Polytechnic High School - Polytechnic Student Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 19 text:

E. B. COUCH, Resistrar The high schools of today are the product of trial and error for the past three hundred years. Free experimentation with survivals of the chosen practices, courses, and pro- cedures has given us the modern secondary school with its multiplicity of courses, its thousands of highly trained teachers, and millions of students. Today ' s tendencies are toward practical courses for economic ability and cultural background for added leisure. Both tendencies imply need for more efficient social-economic adjustments and for better social cooperation, for more knowledge and flexibility. If the high schools of today are to survive the critical attitude that now exists, it will be through the leadership of progressive thinkers who are the products of the high school. Conservative attitudes, inflexibility of courses, aca- demic despotism, and school teacherized procedures are bound to hinder the future devolpment of this great Ameri- can institution. If, in our high schools, we are to aid in the reduction of crime, the solution of economic problems, the raising of our social standards and the standards of living, it will be necessary to continue open experimentation in the light of the past; and forgetting the past as a hampering influence, move on to new and better procedures as rapidly as they prove to be real advances in educational results. E. B. Couch, Registrar 1 5 ADMINISTRATION 1935

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J.G.GOODSELU Vice-Principal The founding of the Boston Latin School in 1635 was an event the importance of which we can not measure. Three hundred years of secondary school history in the United States parallels our national history very closely. Our na- tional growth has been the greatest in the world and the public schools have constantly kept pace with the advance. At various times public education has been threatened, but men with vision such as Horace Mann, Henry Barnard, John Dewey, and Charles William Eliot aroused public sen- timent and championed the cause of education for everyone. Evolution in the thinking of educators and the practice in secondary schools is very interesting to note. In the Bos- ton Latin School a rigid, purely academic curriculum was adhered to. The aims of education as stated for students in Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, were: ... first, the promotion of True Piety and Virtue; second, in- struction in the English, Latin, and Greek Languages, to- gether with Writing, Arithmetic, etc. The liberalization of curricula today is apparent to all, throughout the nation. The chief characteristics of twentieth century education are the application of the questioning spirit of scientific research, and the future activities appear to lie in the direc- tion of fitting the youth to social conditions, with emphasis on creating social betterment and greater adaptability. J. G. GooDSELL, Vice-Principal ADMINISTRATION 1935 1 4

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Mrs. Abbott Miss Adams Mr. Anderson Mr. Appleton Miss Atkinson Mr. Bailey Mr. Baker Mr. Ballou Mrs. Banning t . ' rf. ' t- ' M ,L . Mr Benson . Ctl 7K A ' ' ' ' ' l flC Mr. Berry Mr. Brennen .uJcU CkjUr Mrs. Bridges Mr. Bush Miss Carlson Miss Carter Miss Coble Miss Cook Miss Craig Mrs. Dasso Mr. Davies Miss Davis Mrs. Dealy Miss Dickson Miss Dole Mr. Dolph Mr. Downs Miss Dryer Mrs. Maicie French Abbott, Cosmetology Miss Veda H. Adams, Languages Mr. Frank L. Anderson, Music Mr. Frederick G. Appleton, Mechanic Arts Miss May Atkinson, Science Mr. H. E. Bailey, Mechanical Drav ing Mr. Laurel B. Baker, Architecture Mr. Frederic E. Ballou, Architecture Mrs. Helen Elkins Banning, Commerce Mr. James B. Benson, Science Mr. Glenn H. Berry, Physical Education Mr. Voyle Brennen, Physical Education Mrs. Frances Watson Bridges, Occupational Unit Mr. Coleman H. Bush, Commerce Miss Amy C. Carlson, English, Occupational Unit Miss Lucile May Carter, English Miss Maude Coble. Physical Education Miss Annice Cook, Mathematics Miss Alice E. Craig, English Mrs. Virginia Gleerup Dasso, Languages Mr. John A. Davies, Mechanic Arts Miss Charlotte Davis, English Mrs. Eunice E. Dealy, Social Studies Miss Lucile E. Dickson, Music Miss Mary M. Dole, Mathematics Mr. Willard J. Dolph, Mechanical Drawing Mr. A. V. Downs, Electricity Miss Kathari ne Dryer, English FACULTY 1935 1 6