Rice Avenue High School - Unitas Yearbook (Girard, PA)

Page 63 text:

Home Economics Being the first year this Course has been taught in our Community, the question was asked, Would it be a success, and wculd it be beneficial to the students? I sincerely think it was beneficial-and being beneiicialawas Z1 success. At first the Course was hard, we thought we were going to dislike it. Naturally it was a difficult matter, we were just starting High School, and as such a student has to adjust herself. The subjects taught this year were: Sewing, Cooking, Art, General Science, Home Nursing and Textiles. In Sewing, making our uniforms for Cooking class was our first project. Some other things we made were slips, French pants, and our last problem was a dress. Sewing, we found out, is more than threading a needle, and sewing a few stitches in a piece of cloth. A dress doesn't go together by itself, either. Cooking, in my opinion, was the simplest of all subjects. We learned how to make hot breads, cakes, doughnuts, pies, soups, croquetts, how to prepare meats, and many other delicious foods. We were taught to keep our desks, drawers, stoves, and tops of our desks in excellent condition and always be neat and clean while cooking. Art was another fascinating subject. We painted shoeftrees and coatfhangers and were taught to paint designs on them. At Christmas time we sewed and stuffed cats. These were very attractive. After Christmas we took the colored paper on the inside of envelopes and pasted 'them on match boxes, boxes, cans, and everything that would be attractive and shellaced them. Italian Hemstiching we made next. This is very beautiful work. - In General Science we learned about trees, the solar system, automobiles, airplanes, communicable diseases, the land surface, camera and many other things. I'IomefNursing was a subject that the majority of the students liked. We were taught to bandage, about Health, the care of a baby, etc. In Textiles, we learned about different fabrics, their history, how the fiber grew, what they looked like under the microscope and all about them. The Cooking, or Home Economics Class was divided into two sections, called the Morning Class and the Afternoon Class. The Morning class, of course was composed of students taking Home Economics: the Afternoon Class-vice versa. Ccontinued on next pagel Page SixtyfOne

Page 62 text:

Page Sixty SS CLA SEWING ,

Page 64 text:

HOME ECONCMICS Cconrimwdl The Afternoon Class served their mothers and their friends Afternoon Tea. Before tea was served several girls explained the project she contemplated taking. Then tea was served. And what a tea! Two girls acted as pourers Cthere were two beverages, cocoa and teal and the other girls served. Sandwiches, cakes, cookies and candy were served. Later the Morning Class gave a dinner for the School Board and their wives. The girls worked hard and the dinnerishowed it. Everybody said it was splendid. just look at the menu! Fruit Cocktail, Crackers, Chicken Bullion, Creamed Potatoes, Meat Loaf, Emerald Salad, Buttered Carrots and Peas, Hot Rolls, Butter, Tapioca Cream, Sunshine Cake, Shamrock Cookies. Still later, after our girls became the County Basketball Champions, the Afternoon Class gave them a banquet. Twenty people were served. This was also voted a huge success. In order that we might pass this Course we had to do a project. That is doing something that would help our mothers. We had our choice of the following: dusting, taking care of smaller brothers and sisters Cif we had anyj, redecorating a room, washing, ironing, and taking care of our clothes, taking care of our room, cooking, making clothing, washing dishes and other things. We had to do one of these things for thirty hours. When we were Hnished we had to write up our project, have a photograph of ourselves doing our project, our mothers and teachers opinion of these, it was sent to Harrisburg. Some of us girls, when we started this Course, had never sewed or cooked or painted or had anything about Textiles or Homefnursing before. Now we can bake, sew, bandage a hurt Enger, or make an arm bandage for a broken colorbone. We can tell the difference between fabrics and we can give the History of most of the fabrics. Personally I think that the Course has been a success and I know more than one girl it has been beneficial to. And our teacher, Miss Hitchcock, who has been so patient with us dumb girls! How can we thank her for helping us so greatly? Miss Hitchcock, we are sorry to say Goodfbye, but as you are not coming back next year, we shall have to. CATH1zRiNE MCCARTY. Page Sixty-Two