Southington High School - Chronicle Yearbook (Southington, CT)

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rw.. -v-. Q5 .rs ' CHRONICLE Jw- Various leading operas, sung by our most famous operatic stars are given. This gives the majority of students a chance to hear the operas that they cannot afford to hear otherwise. Various associations interested in the welfare of students have done a great deal of planning to a have musicians come to their cities to give concerts for the many children in- terested in music. This has been done in New Haven and Hartford and in countless other cities. The concerts have always been planned so that the music would not bei too difficult or too long for a child to understand. Thus, many children have been able to hear and see some of our best musicians at a moderate price. In the elementary schools, sight- reading, formation of keys, and types of notes are being taught to the children. When a boy or girl has reached High School, he is able to study harmony, and to compose melodies. Students interested in singing can join Glee Clubs and A Capella Choirs. The A Capella Choir is made up of a group of singers who use no accom- paniment. Those who play instruments can join the orchestras. Various music groups have become so interested in music in our state that once a year they hold music festivals in different sections. Here, the different groups have a chance to see what the other schools are doing and how theylre do- ing it. At Connecticut State College, this past year was held the second annual All-State-Chorus when the girls and boys from many schools through- out the state gathered to sing under the direction of an outstanding high school conductor. Scholarships, given by benefactors interested in the advancement of music have enabled many, who, other- wise would not have been able to 'go' to college, to pursue their musical careers. Edward MacDowell is one of the founders of an Academy in Rome for American students. There the students live and work with funds provided by the Academy. While teaching at Columbia, he conducted a weekly student's music class entirely free to those who wished to join. In this way, he helped the students with their musical problems. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge is one of our most noted benefactors of today. She has made it possible for students to hear and see the best singers and orchestras of our times. Every year, through her generosity, a competition is held at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where various prizes aretoffered to the students who excel in the various competitions. As long as we have people like Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Dr. Walter Damrosch, and many other benefactors and friends who are in- terested in offering educational advan- tages to students, and as long as we have our great public school system, we can be sure that students of the future will continue to enjoy these musical opportunities and that our great country will become more and more music conscious. ' -MARY GRI LLO. Page T wenty-seven

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MCHRONICLE TW' Salutatory Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board of Education, Mr. Superintendent, Mr. Principal, Members of the F aculty, Parents and Friends: , On behalf of the class of 1937, I wish to welcome you here this evening and to thank you for the many edu- cational advantages which have been offered to us in our High School cur- riculum. One of the courses which we have enjoyed in the last three years has been Music Appreciation and Music Theory. Students of the past have not had this opportunity. Many years ago, instruction in music and an opportunity to hear good music were open only to a privileged few, usually people of wealth. The reasons for this situation were the necessity for private instructions, the high cost of opera and concert tickets, and remoteness from musical centers. Today all this is changed. Practical- ly anyone in our land who is musically inclined can obtain instruction and have an opportunity occasionally to hear some good music. These oppor- tunities are for the most part furnished by our public schools. People in this country have taken such an interest in music that various types of music studies are now being offered in our schools-Music appre- ciation, music theory, and vocal and instrumental instruction. In many high schools, the rating for music has so increased that now it is given the same rating as English and History and other studies. Teachers are no longer making the study of music a monotonous task. The children now have a chance to correlate music with history, literature, geography, and other studies. A person interested in literature will hear a 1. Page T wenty-six composition which may give him 3- definite plot for a story.. A g1rl.o1' b0Y who is artistically inclined,-will per- haps find a motif for a drawing, 35 he listens to a composition. The youngsters in the elementary classes are being given chances to use their imagination in thelr music studies also. Instructors have them work on various projects, SUC11 HS, writing their little melodies and poems, thus making little songs that they are proud of. Interest in music and other arts has so increased in New York City that a I-Iigh School of Music and Art has been established there. Parents have been so interested in the courses offered that they have actually moved to homes nearer the school so that their children might have the oppor- tunity to be enrolled in the I-Iigh School. The Radio has done a great deal to further interest in music. Years ago, people paid an expensive price to hear a concert. Today we can have our choice of a varied group of musical hours by merely turning the dial. Our school and many others have profited by the nationwide program presented by Dr. Walter Damrosch every Friday afternoon. Not only does this give the students an excellent opportunity to hear good music, but it also gives them a chance to analyze it after Dr. Damrosch has given the brief explanation for the composition. To help us further, booklets are avail- able for the teachers and the students with the various themes, pictures of composers, and other interesting items. Every Saturday afternoon students are given the opportunity to listen to the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.

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-MQCHRCNICLE we czlediczfazfy The Salutatorian has told you some- thing of the opportunities in the world today for those who are musically in- clined. I would like to point out how a college education today offers greater opportunities for a broader education than ever before in our history. Long ago, a college education em- phasized two subjects: the Classics oi Greece and Rome , and the Duties of a Christian to his Creator. Then, the people regarded Latin as the language of culture, and theology as queen of the sciences. Any boy graduating from grammar school was supposed to be able to read and write easy Latin and to know a little Greek grammar. If his knowledge included these points, he had satisfied the requirements for ad- mission to a college. It wasn't neces- sary to know whether he could add up a column of figures twice and get the same answer both times, nor name the principal rivers of New England, nor even be able to spell American cor- rectly. Today, the only necessary require- ments for admission to a college are that a pupil has graduated from a High School which has a reasonable standing, and that his marks are a cer- tain average. In some cases, College Entrance Board Examinations must be taken by the student, and very often Scholastic Aptitude Tests. a A narrow curriculum was offered the student in the college of yesterday and he was compelled to partake of whatever was given him. There was no elective system. The college stu- dent of bygone days studied the Bible all through his course and for a year, Cathechetical Divinity. So that he might read the Old Testament in the original, he studied Greek, and to read the New Testament in the original, he is Page Twenty-eight H studied Hebrew for a year- Af 0116 time, Chaldee and SYFIHC WCTC 3150 taught. If the student wanted to learn French or German, he would have to do it by himself, because the Univer- sity offered him no aid. Log1C, C'fh1CS, and politics were studied for two- years and a few lectures on physics, history, botany were sometimes slipped into the course. Anyone who was able to read the originals of the Old and New Testament into the Latin tongue, and to resolve them logically, provided he were of Godly life and conversation was awarded the bachelor's degree. A simple examination also decided who was worthy of a bachelor's degree. For the master's degree, the student must write a thesis. He must also possess a competent knowledge of logic, natural and moral philosophy, arithmetic, and astronomy. Besides the thesis for a master's degree, a number oi disputations were intro- duced into the college course. Many questions asked very profound, such as When Balaam's ass spoke, was there any change in its organs? Now let us look at the wide curricu- lum of our colleges of today and the opportunities they offer students in an almost unbelieveable variety of careers. No longer is the curriculum narrowed to purely academic subjects. Subjects are being introduced rapidly as the need for them arises. For in- stance, one of our universities has introduced a course in retail salesman- ship, which has some one hundred and sixty members in the class. The students, both men and women, are college graduates. They go to school for a certain period of time and then they are allowed to go into a store for practice purposes. The students acquire positions quickly because of their excellent training.