblc to him. but readily apparent to one who compares his skill in communication in gracle IOB and later in IZA. Well. I can see that I need to study spelling, punctu- ation, and capitalization il' I am not to seem iamirant when I write my thoughts. But why do I need practice in sentence and paragraph skills? Ah. these and your growth in words-your vocabu- lary building-must keep pace with your growth in maturity, You think in words, Without a broad vocabulary you will be a limited thinker. if at all a thinker capable of living adequately and contributing to the life of your time, Sentence and paragraph skills are needed for clarity of understanding and clarity of expression. By the way, you know. I sup- pose, that clarity means clearness-straight thinking. Yes. that word is in my vocabulary. But what good is grammar? Your study of grammar and good usage is designed to remove the debris that interferes with clarity in your speech. a cleaning up of the hack yard, so to speak. to restore its beauty and usefulness. O.K. Now. what about literature. My sister told me the course includes literature. Right. The term literature means books of fiction. biography. poetry, drama, essays. books you will read in class and books you will read more extensively. I have at hand the words of a wise teacher on the subject of the aim in literature. l shall read the passage. See whether you can understand it. We want our pupils to develop through read- ing and literature a personal sense of values by discovering in the literary works of both past and present what man has sought and found good. and what man has craved and found wanting . . . We want them to come to an understand- ing of themselves in particular and of human nature in general through the concrete presenta- tion of human character and human problems in literature, IVell. I guess it means I'm going to miss something line if I don't have literature. Of course. the literature for the various grades keeps pace with that expanding maturity l mentioned. Yes, Miss Avery. Thanks. Now I know why every high school student needs English. I'm going to think about that communication idea and the need for straight thinking when I listen to the radio ana' when I read the newspaper. Pa 'gil 1905- . '11 Da 1757 095 fam . .no I7 o,, I JZ 1,6 -'r 6 flfi fl' 4 0 I 4, P g

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Calculating machines class at work Mathematics Since the use of mathematics in business. industry. and the sciences is on the increase, an effort is being made to provide for the needs of the pupils in later life. The aim of our Math Department can be accomplished by making certain that pupils have solid examples of the uses that math will be to them. Here at Mount Pleasant there are seven different types of mathematics which are taught to the students. These forms are algebra. plane geometry. solid geometry, trigonometry, review alge- bra. review geometry and basic math. The total number of students taking any one of these subjects is 858. We must be sure th-at the interest and the value of mathematics in education does not fall to the low level it had reached just before our entrance into World War ll. This subject, which played such a large part in the war. is now taking an important role in the post-war period in big business. taxation. and the manufacture of precision instruments. The Mathematics Department of this school is working hard to keep its subject on the high plane it deserves. ap- mv' .AK I i0llllllC.l'Ci2:ll During the term ending February. 1948. of the I577 students enrolled in Mount Pleasant. l438 took some commercial subject. This fact certainly proves that the commercial courses lead in popularity. No matter what type of course a student is taking. she is always strongly advised to take some subject such as typing or filing which will enable her to get an ofhce job if her other plans fail. There are three commercial courses: general, book- keeping. and secretarial. Each of these courses. if followed through. equips the student with all the training and experience required for the respective positions. No further schooling is necessary and on graduating. students who desire positions are helped in finding them. I.ast term all those who wanted positions. except two, were placed. Four rooms of typewritets. one of calculating machines. one of bookkeeping machines. and one of duplicating machines make up the very expensive equipment used by the Commercial Department. As you walk along the first floor corridor you can hear the girls fand boys. tool typing their way to future jobs. '77 0,7 fl of 11 jo-QQ.