New Trier Township High School - Echoes Yearbook (Winnetka, IL)

Page 23 text:

' 1 if PHYSICS STUDENTS TEST THE FORCE OF STATIC ELECTRICITY Long examinations introduced in June A school-Wide system of long examina- tions went into effect at the end of the second semester. Students gained experi- ence in college-type examinations, and teachers sharpened their ideas of course content and purposes. Primarily, how- ever, the long examinations constituted an effective means of instruction. By fur- nishing occasion for thorough review and by setting questions that demanded both comprehensive and penetrating views of a course, a long examination became the culmination of a yearis study. Questions calling for essay-type answers required the student not merely to recall facts and concepts, though that was essential, but more importantly to demonstrate devel- oped intellectual power of organizing and evaluating facts. What the student was able to do with what he had learned was the main concern. Examination questions were to search out the extent of the stu- dent's knowledge by requiring him to use it imaginatively. With this view, teachers prepared long examinations for New Trier students in all academic subjects. The continuing growth of New Trier has brought a continuing growth of cur- riculum indicative of the school's desire to serve the students and the community. ADVANCED U.S. HISTORY CLASS CONVENES IN AMERICANA ROOM

Page 22 text:

MR. PETERSON CONDUCTS SENIOR ENGLISH CLASS Curriculum broadened to meet student demands Two supplementary processes continued the curriculum development at New Trier during i958-1959. Concentration on tra- ditional academic subjects for college preparation become more intense at the same time that elaboration of courses for students of various inclinations was spreading. Both movements translated into action the spirit of the New Trier curriculum makers as expressed by Dr. Cornog: To make available both the useful and the liberal arts, both the hu- mane studies which represent the great areas of human knowledge, and the prac- tical crafts and arts which can also enrich the person and increase oneis compe- tenciesf' The New Trier curriculum program is planned by Dr. Cornog, Mr. Carpenter, and the School Board on the basis of rec- ommendations of the Curriculum Com- mittee of the faculty, the department heads, and various other sources. The Curriculum Committee, composed of rep- resentatives from both academic and non- academic departments and headed this year by Mr. Kenneth Funkhouser, dis- cussed and acted upon matters which dealt with New Trieris over-all curricu- lum requirements. Suggestions for cur- riculum revisions in specific courses origi- nated with departmental subcommittees and the department heads. All sugges- tions, both of the general and depart- mental scope, received extensive consid- eration before they Were established in the schoolis program. This year marked the introduction of a new freshman grammar program in the English department. ln the fall a diag- nostic test was given to all freshmen, the C results of which served as an indication to the teachers of the students, needs. For all those students who received low grades on this test, a second, mid-term examination was administered. Those whose scores were still below standard took a special class two days a week to make up their grammar deficiencies be- fore a final test. In mathematics additional advanced courses for juniors and seniors extended to larger numbers the type of instruction begun with advanced placement students, who in turn edged into newer mathemati- cal realms. Traditional mathematical sub- ject materials and names merged into new titles and courses that included such top- CI-IEMISTRY STUDENTS 'WORK IN REIVIODELED LAB ics as the theory of sets, Boolean algebra, probability statistics and theory, and sym- bolic logic. The science departmentis curriculum in the fall added offerings in amateur radio and electronics. For the first time biology was opened to freshmen in an sections. For 1958-1959 instruction in Spanish and German, as well as in Latin and French, became available to freshmen. In the upper years seminars and special sec- tions for a few students extended the lan- guage instruction for those seeking ad- vanced placement in college. The art department capitalized on its reorganization of courses into one-period offerings, enabling large numbers of stu- dents to include art courses in their pro- grams. The course in Art Appreciation II, previously a required major, was no longer needed and therefore was dropped from the curriculum at the beginning of the year. The music department contin- ued its wide variety of groups for inter- ested students at all levels of performance and emphasized a new course in composi- tion, High enrollments cause the intro- duction of two new performing groups, the Madrigals and Honor Band. The drama department formed an Acting Workshop, studying aesthetics and inter- pretation in the theater. Home Design and Construction Prob- lems and Blue Print Reading, two new courses for both boys and girls, were added to the curriculum by the industrial arts department. The Minors Hs program was disbanded in February. E... Q

Page 24 text:

1 i -I T I, x 1 B 1 Y ! W 5 F x l I Q 1 F