Southington High School - Chronicle Yearbook (Southington, CT)

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Crossing the lobby we find the principal's office. His secretary greets us in the outer office and summons a guide to show us the further wonders of this building. Our guide who proves to be a senior student takes us first to the great auditorium on the first floor. Here we are just in time to see an English class getting its daily lesson. Do you realize that they are attending a movie? Heavy curtains are drawn over the windows to insure complete darkness. These children are learning with their eyes. They are very interested in their lesson. How could they help it? Our guide brings us out of the audi- torium into the hall and up a fiight of stairs to the second fioor. This is where most of the classrooms are situated. As we pass down the hall we glimpse a delightful library. Shall we visit the English room first? We see the students outlining a picture that they have seen in the auditorium. The interest is great and all are eager to take part. The impression the pic- ture leaves on the student's mind is firm and lasting. That is the value of learning by sight. Let us leave these children for a while and see what the music class is doing. We find the orchestra prac- ticing in a sound proof room. We note the great number of facilities. The instructor informs us that each stu- dent in her class has the privilege of using a piano at his will. Our time is limited and we must move on. We are told that all the foreign languages are ta.ught on the same plan so we will not need to visit all the departments. Let us visit the French department. Upon going through a door we find ourselves in what appears to be a French home. The guide informs us that the depart- ment is made up of a suite of rooms consisting of a classroom and two rooms which are given over to the students who have fixed them into a S Page Twenty-four y-Wi-CHRON,lCLE typical French home. All the furnish- ings have been imported from France. Much current literature can be seen lying around on tables. These stu- dents with the home as a medium are really brought into contact with French life. ' On our way to the top floor we hap- pen to look out the rear window and see the fine athletic field. The top floor is given over entirely to laboratories. We notice the brighter light due to the presence of a glass roof. Each student has -a laboratory bench and all the apparatus he can use. The apparatus is very extensive and much room is given in which the individual student may Work. We are interrupted by a bell. Can it be possi- ble that it is lunch time already? Our guide takes us to the Cafeteria in the basement which is run entirely by the students. VVhat good food! We notice how well organized everything is and how well the students work to- gether. Our guide tells us that the student council has worked wonders in her school. The principal has handed over the entire responsibility of disci- pline to the students. This leaves him his entire time for educational work. While we are in the basement, We inspect the large and excellently equip- ped gymnasium. VVhat is that splash- ing we hear? Sure enough the boys are making use of the swimming pool. Our last stop on this fioor is the manual training department. Here we find boys working eagerly on furniture to ht up departments of the school or their own homes. The sound of ma- chinery comes from another room. We glance in. Boys are operating large machines. In one corner a group is tearing down a car. In another, a group is constructing an airplane. We need to hasten our steps to see the rest of this school in operation be- fore closing time. A glance into another section of the building reveals

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CHRONICLE yu- r idea that education, including the secondary school, should be accessible to all youth regardless of classical in- clination, religion, sex, or social status. The next practical step in secondary education was the establishment of English grammar schools, that is, schools placing emphasis on English rather than on Latin as a cultural and scholastic language. As the United States grew, it be- came more and more evident that the youth of the land should be educated for the business of living, that young people needed practical knowledge rather than mere intellectual training, and that a secondary school properly arranged and equipped could take care of these needs. These ideas gradually spread through the land, broadening and enlarging the curriculum at the grammar school until that institution felt that the name grammar school no longer filled it, since along with the college preparatory grammar, and related'subjec.ts, many courses in many other fields were offered. The gram- mar school therefore became the academy In the academy, secondary educa- tion was pointed in the general direc- tion of the high school as far as curri- culum was concerned but it remained for the new WVest to make the final radical change in the educational system. Michigan was faced with the problem of whether or not secondary education was to be considered enough of an integral part of the state educa- tional system to be supported as the elementary schools were by funds contributed by the people. The Michi- gan Supreme Court in 1872 ruled that it was. Other states agreed and before long the modern tax-supported high school opened its doors in a number of states to all students who had had a rudimentary education. After three hundred years of slow growth, of rapid growth, of radicalism, of conservatism, of trial and error, of success and failure, the American high school fiourishes and does not consider its perfection yet attained. a!ec1'z'ct01fy The Salutatorian has outlined for you the school of the past. Come with me on a visit to the school of today and tomorrow. Let us imagine ourselves in a stream- lined car taking a trip on a bright sunny morning. As we come into a large city we decide to try to find a short way through. Our course takes us into the residential section. Our attention is attracted by what appears to be a beautiful stone manision on a side hill to the right. Closer inspec- tion reveals that it is too large for an ordinary dwelling. Our curiosity is aroused and we decide to investigate. As we draw nearer we note the beauti- ful landscaping, the numerous trees and spacious lawns. Is it possible that we are still in the midst of a great city! We turn in at the arched gateway and following the winding driveway through the beautiful grounds, finally arrive at the entrance of the building. There we read an inscription over the door. Have you guessed it? Yes, it is our modern city high school. VVe enter the building and find our- selves in an attractive lobby. The decorations are not dazzling but in good taste. Several excellent copies of famous paintings adorn the walls. Fine pieces of statuary occupy suit- able nooks. Here and there are window seats and cozy corners where a stu- dent may find a spot to study when he has free time. Page Twenty-th ree

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-rf CHRONICLE 1+ What appears to be the large and well organized ofiice of great business con- cern. Clerks are busy at desks with typewriters, answering phone calls, filing, using all manner of modern office machinery. Down a hallway some are hastening to transact busi- ness at the bank before closing hours. This is the commercial department. There is just one more place you must see, said our guide, who hap- pened to be a girl. We soon enter what seems to be a modern city apart- ment. Two girls are making plans for the interior decoration of the living- room. In the dining room the table is being set for a dinner party of six. Our guide tells us with pride that some of the faculty have been invited for dinner. In the kitchen the cooks are busily at work too. But what is that strange sound issuing from another room? Sure enough, there is a real live baby surrounded by a group of admiring girls. A nurse is giving them instruction on how to care for it. It is almost closing time now and we must hurrv. What else would we like to see? asks our guide, the modern hospital room, or the social science department? VVe suggest the latter. Our guide opens a door and we find ourselves in court! NVhat, have we been over-parking? No, a case is up, Jones vs. jones. The lawyers are hard at work and witnesses are being brought forward. In the midst of this there is an interruption. A voice ap- pears out of nowhere. All is silent at once. Calling all rooms, calling all rooms, Principal Harris speaking. At- tention students and teachers. School will be dismissed at 2:30 this after- noon so that you may attend the game with Lewis High School! Such is the school of today and to- morrow. And now it is time for us to take leave of our school and each other. We wish to express our grati- tude to the school board, the Superin- tendent, and to the faculty of Lewis High School for the school they have maintained for us. Classmates! VVe have spent many happy hours together in our school of today. The schools of tomorrow will be greater than ours but students will never be happier together than we have been, Farewell. Page Twcn ty-lim'