Shields High School - Patriot Yearbook (Seymour, IN)

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PATRIOT ing the report grade. If a pupil did not respond on Friday, he was called upon to do so Monday. If he failed then, it was counted against him on his report grade. The Addisonian and Irving Socie- ties had been organized in the first building, and later when the wing was added to the south side of the school, two papers, The Little Hat- chet and The Broad Ax , were published. From this school and these two societies has grown our school sys- tem of today, with its ward schools and high school, varied curriculum, and numerous clubs and societies. Through the years, the citizens of Seymour have labored to give to their children fine schools. Today Seymour boasts of four splendid public grade schools, two parochial schools, and the Junior and Senior High School. The Senior High School offers three courses; namely, academic. general, and vocational, thereby pre- paring the pupils who want to take additional training in college or uni- versity and also those who want vocational training. The Home Eco- nomics Department, with its courses in nursing, interior decorating, sew- ing and cooking, helps many to make better and happier homes. The Vocational agricultural with its vari- ety of projects helps many boys who otherwise could never have special training in that field. The crowded classes in the commercial depart- ment speak for the popularity of that work. All other departments are equally crowded and equally successful. Seymour has had only seven su- perintendents; namely, Mr. House- keeper, 1871-1874; J. S. Caldwell, 1874-1880; W. S. Wood, 1880- 1892; H. C. Montgomery 1892- 1909; H. C. Linke, 1909-1913; T. A. Mott, 1913-1925; and N. J. Lasher, 1925-1935. 1923 — 1935 Page Eleven

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THE 1935 surrounded by trees and bordered on the west by a great pond. Gradually the pond was drained until now there are no traces of it. The building of 1871 was a large, three story, rectangular, brick structure facing the east, with en- trances on the north, south and east. The stairs led from the east entrance through the middle of the building. On the first floor were two grade rooms, a janitor ' s office, and the public library; and on the second floor, two more grade rooms and the superintendent ' s office; on the third, a small music room, a recita- tion room, and the assembly room. At the west end of this room was the teacher ' s rostrum which was faced by two long rows of benches reaching halfway across the room. Two large iron stoves heated it. Here, during school hours the High School and preparatory grades were seated and recited and at night the public entertainments, commence- ments, and such were held. For lighting the building on such occa- sions, bracket lamps were used in the halls and on the stairs and three great hanging lamps in the assembly room itself. The first term in 1871, Superin- tendent Housekeeper appointed Miss Cox, as principal of the High School. In 1876 the south wing of the present school building was erected, adding six much needed rooms. Then the main High School room was changed to the southeast corner. A bell in the belfry called the pupils to class. There was a bench on the outside on which were buckets of water for drinking purposes. A winding stairway led to the second and third floors. This was very unsatisfactory and was later remodeled with landings which made it much more convenient. The high school classes were quite small, ranging from six to twelve pupils. At first Latin was the only foreign language taught, but later a German preacher came to the school on cer- tain days and taught that tongue. Geometry was also in the curriculum at that time. There were no extras in the school program then. There were no art courses nor athletics and the only music was that of the opening exercises. The high school, which was on the third floor, consisted of a large assembly room in the front of the building, and two smaller rooms back of this. In this large room were four rows of double seats, with a seating capacity of eighty-four. In the front of this assembly room was a rostrum. Here the principal gen- erally presided and while he listened to the recitations of one class, the other pupils studied in the smaller rooms. Every morning there were devotional exercises and the prin- cipal would read poetry or other literature, or extracts from the Bible. This was the only thing which they had that could be compared to our convocations. One of the students ' nightmares was the Friday afternoon exercises. These students had no training in public speaking, and one who knows has said that the pupils fairly shook in their shoes when they arose to render their part of the program. They wrote essays and recited them, or they recited poetry, or played some musical instrument. The man- ner in which the students responded during these exercises was one of the factors considered in determin- Page Ten

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THE 1935 The Patriots from 1 898 to Present Date A detailed study of the Patriots filed in Shields High School reveals the fact that the first Patriots pub- lished by the school were seasonal issues. We are able to trace the business, civic, educational and matrimonial affairs of our city through these books. There are many advertisements of business houses which have long since van- ished from the business district of our city, however, some few have survived and are now serving the citizenry of Seymour. The first issues, which were 6 by 9 affairs, mere phamphlcts, had very few pictures, and most of those remind one of photographs in the old family album. The gir ls in- deed were belies in those days. One has never seen the like of frizzes, demure curls, pig-tails, and rats (the hair transformation of those days I with which some of these sophisticated ladies were wont to adorn themselves. The earliest date at which a pic- ture was found in these books was in the Commencement Number, May 18, 1899, This book contains the picture of the graduating class and among its other interesting fea- tures is a vivid description of the Senior Reception. FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL PATRIOT, THANKSGIVING NUM- BER, NOVEMBER 24, 1898. PATRIOTIC IMPULSES By J. L. PATRICK The Patriot has been in exist- ence just one term of school and its influence is already such that were it to cease to exist, many of the coming conveniences of school life would fail to materialize. Its title was suggested by the purely patriotic feeling in the heart of the originator at the success attending our nation ' s armies in a just war. From this feel- ing, also with the need of more work in practical English the idea was conceived of starting the paper It is not the object of the Patriot to take its place as courier of news but to give H. S. students an opportunity for paragraph writing for journalistic use and an open forum for all their early literary at- tempts . . . Although its direct object has been told, it has another of even more importance, that is to stimulate a feeling of patriotism both local and national ... So in our future num- bers we will follow up our past efforts and try to inculcate into the minds of our readers feelings of patriotism for our local institutions, patriotism to our schools in an en- thusiastic manner, yet free from rowdyism; loyalty to our homes and our city, yet free from arrogance and false pride; and faithfulness to our churches and Christian institutions, with feelings of honesty and nobil- ity, scorning any undermining influ- ence that would lead us downward instead of upward in our walk through life. OUR NEED By ANNA L. HANCOCK If there is one crying need which none transcends in importance, it is for a new building for the exclusive use of the H. S. department, V ith Page Twelve