Pomfret School - Griffin Yearbook (Pomfret, CT)

Page 21 text:

Ulibe untefract The Pontefract's purpose has been de- fined as an organ to direct journalistic skills and as a contact with alumni. In the past, these two goals have been mutually hostile. It seems to us that this should not be the case. Any good newspaper should be a reflec- tion of the community it serves. The fact that The Pontefract is occasionally a poor reflection of the school community can be traced to a well known boarding school dis- ease: we-live-here-all- the-time-itis. Private jokes and schoolboy rivalries turn up again and again in the pages of The Pontefract, particularly in the columns. No consistent- ly informational or seriously critical treat- ment is given to vital school problems for the out of touch reader. At times The Pontefract did a superlative job in catch- ing what the school was thinking lthe Eisenhower issue for examplel, but more often it missed the point entirely. As a medium for entertaining the stu- dents, The Pontefract is more successful. The newspaper finds itself in the silly po- sition of telling students news that they already know, and so the feature articles contain much of the interest for school- bound readers. Of these features, the best idea has been the poll. Pomfret students have been polled in politics, definitions, taste in songs, actors, comic strips and sun- dry other itemsg but all of this has gone into The Pontefract with little attempt to extract real meaning from the results. The Pontefract is a fine activity in teaching journalism, lf you are lucky enough to be one of the three editors or the faculty advisor, you will live, eat and sleep Pontefract for a respectable number of days per month. This practice in the or- dering of chaos is perhaps one of the most exciting educational opportunities at Pom- fret. --N. Polsby PONTEFRACT STAFF Left to Right-below: Morris, Polsby. right: Howard, Bingham, Bartholet

Page 20 text:

Another vital outfit is the Post Of- fice Committee. There were com- plaints during the year of people read- ing their mail while at school meet- ings. It was even suggested that the mailmen be delayed. But the mail came through. Mail letter service was flawless. Perhaps more regular hours for giving out packages would be in or- der. The most singular, extraordinary or- ganization this year grew out of the half course in Social Psychology. Socio- phasic Interpersonal Factoral Formul- ation, or SPIFF, was a study of Pomfret. SPIFF delved into all factors of school life, study habits. discipline, infirmary records, leadership and ideals in order to know more exactly the nature of the school community. The work was for the benefit of the headmaster, the Council and interested members of the school, Many questionnaires, and tests were passed throughout the school. Graphs, opinion papers and themes were pre-- pared and studied in an effort to arrive at some' intelligent conclusions about the school. Results will be printed in book form. School authorities are to be congratulated for encouraging SPIFF, because the findings will un- doubtedly aid the school in growing constructively. -W. Rowe and the Editors . . . . a social survey planning group LIBRARY COMMITTEE Left to Right-White. Harde, Chapman, Owen S POST OFFICE Left to Right-White, Shew, lvlr. Somers, Andrade C.

Page 22 text:

POMFRET'S CURRICULUM Pomfret's attempt at college-type elec- tives in its curriculum has jelled into what we now call half courses. The upper forms feel some freedom of choice in their full courses, but most non-required classes re- main creditless, meeting only once a week. journalism, radio, social psychology, navigation, mechanical drawing and many others are unable to stay on the curricu- lum as half courses for more than a year. lt is feared that these only interested- admitted type courses will not grab a foot- hold and thus they fade in and out as the tide. Yet they have the potentiality of val- id permanence in the schedule. Often they have, as in carpentry, an accepted course, plans to shape students' interest into a project useful to the whole school community. Our major subjects supply all that a good preparatory school can, and then some. Our class discussions compare very favor- ably with other schools. Yet a certain type of schedule exists at Pomfret. lt is formed by tacking extra- curricular activities lparticularly singing l 8