Portland High School - Totem Yearbook (Portland, ME)

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COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT The Commercial Department offers ambitious and earnest students an excellent chance to train themselves for positions in the business world, where opportunities are constantly open for those who are prepared . Many of our former students have re- ceived good positions in the offices of business men in the city, and excellent reports from these men show fully the efficiency of this department. Many studies are oncered, including arithmetic for the freshmen, and a half-year course in business arithmetic for seniors, bookkeeping the second and third year, with shorthand and typewriting begin- ning the third year and extending through the senior year. Commercial linglish and law. accounting, and economics are also available. Penmanship is taught by Mr. Rowe and is of decided importance. An honor course in shorthand known as the selective group, is composed only of pupils who have shown exceptional ability in first year short- hand and who have attained high marks in English for the three previous years. The typists for the TOTEM and the Higlzliglzfs are chosen from the ad- vanced classes in typewriting, and the morning bulletin is also prepared by pupils who cut the sten- cils and run them off on the mimeograph machine each day, thus giving the pupils practical experience in the use of these machines and all other equipment. PAGE ELEVEN

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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH The English course. perhaps more than any other, may be likened to a beautiful and symmetri- cal tree deeply rooted in the culture of the ages. So we consider reading and writing the trunk of the tree with correct sentence structure. spelling, let- ter writing, grammar. composition, interpretation, memorization, and rhetoric forming its branches, And the student, like the tree, grows mentally and morally as he adds to his fundamental knowl- edge of English the ability to enjoy the discussion of poetry. essays, plays, and novels. He learns to develop his personality through the reading of bi- ography and autobiography where he becomes, for a time. 'fone of a high company',, and to further de- velop that personality through informal class dis- cussions of those books he has read. or of homework assignments, or of experiences. He learns, too, to increase the charm of his speaking voice through practice in correct pronun- ciation, voice placement for tone quality, and in clear, courteous enunciation. . Through writing he learns to develop his imagi- nation and to express in clear, concise, and forceful English, thoughts either fanciful or imaginative. Thus at the end of four years, the student Ends firmly rooted within himself a love and appreciation for the beautiful in the world of literature and living. nw f5-. PAGE TEN

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HISTORY AND HOME ECONOMICS Our History Department includes Ancient, European, English, United States, Civics, and Current History. American History presents our national and economic growth, and gives the stu- dent a more thorough understanding of his own government by including a course in Civics. It is the further aim of the department to have the stu- dents see in our Stars and Stripes a democracy derived from all the worthwhile contributions of the ancients, from the Hebrew, the worship of one Godg from the Greek, the love of art, from the Roman, law and obedience, and finally, from the Teuton, character and honesty. The Home Economics Department offers a com- plete study of the domestic arts, including cooking, sewing. household management, and dietetics. The Freshman course consists of the fundamentals of sewing and cooking, the basic principles in clothing, and the chemical elements in foodstuffs, with re- lated courses in hygiene and science. Elective to Sophomores is a Home Management Problem in foods and interior decorating. The Senior clothing classes emphasize tailor-made garments and a hand- made layette, as well as a health course. Senior food classes serve nourishing food attractively prepared at minimum cost four times weekly at noons to teachers. XVhen this class is completed, the grad- uates will have learned the complete equipment and efficient management of the modern American home. PAGE TWELVE