Port Arthur High School - Sea Gull Yearbook (Port Arthur, TX)

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$ti2m2 Bepartmmt Science is nothing but trained and 01' ganized common sense , says Huxley Som college p1 ofessor has said that common sense was not so common. uxley also says that the most important thing in education is science. Port Arthur agrees with Hux- ley as far as she 15 concerned, for she would say that science provides a means of liveli- hood Just where would our city be if it were not fo1 sci ence. cience has played a great part in our city Science dug our canal, built our refiner es, built cur school system, and last but not less important our scientific edu- cators put a science department in the system. We have over five hundred and fifty people taking science, and at least two years is required of everyone. A question was uebated this spring in the chemistry sections, which was Resolved That every pupil should take chemistry in the high school. This shows that we feel the need of science n our lives. The Science Department is also an active one, for without activity we have no life, and science certainly does contribute to our lives. The chemistry classes wrote essays for the Chemistry Societys Essay Contest, reports on various subjects we1e given in all the classes, things of interest were studied outside of the regular course, a trip to one of the refineries was made and a written repo ort was turned in as part of the work. The department also has an honor roll called Cum Laude 111 Sc1ence. The science department has two fundamental aims, and if anything has been ac- complished along these lines then our year's work has not been in vain. First to teach science in usch a way as to help someone lead a better life in a better way, a second. to help one appreciate the things that one sees around him. Napoleon drew his men up before the pyramids and said Soldieis, fifty centuries look down upon you. We can go to a rock quarry,pic1ck up a rockw1th the remains of some fossil, and look at it and say, not fifty centuries, but fifty million centuries look down upon us. Or we can look at the stars which are all suns and even some are many times largex than our sun and know that it takes four years for the light from the closest star to reach us while some are so fai away that it takes as long as two hundred years 1'01 the light to reach us. These are only some of the things that one might hope for from the taang of science. There are seven courses offered Physiology and home nursing, open to freshmen and sophomores, include the care for the body when sick and when well. Geneial science and physical geography, open to freshmen and sophomores, treat of sueh sub' ects as rainfall, contour maps, weather reports, soil, water, general electri- city and some machines. Biology is a sophomore subject, dealing with the life of plants and animals. Chemistry is a junior or senior subject, dealing with chemical reactions and man's efforts to control them. Physics is a junior or senior subject, dealing with electricity and magnetism, heat and light and work

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gnhuetrial Cams The industrial work is carried on in our High School, first, for its educational value and, second, to develop any special talent which may be found among the stu- dents. The Industrial Arts Department in the High School has grown rapidly from one teacher to nine teachers and is now serving four hundred and fifty three students daily in the various divisions. We are hoping for further expansion in this department. AUT O- MECHA CS The auto- mechanics course is an ideal one f01 the boy who intends to follow the trade in after life. The vocational class which takes up half of ay was created for such a boy Here the boy can learn more about the important units of an automobile in one term than the apprentice in the commercial shop can in a whole year The boy' 1n the eommeI cial shop spends most of his time running errands, greasing and washing cars. Not so with the vocational class, he starts out right away with study and actual work, thereby getting the jump on the less fortunate boy There are no exercises or projects made, every job is an actual job on a car that has run, the same as if it had been taken to a first class comme1cial shop AR TS AND CRAFTS. W at ki rid of things do you make in here? That 1s the question that has been asked probably more than any one question this year ccncern- in ng the arts and crafts division The course as outlined meludes craft work and life drawing and out- door sketching Everything that is new in gthe way of crafts is eagerly investigated. Practically 1111 designs are original, though adaptations of designs are sometimes used The work this year has included the making of gesso placques, enamelling book ends, deseigninp; bread boards, making telephone screens, reed floor and table lamps, etc. Sev rai of the girls macle their own Chris tmas presents. Just before the holidays an exheibit 0f the work was placed in the hall of the Main Buildin ng So man inquiries came it asking if the articles were for sale that the idea of a High School Gift Shop was con- ceived. This has not been realized though the idea is not given up. This spring the girls are making themselves hand- painted scar s. art 5 and crafts division is well equ1ped, a large well- lighted room is nThe Studio. '6' The p0pu1a1ity of the work 1s shown by all classes being filled the second term. MECHANICAL DRAWING. eThe High School student finds the course in me- chanical drawing interesting as Well as profitable. The course covers a period of four years, two years preliminary drawing and the student electing for the remaining two years either architectural drawing or machine thawing The students are allowed to make all drawings necessary for their problems and work in woodwork and machine work. All drawings and designs used in the school system a1e made by Students in the drawing classes. A student completing the course of four years is qu te capable uf un- derstanding a blue print 01' making a drawing of the average problem which may con front him out of class. The course in mechan cal drawing has been instrumental in the choice of a vocation for the several students who are now away at colleges and universi- ties. Some of the boys are taking architecture while others have chosen some phase of engineering Favorable reports have been received about the work of these students. MACHINE SHOP PRACTICE. eln the machine shop a boy may soon learn if he has any special talent for that part of the metal workers trade He learns how iron is shaped to work in rotating machinery, to turn, bore and thread on the lathes to plane and slot on the shaper, to drill on the drill p1',ess toe cut gears of all kinds, to cut key way 5 and to mill flat surfaces on the milling machin In the machine shop there are six small lathes which are driven by an over head line shaft.The1'e is one 14- inch lathe which IS driven by an independent mot 01' There are a shaper, a buffer, a power saw, 8 gr rnder, anda d1 111 p1',ess which are driven by another line shaft.The1'e is an independently driven universal milling machine and an air com- pressor There ls a tool room Well- equipped Where all the smaller tools are kept. In the future we hope to have a universal grinder, one more large lathe, another shaper, and a planer It is the business of the machine shop to keep all the school equipment running in first-class shape, make parts for the auto shop, and correlate with all other depart- ments in furnishing them with things needed from the machine shop. PRIN T,ING -In the printing division the student is given instruction in elemen tary and advanced printing, proofreading, drawing, grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, composition, stonework, presswork, and arithmeti tic. The student is also fforded an opportunity of a Mtry- -out in one of the majol lines of vocational life. If the student develops those characteristics so essentially necessary to his success in this