Murphy High School - Mohian Yearbook (Mobile, AL)

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MURPHY HIGH SCHOOL Murphy High School, the only public high school in Mobile, enrolled about four thousand students during the 1947-1948 session. Senior, junior, and sophomore students, accommodated at Murphy proper, numbered thirty-one hun- dred. This enrollment did not include the vet- erans' classes or the adult classes held at night. Principal of this large organization with in- numerable administrative problems is Mr. Ray- mond (». Wilson, who is now in his third year at Murphy. Mrs. Louise K. Hamil is assistant principal, in charge of veterans' classes and the night school for adults. Mrs. Grey Gibson Devilbiss is registrar. Ixlt—Mrs. Hamil, Mrs. Devilbiss, Mr. Wilson; Right—Mrs. Rolls ami Mr. Stapleton. BARTON At Dl MY Barton Academy, century-old cradle of Mo- bile’s public school system, with adjoining Yerby school, is familiarly known as Murphy Annex. It is headquarters for Murphy’s fresh- man class of 935 students because of crowded conditions at Murphy. Mr. W. C. Stapleton is principal of this freshman unit, with Mrs. Eloisc Rolls as assistant principal. , Though students remain at Barton for only one year, school spirit is strong, and students assume many responsibilities after they arc trained. Barton believes that a democracy is the ideal form of school government but that a democracy without trained leaders is not a democracy. Accordingly, great effort is made from the beginning to train students for re- sponsible positions. The school runs smoothly and happily because there is such close coopera- tion between sponsors and committees and the administration

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MID-YEAR SOPHOMORES September found 120 mid-year sophomores entering their fourth semester at Murphy and looking for- ward to the end of the term when they would be juniors. President of this group was petite and pretty Nancy Martin. Her fellow officers were I loward Park, vice-president; Elzine Rudd, secretary; Deane Saun- ders, treasurer; and Doris Pressley, council representative. They chose for their sponsor witty Miss Edna Olson, English teacher. Sailed—Marlin, Min Olson; standing— Par%. Pressley, Rudd, Saunders. SOPHOMORES As the majority of the 1150 reg- ular sophomores had spent their freshman year at Vigor or at Bar- ton, their first assignment was to get acquainted with one another and with Murphy. Coming from schools where they had been the ruling class, they had to adjust themselves to being subordinates again. Presiding over this largest of classes was an evenly balanced group of two boys and two girls: Douglas Ferguson, president; |ohn McGowan, vice-president; Carolyn Newlin, secretary; and Peggy Ann Farmer, treasurer. Sponsor for the sophomores was Mrs. Inez Perry Langham, capable teacher in the commercial department. Standing—McGowan, Mrs. htnghani, Fer- guson; seated—Mewl in and Fanner. FRESHMEN Murphy freshmen, numbering twenty-eight sections of 935 stu- dents, were quartered at Barton Academy and Yerby because of crowded conditions at the high school. Class officers were also stu- dent council officers, or vice versa. Stanley Carpenter was president; Leonard Knodel, vice-president; and Peggy Martin, secretary-treasurer. Miss Mildred Ellisor was sponsor, ably assisted by sponsors of various committees. One of several fine projects promoted by the freshmen was “Courtesy and Good Manners. Carpenter. Martin. Knodel. MO III AN f 13

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t VA11 C V| -r —, r class in adult night school, with Mrs. Hamit in background and Miss V.ndcrlc in right foreground; Right—Miss Purifoy, Miss Taylor, Mrs. Peter, Miss Baxter. Mrs. Bridgewater, Mrs. Clark (secretary), and Mrs. Ross (chairman). NIGHT SCHOOL FOR ADULTS The night school for adults is an outgrowth of the veterans’ individualized instruction pro- gram. Students enroll to get credit toward a high school diploma or to make special prep- aration for college. Enrollment is limited to jxrople eighteen years old or above who are not enrolled in the day time. The school offers a great variety of courses—mechanical drawing and art, history and other social sciences, gen- eral science and biology, woodworking, stenog- raphy and typing, English, and mathematics. One of the most valuable courses is known as the general continuation class, which begins with first grade reading and writing and con- tinues through the sixth grade. Taking these varied courses is a great variety of students— from Ixiys and girls who dropped out of school only a year or two ago to men and women with children and even grandmothers. The program permits the student to work at his own rate of speed, and the length of time needed to complete a course is determined by the ability and perseverance of the student. FACULTY CURRICULUM COMMITTEE The faculty curriculum committee is a large and enthusiastic committee that met on Tues- day mornings regularly throughout the year. The members thoughtfully analyzed the pres- ent curriculum at Murphy; made an intensive study of students’ needs as to health, citizen- ship. and ability to earn a living; read numer- ous books to discover curricular tendencies and developments in other schools; and visited the schools at Pascagoula and Troy to observe cur- ricular practices. These activities supplied the committee with a background for recommending gradual changes in the present curriculum, with the goal in view of adjusting it to each individual's needs. Experimentation on a small scale began when a few social science teachers shifted the interest in the classroom from the viewpoint of the teacher and the textbook to that of the students. One senior said, “Now I know more than just history. I know why we study it and how useful it can be in working out solutions to current problems.” M OHIAN [15