Onteora High School - Tomahawk Yearbook (Boiceville, NY)

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accepts as its duty and obligation the tremendous task of developing and maintaining an educational program which will, in a true sense, effect a community school. The three R's, core of the curriculum in the one room school house, still holds its respected place but there is so much more at Onteora Central. In the kindergarten the five year olds come out of their rugged individualism to discover that there is order and pleasure in being together in a group. As one little five year old announced to her boisterous three year old brother at the dinner table at home, One person speaks at a time. Even the nap is not half bad when taken with some twenty others. In the first grade, that crucial period which really sets the child's attitude toward the next twelve years in school, there is a practical yet tender philosophy; the child is taught to enjoy learning. Happy children learn easily, says the first grade teacher. To this she adds that the child must be given an opportunity to be successful in some under- taking. He needs a success experience. Around the curriculum designated by the state for each class, the faculty introduces projects which will help the pupil enjoy studying and increase his intellectual curiosity. In 8th grade social studies the students concern themselves with the immediate present as well as the historical past. The class writes letters to Kings and Queens, Dictators and Presidents and gets answers. The teacher keeps his pupils aware of their own place in the sun and they work on personal scrap books to tell their life story to a possible future employer. General science includes biology, geology, physics and chemistry. Its staff hopes to graduate better citizens. A few will major in special branches of science, but mort will be consumers in many fields. They will have learned to question and think for them- selves, not to be taken in by scientific misinformation. The various departments cooperate with each other. General science group studying volcanoes builds a volcano. General math and general science work together on practi- cal problems. An Indian village is built in art class. The shops combine with mathematics and science at every opportunity and also with the English Department for writing up projects. These are only a few examples of the interplay of departments to enrich the pro- gram. There is a visual aid program manned by students who bring film and projector to the aid of the classroom and operate the equipment themselves. Recently, with a student operator, the film, OUR TOWN, was shown to 175 English students. The boys and girls are encouraged to find freedom of expression, and to be resourceful in thinking up subjects for speech making on the charming small stage in the English class- room. These talks teach poise, diction, self-confidence. They are also an exchange of ideas. Recently a fifteen year old student held the class silent and enthralled as she made a simple plea to teenagers to go to services in their various churches. The student is encouraged to express himself through writing; by means of dramatics he is helped to self-criticism with the use of the tape recorder, so that he himself can hear his own speech faults and strive to correct them. Three languages are available—French, Latin, Spanish, with German to be added later. Since the United States is part of the all world United Nations and our youth is likely to find itself in such wide areas outside our borders, the interest in the tongues of other nations grows. The cultural advantages of knowing another language are em- phasized.

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The Board of Education, with District Superintendent Bennett and Supervising Principal Moehle, travelled all over New York State inspecting different types of school architec- ture, studying school interiors, evaluating faults and virtues of existing schools, meeting with administrators and architects. The architect finally chosen, Paul Harbach, has 25 years of professional experience mainly in the field of school design. A simple ceremony marked the laying of the cornerstone on September 18, 1951, opening a new chapter in the transition from dream to reality. This school was one of the first one story K-12 schools in New York State, outstanding because the architect adapted the plan to fit the site with relation to topography. The plan was laid out for grade segregation; separate entrances were included for kinder- garten, grades one through three, four through six, constituting the elementary depart- ment. The high school section was laid out separately and divided into the junior high and high school wings. A modern central school embodies many special features. Connected with the large garage is an apartment for the head custodian so that the school can have 24 hour supervision. Every modern utilitarian concept that can make for a better school plant has been included. The music department adjoins the beautiful auditorium which seats 700. The teachers have separate rest rooms; there is a dark room for photography, a spacious gymnasium with separate locker rooms and showers for boys and girls. There is a small correctional gym; there is an elementary library in addition to the large high school library. Home economics is taught in a modern, tastefully furnished three room apartment including kitchen and bath. A glass enclosed broadcasting room is head- quarters for a public address system which can reach into every classroom. Throughout, the windows are enormously large bringing the daylight inside spacious, well ventilated classrooms. The color scheme everywhere helps to create a restful and relaxing atmosphere. The building, which took two years to construct, is sturdy and practical. It occupied, beside the architects, 4 major contractors, some sixty sub-contractors and the steady supervision of the Board of Education. It is provided with the best in educational supplies and equipment. The core of the school is the 900 students, ranging in age from five to eighteen, who recognize the Onteora Central School as their own, part and parcel of their true American heritage. It is their chance to get that training which will open the gate to higher education and to good working opportunities in our vital democracy. The faculty, with the wise guidance of Principal Roderick Ayer, Assistant Principal Howard Mosher, Guidance Director Charles Traphagen, the Board of Education and the District Superintendent have accomplished the vast project of getting the school going. Its physical maintenance involves the transportation of pupils over 700 miles of road, the operation of the cafeteria to serve over 1,000 lunches, the planning of a twelve year curriculum and putting it into practice, the extra curricular activities, the adult education program; this is no mean achievement. It represents the combined thinking of local educa- tors and those of the state. Its accredited, carefully chosen faculty is a vital, interested one. The faculty members are concerned with their pupils. They know them as individuals as well as in classes. Perhaps the underlying philosophy, so well expressed by the administration, is responsible for this fine achievement. To quote Mr. Ayer: The entire school personnel

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The industrial arts teacher speaks for all special instructors when he says that we are all striving for a broad, general education. We live in a technical, industrial society, therefore industrial arts gives us a better understanding of our life today. The student works with the materials, tools and machinery of industry; there is the actual manu- facture of these products by the students themselves. They are helped to look at in- dustry from the standpoint of products, processes, occupations, and they study the mean- ing and development of industry with its implication on the way we live. The physical education program has a day to day routine which gives each child an opportunity to grow better physically, to develop coordination, better posture and balance, to learn how to get the maximum out of group play. The students acquire poise and ease, and social grace through the square and round dancing lessons. The health and attendance department, headed by Mrs. Hazel Osborne, is in a unique position to be helpful to the parents of the three towns. Mrs. Osborne has known the children for a number of years in the little one room school houses and they come to her as to an old friend if a sore throat or a headache overcomes them. Three doctors and a dental hygienist work with the nurse to bring children's health needs to the parents of the district, and consultations are available and encouraged. The privacy of a cot in a booth is there for the indisposed. The small gym for correctional exercises is a boon. Intramural and interscholastic sports are opening new worlds to the boys and girls of Onteora, many of whom have had little previous contact either as participants or spectators. Wide eyed and fascinated the pupils watch the 700 seats appear and dis- appear, the dividing wall fold away. Even more exciting are the cheerleaders in their brilliant Indian costumes. The music and art departments reach practically every child. All the faculty agree that a child learning to express himself through art or music finds greater freedom in all other facets of living. There is music appreciation. From the tiniest tot who colors Santa's eyes a deep purple to the serious upper classman who intends to use art as a career, the art program weaves its way through the entire program. Once the pupil has completed his elementary classes and is ready for departmental education, his interests more definitive, the central school with its space and facilities shows its real worth. From the first grade through the junior class, every student has personal contact with the guidance department for achievement, aptitude and interest tests. With the results of these before him, the guidance director plans an individual program for each student. If tests show a special aptitude in a particular field of learn ing, the student, after consultation with the parent, is permitted to advance at his own pace, thus enabling him to undertake a broadened and enriched program. Senior year, proving ground as well as the threshold to the future for the graduating class, includes career conferences where prominent local business and professional men and women come in to discuss the employment and career possibilities with the students. Work experiences are arranged for many in and out of the school. The guid- ance director makes the pupils aware of the opportunities for higher education, the state junior colleges, the various college scholarships which often go unused for want of takers. Centralization encourages the youth of rural areas to seek additional higher education along with his city brother. It also guides the mechanically apt and the agriculturally minded into their proper channels. Mr. Traphagen plans a survey of the