Oceanside High School - Spindrift Yearbook (Oceanside, NY)

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Be p I class experimenting with prespectiwe. SKILLED ARTISANS Our Plant is concerned, too, with those attributes of the spirit which lend grace and beauty to life. It is concerned with our creative impulses, and consequently with those arts through which we coimrunicate our truest insights , our deepest experiences, our better selves. Each one of us has within himself a feeling for beauty that may be expressed in any one of many ways. In our Art Department, talented young men and women create drawings in pen, pencil, and charcoal. Others paint, in water and in oils, thus depicting their dreams and ideals through the medium of artistic expression. Creative impulses are nurtured in interior decorating classes, where pupiIs study furniture styles and room setting, and then model their own original ideas. Our emotions find another outlet through the Music Department. Our musicians find that there is music to fit their every mood. They get a lot of enjoyment from playing or singing the music of classical composers, and naturally they all enjoy a popular number here and there. This group includes the orchestra, the band, and the glee club. The Masque Society presents excellent young troupers in its varied productions. Would-be authors and poets are encouraged in the English and speech classes and in the school publications. Seeing their work in nationally circulated publications enthuses the students, moving them to continue in their literary exploits. Thus our Plant does not feel that its job is complete when it has satisfied only the mechanics of education. It seeks to fan into flame the sparks of creativeness found in students when they began their high school careers.

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THE LIBERAL ARTS SCIENCES Ruth shows then how in Latin III class minus Mrs. Short. The great war from which we are emerging was not caused by a lack of scientific facts, or lack of production or men to produce, or to poor workmen in the various occupations. It was due to the lack of understanding in mankind of the basic principles of life. What makes life worthwhile? Individuals have found the answer thousands of times in every century, in lands all over the world, but so far we have not been able to unify our thinking sufficiently to form policies to determine action. We need to continue our search for the unity of idea and action that will make possible the good life for all. We must return with renewed vigor to the study of LIFE through the medium of literature--our own and others; through the study of events of our own times and other times. Fecause we and our institutions are the result of all that has gone before, we cannot solve our problems or prevent future disasters without a knowledge and understanding of actions and events long since passed. To sweep aside the confusions of the present day, we must remove, at least partially, the barriers of language. Words are but symbols of ideas and we must delve beneath the surface of meaning. We must not fear other men or other nations, because we do not understand the words they use. Miss Moe ler settles s problem in senior history 19

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The home economics class sews « fine sea . MACHINE OPERATORS In our Plant we learn to use machines, tools, equipment of various lands, to make things that we can use immediately. We learn the basic principles that underlie the planning and construction of things that we are not now capable of making. Mechanical drawing is basic in many things. The boys do much in the shop. They may be preparing directly for a vocation, or only for a valuable sideline. For instance, someone interested in becoming an electrician would have to be able to do such things as test an electric circuit, or wire a home, but even for those who have no desire to be electricians, such knowledge could be put to use in their own homes. Shop work gives practical experience in handling woodworking and metal working tools—training for anything from a carpenter to a watchmaker. For girls, the Homemaking Department corresponds to the shop, in giving training which can be put into practice as soon as a girl leaves high school. In home management students study homes and family problems, and in interior decoration class they learn the basic principles of furnishing a home, something about period furniture The girls get their actual practice in elementary clothing class, making clothes to wear themselves, and giving aid to the Bed Cross by making articles for hospitalized veterans. In short, such subjects as shop, homemaking, art or mechanical drawing provide not only book learning, but some of the practice necessary before men and women can become expert workers. Mechanical drawing c laaa at ita peak. Future cabinet builder in wood shop. Working with Metal in the foundry. 21