Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 19 011c school management courses as various as the needs of the pupils dictate. Such a high school is known as a general or composite high school. Of this type now is the Somerville High School. It is proposed in this school to conduct the various courses which the needs of the high school pupils of Somerville require. In order that these courses may be well organized and thoroughly taught, there will be a head teacher in charge of each course, whose duty it will be to develop his course as efficiently as though he were in charge of it in a separate institution. Four courses have already been established by the school com- mittee. These arc the preparatory course, equivalent to the course formerly pursued in the Latin High School, an academic course, a com- mercial course, and a manual arts course. If ex- perience shows that other courses should be added to this list or substituted for any on it. such changes will be made. Every subject in every course will be developed in accordance with its importance in the course of which it is a part. In these ways the high school will seek to offer courses sufficiently differentiated to meet the needs of all the students and to give such instruc- tion in each of these courses as will best fit the student for the end he has in view. Our high school will have the benefit of cer- tain advantages which accrue to the general high school. Chief among these is the advantage which comes to the student through the possi- bility of sharing in all of the resources of the school. For example, students in the prepara- tory course may. under proper conditions, add to that course one n more subjects taken from some other course. Again, a student who has begun in one course and finds that lie has made a mis- take and ought to take some other course, can in a general school correct such mistake. In a way, the general high school, properly conducted, is to the student a place wherein he may find what life is to mean to him. Its variety of courses af- fords him an opportunity to so test himself that he may discover that for which he is best fitted. This thought should be uppermost in the minds of every pupil in our high school; especially prominent should it be in the minds of the mem- bers of the two lower classes. 1 he resources of a large school are open to them while yet there is time for them to revise the selection of the studies which they wish to pursue. To discover himself is the supreme task of a high school stu- dent. Such in brief is the plan and such arc the pur- poses of the organization of the Somerville- High School. A few words should be said con- cerning the two-session plan, which is a phase of administration due to overcrowding, but is not otherwise a part of the general scheme of the school. Certain consequences follow the two- session plan. One of these is the early beginning of the morning session, which necessitates a still earlier departure from home. Herein will be found the necessity for putting into effect a daily routine of conduct from which a habit most useful in after life will be formed. Let this thought be the present compensation for a present un- pleasant necessity. Probably more important than this hardship is the consideration which the early start from home makes it necessary for the high school student to give to getting an early morning meal. A corresponding consideration is required of the afternoon class, who leave home at varying hours, thereby losing the opportunity for a mid-day meal at home at a regular time. High school students should not neglect the care which these two circumstances demand of them. Good health and a sound body are the first essentials, to success. The youth who is planning hopefully and with enthusiasm for a career of usefulness must not neglect during the days of his high: school life the simple rules which, being observed,, will insure to him an adequate physical prepara- tion. In the school year opening before us the key word is opportunity. There is opportunity for the students to take advantage of the re- sources of a large high school organization, op- portunity for them to grow through the exercise of the powers of self-control and self-development. There will be opportunity also for the school to improve its processes and to give more effi- cient services to all its students. For the best, use of these opportunities students and faculty enthusiastically unite. Charles S. Clark. — JEpsilon Epsilon The Epsilon Epsilon Club, now entering upon the third year of its existence, is still a very active organization. Meetings were resumed on Friday, September 2 .). The girls have planned for a very interesting and enjoyable year. During the summer the club held a day’s outing at Xahant. Two teachers of the school and sev- eral other friends accompanied the members. All spent a very pleasant day—one which will be the cause of happy memory to the girls in the future.

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR i8 To Readers of the Radiator:— Last August the editor invited me to write a letter to the High School students, giving them my views upon the changes in high school organ- ization which have occurred since the close of school in June. Since then the school has opened and has been in operation a month under the new plan, and every one has had opportunity to know more about the new order than was ap- parent when I was asked to write about it. Nevertheless, because I think it is desirable f r the students to be well-informed about the conduct of the school, its purposes, and prospects, I shall keep my promise by writing about our High School as it is organized to-day. In the first place, to the passer-by in the street no evidence is given of a radical change, flic physical plant is the same, and the throng of stu- dents passing in and out of the buildings is the same. As last year, there was no outward sign of division, so now there is no new sign of union. The physical aspect of the school has not been changed. Because of the nearness of the build- ings to each other the plant and the student body constitute a physical unit. From the standpoint of organization it seemed wiser to administer such a school under one system of control than to con- tinue a double system. Therefore the school committee united the Latin and the English High Schools, and by their union re-established the Somerville High School. Into this new school the constituent parts have merged their identity, no trace of either being left. With equal right, each of the former schools may with the other claim the establishment of the new school. Neither school has incorporated the other. Again, while the enrollment of the High School is now very large for a single school, it is no greater than would have been the joint en- rollment of the separate schools. In respect to numbers, therefore, it is probable that the change has had only the effect of providing an adminis- tration more efficient than formerly, because of its unified character. The overcrowding of the buildings, the morning and afternoon sessions are incidents in no way attributable to. or conse- quences of the union of the schools. They would have been equally in evidence this fall under the two-school plan. So much for the physical side. The new school having an enrollment of more than 1,800 pupils, an enrollment which will soon, in all probability, reach 2,000, is now one of the largest in New Eng- land. I presume it is the largest. The signifi- cance in this fact is twofold: First, Somerville sends a large proportion of its pupils to the High School: and. second, all of these high school pu- pils are now confided to a single institution. Once again the city places in a single school all of the interests in secondary education of all of its pupils. A great responsibility is thus thrust upon this institution. The responsibility is directly pro- portional to the number of students for whom it is assumed. How shall such a responsibility be met? During the last twenty years the development of high schools has been in the direction of pro- viding different courses adapted to the needs of different groups of students. Before that time the high school was conducted mainly as a fitting school for college, and the course of study in- cluded such subjects as were demanded for ad- mission to college or as would contribute to a so-called liberal education. With the growth of the idea that secondary schools should fit more efficiently for the conditions of life such pupils as were not to enter college, new courses were added to the curriculum. In this way came in commercial subjects, manual training, domestic science, and other divisions of manual arts. For the better teaching of these special courses many large cities established special schools. Such schools were named according to their specialty, as. Manual Training Schools, High Schools of Commerce. High Schools of Practical Arts, Business High Schools, etc. In places where a separate high school for a special course of study is not practicable it is the plan to conduct under

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20 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 1012 Seniors, we arc now on the last lap of our high school course. Let us make if the best of all by supporting the column and everything connected with the school, and cross the finish line in June with living colors. Followers of football at Somerville High will be glad to learn that the team may have the ser- vices of Albert I'. Smith this fall. He looks like the sensation of the season. He weighs 175 pounds, lifts 500 pounds with one hand, and has done HU) yards in eight seconds Hat. Coach Mahoney may use him in the backfield. but Smith plays all positions with equal dash and brilliancy. After watching Smith at practice one night we can safely state that he stands alone among the schoolboy players of this section. NOTICE.—Following the custom of the class of 1011, IN'. English I will give several well- known plays and operas during the coming year. These will be produced under the direction of the far and near famed impresarios, Cohen and Cohen, who will strive their utmost to make the coming season the most successful of their career. The tragedy. McElizabeth.” will be the first drama produced. Performances will be given every week day except Thursdav and Saturday in Room 34 E during October. The cast is as follows:— Duncanned, kink of Scotland......... V. York MacEliza-beth ) generals of hist .. R. Heflfernan Banko j army ...F. Mahoney McDuftt ) ( ..E. Woodman Lcnknocks - thanes of Scotland T. O’Donoghuc Ross ) ( ... L. Lamont Fleeaunts, son to Banko..........A. Richardson Lady MacEliza-beth.....................G. Hall Lady McDufft..............................Miss Chequer hirst Witch.................................T. Landers Second Witch..........................A. Smith Witch Hazel......................W. Whittaker Attendant ) Murderer -.............Cornelius P. Hanlon, Jr. Apparition ) Room 35 W desires male lodgers, there being only two there at present. Our class is well represented on the gridiron by York, Cohen, Parks, Pitman, Anderson, and George. Report cards coming! ! hirst Pupil: “Gee! look at the flowers in the liquor bottle.” Second Pupil: “That’s to keep them in good spirits.” Brine’s favorite expression: “Nothing to do till to-morrow.” 11—rvic: ‘ I am not as foolish as I look to be.” Byr—n: Why wasn't I born foolish instead of crazy?” PREVENTED ELOPEMENT. (By special correspondent). Last week ll—r—vrc. the scion of a prominent Somerville family, disappeared. He had been acting normally all the week. But from police in- vestigation it was learned that he had lost twenty cents. Whether or not this was the cause is not known. He was later found by a party of friends, being in the act of embracing and trying to per-